Titus 3:1 - Meaning and Application

Here is the fourth part of the epistle’s instruction. Paul had already told Titus how to address the special duties of different kinds of people. Now he tells him to press on the duties that belong to everyone in common: calmness, submission to rulers, readiness to do good, and kind, fair treatment of all people. These are things that fit religion well and make it look beautiful. So Titus must keep reminding believers of them.

Ministers are people’s reminders of their duty. Just as they pray to God for the people (Isaiah 62:6), so they speak from God to the people in preaching: “I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance” (2 Peter 1:12). Forgetting duty is a common weakness, so people need to be stirred up again and again. Paul now names the duties themselves and the reasons for them.

First, they must be subject to rulers and obey magistrates. Government is God’s ordering for the good of all people, so all should respect and submit to it. This obedience should not come only from fear of punishment, but willingly, because conscience calls for it. By “principalities, powers, and magistrates,” Paul means all civil rulers, whether highest or lower, under whatever form of government people live.

Christians were being slandered as if their faith made them bad citizens, against kings and public order, and ready for rebellion. So, to silence foolish ignorance and stop malicious mouths, Christians must show clear examples of proper submission and obedience to the government over them. The natural desire for freedom must be guided and limited by Scripture and good sense. Spiritual privileges do not cancel civil duties, they strengthen them.

Second, they are to be ready for every good work. Some take this to mean the good works required by rulers and those that support public order and peace. That is included, but Paul means more than that. He means all kinds of good deeds, on every occasion, whether toward God, ourselves, or our neighbors, anything that brings honor to religion in the world.

We are to think on whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, and commendable, and then do and support such things (Philippians 4:8). Mere harmlessness, or kind words and good intentions, are not enough without good works. Pure and undefiled religion is to care for orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unstained by the world (James 1:27). We should not only accept chances to do good, but look for them, stay ready for them, and gladly take hold of them ourselves.

Third, they are to speak evil of no one. The word means to slander, curse, or insult no one. More generally, it means not to speak evil of people unjustly, falsely, or needlessly, especially when it can do harm and no good. If nothing good can be said, it is better to say nothing than to speak evil without cause. We must not take pleasure in bad talk about others, or make the worst of things when we can fairly make the best of them.

We must not go around as gossipers, carrying harmful stories that damage a neighbor’s name and break Christian love. False hints, unfair guesses about motives, or claims of hypocrisy where we do not have clear knowledge, all fall under this warning. This sin is common and very harmful. If anyone seems religious and does not control his tongue, that person’s religion is worthless (James 1:26).

Such careless, unkind speech displeases God and hurts people. “Whoever covers an offense seeks love,” but “whoever repeats a matter separates close friends” (Proverbs 17:9). The one who keeps spreading faults breaks friendships apart and stirs up division. This is among the sins believers must put away (Ephesians 4:31), because if it is allowed to grow, it makes people unfit for Christian fellowship here and the blessed company of heaven (1 Corinthians 6:10).

Fourth, they are to be no brawlers, meaning no fighters, with either hand or tongue. Christians must not be quarrelsome people, always ready to answer harshly or provoke others. There is a right kind of contending for what is good and important, but it must be done with a fitting spirit, not with anger or harmful force. Christians should follow what leads to peace, and do it in a peaceable way, as servants of the God of peace and love (Romans 12:19).

“Dearly beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but leave room for God’s anger” is the Christian rule. It is wise and right to avoid quick retaliation. “The glory of a man is to pass over a transgression.” A reasonable person, and certainly a Christian whose reason is shaped by religion, should not instantly attack someone who has wronged him. Instead, like God, he should be slow to anger and ready to forgive.

Fighting and strife come from people’s own lusts and out-of-control passions, which must be held back, not fed. Christians need to be reminded of this, so they do not dishonor God or weaken religion by a hot, contentious spirit. They also must not stir up feuds where they live. “He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city” (Proverbs 16:32).

So Paul adds that they must be gentle, fair, and reasonable. This means being candid and just in judging things, not taking words or actions in the worst way. It also means yielding a little of strict right when peace calls for it. And they must show all meekness toward all people. That means a mild spirit, not only in the heart but in speech and conduct too. This meekness is to be shown in every case, not only toward friends, but toward all people, while still keeping wisdom, as James teaches (James 3:13).

We should tell the person and the sin apart, pity the person, and hate the sin. We should also tell one sin from another, and not treat everything as the same, for there are small faults and great ones.

We should make a difference between one sinner and another. Some people need compassion, while others must be rescued with fear, as if pulled out of a fire (Jude 1:22-23). We should keep these duties in mind. The wisdom from above is pure, peaceable, gentle, and easy to appeal to. A meek spirit and gentle behavior make religion attractive. They are a commanded imitation of Christ, our great example, and they bring their own reward in the peace they give and the blessings that follow.

These are the duties Titus was to remind people of. Paul then gives the reasons for them, and the first comes from our own past condition. Thinking about what people are by nature is a strong reason for fairness, patience, and kindness toward those who are still unconverted. It helps pull down pride and stirs pity and hope. We ourselves were once like this, sinful and corrupt, so we should not be harsh, bitter, or severe toward others who are only where we once were.

Paul describes that past condition in several ways. We ourselves were once foolish, without true spiritual understanding and ignorant of heavenly things. Those who remember their own foolishness should be more ready to bear with the foolishness of others. We were also disobedient, stubborn, and unwilling to be persuaded. We resisted God’s word and even went against the natural laws he has written into human life. How foolish it is to disobey God, since that goes against right reason and our true good.

We were also deceived, or wandering away from the path of truth and holiness. In our fallen state, people are prone to drift, like lost sheep that must be sought and brought back (Psalm 119:176). We are also weak and easily tricked by Satan’s lies and by people who try to lead us astray. We were serving various lusts and pleasures like slaves under harsh masters. People think a fleshly life is freedom, but Scripture calls it bondage. Sin promises liberty, yet those who give in become servants of corruption, because a person is enslaved by whatever defeats him.

Paul adds that we lived in malice and envy. Malice wants harm for another person and takes pleasure in it. Envy resents another person’s good and is troubled by his success. These are roots of bitterness, from which many evils grow, such as evil thoughts, evil speech, and words that damage a neighbor’s good name. This was the sin of Satan and of Cain, who belonged to the evil one and killed his brother because his own works were evil and his brother’s righteous. We were once like this in our natural state.

Paul goes on to say we were hateful and hating one another. Those who live in sin are hateful to God and to all good people, though their persons are not hateful in the same way as their sinful ways and temper are. It is one misery of sinners that they hate one another. In contrast, it is both the duty and the joy of believers to love one another. So when we remember what we were, we should be more even-tempered, gentle, meek, and tenderhearted toward those who are still in that condition.

The second reason comes from our present state. We have been brought out of that miserable condition, but not because of any merit or strength in ourselves. It was only by God’s mercy and free grace, Christ’s worth, and the Spirit’s work. So we have no reason, as far as ourselves are concerned, to condemn the unconverted. Instead, we should pity them and hope for them, since they too may obtain mercy, just as we did. Paul then opens up again the causes of our salvation (Titus 3:4-7).

First, he shows the chief author of our salvation, God the Father, here called God our Savior. All things come from God, who reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:18). Everything connected with the new creation and the rescue of fallen people to life and happiness comes from God the Father as the planner and starter of the work. There is order in this work, just as there is order in God’s being: the Father begins, the Son carries it out, and the Holy Spirit works and completes it. God the Father saves through Christ and by the Spirit. God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). He is the Father of Christ, and through Christ he is the Father of mercies. All spiritual blessings come from him through Christ (Ephesians 1:3). We rejoice in God through Jesus Christ (Romans 5:11), and with one mind and one voice we glorify God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 15:5).

Second, Paul points to the spring and source of this salvation, the kindness and love of God toward humanity.

By grace we are saved from first to last. That is the great ground and motive behind it all. God’s pity and mercy toward people in misery were, as it were, the first wheel, or rather the Spirit in the wheels, that set everything in motion and keeps it moving. God is not, and cannot be, pushed by anything outside himself.

The need is in us, namely, our misery and brokenness. Sin brings that misery, so wrath might have come instead of compassion. Yet God, knowing how to bring everything into harmony with his own honor and goodness, chose to pity and save rather than destroy. He delights in mercy. Where sin increased, grace increased even more. We read of the riches of God’s goodness and mercy (Romans 2:4; Ephesians 2:7). Let us admit this and give him the glory, not turning it into wild living, but into thankfulness and obedience.

Here is the means, or instrument, of salvation: the shining out of God’s love and grace in the gospel, when it appeared in the word. The appearing of this love and grace has great power, through the Spirit, to soften hearts, change lives, and turn people to God. In that way, it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.

So, having shown that God is the author, that free grace is the source, and that the gospel’s revelation of this grace is the means, Paul removes false grounds and motives. It is “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy” that he saved us. Not for works God saw ahead of time, but by his own free grace and mercy alone. Good works must be present in those who are saved, where there is room for them, but they are not the cause of salvation. They are the road to the kingdom, not the price that earns it. Everything rests on undeserved favor and mercy from first to last.

Election, meaning God’s choosing, is by grace. We are chosen to be holy, not because God first saw that we would be holy (Ephesians 1:4). Holiness is the result, not the reason, of election: “God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth” (2 Thessalonians 2:13). The same is true of effectual calling, God’s call that truly brings a person to faith. In that calling, election breaks out and becomes visible: “He has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began” (2 Timothy 1:9).

We are justified, or declared right with God, freely by grace (Romans 3:24), and we are sanctified and saved by grace too: “By grace you are saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8). Faith and every saving grace are God’s free gift and his work. Their beginning, growth, and perfection in glory all come from him. In building people into a holy temple for God, from the foundation to the top stone, we must say nothing but, “Grace, grace unto it.” It is not of works, so that no one can boast. It is of grace, so that the one who boasts may boast only in the Lord.

Here is the formal cause of salvation, that is, what salvation consists in at least at its beginning: regeneration, or spiritual renewal. Old things pass away, and all things become new, not in the body, but in the moral and spiritual life. It is still the same person, but with new dispositions and habits. Evil ways are removed for now in their power and rule, and every remaining trace of them will be removed in time when the work is completed in heaven. A new ruling principle of grace and holiness is worked in, one that inclines, directs, and governs the person, making him a new man and a new creature. He has new thoughts, desires, and affections, and a new holy pattern of life and action. This is the life of God in a person, not only from God in a special way, but shaped toward him and moving toward him.

This is salvation begun, and what God begins he will certainly bring to completion. That is why Scripture can speak of it as already done: “He saved us.” What is sure to be finished in time is often spoken of as though it were already complete. We should pay close attention to this now, without delay. If we would have good reason to expect full salvation in heaven, we must be saved in this beginning way now, through regeneration. Then the change will be one of degree, not of kind. Grace is glory begun, and glory is grace brought to perfection.

How few people truly care about this. Most act as if they are afraid to be happy too soon. They say they want heaven at the end, but they do not want holiness now. In other words, they want the finish without the start. That is how foolish sinners are. Without regeneration, the first resurrection, there is no reaching the second glorious one, the resurrection of the just. So here is inward salvation, the new divine life worked by the gospel.

Here is also the outward sign and seal of this in baptism, which is why it is called “the washing of regeneration.” The work itself is inward and spiritual, but it is shown outwardly and sealed in this ordinance. Water naturally cleanses and removes dirt, so it was fitting to picture the removal of the guilt and defilement of sin by the blood and Spirit of Christ, though that natural fitness alone would not have been enough without Christ’s appointment. This is what makes baptism, on God’s side, a seal of righteousness by faith, as circumcision was before it, and on our side, a pledge that we belong to the Lord. In this way, baptism saves figuratively and sacramentally when it is rightly used.

“Arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16). And again, “That he might sanctify and cleanse us with the washing of water by the word” (Ephesians 5:26). Do not neglect this outward sign and seal when you can receive it according to Christ’s command. Yet do not rest in the outward washing. Look instead to the response of a good conscience, without which the outward washing means nothing.

The covenant sealed in baptism requires duties as well as giving benefits and privileges. If the duties are ignored, it is pointless to expect the benefits. Do not separate what God has joined together. In baptism, both the outward and inward parts belong together. Just as the one circumcised became responsible to keep the whole law (Galatians 5:3), so the one baptized is bound to the gospel, to keep all its commands and ordinances as Christ appointed. “Make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19, 20).

Here, then, is the outward sign and seal of salvation, baptism, called “the washing of regeneration.”

Here also is the chief working cause, the Spirit of God, for it is “the renewing of the Holy Ghost.” This does not leave out the Father and the Son, who work together in all their actions outside themselves. It also does not leave out the use of means, such as the word and the sacraments, through which the Spirit works. It is through his power that they become savingly effective. In the work of our salvation, the Spirit especially receives credit for applying it and bringing it about. We are said to be born of the Spirit, made alive and made holy by the Spirit, and led, guided, strengthened, and helped by the Spirit.

Through him we put sin to death, do our duty, and walk in God’s ways. All the actions and work of the divine life in us, and all the works and fruits of righteousness around us, come through this blessed and holy Spirit. That is why he is called the Spirit of life, grace, and holiness. All grace comes from him.

So we should earnestly seek him and pay close attention to him, so that we do not quench his holy promptings or resist his work. The Spirit is delicate, and how we act toward him shapes how he deals with us. If we ignore, resist, and fight against his work, he will lessen it. If we keep grieving him, he will withdraw. “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30). The Spirit seals by renewing and sanctifying us, that is, by making us new and holy, and by witnessing and assuring us. He marks out believers for salvation and fits them for it. This is his work, because we could not turn to God by our own strength any more than we could be justified by our own righteousness.

Here is also the way God gives this Spirit, and the gifts and graces that come with him, not sparingly, but freely and abundantly. “He poured out on us richly.” More of the Spirit, in his gifts and graces, is given under the gospel than was given under the law. That is why the gospel is called the ministry of the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:8). God has given his church some measure of the Spirit in every age, but there is a fuller outpouring in gospel times, since Christ came, than there was before.

The law came through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. That means a richer giving of grace, just as the promises and prophecies had foretold. “I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground. I will pour my Spirit on your descendants, and my blessing on your offspring” (Isaiah 44:3). This is the greatest and best blessing, an outpouring of grace and the Spirit’s holy gifts. “I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh” (Joel 2:28), not on Jews only, but on Gentiles too. This was to happen in gospel times, and so it did (Acts 2:17-18, Acts 2:33). Peter said that Christ, risen and ascended, had received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, and had poured out what the people were then seeing and hearing. The same thing happened in Acts 10:44-45, when the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word, Gentiles as well as Jews.

This was shown in a great measure through miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit, but it was not without his sanctifying grace, which came with many, if not all, of them. There was then a great abundance of common gifts, like understanding, outward calling, profession, and general faith. There were also more special gifts of sanctification, such as faith, hope, love, and other graces of the Spirit. We should seek our share in these. What good will it do if much is poured out and we remain dry? Our guilt will only be greater if we stay without grace under such a rich display of grace. “Be filled with the Spirit,” says the apostle. This is both our duty and our privilege, because God has given us gospel means that he is ready to bless and make effective. This is how God gives grace and every spiritual blessing under the gospel, richly. He is not limited toward us, but we are limited in ourselves.

Here is the source of it all, Jesus Christ our Savior. Through him we receive the Spirit and his saving gifts and graces. All come through him, and through him as Savior, whose work it is to bring us to grace and glory. He is our righteousness and peace, and our head, the one from whom we receive all spiritual life and influence. God has made him our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. So let us praise God for him above all. Let us come to the Father through him, and use him for every holy and saving purpose. If we have grace, let us thank the Father, Son, and Spirit for it. Let us count everything else as loss and refuse compared with the worth of knowing him, and keep growing in that knowledge more and more.

Here are the ends for which we are brought into this new spiritual condition: justification, inheritance, and the hope of eternal life. “So that, being justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” Justification, in the gospel sense, is God freely forgiving a sinner and accepting him as righteous through Christ’s righteousness received by faith. It means guilt is removed, along with the punishment that guilt deserved, and the person is accepted and treated as righteous in God’s sight. God does this freely for us, yet through Christ’s sacrifice and righteousness, which faith lays hold of (Romans 3:20, etc.). “By works of the law no one will be justified,” but through “the righteousness of God” that comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. So we are “justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,” whom God set forth as a propitiation, a sacrifice that turns away wrath, through faith in his blood, to show his righteousness in forgiving sins, so that he would be just and the justifier of the one who believes in Jesus (Romans 3:24).

In justifying a sinner by the gospel way, God is gracious to the sinner and still just to himself and his law. Forgiveness comes through a perfect righteousness, and justice is satisfied by Christ, who is the propitiation for sin, not by any merit in the sinner. That is the point here: “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, so that, being justified by his grace, we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” It is by grace as the spring and source, as was said before, though through the redemption in Christ as the way opened for us, with God’s law and justice satisfied, and by faith applying that redemption. “By him,” by Christ, “everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:39). That is why the apostle wanted to be found in Christ, not having his own righteousness from the law, but the righteousness that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God by faith.

So we must not trust our own righteousness or any merit from good works, but Christ’s righteousness alone, received by faith for justification and acceptance with God. We must have inward righteousness, and the fruit of it in obedient works. But these are not our justifying righteousness before God. They are the fruit of our justification, proof that we belong to Christ, preparation for life and happiness, and even the beginning and part of that life itself. Still, the gaining of all this comes through Christ, so that, being justified by his grace, we should become heirs.

Notice this: our justification comes by God’s grace, and that justification by grace is necessary if we are to become heirs of eternal life. Without that justification, there can be no adoption as sons, and therefore no right to inherit.

(John 1:12) Whoever received him, that is, Christ, to those he gave the right to become children of God, to all who believed in his name. Eternal life is held out to us in the promise. The Spirit works faith in us and hope of that life. In this way we are made heirs of it, and we even have a kind of present share in it now. Faith and hope bring it near and fill us with joy in the sure expectation of it.

The humblest believer is a rich heir. Even if he does not yet have his full portion in hand, he has good hope through grace and can stand firm through every hardship. A better state lies ahead. He is waiting for an inheritance that cannot be destroyed, spoiled, or fade away, kept in heaven for him. What comfort such words should give us.

All of this gives a strong reason why we should show gentleness to all people. We have already received so much from God’s kindness and love, and we may hope that they, in God’s time, may share the same grace we have received. This is why Christians should treat others with equal, gentle, meek, and tender conduct. They should remember their own bad condition in the past, and the happier state into which God’s grace has brought them, not because they deserved it. The same grace can bring others in as well.

The apostle, after opening the duties of Christians in general, along with the reasons that come from their own condition, adds another reason from their usefulness and kindness toward other people. Notice that once he has spoken of God’s grace toward us, he immediately presses the need for good works. We must not expect the benefit of God’s mercy unless we are careful to do our duty (Titus 3:8). This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to keep stressing constantly, that is, this is true Christian teaching of the highest importance, and ministers must keep urging it. Those who have believed in God must not think that a bare, empty faith will save them. Faith must be alive and active, producing the fruit of righteousness. They must make it their concern to maintain good works, not only doing them when the chance happens, but looking for chances to do them.

These things are good and useful to people. Some understand this as referring to the good works themselves, while others take it as the teaching of these things rather than useless debates. In either case, the meaning is that these things are good in themselves, and the teaching of them is helpful to mankind, making people a benefit to others in the places where they live. Ministers, when they teach, must be sure they present what is sound and good in itself, and what is profitable to those who hear. Everything should aim at building up both people and communities.