Titus
Tit 1:1 Paul. Authorship of the epistle to Titus is disputed by modern critical scholarship. To take the text at face value we must at least assume it was written after the events of Acts, i.e. late 60’s AD, since Paul leaving Titus in Crete is never mentioned in the Acts narrative.
Servant of God. Literally, slave of God. It’s controversial, but I find slavery to be a very fruitful metaphor for our relationships both to sin and to God.
Apostle of Jesus Christ. Paul was directly commissioned by the Lord (on the Damascus road) just as the other apostles were, and in that sense he was a special messenger/ambassador of Christ. I personally find difficulty with this since (1) the apostles were originally twelve in number and meant to represent/judge the twelve tribes of Israel [citation needed] and (2) the replacement of Judas with Matthias seems to have been an isolated event necessitated by Judas’s failure to uphold his office [citation needed]. Are the twelve apostles such in an official/technical sense and Paul only in an unofficial/general sense (he does elsewhere refer to the other apostles as “super-apostles” [citation needed])?
Tit 1:2 God, who never lies. This is not a mere academic assertion of the divine attribute of veracity, but Paul is hanging an argument on it. We have no hope of eternal life if God is not 100% truthful.
Promised before the ages began. To whom or with whom did God make this promise? This seems like compelling evidence of some sort of covenant God made with himself (or the persons of the Trinity made amongst themselves) in eternity past, commonly called the Covenant of Redemption.
Tit 1:4 Titus. Titus is not mentioned in the narrative of Acts. We don’t know where Paul met Titus, but he speaks highly of him in his other epistles (2Co 2:13; 7:6, 13–14; 8:6, 16, 23; 12:18; Gal 2:1, 3; 2Ti 4:10).
My true child. Likely indicates Titus was led to saving faith by Paul himself.
Tit 1:5 Appoint elders in every town. This is compelling warrant for the Presbyterian system’s plurality of elders.
Tit 1:7 Overseer. Overseer is translated from Greek episkopos, “bishop”. Elder and bishop are used interchangeably here, implying they are the same church office.
Tit 1:12–13 One of the Cretans . . . said, “Cretans are always liars . . .” This testimony is true. Though Paul is of course making a serious point, I have to believe this is cited tongue-in-cheek. How can it be true if it was written by an always-lying Cretan? It’s a delightful paradox. The quotation is from Epimenides of Crete. I love the idea that a Bible author can quote an outside source and then it becomes infallible God-breathed Scripture (see also Ac 17:28). God has a sense of humor.