Titus 3
Tit 3:1-2. As your Cretan folk are naturally intractable, be careful to insist on obedience to the constituted authorities, and on the maintenance of friendly relations with non-Christians.
Tit 3:2. ἀμάχους … ἐπιεικεῖς: coupled as qualifications of the episcopus, 1Ti 3:3.
πᾶσαν πραΰτητα: the greatest possible meekness. Compare Eph 4:2; 1Pe 3:15.
Tit 3:3-7. Cretans who hear this epistle need not feel hurt as though I were thinking of them with exceptional severity. We were such ourselves until we came to know the love of God, unmerited and saving and sanctifying and perfecting.
Tit 3:4. χρηστότης καὶ φιλανθρωπία: (benignitas … humanitas) is a constant combination in Greek. See many examples supplied by Field. Here it expresses the notion of Joh 3:16, οὕτως γὰρ ἠγάπησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν κόσμον κ.τ.λ. and of Eph 2:4-6. Perhaps also, as von Soden suggests, the kindness of God is here contrasted with the unkindness of men to each other; cf. Eph 4:31-32.
χρηστότης is a Pauline word, used of God also in reff. φιλανθρωπία is especially used of the beneficent feelings of divine beings towards men; more rarely of the relations between man and man, as in Act 28:2. Diogenes Laert., quoted by Alf., distinguishes three kinds of φιλανθρ. (1) geniality of manner, (2) helpfulness, (3) sociability.
ἐπεφάνη: See note on 1Ti 6:14.
τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν θεοῦ: θεοῦ, as in Tit 1:3, Tit 2:10, is epexegetical of σωτῆρος.
Tit 3:5. The ἡμεῖς and ἡμᾶς refer to the same persons as those mentioned in Tit 3:3, i.e., the apostles and those who have had a similar experience. The verse may be paraphrased as a statement of fact thus:-God saved us by Baptism, which involves two complementary processes, (a) the ceremony itself which marks the actual moment in time of the new birth, and (b) the daily, hourly, momently renewing of the Holy Spirit, by which the spiritual life is supported and fostered and increased. And the moving cause of this exceeding kindness of God was not any merits of our own, but His mercy.
οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων: ἐκ here, as in Rom 3:30, expresses the source. See also the emphatic repetition in Gal 2:16 of οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων νόμου. The δικαιοσύνη here is that which we can call our own, ἡ ἐκ νόμου (Php 3:9). Its existence as δικαιοσύνη must not be denied; but it does not pass as current coin in the kingdom of God. It has indeed no saving value whatever. Accordingly there is no question here as to whether we did, or did not do, works which are ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ. “Not the labours of my hands can fulfil Thy law’s demands.” See note on 2Ti 1:9.
Bengel, comparing Deu 9:5, refers the negative to each term in the clause: we had not been ἐν δικ.; we had not done ἔργα ἐν δικ.; we had no works through which we could be saved. But this exegesis is too much affected by the controversies of the sixteenth century. The A.V., which we have done, confuses the thought by a suggestion that the works referred to are those “after justification”.
τῶν ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ: δικαιοσύνη is the sphere in which the works were done, and to which they are related.
κατὰ … ἔλεος: The phraseology is borrowed from Psalms 108:26 (Psa 109:26), σῶσόν με κατὰ τὸ μέγα ἔλεός σου. A remarkable parallel is furnished by 1Pe 1:3, ὁ κατὰ τὸ πολὺ αὐτοῦ ἔλεος ἀναγεννήσας ἡμᾶς; and also by 2Es 8:32, “For if thou hast a desire to have mercy upon us, then shalt thou be called merciful, to us, namely, that have no works of righteousness”.
ἔσωσεν ἡμᾶς: The N.T. seldom diverts attention from the main lesson to be taught from time to time by noting qualifications, even necessary ones. Here St. Paul is speaking only about the efficient and instrumental and formal causes of salvation, without any thought of man’s part in co-operation with God. It is as when teaching the principles of mechanics, we do not confuse the beginner’s mind by making allowances for friction, etc. Here, as in Romans 6 and 1Pe 3:21, it is assumed that man co-operates with God in the work of his own salvation. On the force of the aorist, ἔσωσεν, see note on 1Ti 2:4.
διὰ λουτροῦ: the washing. λουτρόν may mean the water used for washing, or the process itself of washing. The R.V.m. laver would be λουτήρ. See Dean Armitage Robinson’s note on Eph 5:26.
παλινγενεσίας: This defines the nature of the λουτρόν which God employs as His instrument in effecting the salvation of man; not any λουτρόν whatever, but that of new birth. It is sufficient to observe here that much of the controversy about regeneration might have been avoided had men kept before them the analogy of natural birth, followed as it is immediately, not by vigorous manhood, but by infancy and childhood and youth.
ἀνακαινώσεως: The genitive ἀνακαινώσεως depends on διὰ (which is actually inserted in the Harclean Syriac; so R.V.m., and through renewing), not on λουτροῦ, as apparently Vulg., per lavacrum regenerationis et renovationis Spiritus Sancti, f. Boh. Arm., followed by R.V. The λουτρόν, the washing, secures a claim on the Holy Spirit for renewing, just as birth gives a child a claim on society for food and shelter; but unless we are compelled to do otherwise, it is best to keep the two notions distinct. Birth, natural or spiritual, must be a definite fact taking place at a particular moment; whereas renewing is necessarily a subsequent process, constantly operating. Without this renewing the life received at birth is at best in a state of suspension. The references to ἀνακαίνωσις and ἀνακαινοῦν, and the similar passage, Eph 4:23, show that the terms are always used of those who are actually living the Christian life.
Tit 3:6. οὗ ἐξέχεεν: Joe 3:1 (Joe 2:28) is the passage alluded to. Cf. in addition to reff. given above, Act 10:45, Rom 5:5, Gal 4:6. The οὗ refers of course to πνεύματ. ἁγ. by attraction, not to ἀνακαινώσεως. All gifts of the Holy Spirit that come through Jesus Christ are a continuation of the Pentecostal outpouring. The aorist is due to the Apostle’s thought of that occasion, although the ἡμᾶς shows that the immediate reference is to the experience of St. Paul and other Christians.
διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ: to be connected with ἐξέχεεν. See Joh 15:26, Act 2:33. The finished work of Jesus Christ was the necessary pre-condition to His effusion of the Holy Spirit.
Tit 3:7. ἵνα, κ.τ.λ.: It is not quite certain, whether this expresses the object of ἐξέχεεν or of ἔσωσεν. The former connexion brings out best the climax of the passage. κληρονόμοι marks the highest point to which man can attain in this life. See reff. The two preceding stages are marked by λουτρὸν παλινγενεσίας and ἀνακαίνωσις, while δικαιωθέντες … χάριτι is an expression in theological language of the simpler κατὰ τὸ αὐτοῦ ἔλεος ἔσωσεν ἡμᾶς. The grace by which man is justified is usually spoken of as that of God the Father, Rom 3:24; and so ἐκείνου, not αὐτοῦ, is used as referring to the remoter antecedent.
κληρονόμοι: According to the analogy of the other passages where it occurs, this word is best taken absolutely; or, if the notion must be completed, we may understand θεοῦ. The term would not need any elucidation to one of St. Paul’s company. It is also an argument against connecting κληρ. ζωῆς αἰωνίου (R.V.m) that ἔλπις ζωῆς αἰωνίου occurs in Tit 1:2; and Gal 3:29, κατʼ ἐπαγγελίαν κληρ., is parallel.
Tit 3:8-11. To sum up what I have been saying: Belief in God is not a matter of theory or of speculation, but of practice; it must be accompanied by good works. This true religion unites the beautiful and the profitable. On the other hand, foolish speculations and controversies about the law are profitless and unpractical. Do not parley long with a confirmed schismatic. If he does not yield to one or two admonitions, reject him altogether. It is beyond your power to set him right.
Tit 3:9. ζητήσεις and γενεαλογίαι are associated together in 1Ti 1:4 (where see notes). Here they are co-ordinated; there the γενεαλογίαι are one of the sources whence ζητήσεις originate. The nature of the ἔρεις here deprecated is determined by the context. ἔρεις indicate the spirit of contentiousness; μάχαι the conflicts as heard and seen. On μάχαι, see 2Ti 2:23. The μάχαι νομικαί are no doubt the same as the λογομαχίαι of 1Ti 6:4. Speaking broadly, the controversy turned on the attempt to give a fictitious permanence to the essentially transient elements in the Mosaical Law.
περιΐστασο: See note on 2Ti 2:16.
μάταιοι: Here, and in Jam 1:26, μάταιος is an adjective of two terminations; yet ματαία occurs 1Co 15:17; ματαίας, 1Pe 1:18.
Tit 3:10. αἱρετικὸν ἄνθρωπον: St. Paul passes from the reprehensible opinions to the man who propagates them. He is the same kind of man as the φιλόνεικος of 1Co 11:16; or “he that refuseth to hear the church” of Mat 18:17; he is of “them which cause divisions and occasions of stumbling,” Rom 16:17. The term αἵρεσις is applied in a non-offensive sense to the sects of Judaism, Act 5:17; Act 15:5; Act 26:5. St. Luke represents the Jews as so speaking of the Christian Church (Act 24:5; Act 28:22), and St. Paul as resenting this application of the term (Act 24:14). The Apostle himself uses the word in an unfavourable sense (1Co 11:19; Gal 5:20), as does 2Pe 2:1. A comparison of 1Co 11:19 with 1Jn 2:19 suggests that αἵρεσις involved the formation of a separate society (so R.V.m. here, factious), not merely the holding of aberrant opinions, or the favouring a policy different from that of the Church rulers. The νουθεσία addressed to a member of such a αἵρεσις would be of the nature of a verbal remonstrance, pointing out the essentially unchristian character of needless separation. It is evident that the αἱρετικὸς ἄνθρωπος would be beyond any Church discipline. The permission of a second attempt at reconciliation is probably not unconnected with our Lord’s counsel, Mat 18:15.
παραιτοῦ: Have nothing to do with him. See note on 1Ti 4:7. The word does not necessarily imply any formal excommunication. Such procedure would be unnecessary. Excommunication has no terrors for those who deliberately separate themselves. “Monere desine. quid enim iuvat? laterem lavares” (Bengel).
Tit 3:11. εἰδώς: since thou mayest know.
ἐξέστραπται: subversus est. Argument with a man whose basal mental convictions differ from your own, or whose mind has had a twist, is mere waste of breath.
αὐτοκατάκριτος: proprio iudicio condemnatus (Vulg.). He is self-condemned because his separation from the Church is due to his own acknowledged act. He cannot deny that his views are antagonistic to those which he once accepted as true; he is condemned by his former, and, as St. Paul would say, his more enlightened self.
Tit 3:12-14. Come to me, as soon as you can be spared. Forward Zenas and Apollos. Let our friends in Crete remember that fruitfulness in good works is the one thing needful for them.
Tit 3:13. νομικόν: In the absence of any example of this word being used as the equivalent of legisperitus (Vulg.), jurisconsultus or jurisperitus, it seems best to assume that Zenas was a νομικός in the usual N.T. sense, an expert in the Mosaic Law.
Ἀπολλὼν: For Apollos, see article in Hastings’ D. B.
πρόπεμψον: set forward on their journey, praemitte; but deduco is the rendering where the word occurs elsewhere. See reff.
Tit 3:14. The δέ does not mark an antithesis between οἱ ἡμέτεροι and the persons who have just been mentioned, but is rather resumptive of Tit 3:8; repeating and emphasising at the close of the letter that which St. Paul had most at heart, the changed lives of the Cretan converts. οἱ ἡμέτεροι of course means those of our faith in Crete.
καλῶν ἔργων προΐστασθαι: See on Tit 3:8.
εἰς τὰς ἀναγκαίας χρείας: The best commentary on this expression is 1Th 4:9-12. Although καλῶν ἔργων προΐστασθαι does not mean to profess honest occupations, yet it is plain from St. Paul’s letters that he would regard the earning one’s own bread respectably as a condition precedent to the doing of good works. The necessary wants to which allusion is made are the maintenance of oneself and family, and helping brethren who are unable to help themselves (Act 20:35; Rom 12:13; Eph 4:28). This view is borne out by the reason which follows, ἵνα μὴ ὦσιν ἄκαρποι. See Joh 15:2, Php 4:17, Col 1:10, 2Pe 1:8.
Tit 3:15. Final Salutation.
οἱ μετʼ ἐμοῦ: The preposition is different elsewhere in Paul: οἱ σὺν ἐμοὶ πάντες ἀδελφοί, Gal 1:2; οἱ σὺν ἐμοὶ ἀδελφοί, Php 4:21. οἱ μετʼ αὐτοῦ is a constant phrase in the Synoptists. There is a similar use of μετά in Act 20:34 (a speech of St. Paul’s), and in 2Ti 4:11.
τοὺς φιλοῦντας ἡμᾶς ἐν πίστει; The faith (see note on 1Ti 1:2) is that which binds Christians together more or less closely. Timothy and Titus were St. Paul’s τέκνα ἐν πίστει; others were more distantly related to him, though of the same family, “the household of faith”.
Dean Armitage Robinson (Ephesians, p. 281) gives several examples from papyri of similar formulas of closing, especially two, which read, ἀσπάζου … τοὺς φιλοῦντες σε (or ἡμᾶς) πρὸς ἀληθίαν. This suggests the rendering here, those who love us truly.
