Titus 3:1-5
 
Titus 3:1 (KJB)
Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work,
 
To be subject - Put in submission or be subject to
Principalities - Rulers
Powers - Authorities
To obey magistrates - To be obedient to the rulers
 
This verse deals with the Christian’s responsibility in reference to earthly government. Paul is telling Titus to keep in remembrance that the Christians are to be subject to those who are in authority as long as their laws do not contradict the law of God. It is necessary for a Christian to be a good citizen and live a peaceful existence. Not only are they to be in obedience to those who rule but each Christian should be ready to do a good work. It is no secret that when there is a disaster somewhere in the world, Christian relief agencies are normally the first ones on the scene to help. The atheists who want to stamp out Christianity are nowhere to be found. So each Christian should be ready to do a good work and the ultimate good work that we do is to bring the gospel to those who are unsaved.
 
Titus 3:2 (KJB)
To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, showing all meekness unto all men.
 
To speak evil of - Slander or speak abusively
No brawlers - peaceable or not quarrelsome
Gentle - Yielding, fair, or reasonable
Showing - Manifesting or demonstrating
Meekness - Gentleness or humility
 
Here Paul gives Titus direction concerning the treatment of fellow man. He tells them that they are not to speak abusively of anyone, especially behind their back when it is so easy to embellish slanderous gossip. We are to be peaceable to others and not ready to engage in a fight upon the most minute incident. We must exude a gentle demeanor and this gentleness must be genuine so it can demonstrate how grace changes the malicious nature of a person into a gentler one. This gentle nature is often exhibited in the form of meekness. A meek person seeks to avoid confrontation whereas the unsaved person lives for it.
 
Titus 3:3 (KJB)
For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.
 
Foolish - Senseless
Divers - Many or different kinds
Pleasures - Strong desires or delights (in the negative sense)
Malice - Depravity, wickedness, or vice
 
Paul reminds Titus that the believer was saved from some of the same wicked sins which the unbelievers of Crete were still enveloped in. We have all done foolish things in our life which have turned out to be very unwise. Each of us were disobedient, not only to parents but to the laws of the land. Some have been caught and went to jail and some were not caught. We were deceived by the ways of the world into believing that it had all the answers. We may have also been deceived concerning religion and believing that all we had to do was to obey our church’s rules and regulations and that would satisfy God’s requirement for Heaven. We have also served the flesh by indulging ourselves in different kinds of lust based experiences which would only lead to succumbing to stronger desires, which if not checked could lead to a breaking of the law and serious trouble. Many also lived in depravity with their lifestyles and also lived in envy, those who do not have much hate those who do. Many times we are envious of those who may do a better job at work or anything else. Of course, hatred was always a part of the unsaved life because we would hate those of different races and hate anybody just for the most minor thing.
 
Titus 3:4 (KJB)
But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
 
This verse begins with the conjunction “but.” This verse contrasts what we were before salvation and after the kindness and love of God manifested itself in our lives. In our unsaved state we would serve anything the flesh had to offer but now as saved individuals we avoid serving the lusts of the flesh and serve in the Spirit in obedience to God.
 
Titus 3:5 (KJB)
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
 
Washing - Bathing or cleansing
Of regeneration - New birth or rebirth
Renewing - Making something different from what was previously
 
Paul continues from verse 4 that the kindness and love of God did not come by works of righteousness which we have done with our own hands. God’s salvation never came by means of the law but it came through His mercy that He saved us and the method he used was the cross of Christ. It was the blood of Christ which washed us from all our sins and made us born again. (Rev 1:5 KJV) And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, the word “washed” in Revelation 1:5 is a cognate of the word used in Titus 3:5.  (Eph 5:26 KJV) That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, The same word in Ephesians 5:26 is the word “washing “ in Titus 3:5. When we were regenerated, we were renewed by the Holy Spirit who indwells us. This indwelling causes us to be different by means of being renewed.
 
(2 Cor 4:16 KJV) For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
 
(Eph 4:23 KJV) And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
 
(Col 3:10 KJV) And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
 
As believers we are given three types of renewal:
 
1) 2 Cor. 4:16 - We are renewed inwardly, that is, even though our bodies are perishing or degenerating, we have the inward witness that we are becoming stronger in the faith. The inward testimony is eternal and the outward testimony is temporary. There comes a point in every believer’s life when the flesh starts to fail and the eternal begins to emerge stronger. This is where the Scripture comes in that when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Cor 12:10 KJV) Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.
 
2) Eph. 4:23 - We are renewed in the Spirit of our mind. We are given a complete mind makeover in that once our minds were darkened with sin because that is what we lived in, but now we are made alive and in the light of the Lord. Our minds no longer are subject to living in sin but we are subject to living unto the Lord in obedience.
 
3) Col. 3:10 - The third renewal is that we are renewed in knowledge. When we were unsaved, our knowledge of God and salvation was totally erroneous but now we have a better understanding because the Holy Spirit illuminates our understanding of the Scriptures. So now our knowledge will increase but it will be an increase in correct knowledge. We will also have a better understanding of how sinful we really were before salvation and how God, through regeneration, renewed us unto eternal life.

Back