Titus 3:1–11

3:1 When Paul tells Titus to “remind them,” he is referring to the ones who have experienced the “grace of God” in 2:11. Thus this reminder is for all of the believers in Crete. Paul explains how they are supposed to relate to those outside of the church (i.e., non-Christians). Verse 1 specifies their relationship to “rulers and authorities” (cf. Luke 12:11; Rom. 13:1). Christians must “be submissive” to governing authorities and obey them and “be ready for every good work”—which includes doing right by the government but likely refers to good works more broadly as well (cf. “good work[s]” in 2 Cor. 9:8; Col. 1:10; 2 Thess. 2:17; 1 Tim. 5:10; 2 Tim. 2:21; 3:17; Titus 1:16; Heb. 13:21). Paul emphasizes that believers must be “ready” for every good work. They must resolve in advance to do God’s will in all of their relationships. This presumes both a knowledge of what God’s revelation requires and a willingness to do it.

3:2 When Paul says to “speak evil of no one” and to “show perfect courtesy toward all people,” he is referring to the Christian’s relationship not merely to governmental authorities but to all people. He sums up the Christian’s obligation to his neighbor in four phrases:

(1) “Speak evil of no one.” To “speak evil” is to “slander, revile, defame” (BDAG, s.v. βλασφημέω, italics original). Christians must not speak ill of their unbelieving neighbors.

(2) “Avoid quarreling” means (lit.) to be “without battle.” It describes a person who is “disinclined to fight, peaceful,” and “not contentious” (LSJ, s.v. ἀμαχός).

(3) “Be gentle” refers to one who is “not insisting on every right of letter of law or custom, yielding, gentle, kind, courteous, tolerant” (BDAG, s.v. ἐπιεικής, italics original); one who is “gracious, forbearing.”¹ The gentle person does not wink at sin or celebrate it but is clear-eyed about sin and righteousness yet nevertheless avoids a judgmental or pharisaical attitude.

(4) “Show perfect courtesy” means not being “overly impressed by a sense of one’s self-importance” (BDAG, s.v. πραΰτης [“courtesy”]). Such a person views the needs and interests of others above his or her own.

3:3 Verse 2 called believers to love their neighbor—to do good to them. Verse 3 tackles a tacit objection that often arises in our hearts when we think about loving our neighbor: sometimes neighbors are not so lovable. Yet Christians were no less unlovable before they came to Christ. For this reason, Christians must be humble and realize that, but for the grace of God, they would be no different than their neighbors.

Paul describes the pre-conversion state of Christians in terms that describe all children of Adam apart from Christ. “Foolish” describes someone who lacks not only knowledge but also sense (cf. Prov. 15:21). A foolish person lacks both information and judgment. Whatever knowledge he does have is undermined by his inability to think rightly (cf. Prov. 26:7).

A “disobedient” person is one who defies authority as a matter of course. “Led astray” translates a term that means “deceived” or perhaps even “deluded” (BDAG, s.v. πλανάω, italics original). This describes one whose mind has not been enlightened by God’s saving revelation in Christ. Rather, he is “enslaved to various desires and pleasures” (AT; cf. comment on “desire” at 2 Tim. 2:22). Such a person is bound by cravings and yearnings for pleasures that God has forbidden. Desire and pleasure are closely related. To paraphrase Friedrich Büchsel, the relation between the two is as follows: when desire is satisfied we have pleasure, and when pleasure is sought we have desire.² In this case, Paul is referring to both pleasures and desires that are sinful.

Before Christ saved us, we were also “passing our days in malice and envy.” “Malice” refers to a “mean-spirited or vicious attitude or disposition.” The malicious person is not kindly disposed toward his neighbor but is malignant toward him. Likewise, “envy” has in view feelings of discontentment or resentment due to a desire to have the possessions or characteristics of another (cf. American Heritage Dictionary, s.v. “malice” and “envy”).

The Greek term translated “hated” can have one of two meanings: “hated” or “hateful.” Louw and Nida’s lexicon notes both possible nuances: “pertaining to being hated or regarded as worthy of being hated.”³ In any case, the term emphasizes the fact that unredeemed humanity is the opposite of lovable. Moreover, unredeemed humanity does not love as God calls people to love. It is in fact “hating one another.”

So Paul depicts the pre-conversion state of Christians as one of utter darkness and corruption. Because Christians come from such fallenness, they must exercise humility toward their neighbors who now are what they themselves once were.

3:4 This verse details the divine attributes that make God kindly disposed toward sinners. Salvation came to sinners “when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared.” The terms “goodness and loving kindness” describe the gracious disposition of God that motivates his saving purposes toward his people. “Goodness” refers to God’s “kindness” and “generosity” toward sinners (BDAG, s.v. χρηστότης, italics original). “Loving kindness” denotes God’s “affectionate concern for and interest in humanity” (BDAG, s.v. φιλανθρωπία). These attributes of God “appeared” not only in the historical life and work of Jesus but also in the apostolic gospel proclaiming that work. Thus, Jesus appeared in history but also appears to sinners in the gospel. When he appears to sinners in the gospel, his appearing saves them.

3:5 “He saved us.” This salvation occurred in the past in the same sense that God’s goodness and loving kindness “appeared” in the past (cf. comment on v. 4). Jesus appeared in history, but he has also appeared to sinners when they encounter the gospel. Likewise, God saved sinners through Christ’s redemptive work in history, and he has saved sinners when they by faith encounter Christ’s work in the gospel. In this sense, salvation is purchased by Christ and effected within sinners in the past. This does not mean, however, that salvation is merely a past event for the sinner who experiences it. The verb “saved” means to rescue from judgment and from all that might lead to that judgment, e.g., sin. Thus, even though “he saved us” in the past in some sense, there are present (e.g., 1 Cor. 1:18) and future (e.g., Rom. 5:9–10) components of this salvation as well.

Nevertheless, in this text Paul wishes to emphasize the sinner’s past entry into salvation, and he does so because he wants to highlight the gracious, non-meritorious character of that entry. God saves sinners “not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy.” Sinners enter into salvation only because of God’s mercy in Christ. Salvation causes good works, but it is not caused by good works. Both Christ’s saving work and the sinner’s entry into it by faith occur as a result of the mercy and love of God toward sinners.

God’s mercy gives birth to the sinner’s subjective experience of salvation through Christ. That merciful experience involves “the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.” This phrase forms a small chiasm that helps us to understand what Paul means by these terms:

1. A “washing”
   1. B “of regeneration”
   2. B' “renewal”
2. A' “of the Holy Spirit”

“Washing” refers to the work of the Holy Spirit in cleansing an individual from sin (cf. “washing” in Eph. 5:26; cf. also Ezek. 36:25–27; John 13:10; Acts 22:16; 1 Cor. 6:11; Heb. 10:22). In particular, this is the “washing of regeneration,” which is the new birth effected by the Holy Spirit. This new birth effects an ongoing “renewal” by the Holy Spirit that sanctifies the sinner.

3:6 The Holy Spirit is “poured out” on sinners “through Jesus Christ” (cf. Acts 2:33). To say that the Holy Spirit is “poured out” on sinners “richly” means that the sinner experiences the Holy Spirit fully. The salvation Jesus provides leaves nothing lacking as far as the Spirit is concerned. Every Christian receives a full measure of the Spirit’s saving and sanctifying presence.

3:7 “So that” introduces the purpose of the pouring out of the Spirit on sinners, which is oriented toward a future hope: the Spirit is poured out so that sinners may become “heirs,” or “beneficiaries” (BDAG, s.v. κληρονόμος, italics original). What benefit do they receive through the Spirit? “Eternal life.” But here Paul emphasizes the “hope of eternal life.” Hope is not wishful thinking in Paul’s usage; it is a confident expectation of what God has promised to do for his people in the future. Here the “hope” is a confident expectation of eternal life after death. Christians become beneficiaries “according to” this confident expectation. But this future hope is grounded in having been “justified by his grace.” In Paul’s usage, “justified” is a forensic concept indicating a person has been declared righteous by faith (cf. Rom. 3:20, 24, 28; 4:2; 5:1, 9; Gal. 2:16; 3:11, 24; 5:4; Phil. 3:12). In this sense, justification is not the infusion of righteousness but the imputation of it.⁵

3:8 On “the saying is trustworthy,” cf. comment on 1 Timothy 1:15. The “trustworthy” logos refers not to a generic “word” but specifically to the gospel message faithfully handed down by the apostles. Thus if Titus 3:4–7 were a baptismal creed, it was a creed deriving from the apostolic tradition and thus worthy of full acceptance by anyone who heard it.

Paul wishes for Titus to “insist” that the “saying” be received by the congregation in Crete. The believers will not be able to love as they have been loved if they do not comprehend the truth of the saying. If they do not have a low view of themselves (v. 3) and a high view of God’s mercy and grace (vv. 4–7), they may develop a high view of themselves and a low view of God’s mercy and grace. The results of such a reversal would be catastrophic for the “good works” they are called to perform for their neighbors. Believers are to “be careful to devote themselves to good works.” Such good works are “profitable for people,” i.e., for sinners outside the church and in need of grace. But if the believers in Crete fail to see how they themselves have been graced, they will be in no position to offer grace to others.

3:9 Paul commands Titus to avoid the false teaching of which he already warned in chapter 1 (1:10, 16). Titus is to avoid the bile that false teachers are seeking to spew into the church: “foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law.” As mentioned above, we cannot be sure of the precise nature of the false teaching, but we do know that it involved some distortion of God’s law that undermined the gospel Paul preached.

Notice the connection between verses 8 and 9. In verse 9, Paul says that this kind of false teaching is “unprofitable and worthless.” This contrasts with the “good works” of love that are “profitable” in verse 8. Thus false teaching undermines the testimony of good works of kindness and mercy, which avail nothing if the congregation is marked by heresy and division. Thus Paul suggests the drastic measures in verse 10.

3:10 Paul now circles back to where he started this letter: the confrontation of false teachers. The person who “stirs up division” is the one peddling false teaching—the kind of teaching that undermines Paul’s message (cf. comments on 1:10–16). After two warnings, the apostle directs, “have nothing more to do with him.” This means to reject the false teacher and is the same term Paul uses to command Timothy to reject false teaching (cf. 1 Tim. 4:7; 2 Tim. 2:23). The false teacher must be removed from the congregation. This is in line with Matthew 18:15–17: confront a sinning brother in private; then confront him with witnesses (first warning); then bring it to the church (second warning); and finally, if he fails to repent, excommunicate him.

3:11 Paul explains why the church must remove the unrepentant false teacher: “such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.” “Warped” renders a form of the verb that means to “cause to turn aside from what is considered true or morally proper, turn aside, pervert” (BDAG, s.v. ἐκστρέφω, italics original). The false teachers are deeply flawed morally. Their hearts are not in the right place; rather, they are “sinful,” indicating their liability to judgment. They are also “self-condemned”: If the false teacher refuses to repent after repeated warnings, his condemnation is his own fault. He must bear the punishment of excommunication because of his own obstinacy and sin.