Book of Titus

Phil 1 Collosae
Ancient Crete is the civilization that existed on the island of Crete, just south of Greece, in the Mediterranean Sea. From around 3000–1200 B.C., inhabitants known as Minoans controlled Crete and ruled the island in autonomous city states.
Although the Minoans were able to rise to a position of political and economic dominance during this time, their civilization and subsequent control over Crete was destroyed by a large volcanic eruption 186 miles (300) km away, layering it in hot volcanic ash.
It is from this period onward that Crete began to fall under the control of the nearby Greek city-states and eventually the Roman Empire.

A construction company in Belize recently destroyed one of the nation’s largest Mayan pyramids while excavating for a new road.

The loss is incalculable, and authorities blame it on laziness. Builders were too slothful to figure a way around the treasure, so they took the easy way out, bulldozing through it without thinking.

We do a lot of damage by taking the easy way out. In the book of Titus, the apostle Paul told his troubleshooter, Titus, how to minister to people who were converted from a culture filled with “liars, evil beasts, and lazy gluttons” (Titus 1:12).

The setting was the island of Crete, which Paul and Titus had evangelized. Titus remained on the island to get the churches organized and to develop the work. But he struggled to oversee churches filled with people who had grown up without self-discipline.

That sounds like a relevant subject, doesn’t it? How do we move from laziness to self-control and spiritual maturity?

  • In chapter 1, Paul laid down the qualifications of mature and hard-working church leaders.
  • In chapters 2 and 3, he told Titus what to say to various groups and to the Church as a whole.

The same grace that brought salvation, he wrote, teaches us to say “No” to worldly passions, to deny laziness and lust, and to live soberly and righteously in this world.

The message of Titus is: God’s work should be well-organized and His workers self-controlled as we go about building, not bulldozing, His Church in this world.

Key Thought:

Tit 2 Minoan people
Ancient Crete is the civilization that existed on the island of Crete, just south of Greece, in the Mediterranean Sea. From around 3000–1200 B.C., inhabitants known as Minoans controlled Crete and ruled the island in autonomous city states.
Although the Minoans were able to rise to a position of political and economic dominance during this time, their civilization and subsequent control over Crete was destroyed by a large volcanic eruption 186 miles (300) km away, layering it in hot volcanic ash.
The Minoans were an advanced peaceful civilization that lived in comfort with paved streets and sewers that were unheard of in the ancient world.
They dedicated themselves to art and the love of life. They valued the natural world and created a naturalistic art style that is remarkable even by modern standards and was far advanced for the time.
Their joy in life shows in the remarkable frescoes that survive filled with vivid color, and finding beauty in both small and large things.
There is much that we don’t know about the Minoans, many have suggested that the Minoans might well be the people that formed the basis of the legend of Atlantis.

Godly leaders should set in order what is lacking in the Church by teaching sound doctrine and modeling self-discipline.

Key Verses:

“Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:12-13).

Key Action:

“But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine” (Titus 2:1). 

“This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men” (Titus 3:8).

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