Titus begins with an elaborate salutation in verses 1-4. Then Paul gets down to business. Verses 5-16 begin the main body of this letter. This extended passage is divided into two sections.  Verses 5-9 explain the nature of Christian leadership.  Verses 10-16 explain the necessity of Christian leadership.  In this message, we’ll focus on the qualifications for elders in verses 5-9. These qualifications parallel the list in 1 Timothy 3:1-7. But Paul did not cut-and-paste the same list and send it to Timothy in Ephesus and Titus in Crete. The two lists have similarities and differences that make them unique. That’s true in terms of their content and their contexts. In 1 Timothy, Paul addresses the importance of teaching and defending sound doctrine first. Then he lists the qualifications for elders in the...

There are twenty-seven books in the New Testament. Twenty-one are Epistles. Thirteen of those letters were written by Paul. Within those Epistles of Paul, there is a subgenre called the Pastoral Epistles. 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus were written to individuals, not churches. Although Philemon was also written to an individual, it is categorized as a Prison Epistle. The Pastoral Epistles were written to men who pastored churches.  Timothy led the church at Ephesus.  Titus led the churches in Crete.  Titus 1:5 states the occasion of this letter: “This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained in order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you.” Paul visited Crete during his third missionary journey. Churches were planted. When Paul continued his travels, he...