Preface—Part 2 (Titus 1:1–4)

“His word”—that word by which He declared and sealed the promise in the Eternal Counsel. The word, τον λογον — this word, that is, the word of promise—as one commonly says: “he gave his word,” meaning some pledge. Blessed Theophylact writes: “What did He ‘manifest’? ‘His word,’ he says—that is, the Gospel: for the Gospel encompasses all things, both what is given to us in the present time—namely godliness, faith, truth—and what is promised in the age to come, that is, eternal life.” The Triune God was pleased to ordain that for our salvation the Son of God should become incarnate, and having suffered in the flesh and endured death on the cross, should rise and ascend into the heavens—so that, seated at the right hand of the Father, He might intercede for us eternally—and should send the Holy Spirit for the ordering of each person’s salvation, by whose grace we are saved and become partakers of eternal life. This, ordained from eternity, God has now revealed both in word and in deed. The Apostle St. Paul writes of this in greater detail further on in this same Epistle. We were, he says, worthless and ruinous: “but when the grace and love of God our Saviour appeared… He saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit… so that, being justified by His grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Tit. 3:4–5, 7; Tit. 2:11–13). Eternal life is received in its fullness in the age to come; but it begins and grows here according to the laws of the incarnate economy. Therefore, the manifestation of the word of promise is the proclamation of the incarnate economy, whose reception with full faith and with corresponding labors is the pledge of eternal life. This the Apostle expressed by pointing to the manner of the manifestation of the word of promise.

“In preaching.” The Lord Jesus Christ, having accomplished and arranged all that is needed for obtaining eternal life, sent the Apostles into the world with the exalted proclamation—to call all people to receive that life. A special portion of this labor was allotted also to St. Paul: to go to the Gentiles and call them to share in the inheritance of the promise. This commission was given to him by the Lord Himself, who appeared to him personally on the road to Damascus and afterward in the temple in Jerusalem. All of this the Apostle here expressed in the words: “in preaching, which was entrusted to me according to the commandment of God our Saviour.” He considered it necessary to state this in order to dispose the Cretans to receive his word with humility and to carry out his directions, for they did not know him fully. St. Chrysostom draws the following lessons from these words: “He manifested His word in preaching”—that is, openly, with boldness; such is the meaning of the word “preaching.” As a herald at a public spectacle proclaims in the presence of all, so also do we proclaim (in assurance of the truth)—and we add nothing, but say what we ourselves have heard. The dignity of a herald consists in declaring to all what has actually occurred, adding nothing and taking nothing away. — By the expressions “which was entrusted to me” and “according to the commandment of the Saviour”—the Apostle demonstrates his trustworthiness, so that no one might resist, refuse, or take offence. I, he says, have received a commandment; therefore I have no authority (to revoke or change anything). — I am fulfilling a commandment; and commandments are not in our power, but one must either carry them out or face punishment for failing to do so. The Apostle expresses the same thing in another place when he says: “For necessity is laid upon me; woe is me if I do not preach the Gospel” (1 Cor. 9:16).

The words “God our Saviour” in the present passage refer to the Lord Jesus Christ; for St. Paul received his commission to preach directly from Him in person. A similar expression in other passages also refers directly to the Lord Jesus—as in: “awaiting the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” (Tit. 2:13). In other places, however, St. Paul uses the words “God the Saviour” with reference to God the Father.

Tit. 1:4. To Titus, true son in the common faith: grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour.

This is the customary word of greeting that belongs to St. Paul. He calls Titus his “true” (γνησιος — genuine, authentic, real) “son” both because Titus was confirmed in the faith through him and regenerated by him through the grace of the Holy Spirit in holy baptism, and because, having once been instructed in the faith and in life according to its spirit, he kept himself unchangeably in perfect conformity with St. Paul in this regard—whether in what concerned Paul personally or in the believers under Titus’s guidance. Just as writings are recognized as the genuine offspring of certain authors when they correspond precisely to the spirit of the writers to whom they are attributed, so Titus pointed to St. Paul as his spiritual father by being altogether identical with him both in teaching and in manner of action. Blessed Jerome writes: “The word, wisdom, and teaching by which Titus built up the Churches of Christ showed him to be the Apostle Paul’s own son.” “But it is possible,” Oecumenius counters, “for someone to have been his son, having been enlightened and baptized by him, yet to have ceased to be a true son, having begun to sin.” “For,” Theophylact explains, “in such a case he would become unworthy of being called the son of such a father.” “Therefore,” Theodoret concludes, “the words ‘true son’ make evident the virtue of blessed Titus.” We shall crown all these words with the saying of St. Chrysostom: “True”—genuine—“son,” he says; for there can also be sons who are not genuine, as for instance one of whom he says: “if any man who is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, do not even eat with such a one” (1 Cor. 5:11). Here is also a son, but not a genuine one; he is a son because he once received grace and was regenerated, but not a genuine son, because he is unworthy of his father and has voluntarily surrendered himself to another master. In the case of children of the flesh, genuineness and un-genuineness depend upon the one who begets and the one who bears; but here it is not so—it depends on the will. Here it is possible for one who was a genuine son not to remain genuine, and for one who was not genuine to become genuine; for this lies not in natural necessity, but in free will—from which frequent changes arise.

In the same sense—that is, to show the unity of Titus’s spirit with his own—the Apostle also added the words: “in the common faith.” These words show also that Titus is a son not according to the flesh but according to the spirit—“in faith”; but above all they convey that in faith, or in the spirit of faith, Titus has nothing of his own that differs from St. Paul: all things are common between them; whatever St. Paul has, Titus has also; nothing has been concealed from him, and nothing of what was entrusted to him has been rejected or altered by him. This is indeed the chief proof that he is a genuine son. “That you are my son,” the Apostle seems to say, “the cause and proof of this is the common faith. He praises Titus, declaring that he himself has nothing more than Titus in the matter of faith” (Oecumenius). Unity of blood points to sonship of the flesh; unity of faith—to sonship of the spirit.

St. Paul mentioned this close kinship with himself with regard to St. Titus in order to impress upon Titus that he should continue to live and act in that same spirit—and upon the Cretans, that they should obey him as they would St. Paul himself.

“Finally this preface of the Epistle and the Apostle’s greeting to Titus is concluded with the following good wish: ‘grace’ and so forth” (Blessed Jerome). The Apostle desires these same gifts of God in his greetings to all believers, as is evident from his other Epistles. But if these divine gifts are necessary for believers in general, how much more necessary are they for one appointed to establish right order among believers and to guide them on the path of salvation—such was the position of St. Titus at that time! “For him, as for every bishop, the gracious power of God is more than for others necessary, since he bears most heavy burdens—mercy is necessary, since it is difficult for such a one to avoid incurring guilt before God in many things (for the souls of all will be required at his hands)—peace is necessary, since he is placed under the necessity of encountering conflicts and waging unceasing struggle” (Blessed Theophylact)—with his own and with strangers, with the inner and with the outer, with the visible and with the invisible. St. Chrysostom says: “See how he desires for the teacher the very same things he desires for the disciples and the people; for the teacher himself, like them, has need of such blessings, and even more so, the more enemies he has and the more occasions he has to offend God. The higher the dignity of the one who holds the priesthood, the greater also are his dangers; for both the faithful fulfillment of the episcopate can raise one to heaven, and a single failure in this work can cast one into the very depths of gehenna… Thus the teacher especially has need of ‘the grace of God (mercy) and peace.’ If he governs the people without them, he will lose and destroy everything, having no rudder. Even if he is skilled in governance, yet if he does not possess these rudders—‘grace (mercy) and peace’—from God, he will sink the ship and those sailing in it.”

“‘From God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour.’ St. Paul desires these blessings and gifts for Titus either because they are sent down both from God the Father and from Christ Jesus the Lord, and therefore in grateful acknowledgment one may refer them all to both the One and the Other; or because grace belongs to the Father and peace to the Son” (Blessed Jerome, who read only: “grace and peace.”) Following this example (accepting the reading: “grace, mercy, and peace”) one may also ascribe these gifts to all three Persons of the Most Holy Trinity: grace—to the Father, mercy—to the Son, peace—to the Holy Spirit; confessing, however, that they are sent down by the undivided action of the Triune God.

2) The Beginning of the Epistle

In other Epistles this section usually occupies several verses. Here it is compressed into a single verse. This is because that one verse says much—concisely—for it brings to mind the entire account of St. Paul’s stay in Crete: what he did and what he left undone. Were one to write it all out, it would take more than a few dozen verses. But there was no need for that, since Titus, to whom the Epistle is addressed, knew all of this as a co-worker. It was enough to allude to it, and that only in order not to begin the Epistle too abruptly (ex abrupto). This is what St. Paul does. I left you in Crete, he says, to finish what was unfinished and to set right what was not in order. So, labor at it. Here are the rules to guide you. The rules to guide him—this is the subject of the Epistle.

Tit. 1:5. For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set right what was still lacking, and appoint elders in every city, as I directed you.

St. Paul, it is supposed, after being released from his bonds, was making his way from Rome toward Asia Minor. The route passed by Crete, where ships put in to port. The ship on which St. Paul was sailing stopped there as well. St. Paul did not let this stop go to waste; but perceiving that there was considerable scope for Apostolic activity there, he remained with them for some time. The introduction already noted that there were many believers on the island, but they lacked completeness and proper ecclesiastical organization. This was the chief work St. Paul was now doing there, along with the further spread of the faith. But he did not have time to complete everything; and so, having done what he could, he left St. Titus in Crete for the final ordering of all things, while he himself hastened on to Asia Minor. St. Chrysostom marvels at such tirelessness and says: “Among men of old, all of life was active and full of labors; but among us it is not so—rather, it is full of idleness. They knew that they were born into the world in order to labor in accordance with the will of the One who gave them being; but we, as though born to eat, drink, and make merry, give no thought to anything spiritual. I say this not of the Apostles only, but of those who came after them as well. They, as you see, went everywhere as though considering this their one occupation, and spent their entire lives in foreign lands, as though they had no (native) city on earth. Listen to what blessed Paul says: ‘For this reason I left you in Crete.’ Having divided the inhabited world among themselves as though it were a single household, they governed all and cared for all, one taking one portion, and another another.”

“I left you”—these words imply that St. Paul had the intention and desire to take Titus along with him; but they tell us nothing about what had been the case with Titus before that. It may be supposed that St. Paul found him there and at first intended to take him with him, but, having been informed of and seen the needs of the believers, left him there for a while longer. But it may also be supposed that he had arrived in Crete together with St. Paul and was left there on account of the needs of the local Christians. The fact that St. Titus is not mentioned in Rome with St. Paul, and that in the Epistles written by St. Paul during his first imprisonment there is no mention of him, could have been because St. Titus, having been in Crete, arrived in Rome shortly before St. Paul’s departure from there. But whether one thinks of it one way or another is not of great significance for understanding the Epistle.

“That you should set right what was still lacking. What was lacking,” λειποντα — what was deficient, the deficiencies. Since Christianity had begun and grown on the island spontaneously, without any authoritative establishment of order among the believers according to a fixed norm, it is no wonder that some things were lacking among them, and others were not conducted as they ought to be—and perhaps in their Christian understanding there was not only incompleteness but also a degree of error. All of this St. Paul himself had at once begun to correct and supply. But since he needed to hasten to other Churches, and there still remained something requiring correction, he left St. Titus on the island to “set right” what remained uncorrected. This is why he said: “that you should… set right” — επιδιορθωση — that you should correct further, should add the needful corrections over what has already been corrected and bring them to completion. Blessed Jerome writes: “St. Paul, hastening to other lands, left St. Titus in Crete to correct what was faulty and what was lacking. By saying: ‘that you should set right what was still lacking,’ he shows that the Cretans had not yet arrived at full knowledge of the truth, and that although some things had been corrected among them by the Apostle, others still remained in need of correction, as being faulty and imperfect. This is indicated by the prefix attached to the verb: επιδιορθωση — which does not mean the same as: διορθωση — ‘that you should set right’—but, so to speak: ‘that you should correct yet further’—that is: that what I have begun to correct, but have not brought to the degree of perfection required by truth, you should complete, so that all things among them may take on their proper appearance.”

“And appoint elders in every city.” This is not the only thing that needed to be corrected; it was one among other deficiencies to be set right. The Apostle made special mention of it because of the special importance of the sacred order in the Church. Without it, neither teaching, nor the Sacraments, nor any other ordering in the Church can be properly carried out. He says, as it were: take care above all, or principally, to appoint worthy presbyters. Where there is a worthy presbyter, there everything will be in order. The word “appoint” means the same as “ordain.” This is how St. Paul himself acted everywhere. Having founded a Church, he did not leave it to itself, but ordained worthy men and entrusted to them the edification and governance of the believers, as we see from his conduct during his first Apostolic journey, when together with Barnabas, having founded Churches in Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch (in Pisidia), they did not depart until they had ordained elders in every Church (Acts 14:23). It may be supposed that St. Paul himself had ordained some presbyters in Crete, but not everywhere. Where they were still needed, he entrusted their ordination to St. Titus. By “presbyters” all our commentators understand bishops, as those senior over the priests. — “In every city.” To this day in the East the custom prevails that every city should, as far as possible, have its own bishop. “The Apostle did not want the whole island to be subject to a single person, but that each should have his own portion under his care and oversight; for in this way both his own labor will be lightened, and greater oversight will be maintained over those subject to him, if the teacher is not distracted by presiding over a multitude of Churches but occupies himself with only one and sets it in order” (St. Chrysostom).

“As I directed you.” This direction certainly encompassed everything: what to correct and how—the Apostle had defined precisely himself. By the example of what was commanded, one could see how to correct also what was not specified in words. But perhaps: “as I directed”—refers principally or exclusively to the choosing and ordaining of presbyters, so that the words following—“if anyone” and the rest—indicate what was precisely or especially commanded. In that case one may read: “as I directed you”—that is: “if anyone” and the rest.

Reflecting on how St. Paul yields his authority and prerogatives to St. Titus, St. Chrysostom says: “Do you see how his soul is free from all envy, how he always sought the benefit of those being taught, regardless of whether it would be achieved by himself or by someone else? Where there was danger and great difficulty, he handled everything himself by his personal presence; but what brought greater honor or glory, he entrusts to his disciple—namely, the ordination of bishops and all else that had need of some correction or, so to speak, of greater ordering. But tell me—what are you saying? Your work will it be that he sets in order? And you do not consider this humiliating and shameful for yourself? Not at all, he says; for I have in view only the common good—whether it is done by me or by another, it is all the same to me. Such should be the presiding minister (of the Church)—to seek not his own honor, but the common good.”