Where it fits

Titus is the seventeenth book of the New Testament, with three chapters. It is the third pastoral letter, written to Titus, a trusted non-Jewish coworker whom Paul had left on the island of Crete to put the churches in order (1:5). Crete lies in the Mediterranean southeast of Greece. Acts doesn't describe Paul's work there, which is one reason the letter is usually dated after the end of Acts, in the early to mid-60s AD. As with 1 and 2 Timothy, scholars debate whether Paul wrote it himself. Read straight through, it takes about five minutes.

Who, to whom, and why

Titus had been with Paul from early on. He was a Greek who was not made to be circumcised (Galatians 2:1–3), and he later helped Paul with the troubled church in Corinth (2 Corinthians 7:6–7). Now Paul gives him another hard assignment: Crete, where new churches in many towns needed leaders. Paul even quotes a saying about Cretans, often attributed to one of their own poets, that they were always liars. He says there is truth in it, and that the church is meant to be different (1:12–13).

The letter has three parts, one for each chapter. Chapter 1 explains who should lead: elders who are blameless, faithful in marriage, self-controlled, and able to teach sound doctrine and correct those who oppose it. Chapter 2 describes what that teaching looks like in everyday life. Older men and women, younger people, and slaves each have a calling to live in a way that makes the gospel attractive (2:1–10). At the center is a statement of the gospel: God's grace has appeared, bringing salvation to all, and it trains us to say no to ungodliness and live self-controlled lives while we wait for Jesus (2:11–14). Chapter 3 calls believers to be good citizens, show courtesy to everyone, and devote themselves to good works, remembering that God saved them because of his mercy and not because of anything they did (3:1–8).

Three ideas to hold on to

1. Grace changes how people live. God's grace has appeared and trains believers to turn from ungodliness and live self-controlled, upright, godly lives (2:11–12).
2. Salvation is God's mercy, not a reward. God saved us not because of anything we did, but because of his mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit (3:5).
3. A good church is a good neighbor. Paul says it again and again: believers should be ready for every good work and devote themselves to doing good (2:14; 3:1, 8, 14), and he says this makes the teaching attractive (2:10).

Passages people ask about

• Titus 1:5–9. Qualifications for elders, with the emphasis again on character.
• Titus 2:1–10. A guide for each age group and for slaves. The instruction to slaves to obey their masters (2:9–10) is hard to read today. As in Colossians, Paul addresses slaves as responsible people. Christians through the centuries have read the New Testament as undermining slavery, though it never directly orders its abolition.
• Titus 2:11–14. The gospel in four verses: grace appeared, Jesus gave himself to redeem us, and we wait for his appearing. Many Christians read verse 13 as calling Jesus “our great God and Savior.” A few translations read it differently.

How it points to Jesus

Titus calls both God the Father and Jesus “our Savior,” three times each in this short letter (1:3–4; 2:10, 13; 3:4, 6). God's kindness and love for humanity appeared in Jesus, who gave himself to redeem us from lawlessness and to purify a people for himself (3:4; 2:14).

A common misunderstanding

Titus 3:5 and similar verses are sometimes read as saying good works don't matter. Paul says the opposite in the next breath: believers should be careful to devote themselves to good works (3:8). Good works aren't how people are saved, but they are what a saved life produces, and the letter keeps coming back to that point. Paul isn't against works. He is against trusting them to earn what God gives freely.