-
and which now at his appointed season he has brought to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior,
-
To Titus, my true son in our common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.
-
Appointing Elders Who Love What Is Good
The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.
-
An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.
-
Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.
-
Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.
-
He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.
-
Rebuking Those Who Fail to Do Good
For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group.
-
They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain.
-
and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the merely human commands of those who reject the truth.
-
To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted.
-
Doing Good for the Sake of the Gospel
You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine.
-
Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.
-
Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good.
-
to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.
-
Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled.
-
and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.
-
Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them,
-
and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.
-
At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.
-
he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,
-
so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
-
This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.
-
You may be sure that such people are warped and sinful; they are self-condemned.
-
Final Remarks
As soon as I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, because I have decided to winter there.
