Titus 1:1-4

 I am using the New King James Version here, since I have it with me in print to copy.

"1 Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which accords with godliness, 2 in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began, 3 but has in due time manifested His word through preaching, which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior;  4 To Titus, a true son in our common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior."

So, what do we find?  Paul identifies himself as a bondservant, a "doulos" of God (he's said this of himself before, in Romans and in Philippians), and as Christ's apostle, based on faith and the "acknowledgment" of the Truth.  Paul goes on to describe some of God's qualities which, at least in this version of Scripture, makes for a long grammatical sentence.

One fact sticks out in all these words:  God cannot lie.  Now, does this mean that it is impossible for God to lie, or that He simply chooses not to lie? Some versions say that God "doesn't" lie.  Young's Literal Translation reads "doth not lie".  I don't know.  All I know is, whatever God says, whether or not by choice, it is guaranteed to be the truth.

Here's another fact: God promised eternal life even before the beginning of time.  Which also means that God was around before the beginning of time.  The promise, make thousands of years prior to its revelation in the Jesus Christ of history, reminds me of 2 Peter 3:9:

"The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." 

This is what many people call "God's timing", teaching that God's timing doesn't make sense.  The previous verse about a day being like a thousand years to God and vice-versa proves this teaching true.

But back to Titus.  Verse 3 tells us that the manifestation of the Word of God (who is Jesus, see John 1:1, John 1:14, I John 1:1, Revelation 19:13) came through preaching, a task that befell Paul and many others, by commandment.

Now, does this task befall all believers?  I actually looked up the Greek word for "preach" on my e-Sword mobile app, and so far, and I may be totally wrong about this (Proverbs 6:23), I haven't found any explicit command for non-apostles to preach.  Still, this does not mean non-apostles are to be silent.  Why should we?  The name of this very blog is based on 2 Corinthians 4:13, referencing Psalm 116:10:

"And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, 'I believed and therefore I spoke', we also believe and therefore speak."

Thus, while not "explicit", we who are believers in the Word of God are all called to proclaim the Gospel, because we believe it.

Verse 4: Titus is called a true son in the common faith.  It is common because Titus shares the "one mind" with the other believers (Romans 12:16, Romans 15:6, 2 Corinthians 13:11, Philippians 1:27, Philippians 2:2, I Peter 3:8).

Paul then gives Titus a blessing.

This is interesting: I'm only four verses in, not even in the main subjects of the epistle, and already a number of teachings worthy of a sermon!  

Next time in this series: verses 5-9, and maybe 10-16.  Verses 5-9, according to the NKJV, has the heading "Qualified Elders", while verses 10-16 has the heading "The Elders' Task".  The former gives a list of requirements for elders and bishops (where I explore whether or not they're the same thing), and the latter is a discussion about certain false teachers.