<Titus - Lesson 2>

The Just Shall Live By Faith

Romans 1:17 “ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."

Hebrews 10:38 “Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him."

As is often the case with Paul, his introduction and greeting to Titus is a balanced template of God's wisdom and purpose in Christ. In addition we learn that regardless of the difficulties and arduous chores that face any Christian, there is peace and comfort to be found in our hope.

Titus 1:1-4 “Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which accords with godliness, 2 in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began, 3 but has in due time manifested His word through preaching, which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior;

Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior.”

Paul: Paul mentions his relation to God as servant before that of Apostle as a mark of humility and association to Titus and all saints in this parallel. However, as Paul does note, he is an Apostle of Jesus Christ.

An Apostle is simply one sent. It is further described by the one doing the sending and to what he is sent to do, note:

Acts 9:15 -16 “But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel . 16 For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name's sake."

Acts 22:14 -15 “Then he said, 'The God of our fathers has chosen you that you should know His will, and see the Just One, and hear the voice of His mouth. 15 For you will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard .”

Romans 11:13 “For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles , I magnify my ministry,”

1 Corinthians 15:9-11 “For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God . 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. 11 Therefore, whether it was I or they , so we preach and so you believed .”

God's Elect: Paul was commissioned to be an Apostle of Christ to a faith which would produce God's elect. The elect of God carries the same designation as saint. The Apostles of Christ were commissioned with a great mission on behalf of their Messiah, note:

Matthew 28:18-20 “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.

Mark 16:15-16 “And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.”

It is this good news distributed by the preaching and teaching of the Apostles that has produced the necessary faith that leads to obedience ( Romans 1:5 ); this obedience then would lead to the faithful being separated unto God through Christ Jesus as His elect (Christians). This also tells us that one cannot be the elect of God, if he is called by anything else but the Gospel of Christ.

2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 “But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, 14 to which He called you by our gospel , for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Acknowledgment of the Truth: For those who would claim that salvation in Christ is distributed by God without the evident production associated with faith; this stands as evidence contrary to that human theory. Here Paul associates that acknowledgment of the truth produced through the Gospel takes place in the production of godliness in the life of God's elect.

Titus 2:11 -12 “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, 12 teaching us that , denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age,”

Hope: The hope of every servant of God produced through the Gospel's message of salvation is not predicated on anything in this world. It is predicated upon the word of God delivered as a promise in Christ Jesus and on the foundation that God cannot lie, note:

Numbers 23:19 "God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?”

Promised: The first recorded promise of salvation is given to Abraham ( Genesis 12:3; 22:18 ). It spoke of salvation through the seed of Abraham, note:

Galatians 3:8-9 “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, "In you all the nations shall be blessed." 9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.”

The end of this verse (‘before the world' – King James, or ‘before time began'- New King James) is better described by the meaning of the actual Greek word, which means ‘age' or ‘dispensation'. Since the first recorded promise of salvation from God came to Abraham, it came before the organized Mosaic dispensation and denotes that God was looking past this dispensation to something greater (as the Mosaic was a school master to bring us to Christ, Galatians 3:24 ) . This was the teaching of Paul to the churches of Galatia , note:

Galatians 3:16-17 “Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, "And to seeds," as of many, but as of one, "And to your Seed," who is Christ. 17 And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect.”

Preaching: Paul denotes that at the time schedule of God; He manifested the completion of His promise and its deliverance to man, via the vehicle of preaching.

1 Corinthians 1:21 “For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.”

Colossians 1:23 “if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.”

To Titus: Having established God's plan for the salvation of man in Christ; Paul being an ambassador on its behalf, he now recognizes another link in the distribution of the Gospel, Titus. The comments made in the introduction of the series will suffice as explanation of their personal relationship. However, we want to note that they shared intimately the common faith Paul mentioned earlier ( Vs.1 ), and that Titus was an evangelist of that common faith.

Titus 1:5 “ For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you”

For This Reason: Paul denotes the sole reason that Titus was earlier left on the isle of Crete, and that everything forthcoming in this letter would be directed at the completion of this purpose. As was mentioned in the introduction; Titus' work was to be two fold:

The first is given to establish the proper order in the churches according to the direction of the word of God, to include the placement of elders.

The second is given for the maintenance of this proper order, and to defuse those who would undermine and attempt to divide the unity being established.