After ministering for a period on the island of Crete, Paul left Titus behind to consolidate the work and organise the churches there. Now , Paul was on his travels, and as two of his companions (Artemas and Tychicus) were to visit Crete on their journeys, he entrusted them with this letter to Titus. In Titus chapter 1:1-4, Paul gives a five-fold discription:
I. How Paul describes Himself.
The first word in the letter is “Paul”-the writer’s name. It was the custom in those days to begin a letter with the name of the writer, just as it is our custom today to conclude the letter with the writer’s name. Paul describes himself in two ways:
1. ” A servant of God ” This is characteristic of him – compare Rom.1:1; Phil.1:1. He was a bondman, God’s slave, for God owned him and he owned the Lord as his Master. Paul’s life was totally committed to the Lord; he was not his own – compare Ex. 21:6 ; with 1Cor.6:20.
2. ” an apostle of Jesus Christ ” Here Paul gives us his official authority for the ministry he is engaged. He was a sent one – sent by the Lord Himself. Sometimes Paul’s enemies question his right to call himself an apostle, but there was no valid ground for such questioning; he was the envoy of Jesus Christ, who had entrusted him with the gospel (v:3)
We also, by the grace of God, are servants of God, the sent ones of Jesus Christ. Do we take our place before the Lord as His slaves and recognise that He has sent us into the world to be His representatives?
More to come