Itty Bitty Bible Study – Titus Introduction

My thoughts for the Itty Bitty Bible Study group on Facebook. (join if you’d like to get these in fb!)
Itty Bitty Bible Study Titus one

I utilize various resources to research and study these itty bitty Bible studies.
This time, for Titus, I hooked up with Keith Loy’s Celebrate Titus on RightNow Media.  RightNow Media is a subscription for everyone in a church.  If you don’t have RightNow Media on your computer or TV streaming channels, the dvd is available. I don’t know if it’s more or less information.

I am not an Amazon associate, so I don’t get anything out of sharing this! I will let you know that I will be quoting him!

From Wikipedia

Not mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, Saint Titus was noted in Galatians (cf. Gal. 2:1, 3) where Paul wrote of journeying to Jerusalem with Barnabas, accompanied by Titus. He was then dispatched to Corinth, Greece, where he successfully reconciled the Christian community there with Paul, its founder. Titus was later left on the island of Crete to help organize the Church, and later met back with the Apostle Paul in Nicopolis. He soon went to Dalmatia (now Croatia). According to Eusebius of Caesarea in the Ecclesiastical History, he served as the first bishop of Crete and remained there in his old years.[citation needed] He was buried in Cortyna (Gortyna), Crete; his head was later removed to Venice during the invasion of Crete by the Saracens in 832 and was enshrined in St Mark’s Basilica, Venice, Italy.[cit

That gives a good basic understanding of who, when and where Titus was.

Bible.org has another great introduction to Titus, explaining that this goes hand in hand with 1 & 2 Timothy as the Pastoral Letters.

Titus 1 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
Greeting
1 Paul, a slave of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to build up[a] the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads[b] to godliness, 2 in the hope of eternal life that God, who cannot lie, promised before time began. 3 In His own time He has revealed His message in the proclamation that I was entrusted with by the command of God our Savior:

In IBBS Galations 1:1-10, I discuss Paul describing his calling.

Galatians 1
1 Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by a man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead—

In the old days (hahaha), folks put their authorship at the beginning of letters. It’s kind of like a return address.

In Ephesians 1:1 he just declares himself an apostle, by the will of God. (IBBS Ephesians Intro)

Ephesians 1 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
Greeting
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will:

In IBBS Philippians 1:1-2, we discussed the aspect of Paul describing his walk as a servant.

Phillipians 1
1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers[b] and deacons:
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Servants – websters – one that serves others a public servant; especially : one that performs duties about the person or home of a master or personal employer of Christ Jesus – the point of servant is that it has a master…and they declare who their master is, Whom they serve, right up front!

In Galatians, for whatever reason at the time, Paul really spent a lot of the letter talking about WHY he was actually an apostle.
IBBS Galatians 1:11-24 & 2:1-10 covers that explanation.

Let’s break down the first verse.

Titus 1:1 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
Greeting
1 Paul,
a slave of God and
an apostle of Jesus Christ,
to build up[a] the faith of God’s elect and
their knowledge of the truth
that leads[b] to godliness,

Who? Paul. The one who was Saul, the leader of those that persecuted Christians. You can read about that in Acts 9.

What? Slave of God.

Definition of slave (Entry 1 of 4)
1 : a person held in servitude as the chattel of another
2 : one that is completely subservient to a dominating influence

This term was so despised in Paul’s time, that it was like shock and awe for him to use it. Of course, it does hearken back to Christ at the last supper in John 13.

Remember, Peter was offended that his Lord and Savior would do a servant’s work! Jesus had a different view:

John 13:12-17 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
The Meaning of Footwashing
12 When Jesus had washed their feet and put on His robe, He reclined[a] again and said to them, “Do you know what I have done for you? 13 You call Me Teacher and Lord. This is well said, for I am. 14 So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example that you also should do just as I have done for you.
16 “I assure you: A slave is not greater than his master,[b] and a messenger is not greater than the one who sent him. 17 If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

In Romans, Paul gives another explanation:

Romans 12:3 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
Many Gifts but One Body
3 For by the grace given to me, I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he should think. Instead, think sensibly, as God has distributed a measure of faith to each one.

We are all called to be slaves to Christ.
In IBBS Ephesians 2:20-22 part one and Part two we talked about how we are slaves.

The truth is, we are slaves.
BUT WE GET TO CHOOSE TO WHOM!!!

What, part two – apostle of Jesus Christ.

Definition of apostle
1 : one sent on a mission: such as
a : one of an authoritative New Testament group sent out to preach the gospel and made up especially of Christ’s 12 original disciples and Paul

An apostle is a specific ministry position in the Christian Church.
There are almost as many beliefs about what, who and when an apostle is as there are church buildings!
In one church we attended it was taught as the ‘fivefold ministry’.
Oddly enough, Wikipedia has an entry on this! It’s really very good for an overview without bias.

Paul wrote about these offices in Ephesians 4.

Ephesians 4:11-13 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
11 And He personally gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, 12 for the training of the saints in the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into a mature man with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness.

That ties the What and the Why together!
WHY?

to build up the faith of God’s elect and
their knowledge of the truth
that leads to godliness,

That sounds like

build up the body of Christ
unity in the faith,
knowledge of God’s son
growing into a mature man
with stature measured by Christ’s fullness

Oh my.
The purposes for the ministry could very well apply to you and me.
While I am not called to be an apostle, pastor, or what else…I do teach. Do you?
Do you ever share your testimony?
Do you ever lead a bible study?
Or even host a table in a larger group for bible study?
Ok, here’s one…do you ever share a Bible meme on facebook?
You preach…teach…and your light is your ministry!

Aren’t we all called to help each other grow into the fullness of Christ?
1 Corinthians 12 says yes.
Ok, yes, another letter by Paul.

Did Jesus ever ask us to share with each other?

Matthew 5:13-16 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
Believers Are Salt and Light
13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It’s no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled on by men.
14 “You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket,[a] but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine[b] before men, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

I said in IBBS Ephesians Introduction:

I have often had difficulty wondering if the letters written to those people were actually applicable to me.

2 Timothy 3:16-17
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Romans 15:4
4 For everything that was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope.

And with that…my difficulties disappeared! Granted, again, these two verses are again, written by Paul.
I do think that Jesus’ words make it very clear that we are expected to be Jesus on the earth, to share Jesus’ love, joy, and light and to help each other to grow into the fullness of Christ. I just can’t see how we can get out of having to live up to our calling!
Remember 1 Corinthians 12, with Christ’s words about salt and light.

worship Break!

With that in mind…I’ll move on with Titus, as it applies to US!

coming up:

But first, we’ll finish with Paul’s purpose for the letter, and Titus…who was he?
And then, the beautiful prayer he prays so often….

Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

Hi!
My hope in the midst of despair and my joy in the face of depression is because of my relationship with Jesus Christ. If you do not have one, or are not sure you will join him in heaven, please check out these links.

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

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