Titus 1–3

1I, Paul, am writing this letter. I serve God. I am an apostle of Jesus Christ. God sent me to help his chosen people believe in Christ. I have been sent to help them understand the truth that leads to godly living. ²Faith and understanding rest on the hope of eternal life. Before time began, God promised to give that life. And he does not lie. ³At just the right time he made his word plain. He did it through the preaching that he trusted me with. God our Savior has commanded all those things.

⁴Titus, I am sending you this letter. You are my true son in the faith we share.

May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior give you grace and peace.

The Work of Titus on Crete

⁵I left you on the island of Crete. There were some things that hadn’t been finished. You needed to sort them out. You also had to appoint elders in every town. I told you how to do it.

⁶An elder must be without blame. He must be faithful to his wife. His children must be believers. They must not give anyone a reason to say that they are wild and don’t obey.

⁷A church leader is trusted with God’s work. That’s why he must be without blame. He must not look after only his own interests. He must not get angry easily. He must not get drunk. He must not push people around. He must not try to get money by cheating people.

⁸Instead, he must welcome people into his home. He must love what is good. He must control his mind and feelings. He must do what is right. He must be holy. He must control what his body longs for. ⁹The message as it has been taught can be trusted. He must hold firmly to it. Then he will be able to use true teaching to comfort others and build them up. He will be able to prove that people who oppose it are wrong.

¹⁰Many people refuse to obey God. All they do is talk a lot. They try to fool others. No one does these things more than the circumcision group. ¹¹They must be stopped. They are destroying entire families. They are teaching things they shouldn’t. They do it to get money by cheating people.

¹²Even one of their own prophets has said, “People from Crete are always liars. They are evil beasts. They don’t want to work. They live only to eat.” ¹³What I have just said is true. So give them a strong warning. Then they will understand the faith correctly. ¹⁴They will pay no attention to Jewish stories that aren’t completely true. They won’t listen to the commands of those who turn away from the truth.

¹⁵To people who are pure, all things are pure. But to those who have twisted minds and don’t believe, nothing is pure. In fact, their minds and their sense of what is right and wrong are twisted. ¹⁶They claim to know God. But their actions show they don’t know him. They are hated by God. They refuse to obey him. They aren’t fit to do anything good.

Teaching God’s People

2What you teach must agree with true teaching. ²Tell the older men that in anything they do, they must not go too far. They must be worthy of respect. They must control themselves. They must have true faith. They must love others. They must not give up.

³In the same way, teach the older women to lead a holy life. They must not tell lies about others. They must not let wine control them. Instead, they must teach what is good. ⁴Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children.

⁵The younger women must control themselves. They must be pure. They must take good care of their homes. They must be kind. They must follow the lead of their husbands. Then no one will be able to speak evil things against God’s word.

⁶In the same way, help the young men to control themselves. ⁷Do what is good. Set an example for them in everything. When you teach, be honest and serious. ⁸No one can question the truth. So teach what is true. Then those who oppose you will be ashamed. That’s because they will have nothing bad to say about us.

⁹Teach slaves to obey their masters in everything they do. Tell them to try to please their masters. They must not talk back to them. ¹⁰They must not steal from them. Instead, they must show that they can be trusted completely. Then they will make the teaching about God our Savior appealing in every way.

¹¹God’s saving grace has appeared to all people. ¹²It teaches us to say no to godless ways and sinful longings. We must control ourselves. We must do what is right. We must lead godly lives in today’s world. ¹³That’s how we should live as we wait for the blessed hope God has given us.

We are waiting for Jesus Christ to appear in all his glory. He is our great God and Savior. ¹⁴He gave himself for us. By doing that, he set us free from all evil. He wanted to make us pure. He wanted us to be his very own people. He wanted us to long to do what is good.

¹⁵Those are the things you should teach. Cheer people up and give them hope. Correct them with full authority. Don’t let anyone look down on you.

Do What Is Good

3Remind God’s people to obey rulers and authorities. Remind them to be ready to do what is good. ²Tell them not to speak evil things against anyone. Remind them to live in peace. They must consider the needs of others. They must be kind and gentle toward all people.

³At one time we too acted like fools. We didn’t obey God. We were tricked. We were controlled by all kinds of longings and pleasures. We were full of evil. We wanted what belongs to others. People hated us, and we hated one another.

⁴But the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared. ⁵He saved us. It wasn’t because of the good things we had done. It was because of his mercy. He saved us by washing away our sins. We were born again. The Holy Spirit gave us new life.

⁶God poured out the Spirit on us freely because of what Jesus Christ our Savior has done. ⁷His grace made us right with God. So now we have received the hope of eternal life as God’s children.

⁸You can trust that saying. Those things are important. Treat them that way. Then those who have trusted in God will be careful to commit themselves to doing what is good. Those things are excellent. They are for the good of everyone.

⁹But keep away from foolish disagreements. Don’t argue about family histories. Don’t make trouble. Don’t fight about what the law teaches. Don’t argue about things like that. It doesn’t do any good. It doesn’t help anyone.

¹⁰Warn anyone who tries to get believers to take sides and separate into their own little groups. Warn him more than once. After that, have nothing to do with him. ¹¹You can be sure that someone like that is twisted and sinful. His own actions judge him.

Final Words

¹²I will send Artemas or Tychicus to you. Then do your best to come to me at Nicopolis. I’ve decided to spend the winter there.

¹³Do everything you can to help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos. Send them on their way. See that they have everything they need.

¹⁴Our people must learn to commit themselves to doing what is good. Then they will be able to provide for the daily needs of others. If they do that, their lives won’t turn out to be useless.

¹⁵Everyone who is with me sends you greetings. Greet those who love us in the faith.

May God’s grace be with you all.