For this cause I left thee in Crete, that thou mightest go on to set right what remained [unordered], and establish elders in each city, as *I* had ordered thee
Paul had passed through Crete and moved on. He left behind young groups of believers and a trusted fellow worker to finish what the visit had begun. It gives Titus two jobs and one limit. He was to finish what was unfinished and to appoint elders town by town. And he was to follow the instructions Paul had already given him.
This one sentence sets the course of the whole letter. One writer reads it as the key to the book's subject:
Here, in Titus, the apostle says plainly that he had left him in Crete to set in order things that were still lacking, and to establish elders in every city... The subject of this book is the walk that suits Christians, in keeping order in their relationships with each other. It is also the great principles on which this walk is founded.
The gap was not a failure. The work in Crete was young, and Paul's visit had been short.
The apostle's stay was short, so some things were still lacking that it could not complete. There was also the need to appoint elders, and that regularly came after the saints were gathered — sometimes long after. This implies that several cities, perhaps many, had assemblies in them, and that elders were appointed in each one later... we know from elsewhere in the New Testament that more than one elder in any given assembly was the rule, and so no doubt it was at Crete.
Verse 5 asks for elders. Two verses later Paul uses a different word for the same men.
Then the apostle states the qualifications needed for anyone who would fill such an office. Here we see that the office of elder and the office of overseer are the same. (Compare verse 5 with verse 7.) The term elder was the title of respect; the term overseer was the one that described the work.
The phrase "as I directed you" is the hinge of the verse. Titus was not acting on his own judgment, and the letter itself was his credentials.
The apostle had committed this task to the proven faithfulness of Titus. He gave Titus his own authority by word of mouth and here in writing. So to reject Titus was to reject the apostle, and therefore the Lord who had sent him. Authority in the assembly of God is a serious thing — a thing that comes from God Himself. It can be exercised through influence by the gift of God, and by officeholders, when God establishes them through instruments He has chosen and sent for this purpose.
What makes a man fit for this charge? One writer points to what Paul leaves out of the list.
Notice a matter of the greatest importance. The apostle does not specify a particular gift as needed for these local charges. Scripture takes marked care to guard against that dangerous confusion, which soon marked Christendom and formed the separation of clergy from laity... A gift and a charge may well be combined in the same person. But in themselves, and for most people who have only one of the two, they are completely different. The gift was one given by Christ to the church, from the greatest to the least, without any human involvement. The charge of "elders" or "overseers" needed more than fitness. It also needed choice or appointment by a competent authority that Scripture defines.
Titus appointed elders because Paul told him to. So can anyone appoint elders today?
Scripture makes no provision for such appointments to continue. We can only see them as a way of establishing the church in its earliest state. Of course, there is no authority now for appointing elders. Yet the saints should still recognise men with the qualifications seen here and in 1 Timothy, valuing their wisdom and experience. Then order can be kept easily, without official appointment.
- Left — Paul left Titus in Crete with a job to finish. His task was to carry on what Paul's own visit had started.
- Lacking — A short visit could not finish the work. Elders often came some time after a group of believers first gathered.
- Labelled — "Elder" is the title of honour, "overseer" describes the job. Verse 5 and verse 7 speak of one and the same man, and one gathering usually had more than one elder.
- Lent — "As I directed you" is the key. The authority was Paul's. He passed it on in speech and in writing, so that refusing Titus meant refusing the Lord who sent him.
- Lasting — Paul's authority to appoint stopped with Titus. The qualities in the list still mark out trustworthy men, and recognising them keeps order where no one can appoint.
if any one be free from all charge [against him], husband of one wife, having believing children not accused of excess or unruly.
Paul left Titus on Crete to appoint elders in every city. This verse sets the entry test: a clear record, one wife, and children who do not disgrace their father.
The first word decides the rest. A man open to blame himself has no standing to correct anyone else.
"If anyone is blameless (or unaccused)." How can he correct others if he is open to blame himself? "Husband of one wife." If married, he must have only one wife. Many people outside Israel had several at the same time, and Jews divorced a wife easily when they preferred another. "Having children faithful, not accused of excess (or loose living), or unruly." Having several wives would bar a man, whatever his fitness in other ways; disreputable children would bar him too.
Paul wrote this phrase into a world where a man could have several wives at once. Commentators read it against that background and note what it does not say.
The overseer had to be blameless, "the husband of one wife." In that day a man could have several wives at once, so the rule for anyone holding office in the Church of God was to have only one wife. It clearly does not mean that a man whose wife had died would be unfit for office if he married again.
There is a line here between being unfit for the office and being rejected altogether.
He must be the husband of one wife. This requirement had special force for those coming out of a pagan background where a man could have several wives. A converted man with more than one wife was not to be rejected, but he was not fit for oversight.
Commentators differ on how far this goes. One writer reads it in full — the children themselves believe — and starts by explaining the two names the letter gives this office.
The office of elder and overseer, we see here, is the same. The term elder was the title of respect; the term overseer described the work… The qualifications listed here are much the same as those given in the instructions to Timothy. But here, where dealing with people who contradict the truth is the prominent thought, Paul reminds Titus that the children of such a man should be believers (v. 6).
Others read it as reliability and order in the home, formed by a father who models order himself.
If a man is to help keep order, he must be a proper example of order in his own life and in his family life. His children were to show that they were subject to order.
Either way, one writer puts it plainly: the father is "clearly held responsible" for the character of his children.
These two words describe children with a loose or defiant reputation. A parallel between two houses explains why it matters so much.
Anyone who would keep order in the house of God must first show that he can keep order in his own house. He must be blameless in his family life — the husband of one wife, with no charge of wild living or defiance against his household.
A man may serve well in public and still fail this test. It does not measure ability. The trouble at home may go back years.
Perhaps this neglect happened before he was converted. Perhaps, after his conversion, he took up the evil idea of leaving the children to themselves, on the faithless excuse that God would convert them sometime if He saw fit… For such an office it was not so much a question of gifts as of moral weight. A man might be a prophet, a teacher, an evangelist — a disorderly wife or children would not cancel his gifts. But he should not be an elder unless he brought up his children with godliness and seriousness.
The family language is not accidental. The list describes a father, because that is the role he is given.
The qualities required in an elder are much the same as in Timothy, above all the family qualities; for the elder is to be a father in the local assembly.
The list exists so someone can apply it. The letter is clear who that was.
As to elders, an apostle chooses them (Acts 14:23), or leaves a representative for a time to appoint them (Titus 1:5-9)… The church is never invited to select them… Paul left Titus in Crete specifically to set in order what he had left undone, and to appoint elders in every city, as the apostle had appointed Titus and no one else.
- Home first. A man must keep order in his own house before he keeps order in the house of God.
- Home tested. One wife and children who are neither loose nor defiant — the two places where a man's real weight shows.
- Home debated. Does the verse ask for children who believe, or children who are reliable and orderly? Commentators differ. Both hold the father responsible.
- Home over gift. Gift cannot cover a disorderly home. Eldership asks for moral weight, not ability.
- Home repeated. The elder is a father in the assembly, and the family he has raised is the proof he can be one.
For the overseer must be free from all charge [against him] as God's steward; not headstrong, not passionate, not disorderly through wine, not a striker, not seeking gain by base means;
Paul has just told Titus to appoint elders in each town on Crete. This verse names the same man an "overseer" and sets one standard over him: he handles what belongs to God.
The change of word between verse 5 and verse 7 has led some to imagine two ranks of leader. Commentators see one man from two sides: his standing, and his job.
"Elder" expresses the dignity of the person, drawn from the respect due to age. The elder need not be an aged man, but a man of experience. So people used the title even where there was no great age, wherever a man suited the position. "Bishop," or overseer, expresses instead the nature of the office: to take moral account of the saints and to maintain godly order. Oversight, in short, was the constant duty, privately and publicly.
A steward manages another man's property and answers to the owner for it. That picture makes the demand for a clean record reasonable, not harsh.
The expression "steward of God" is a remarkable one. Even in this world, a sensible man of property will not employ a steward unless he has an irreproachable character. The charge is one of great responsibility and honour.
Older translations render the first negative "self-willed" or "headstrong." People often mistake it for backbone.
He must be "not self-willed," or headstrong. It is the grossest mistake to think that self-will implies courage, though it may lead to rashness or even recklessness. Nothing gives such quiet firmness as knowing you are doing the will of God. Then a man can be lowly and patient, but uncompromising… Self-will haughtily disregards both God and man. How shameful in an overseer!
An overseer has to correct people. A short fuse does not add force to correction; it drains it away. The next word in the list covers more than drink.
Again, he must be "not soon angry," not irascible. Scarcely anything weakens authority more than a tendency to explosions of anger. The weight of a rebuke, however just it may be, is easily lost when a man is overcome with angry heat. Calmness gives weight and force to a needed rebuke. The next negation is perhaps figurative. Literally it means not staying long over wine, or being disorderly through it. So it generally comes to mean "not a brawler." Being addicted to wine is certainly ruled out. But even a Christian free from that suspicion is unfit to be God's steward if he is easily heated, noisy and quarrelsome.
The list moves from temper and violence to money. This last fault is no smaller a danger than the others, and it disarms the man in his own work.
Men in authority are quite apt to fall into another fault, but it is unworthy of an overseer. He must not seek gain by base means. He must stand firm against greed for dishonest money. The man called to rule before God among the saints must guard against this debasing evil at least as much as against the sins of violence. If he were faulty here, with what face could he rebuke those sins, as it is his duty to do?
Read together, the five negatives share one root. Each names an appetite or reaction that has taken charge of the man.
Self-will is the strong intention of having one's own way, a most destructive element in the assembly of God. An elder is not to indulge in wine, nor to be a striker — that is, striking back against what he considers injustice. Nor is he to have the sort of character that seeks earthly gain by questionable means. Notice in all of these the necessity of controlling himself: his desires, his temper, his appetite, his resentment against wrongs, his selfishness. In other words, if he is to keep the assembly in order for God, he must certainly know how to control himself.
Titus appointed elders because an apostle sent him to do it. Commentators say no one can make that formal appointment now. Yet men still do the work.
Evangelists and teachers have their place. But we should also value those who work in a simpler, less obvious way. Day by day they devote themselves to strengthen the links of affection and to check the sources of disorder that keep springing up in Christian assemblies. These are the people whom competent authority once appointed as elders, or overseers… And if we see men of such ways and gifts working now, we should respect and acknowledge them. They have the qualities and do the work of elders, though circumstances make their formal appointment no longer possible.
- One man. "Elder" points to weight of experience. "Overseer" points to the work of watching over the saints and keeping godly order. Two names, one person.
- One owner. He is God's steward. No wise owner hands his property to a man of doubtful character. The charge is both honour and responsibility.
- One root. Arrogance, temper, drink, violence and greed are one failure. Something other than God is running the man.
- One test. He cannot keep the assembly in order for God unless he first keeps himself in order. A rebuke from an angry or greedy man carries no weight.
- One legacy. The apostles' appointment has gone, but the character has not. Where a man shows these qualities and does the work, we should recognise him.
but hospitable, a lover of goodness, discreet, just, pious, temperate,
Paul's list turns a corner here. After naming what an overseer must not be, he names what he must be: seven positive marks, from an open home to self-control.
Keeping clear of scandal is only the starting line. One writer explains why a clean record is not enough, and what kind of hospitality this calls for:
The absence of evil qualities is not enough. The assembly of God is the only sphere on earth for the exercise and display of what is divine. To steer clear of the ordinary snares of men in office could never satisfy the mind of God. The overseer was called to be hospitable, without a thought of invitation or repayment in return... It is plain, then, that it was not in the least on the ground of previous acquaintance, or of social equality.
Peter attaches a condition to hospitality. One writer explains why:
Hospitality has a large place in the Scriptures. Peter gives a striking instruction: "Show hospitality to one another without grumbling" (1 Peter 4:9). Why "without grumbling"? Perhaps the apostle, as a married man, knew that hospitality costs money, work and self-sacrifice. Extra food must be bought, sleeping space provided, and extra plates, knives, forks and spoons have to be washed up. So "without grumbling" is a very happy exhortation.
Older translations read "a lover of good men." William Kelly shows the term is wider than people, and names the danger it guards against:
Nor is this all. We read next that the elder was to be "a lover of good" — not merely of good men, but of goodness. This is an important safeguard in far more than hospitality. Self-pleasing might easily creep in otherwise; and indulging self is always the service of Satan. Christ alone shows us truly and fully what good is.
Older translations name the rest of the list "sober, just, holy, temperate." One writer defines each term:
The seven positives of verse 8 are precious... A lover of goodness will be so occupied with good that he will have little time for evil, even in fighting against it. To be sober is to use wise discretion in discernment and action. And "just" is added to this, a righteous, fair character in dealing with others. "Holy" is the character of separation to God, hating evil and loving good. "Temperate" is necessary too — the avoiding of extremes by a well-balanced moderation.
Commentators differ on "holy." The writer above reads it as separation to God. Another finds mercy in the word:
The overseer, it is added in due course as a higher call, must be "pious," or "holy" in that sense. It is not separateness from evil. It means gracious and upright, and it is used this way of Christ in particular, in the Old Testament as well as in the New. It is that character of piety which appreciates God's mercy, and is itself merciful.
The last word in the list has shrunk in modern usage. One writer widens it again, and names what does the checking:
Further, he was to be "temperate" — an expression much narrowed, and so far misapplied, in our day. Self-control not in one respect but in all is its real meaning. It means that every feeling and inclination is checked in the Christian by his sense of God's presence, grace, and fear.
So who does this work today, and can anyone still be appointed? One writer answers both:
We cannot appoint elders now, because we are not apostles, or even apostolic delegates... Evangelists and teachers have their place. But we should also value those who work in a simpler and less prominent way. Day by day they strengthen the links of affection, and hold back the sources of disorder which, as we all know, keep springing up in Christian gatherings... And if we see men with such ways and gifts working now, we should respect and acknowledge them. They have the qualities of elders and do the work of elders, even though circumstances make their formal appointment no longer possible.
- Not enough — avoiding scandal only clears the ground. God's assembly is the one place on earth to display what is divine, so the list turns from "must not" to "must be."
- Open door — this hospitality is for strangers, not for friends or social equals. It costs money, work and self-denial.
- Open heart — "a lover of good" reaches past good people to goodness itself. That love guards service from self-pleasing.
- Ordered life — sober in judgment, just toward others, holy toward God, temperate in every appetite. Four words cover mind, dealings, worship and self.
- Recognised, not installed — no one can appoint elders now. But where these marks show in men serving quietly today, we should respect their work as elders' work.
clinging to the faithful word according to the doctrine taught, that he may be able both to encourage with sound teaching and refute gainsayers.
Titus 1:9 closes the list of qualities Paul gave Titus for appointing elders, and it is the only item about what a man does with the word of God. It raises two questions: what "as taught" means, and why two uses are named — building up and pushing back.
Everything before this verse describes what kind of man an overseer is. This one describes what he grips, and it completes the portrait. The writers below call it "the faithful word," the older wording for the ESV's "trustworthy word."
But there is more. Verse 9 insists on a firm grip on the faithful word, according to the teaching received. This is so that he may exhort by sound doctrine and refute those who contradict it. Notice this trait, because not everyone holds fast to true teaching, even after receiving it. It is the crowning virtue in the overseer's list. The list had already described his moral worth and weight. To complete the picture, there is the keeping of the faithful word. It helps the saints by stirring them up to good, and it stops evil.
The phrase "as taught" points backwards. The elder did not compose his message; he received it, and holding it fast means respecting where it came from.
Those older men whom Titus was to appoint as overseers were to be men who held fast the faithful word. They were to be lovers of the truth. What is more, they were to hold it fast as they had been taught. That is, they were to recognise the authority with which it was first given. They were to respect that authority carefully and be subject to it.
An uncertain grip on the truth is not a private matter. It weakens the work laid on the man.
Such a man must stick firmly to the faithful word. Uncertainty in his own grasp of it, and uncertainty in handling it for others, would weaken to that same degree the task laid on him to carry out. The elder was not to act on his own wisdom. His authority did not come from himself, and not from the people who made up the assembly either. He was God's steward. The Holy Spirit made him an overseer — not over a flock of his own ("my people," as men say, or "my church"), but in "the flock of God."
The verse names two tasks that pull in opposite directions: comfort and correction. One word does both.
The overseer will always meet a clash of circumstances. Two needs then claim his care: the need to encourage some, and no less the need to reprove those who contradict. Both tasks need a single eye. But the faithful word is the weapon that matters most. It is sharper than any two-edged sword, and it can divide as well as wound. The faithful word alone enables the overseer to encourage with the healthful teaching, and to expose those who seek their own things, not the things of Jesus Christ.
The word translated "sound" is not a synonym for correct. It is a medical picture.
The word translated "sound" occurs again and again. It is worth noting that it is the word from which we get "hygienic," so often on people's lips today. It means healthful. Sound doctrine is truly doctrine that makes for spiritual health.
That changes how a man prepares to meet error. He does not become an expert in what is wrong.
Also, the one who would instruct others in the word must himself hold fast "the faithful word" as he has been taught through "faithful men." It is not the knowledge of error that will enable us to meet it, but the knowledge of the truth — "holding fast the faithful word."
The call to teach does not mean the elder must be a public speaker.
They were, moreover, to be "able to teach" — not necessarily as public expounders of the truth, but "holding fast the faithful word."
Formal appointment is no longer possible. The qualities themselves still show up in men.
And if we see men of such ways and gifts working now, we should surely respect them and acknowledge them as the men who have the qualities and do the work of elders. This holds even though circumstances make their formal appointment no longer possible.
- Received — the elder holds the word "as taught." He recognises the authority it came with and stays under it.
- Held — uncertainty about the truth in a man's own mind spreads straight into his handling of it for others.
- Healthy — "sound" means healthful. Such teaching builds spiritual health, and knowing the truth, not studying error, equips a man to meet error.
- Two-edged — one word both encourages and refutes those who contradict. Both jobs need a single eye.
- Recognised — men who carry these marks today deserve acknowledgement, even though no one can appoint them formally now.