Titus 1

“Apostle” means “official messenger,” such as a delegate or an ambassador sent to deliver a message. The title “apostle” came to mean disciples handpicked by Jesus to tell his story and spread his teachings. The title usually referred to the 12 original disciples of Jesus and to Paul, who met Jesus in a miraculous encounter while Paul was traveling to Damascus to arrest Christians (Acts 9:5).

“Chosen people” is a common tag for the Jews. It shows up a lot in the Jewish Bible, which Christians usually call the Old Testament: “Do not touch my chosen people” (1 Chronicles 16:22, New Living Translation). Paul doesn’t use the phrase to refer to the Jewish race. He applies it to everyone who’s devoted to God, Jews and non-Jews.

“Kindness” is often translated “grace.”

“Church leaders” is often translated “elders” (New American Standard Bible). The original Greek word is presbyteros, from which we get Presbyterian. Luke once used the same Greek word to describe “old men” (Acts 2:17). But Paul seemed to use the term as a generic way of referring to church leaders. In this context, perhaps a modern-day parallel might be that of a part-time pastor of a church startup—some founding minister who works another job to pay the bills. Still, elders were heavy hitters in the church’s political structure, helping make important decisions alongside the top leaders: apostles. “Apostles and elders together with the whole church in Jerusalem chose delegates” (Acts 15:22, New Living Translation).

The Greek word for the leader is episkopon, from which we get the word episcopal, which means a church led by bishops. Bible versions translate the word as “overseer” (New American Standard Bible), “church leader” (New Living Translation), and “supervisor” (Common English Bible).

Circumcision is a Jewish ritual performed on baby boys eight days old. For Jews, it was a bit like signing a contract by cutting on the dotted line. God told Abraham, “These are the terms for you and your family throughout the generations. Circumcise every male. . . . This way, your bodies will carry your signature of the contract, which is everlasting” (Genesis 17:10, 13). For Jews, circumcision became a visual mark that identified them as God’s people. Paul taught that spiritual circumcision trumps physical circumcision, making it no longer necessary because it was part of what Bible scholars call the “old covenant” or agreement between God and his people. Paul and other early Christian writers essentially taught that Jesus launched the “new covenant” and rendered the former agreement “obsolete” (Ephesians 2:15; see also Colossians 2:13; Hebrews 8:13).

Many scholars say Paul was probably paraphrasing a well-respected Cretan prophet from about 500 years earlier, Epimenides. The prophet wrote that line in a poem. It was part of a complaint he leveled against the people of Crete, who claimed that the Greek god Zeus was dead. A paraphrased snippet from the poem: “They chiseled a tomb for you, high and holy one. / Those Cretans, always liars, evil beasts, idle bellies. / But you aren’t dead. You live and remain forever. / In you we live and move and have our being.”

Some Bible experts speculate that the legends or myths Paul mentions may have been legendary tales about Jewish heroes and family members in Old Testament times. These tall tales may have been a bit like the American legend about three-year-old Davy Crockett killing a bear that was not named Teddy.

Paul rejected human rules about kosher food and religious holidays: “Let me tell you, these rules are worthless because they do nothing to help people overcome their sinful desires” (Colossians 2:23; see vv. 16-23).

Paul may have been warning Titus about the same false teachers he had warned the Christians of Colossae about: monk-like ascetics who told people to deprive themselves. “Don’t let anyone feed you their rules about what you should eat or drink, or what religious holidays you should observe, including new moon rituals or worship on the Sabbath. Important once, these were just shadows compared to the reality we now have in Christ” (Colossians 2:16-17).