Titus 1:5–9

1:5 Paul’s saying that he left Titus in Crete suggests that Paul himself had visited Crete. Even though Acts 27 notes Paul’s brief stop in Crete on the way to Rome, Acts provides no record of Paul’s missionary work in Crete. For that reason, the visit referred to in Titus 1:5 seems to have taken place after the end of Acts but before Paul’s final imprisonment and death. During that visit, Paul left Titus in Crete so that he could “put what remained into order, and appoint elders.” Paul’s assignment to Titus accords with a threefold pattern we observe in Paul’s ministry recorded in Acts. For example, in Acts 14:21–23, Paul

1. 1. makes converts through preaching the gospel,
2. 2. strengthens new believers through discipleship and instruction, and
3. 3. appoints pastors/elders “in every church” to carry on the work after he is gone. (Notice the plural “elders” in every single church, which suggests that each church should welcome a plurality of elders; cf. Acts 20:17, 28; Phil. 1:1; 1 Thess. 5:12, 13; 1 Tim. 5:17).¹

Paul’s instructions to Titus should be interpreted in light of this threefold pattern. To “put what remained into order” means to set in order the third and final item in Paul’s church-planting pattern: appointing pastors/elders.

Some have viewed Titus’s assignment as evidence that elders are a self-perpetuating leadership body, appointed by fellow elders. For that reason, they believe congregational votes regarding church leadership to be unbiblical. They understand the biblical pattern as one qualified pastor’s appointing a new one. But that is not likely what Paul intends by commanding Titus to appoint elders.

Paul instructs Titus to appoint elders, but he does not specify in this text how this appointment process is to unfold. However, other texts help us to see more clearly a pattern for how qualified candidates are to be “appointed” to official church office.

In Acts 6:3, the apostles discuss how they will appoint the first seven deacons to serve the church in Jerusalem.² The deacons are an official church office, and it is possible that the apostles are establishing a pattern for appointment to the other church office—that of elder—as well. The apostles provide a model for us when they say the following to the “full number of the disciples” (Acts 6:2):

“Pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty.” (Acts 6:3)

The word for “appoint” is the same as in Titus 1:5, and thus these appear to be parallel situations of church leaders installing individuals into official church office. In Acts, the “appointment” to office and the “laying on of hands” are the end of a process that includes the congregation “pick[ing] out” the candidates. The “whole gathering . . . chose” the seven deacons and brought them to the apostles (Acts 6:5–6), and then the apostles laid hands on them (Acts 6:6). So the process moves in at least three steps: (1) church leadership recognizes a need for an office to be filled; (2) church leadership calls on the congregation to recognize and select qualified candidates; (3) church leadership prays and lays hands on the candidates to install them into office.

1:6 “Above reproach” translates a Greek term meaning “blameless” or “irreproachable.” The term indicates a “man [who] would not be open to attack or criticism in terms of Christian life in general or in terms of the characteristics that Paul goes on to name.”³ “Above reproach” is a general characteristic fleshed out in the terms that follow.

The elder must be the “husband of one wife.” As explained in the comment on 1 Timothy 3:2, “husband of one wife” denotes a “one-woman man.” The husband, therefore, must exhibit exemplary faithfulness and devotion to his wife. If a man is not faithful to love and lead his own wife like Christ does the church, then he cannot love and lead Christ’s bride. Marriage is a proving ground of church leadership.

The elder must also have children who are “believers” (Titus 1:6), or are “faithful” (cf. ESV mg.; cf. 2 Tim. 2:2). Using nearly identical language, both this text and 1 Timothy 3:4 state that an elder must have children who possess similar characteristics. In 1 Timothy, the elders’ children must be “submissive,” while in Titus his children must be faithful. Both texts denote faithfulness to a father’s authority. An elder’s children must be submissive and faithful and thus not “open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination.”

1:7 Paul repeats from verse 6 the word translated “above reproach” (Gk. ἀνέγκλητος), this time defining it in terms not of family but of character. Verse 7 lists five traits an elder must not exhibit, while verse 8 lists six an elder must possess.

(1) “Must not be arrogant” means that the elder must not be prideful or “self-willed” or “stubborn” (BDAG, s.v. αὐθάδης, italics original). (2) Not being “quick-tempered” forbids an elder from being “inclined to anger” (BDAG, s.v. ὀργίλος, italics original). (3) Not a “drunkard” indicates that the elder must never become inebriated (cf. Eph. 5:18). (4) “Violent” denotes a “violent person who is a brawler,”⁴ thus forbidding an elder from being a bully. (5) Not being “greedy for gain” indicates that an elder must not be a lover of money.

1:8 Paul now lists six positive characteristics an elder must possess: (1) “Hospitable” requires an elder’s home to be open to caring for the needs of others (cf. Heb. 13:2). (2) “Lover of good” indicates that virtue is not merely doing the right thing; it also involves loving the right thing. (3) “Self-controlled” refers to one who is controlled not by his passions, lusts, or idolatries but by the Spirit. This term can have the nuance of sexual decency as well.⁵ (4) “Upright” (dikaios) describes one who lives according to God’s standard of righteousness. (5) “Holy” is not the customary word for holiness, which means “set apart”; the term used here means “devout, pious, pleasing to God” (BDAG, s.v. ὅσιος, italics original). (6) “Disciplined” means that this person has his “emotions, impulses, or desires under control” (BDAG, s.v. ἐγκρατής).

1:9 The elder must hold fast to sound teaching so that he can feed the sheep (i.e., “give instruction”). He must also have the ability through his teaching to protect the sheep: “to rebuke those who contradict” sound doctrine. Thus there is both the positive role of instruction and the negative role of confrontation. It has well been said that “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” Elders must not be “do-nothing good men.” They must be willing to confront false teachers.