The Book of Titus

I. Title

        The title is derived from the name of the man to whom the letter was addressed.

II. Author and Setting

        The author was Paul, according to Titus 1:1-4a:

        Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness....
        To Titus, my true son in our common faith:

        Titus is never mentioned by name in the book of Acts, and his name appears elsewhere in only three of Paul's other letters: 2 Corinthians 2:13, 7:6, 13, 14, 8:6, 16, 23, 12:18; Galatians 2:1, 3; and 2 Timothy 4:10. Very little is known about him. Galatians 2:1-3 indicates that when Paul went from Antioch to Jerusalem to discuss the gospel message he was preaching, he took along Titus, an uncircumcised young Greek, as an example of the fruit of the gospel message.
        About a year before writing 2 Corinthians, Paul sent Titus to Corinth to get their help in collecting for the saints in Judea (1 Corinthians 16:1-4; 2 Corinthians 9:2 and 12:18). Shortly after writing 1 Corinthians, Paul sent Titus back to Corinth, to help straighten out some additional problems there. His failure to return when expected caused Paul anxiety (2 Corinthians 2:12- 13). Paul left for Macedonia, hoping to find Titus; there, he did find him, with the happy news that things had been settled in Corinth (2 Corinthians 7:5-7).
        Paul wrote the second letter to Corinth then and sent it back with Titus, instructing him to complete the collection for the saints in Judea (2 Corinthians 8:6,7, 16-24).
        The letter was probably written to Titus on Crete about AD 63, not long after Paul had left Crete. Paul's visit to Crete occurred sometime after his first imprisonment in Rome (Acts 28).

III. An Outline of Titus

I. Salutation 1:1-4
II. Elders 1:5-9
III. False Teachers 1:10-16
IV. What to teach 2:1-3:11
V. Conclusion 3:12-15

Questions on Titus

1. When was the letter to Titus written?
2. What does Paul say about the place of women in the church in Titus? How is it to be reconciled with Galatians 3:26-29, 1 Timothy 2:9-15 and 1 Corinthians 11:5?
3. What does Paul have to say about overseers (bishops or elders)?
4. Reconcile what Paul says in Titus 3:9 with what he does in Galatians 3:16-18 and Galatians 2:11-21, or elsewhere where he discusses the contrast between Law and Grace. Also, how is this statement to be understood in light of 2 Timothy 3:16-17 and the genealogies in the Old Testament?