To Titus, a true son
in our common faith: Grace, mercy, and
peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior.
Titus 1:4
Dear Heavenly
Father, I bow before you humble in
Spirit and hopeful for wisdom. Help me
to learn from Your Word. Help me to live
like Your Word. Please be with my
children as they start another College semester. Help them be Your witnesses. Help them to be successful in their
pursuits. In Jesus's name I pray, Amen.
This verse is in the
"Recipient" part of the letter.
Paul greets Titus. To bring
deeper understanding to today's text, let's examine some key words and their
companion or similar verses.
"Titus" in
the Greek is Titos which means Greek
Christian, helper of Paul, perhaps the brother of Luke, Corinthian, from Latin,
titulus, which means title of honor,
defender.
Let's research this
thought that Titus may be Luke's brother.
2 Corinthians 12:18 states "I urged Titus, and sent our brother with him. Did
Titus take advantage of you? Did we not walk in the same spirit? Did we not
walk in the same steps?" 2
Corinthians 8:16-18 states "But
thanks be to God who puts the same earnest care for you into the heart of
Titus. For he not only accepted the exhortation, but being more diligent, he
went to you of his own accord. And we
have sent with him the brother
whose praise is in the gospel throughout all the churches." In Second Corinthians, the
"brother" mentioned could be family not just a fellow believer. However, scholars point out that
Titus is not mentioned in Acts. This
omission could be further proof that Luke, the author of Acts, is Titus'
brother. In that day, to include a relative
would be seen as a cultural impropriety, possibly showing favoritism. Another reason for the omission, Titus could
be Luke's major source of information about Paul's life and ministry and,
therefore, like Luke, would not be named.
Luke could possibly be Titus' brother but the Scripture doesn't clearly
state it.
"True" in
the Greek is gnesios which means
lawfully begotten, genuine, true to origin, legitimate, demonstrably valid,
referred to children born of legitimate marriage, in an affectionate endearing
sense, sincere. "Son" in the
Greek is teknon which means child,
descendent, inhabitant, figuratively anyone living in full dependence on the
heavenly Father willingly relying on the Lord, childlike attitude of heart,
disciple of prophets, pupils or disciples are called children by their teachers
because the teacher nourishes the minds of their pupils. 3 John 1:4 states "I have no greater joy
than to hear that my children
walk in truth." Titus is a
legitimate child of God and a disciple of Christ.
"Common"
in the Greek is kionos which means
shared, ordinary, gift of salvation shared by all true believers, belonging to
several. Jude 1:3 states " Beloved,
while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I
found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the
faith which was once for all delivered to the saints." 2 Peter 1:1 states "Simon Peter, a
bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained like precious faith with
us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ." "Faith" in the Greek is pistis which means belief, trust, confidence,
fidelity, faithfulness, come to trust, persuaded, conviction of truth of
anything, conviction that God exists and bestows eternal salvation through
Christ. Titus has received the gift of
eternal life shared by all believers.
"Grace" in
the Greek is charis which means gift or
blessing brought to man by Jesus Christ, favor, gratitude, thanks, kindness
bestowed upon one that is not deserved, lovingkindness, unmerited favor. "Mercy" is only used in the New King
James Version (NKJV) of the Bible and is inferred from "grace." Mercy is defined in English as compassion or
forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or
harm. 1 Timothy 1:2 states "Grace,
mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord."
"Peace" in
the Greek is eirene which means which
means peace of mind, sense of health and welfare of an individual, common
Jewish farewell, properly wholeness, when all essential parts are together,
peace that leads to salvation, peace with God, security, safety, prosperity,
tranquil state of the soul assured of salvation through Christ, felicity,
intense happiness-joy-bliss-delight-cheerfulness, may happiness attend you. It
is from the root word, eiro, which means
to join, together into a whole. As a
greeting, Paul prays for Titus, specifically for kindness that is not deserved,
forgiveness from God who has the authority to punish, and a tranquil assurance
of salvation from God through Christ.
"Lord" is
only used in the New King James Version (NKJV) of the Bible. It is defined in
English as someone having power, authority or influence. The person is a master or ruler. "Christ" in the Greek is Christos which means anointed one, Messiah,
promised deliver. "Savior" in
the Greek is soter which means
deliverer, preserver, Jesus who saves believers from their sins and delivers
them into His safety, through which God gives salvation, preservation or
deliverance from harm, ruin or loss. Sin
in English is defined as an immoral evil act, not conforming to morality
(between right and wrong), against the law, transgression. Jesus saves people who believe in Him from
their evilness. He delivers them from
eternal, permanent harm to intense happiness, joy, bliss, delight, cheerfulness
that can only be found from God's gift of eternal life.
Are you
"Legit?" Okay, so what do I
mean by this word? "Legit" is
a shortened form of the word "legitimate". However, it is commonly
used to describe things as cool or extremely awesome. It can also be used as something that is
honest, straight forward, and within the law.
So are you honest, straight forward and within God's law?
Titus was
legit. Paul made a point to communicate
it in the letter, "my true child in our common faith." As a valid,
verified disciple of Christ, Titus is convinced that God exists and bestows
eternal salvation through Christ. Do
believe God? Do you believe Jesus? "For by grace you have been saved
through faith." "Whoever
believes in Him will receive remission of sins." "But as many as
received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God." Titus wasn't perfect and neither are
we. His conviction, belief, faith in
Christ gave him the right to be a true child of God, forgiven of whatever
wrongs in his life, and given eternal life.
"And that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works,
lest anyone should boast." GRACE,
unmerited favor, should be punished but wasn't.
To me, that is cool and extremely awesome. BE
LEGIT.
To Titus, my true
child in a common faith: Grace and peace [inner calm and spiritual well-being]
from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.
Amplified Bible
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