Titus 1:1-16 – Judaizers promote the Law

An interpretation of Titus 1:1-16.

Paul had to deal with Jewish “super apostles – Judaizers” in his day as they were trying to draw people back under the Law of the Moses and away from a living experience with God through Christ.

Please open your Bible and read it in conjunction with my interpenetration. 

Titus 1:1 to 16

1:1 I Paul a special chosen one of God who has full discernment of matters you are facing, come to you as a slave to serve you by bringing good teaching.

1:2 Your God has made an eternal agreement before the world was formed and it will come to pass. This is a certainty.

1:3 As God knew beforehand that a problem would come to pass in your Church, thus he decreed that I come with authority to fix it; you may think I am egotistical, but I must teach you to be aware.

1:4 We have the grace and peace of God the Father because we have the common faith in Jesus but I am saying hello as your father in the faith and I want you to know I respect you.

1:5 I have apostolic authority to appoint you because I do not have enough time to do all the things I wanted to do, therefore you have by bequest, the same apostolic authority and mandate to appoint suitable people into leadership.

1:6 If anyone is blameless, husband of one wife, or vices versa having believing children, not accused of loose behaviour, or disobedient.

1:7 For an elder, bishop or pastor must not be continuing in the sins of an unbeliever but be transformed into a steward of God’s goods. He must not be ambitious at the expense of others, he must not be full of passion trying to take advantage of weaker vessels, not given to wine, not quarrelsome, not greedy for ill gain; 8 he must be above reproach being hospitable, a lover of God’s good things, discreet, just, holy, temperate, 9 defending the faithful Word according to sound doctrine, that he may be able to teach, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and to convict those who dispute our teaching.

1:10 For there are indeed many unruly, un-subdued, insubordinate and disobedient men who claim to be Christians using vain senseless words, who mischievously whisper lies and go about aiming to mislead and seduce new believers who have found freedom in Christ only to place the old weight of the Law on their shoulders.

1:11 These insubordinate and disobedient men must be stopped by you by putting something over the mouth, figuratively silencing them, muzzling them, as it is necessary, before they subvert you by overthrowing my teaching for their own hidden agenda, for their own dishonourable profit, if they achieve this, the whole family of God will suffer in your church.

1:12 It is not only I Paul that is saying that the Cretans have a predisposition to telling big stories laced with untruths. One of their own, Epimenides who they regard highly, has called themselves liars. This evil action by these dangerous, fat bellied men is causing distress upon another’s reputation by speaking idle words.

1:13 As I have explained you have hard evidence, which is a true record and testimony from their report about themselves. Now you have to convict them convincing them by making it clear their faults, proving conclusively that their thoughts pattern is faulty. Do it quickly communicating the urgency of the command and instruction so that you can bring them into line with the faith in God, thus demonstrating to the Church correct teaching.

1:14 Do not take notice or listen to precepts of man, which are trying to pull you away from God by factious stories of events or supernatural beings that have no foundation.

1:15 The Jewish Christians who claim to understand what is clean are in error when they come to you and ask you to follow the Old Law regarding your salvation and other issues about what is obedience to God as their minds are fused, defiled and blinded to the new covenant and its relationship to the Old Law.

1:16 They say they know God, but their actions do not match the grace of God as they rely on the works of the Law as an illusion to try and please God. Their disobedience by not believing in the power of Jesus’ blood, to set the captives free is an abominable act.

If we understand this passage we will see it is still happening today. Christian are being pulled back under the Law!

Paul was saying that a man needs to receive Christ and then he is justified before God by what Christ did, and then man WANTS to obey God in a realm of love.

The Judaizers say that a man needs to receive Christ and then MUST keep the Law of God to be justified.

By Dr. Ian Traill