Titus 1:1-9

Titus 1:1-9 … We come to the Letter to Titus, third of three of the sequence we call “Pastoral Epistles.” Chronologically, 2 Timothy was the last written; 1 Timothy and Titus were written a year or two previously during the interval of ministry between Paul’s first imprisonment at Rome about 60-62 A.D. and his second Roman imprisonment, probably about 67 or 68 A.D. In that period of time, Paul had assigned Titus to ministry on the island of Crete in the Aegean Sea. Crete was a large island, with numerous towns and villages to evangelize. This was a difficult and important assignment for Titus. It was difficult because of the culture: according to the assessment of native Cretans (Titus 1:12), “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, laz y gluttons,” it was certainly a hard environment for ministry. The mission was to appoint elders (church leaders) in the various towns of Crete … obviously important because, if a church is to faithfully grow, good, faithful and biblically sound leadership is needed. That beginning gives us some idea of the trust Paul had in Titus and the challenges before him in Crete.