Paul writes to his long-time disciple Titus in order to preserve the church in the strategic but rebellious island of Crete. Our trustworthy God, unlike the lying, false gods of Crete, will be made known when the church grows in the faith and knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness and hope. All of this is only possible as we are filled with the grace and peace of the gospel that overflows into a lost and broken world.
Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior;
To Titus, my true child in a common faith:
Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.
One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”