We will begin this book of Titus with an introduction.

Titus

He was a Greek, who accompanied Paul to Jerusalem, whose circumcision Paul steadfastly resisted [Galatians 2:3-5].  Titus was one of Paul’s converts [Titus 1:4].

Some year later he appears with Paul in Ephesus, and is sent to Corinth to look after certain disorders, and to initiate the offering for the poor saints in Jerusalem [2 Corinthians 8:6, 10].  Returning from Corinth, he meets Paul in Macedonia, and, after explaining the situation to Paul, he is then sent back to Corinth, ahead of Paul, bearing the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, to pave the way for Paul’s coming, and to complete the offering [2 Corinthians 2:3, 12-13; 7:5-6, 13-14; 8:16-18, 23; 12:14, 18].  The fact that Titus was chosen to look after the troublous situation in Corinth indicates that Paul must have considered him a very capable, wise and tactful Christian leader. ~Halley’s Bible Handbook

Notice this now from the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia:

Titus (2 Corinthians 2:13; 7:6, 13 ff; 8:6, 16, 23; 12:18; Ga1atians:2:1, 3; 2 Timothy 4:10; Titus 1:4):

1. One of Paul's Converts:

A Greek Christian, one of Paul's intimate friends, his companion in some of his apostolic journeys, and one of his assistants in Christian work. His name does not occur in the Acts; and, elsewhere in the New Testament, it is found only in 2 Corinthians, Galatians, 2 Timothy and Titus. As Paul calls him "my true child after a common faith" (Titus 1:4), it is probable that he was one of the apostle's converts.

2. Paul Refuses to Have Him Circumcised:

The first notice of Titus is in Acts 15:2, where we read that after the conclusion of Paul's 1st missionary journey, when he had returned to Antioch, a discussion arose in the church there, in regard to the question whether it was necessary that Gentile Christians should be circumcised and should keep the Jewish Law. It was decided that Paul and Barnabas, "and certain other of them," should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders about this question. The "certain other of them" includes Titus, for in Galatians 2:3 it is recorded that Titus was then with Paul. The Judaistic party in the church at Jerusalem desired to have Titus circumcised, but Paul gave no subjection to these persons and to their wishes, "no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you" (Galatians 2:5). The matter in dispute was decided as recorded in Acts 15:13-29. The decision was in favor of the free promulgation of the gospel, as preached by Paul, and unrestricted by Jewish ordinances. Paul's action therefore [regarding] Titus was justified. In fact, Titus was a representative or test case.

It is difficult and perhaps impossible to give the true reason why Titus is not mentioned by name in the Acts, but he is certainly referred to in Acts 15:2. ~ International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

Acts 15:1-2
1 And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.
2 When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.

Notice the commentary:

And certain other of them - If this be the journey to which Paul alludes, Galatians 2:1-5, then he had Titus with him; and how many elders went from the Church of Antioch we cannot tell. This journey was 14 years after Paul’s conversion, and was undertaken by express revelation, as he informs us, Galatians 2:2, which revelation appears to have been given to certain persons in the Church of Antioch, as we learn from this verse, and not to Paul and Barnabas themselves. ~Adam Clarke

With the introduction done, we will go now to this lesson.

This section has 4 verses:

1 Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness;
2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;
3 But hath in due times manifested his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Saviour;
4 To Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour.

We will begin with the Barclay:

TITUS
THE TRUE NATURE OF APOSTLESHIP
This is a letter from Paul, the slave of God and the envoy of Jesus Christ, whose task it is to awaken faith in God’s chosen ones, and to equip them with a fuller knowledge of that truth, which enables a man to live a really religious life, and whose whole work is founded on the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began. In his own good time, God set forth his message plain for all to see in the proclamation with which I have been entrusted by the royal command of God our Saviour. This letter is to Titus, his true son in the faith they both share. Grace be to you and peace from God the Father and from Christ Jesus our Saviour.

WHEN Paul summoned one of his followers to a task, he always began by setting out his own right to speak and, as it were, laying again the foundations of the gospel. So, he begins here by saying certain things about his apostleship.

(1) It set him in a great succession. Right at the beginning, Paul calls himself ‘the slave [doulos] of God’. That was a title held with a mixture of humility and legitimate pride. It meant that his life had been totally submitted to God; at the same time – and this was where the pride came in – it was the title that was given to the prophets and the great figures of the past. Moses was the slave of God (Joshua 1:2); and Joshua, his successor, would have claimed no higher title (Joshua 24:29).

It was to the prophets, his slaves, that God revealed all his intentions (Amos 3:7); it was his slaves the prophets whom God had repeatedly sent to Israel throughout the history of the nation (Jeremiah 7:25). The title slave of God was one which gave Paul the right to take his place in a great succession.

When we join [are called to] the Church, we do not join an institution which began yesterday. The Church has centuries of human history behind it and goes back into eternity in the mind and intention of God. When men and women take upon themselves any part of the preaching, or the teaching, or the serving work of the Church, they do not enter into a service which is without traditions; they follow in the footsteps of the saints who have gone before.

(2) It gave him a great authority. He was the messenger of Jesus Christ. Paul never thought of his authority as coming from his own mental excellence, still less from his own moral goodness. It was in the authority of Christ that he spoke. Those who preach the gospel of Christ or teach his truth, if they are truly dedicated, do not talk about their own opinions or offer their own conclusions; they come with Christ’s message and with God’s word. The true messenger of Christ has passed the stage of ‘perhaps’ and ‘maybe’ and ‘possibly’, and speaks with the certainty of one who knows. ~Barclay Commentary

Let us go to the other commentaries beginning with the general and going to the specific.

This section has 4 verses:

1 Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness;
2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;
3 But hath in due times manifested his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Saviour;
4 To Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour.

First to the Matthew Henry Concise:

All are the servants of God who are not slaves of sin and Satan. All gospel truth is according to godliness, teaching the fear of God. The intent of the gospel is to raise up hope as well as faith; to take off the mind and heart from the world, and to raise them [to heavenly things]. How excellent then is the gospel, which was the matter of Divine promise so early, and what thanks are due for our privileges! Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God; and whoso is appointed and called, must preach the word. Grace is the free favour of God, and acceptance with him. Mercy, the fruits of the favour, in the pardon of sin, and freedom from all miseries both here and hereafter. And peace is the effect and fruit of mercy. Peace with God through Christ who is our Peace, and with the creatures and ourselves. Grace is the fountain of all blessings. Mercy, and peace, and all good, spring out of this. ~Matthew Henry Concise

Now this from the F. B. Meyer

God’s elect are known by their faith, and wherever they hear the voice of truth, which makes for godliness, they recognize and acknowledge it. They are also inspired by a great hope, and that hope cannot be disappointed, because it is founded on the promise and oath of the God who cannot lie, Hebrews 6:19. God’s promise for us has been in His heart from all eternity, but it was hidden until the gospel was proclaimed in the power of the Holy Spirit. The germ-thought of eternity has been realized in Jesus and is unfolded in the gospel. Note the frequent recurrence in this Epistle of the phrase, God our Savior.

The ordering of these early churches was very important. The presiding officers must be godly and consistent men, and able to commend the gospel by their lives. These natural traits of a holy man should be pondered and appropriated by us all; and we must all hold fast to the Word of God, which has been found trustworthy by countless myriads [the firstfruits before us]. Many are the seducing voices in the present day that counsel slackening faith and relaxing grasp.

“If all the wiles that men devise beset our faith with treacherous art,
We’ll call them vanity and lies, and bind the gospel to our heart.” ~F. B. Meyer

We will now go to the specific commentaries.

This verse is roughly broken out in three parts. Some will split the first one into two parts. Some will split into two parts the last part I am about to give you.

1] Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ.
2] According to the faith of God's elect.
3] And the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness.


1] Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ.

Paul, a servant of God - In several places of his other epistles Paul styles himself the servant of Jesus Christ, but this is the only place where he calls himself the servant of God. Some think that he did this to vindicate himself against the Jews, who supposed he had renounced God when he admitted the Gentiles into his Church. But if thus to vindicate himself was at all necessary, why was it not done in his Epistle to the Romans, the grand object of which was to prove that the Gentiles came legally into the Church on believing in Christ, without submitting to circumcision, or being laid under obligation to observe the rites and ceremonies of the Jewish law? This reason seems too fanciful. It is very likely that in the use of the phrase the apostle had no particular design; for, according to him, he who is the servant of Christ is the servant of God, and he who is God’s servant is also the servant of Christ. ~Adam Clarke

2] According to the faith of God's elect.
According to the faith — rather, “for,” “with a view to subserve the faith”; this is the object of my apostleship (compare Titus 1:4, Titus 1:9; Romans 1:5). ~Jamieson, Fausset, Brown

Quoted verses:
Titus 1:4 [see Lesson]
To Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour.

Titus 1:9 [see Lesson]
Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.

Romans 1:5
By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name:

The elect — for whose sake we ought to endure all things (2 Timothy 2:10). This election has its ground, not in anything belonging to those thus distinguished, but in the purpose and will of God from everlasting (2 Timothy 1:9; Romans 8:30-33; compare Luke 18:7; Ephesians 1:4; Colossians 3:12). Acts 13:48 shows that all faith on the part of the elect, rests on the divine foreordination: they do not become elect by their faith, but receive faith, and so become believers, because they are elect. ~Jamieson, Fausset, Brown

Quoted verses:
2 Timothy 1:9 [see Lesson]
Who hath saved us, and called us with an 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.

Romans 8:30-33
30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.

Luke 18:7
And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?

Ephesians 1:4
According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

Colossians 3:12
Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;

Acts 13:48
And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.

3] And the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness.

And the acknowledging of the truth - by which is meant the Gospel, often called the truth, and the word of truth; in distinction from that which was shadowy, the ceremonies of the law; and in opposition to that which is false, it being from the God of truth, concerning Christ, who is the truth; and containing nothing but truth, and what is led into by the Spirit of truth. Now to preach, spread, and defend this, was the apostle constituted in his office as such; and which he did preach with all clearness and faithfulness, to bring souls to a spiritual and experimental knowledge of it, and so to an acknowledgment, a public owning and professing of it: ~John Gill

The acknowledging of the truth - For the propagation of that truth, or system of doctrines, which is calculated to promote godliness, or a holy and useful life. ~Adam Clarke

And the acknowledging of the truth - In order to secure the acknowledgment or recognition of the truth. The object of the apostleship, as it is of the ministry in general, is to secure the proper acknowledgment of the truth among men. ~Barnes Notes

And the acknowledging of the truth — “and (for promoting) the full knowledge of the truth,” that is, the Christian truth (Ephesians 1:13). ~Jamieson, Fausset, Brown

Quoted verse:
Ephesians 1:13
In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

Which is after godliness - the Gospel is a doctrine according to godliness; the truths of it have an influence, both on internal and external godliness; they direct to, and promote the worship and fear of God, and a religious, righteous, sober, and godly life and conversation. ~John Gill

Which is after godliness - Which tends to promote piety towards God. On the word rendered godliness, see the notes at 1 Timothy 2:2; 1 Timothy 3:16. - The truth, the acknowledgment of which Paul was appointed to secure, was not scientific, historical, or political truth: it was that of religion - that which was adapted to lead men to a holy life, and to prepare them for [the Kingdom and eternal life]. ~Barnes Notes

Quoted verses:
1 Timothy 2:2 [see Lesson]
For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.

1 Timothy 3:16 [see Lesson]
And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

After godliness — that is, which belongs to piety: opposed to the knowledge which has not for its object the truth, but error, doctrinal and practical (Titus 1:11, Titus 1:16; 1 Timothy 6:3); or even which has for its object mere earthly truth, not growth in the divine life. “Godliness,” or “piety,” is a term peculiar to the Pastoral Epistles: a fact explained by the apostle having in them to combat doctrine tending to “ungodliness” (2 Timothy 2:16; compare Titus 2:11-12). ~Jamieson, Fausset, Brown

Quoted verses:
Titus 1:11 [see Lesson]
Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake.

Titus 1:16 [see Lesson]
They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.

1 Timothy 6:3 [see Lesson]
If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; [...and the closing admonition of verse 5: "from such withdraw thyself]

2 Timothy 2:16 [see Lesson]
But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.

Titus 2:11-12 [see Lesson 11] [see Lesson 12]
11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.