TOM · The Owner's Manual · New Testament

Titus 3

Chapter 3 in 30 seconds

Be good neighbors and good citizens. We used to be a mess too, until God saved us, not because we earned it, but because He is kind. So do good works, skip the dumb arguments, warn a troublemaker twice, then move on. And Titus, meet me at Nicopolis for the winter.

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In this chapterThe Big Question · Christians disagreeDoes Baptism Save? · after verse 8 Field Notes · ArchaeologyNicopolis, Victory City · after verse 15

Heirs of Grace

¹Remind the believers to submit to rulers and authorities, to be obedient and ready for every good work, ²to malign no one, and to be peaceable and gentle, showing full consideration to everyone.

TIT 3:1[NOTABLE]Written to Christians on an island Paul just called liars and lazy gluttons. Even so: speak evil of no one and be gentle to all people.

³For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures—living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.

⁴But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, ⁵He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. ⁶This is the Spirit He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, ⁷so that, having been justified by His grace, we would become heirs with the hope of eternal life. ⁸This saying is trustworthy. And I want you to emphasize these things, so that those who have believed God will take care to devote themselves to good deeds. These things are excellent and profitable for the people.

TIT 3:4[NOTABLE]One of the clearest short summaries of the gospel in the Bible. God saved us because He is kind, not because we earned it, and made us heirs of eternal life.
TIT 3:5[FULFILLS]God would sprinkle clean water and cleanse His people ← EZK 36:25MEDIUM
TIT 3:5[FULFILLS]I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will put My Spirit within you ← EZK 36:26-27
TIT 3:5[NOTE]WASHING OF NEW BIRTH. The KJV says washing of regeneration. Christians disagree about whether this means baptism. See The Big Question pages, Does Baptism Save?
TIT 3:6[FULFILLS]I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and daughters shall prophesy ← JOEL 2:28-29

The Big Question · Christians disagree

Does Baptism Save?

The Washing of New Birth

Titus 3:4 to 7 · John 3:5 · Acts 2:38 · 1 Peter 3:21

WHAT PAUL SAID: God saved us, not by our good deeds, but by His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 3:5. The KJV says the washing of regeneration. Christians have argued for centuries about one question: is that washing baptism, and does baptism save?
THE FIRST CHRISTIANS: In Acts, people were baptized right after they believed, often the same day, Acts 2:41, 8:36 to 38 and 16:33. The Didache, a church guide from about AD 100, says to baptize in running water, or to pour water on the head three times if there is none. Justin Martyr, about AD 155, calls baptism a washing and a new birth and quotes John 3:5.
BABIES OR BELIEVERS?: Tertullian, about AD 200, said it was better to wait until children were old enough to know Christ, which shows some churches baptized babies. A church order linked to Hippolytus, about AD 215, says to baptize the little ones first and let parents answer for them. Origen, about AD 245, said baptizing babies came from the apostles. Augustine, about AD 400, taught that babies need baptism to wash away the sin they are born with, and infant baptism became normal for over a thousand years.
THE REFORMATION: Martin Luther kept infant baptism. In his Small Catechism, 1529, he asks how water can do such great things and answers: not the water, but God's word with the water, and faith that trusts it, quoting Titus 3:5 to 8. Ulrich Zwingli in Zurich taught that baptism is a sign, not a cause, of grace. John Calvin called it a sign and seal of God's promise, like circumcision.
THE BELIEVERS ONLY MOVEMENT: On January 21, 1525, in Zurich, Conrad Grebel baptized George Blaurock as a believer, and the Anabaptists were born. They were called rebaptizers and hunted down; Felix Manz was drowned in 1527. In 1609 John Smyth led the first English Baptist church, in Amsterdam.
LATER MOVEMENTS: In the early 1800s the Restoration Movement of Barton Stone and Alexander Campbell, which grew into the Churches of Christ and the Christian Church, taught baptism by immersion for the forgiveness of sins, Acts 2:38. In 1913, a sermon at a camp meeting near Los Angeles started the Oneness Pentecostal movement, which baptizes in Jesus' name only. Churches also differ on how: dunking all the way under, pouring, or sprinkling.

Every View · The Case Each Side Makes

Titus 3:5 · Romans 6:3 to 4 · Ephesians 2:8 to 9 · Luke 23:39 to 43

BAPTISM SAVES, CATHOLIC AND ORTHODOX: Baptism really washes away sin and gives new birth, for babies and adults. Key verses: John 3:5, Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16, Romans 6:3 to 4, 1 Peter 3:21, and Titus 3:5. Best case: the Bible says baptism now saves you, 1 Peter 3:21, and the early church read it that way. The Catholic Catechism adds that God tied salvation to baptism but is not Himself tied by it, so a person who dies wanting baptism, or as a martyr, can be saved.
GOD'S WORD IN THE WATER, LUTHERAN: Baptism is God's work, not ours. His promise joined to the water gives new birth and creates faith, even in a baby. Key verses: Titus 3:5, Mark 16:16 in the longer ending, Galatians 3:27. Best case: it keeps salvation all grace, a gift you receive, never a work you do.
REQUIRED FOR BELIEVERS: Churches of Christ teach that a believer is saved when he is immersed for the forgiveness of sins. Oneness Pentecostals add that it must be in the name of Jesus. Key verses: Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16, Mark 16:16, and Acts 10:48 and 19:5. Best case: every conversion in Acts ends in the water, quickly, and nobody in the New Testament is called saved and then left unbaptized.
A COVENANT SIGN, REFORMED: Presbyterian and Reformed churches say baptism is a sign and seal of God's promise, the way circumcision was for Israel. It is given to believers and their children, but the water does not save by itself. Key verses: Colossians 2:11 to 12, Acts 2:39, and whole households baptized, Acts 16:15 and 16:33.
A SYMBOL OF A CHANGE ALREADY MADE: Baptists and most evangelical and Pentecostal churches say we are saved by grace through faith, Ephesians 2:8 to 9, and baptism is the first step of obedience that shows it. The washing in 3:5 is the Spirit's inner work. Key verses: Acts 10:44 to 48, where the Spirit came before the water, and 1 Corinthians 1:17, Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach. THE THIEF ON THE CROSS: he was never baptized as far as the Bible tells, yet Jesus said, today you will be with Me in paradise, Luke 23:43. Other sides answer that he died before Jesus commanded baptism, Matthew 28:19, that no one knows if John baptized him, or, for Catholics, that he had a baptism of desire.
WHAT WE ALL AGREE ON: Jesus commanded baptism, Matthew 28:19, so every believer should be baptized. The power to save is God's mercy, 3:5, not plain water. And the same Spirit He poured out on us, 3:6, makes us new.

Avoid Divisions// Romans 16:17–20

⁹But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, arguments, and quarrels about the law, because these things are pointless and worthless.

TIT 3:9[NOTE]GENEALOGIES. Fights over family lines and the law, like 1 Timothy 1:4. Paul calls them pointless. Titus himself was a Greek who was never circumcised, Galatians 2:3.

¹⁰Reject a divisive man after a first and second admonition, ¹¹knowing that such a man is corrupt and sinful; he is self-condemned.

Final Remarks and Greetings

¹²As soon as I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, make every effort to come to me at Nicopolis, because I have decided to winter there. ¹³Do your best to equip Zenas the lawyer and Apollos, so that they will have everything they need. ¹⁴And our people must also learn to devote themselves to good works in order to meet the pressing needs of others, so that they will not be unfruitful.

TIT 3:12[ARCHAEOLOGY]Augustus' victory monument above Nicopolis, with sockets for the bronze rams of captured warships from the battle of Actium, 31 BC
TIT 3:13[NOTE]ZENAS AND APOLLOS. Zenas the lawyer is named only here; he may have been an expert in Roman law or the Law of Moses. Apollos is the gifted preacher from Alexandria, Acts 18:24 and 1 Corinthians 3:6.
TIT 3:14[NOTABLE]Good works are not vague. They meet real needs of real people, so believers are not unfruitful.

¹⁵All who are with me send you greetings.

Greet those who love us in the faith.

Grace be with all of you.

Field Notes · Archaeology

Nicopolis, Victory City

Titus 3:12 · 2 Timothy 4:10 to 12

Part of the wall of Augustus' victory monument above Nicopolis, Greece, with sockets for bronze ship rams. Photo Mark Landon, CC BY 4.0.

WHAT IT IS: Huge stone blocks from the victory monument Augustus built on the hill above Nicopolis, in western Greece. The oddly shaped holes held bronze rams, the pointed beaks of enemy warships he captured.
HOW OLD IT IS: Built about 29 to 27 BC, right after Augustus beat Mark Antony and Cleopatra in the sea battle of Actium, 31 BC. At least 36 rams hung on this wall. A Latin inscription says he gave his old army camp to Mars and Neptune, the gods of war and sea.
VICTORY CITY: Nicopolis means victory city. Augustus founded it in 29 BC near the spot where his army had camped, and started big games there every four years.
PAUL'S WINTER PLAN: Ships stopped sailing in winter. Paul writes, I have decided to winter there, 3:12, and asks Titus to come once Artemas or Tychicus arrives to take his place. We do not know how the meeting went. 2 Timothy 4:10 says Titus later went to Dalmatia, farther up the same coast.
A FAMOUS TEACHER: About AD 94, the emperor Domitian banished the Stoic teacher Epictetus, and he opened a school at Nicopolis. Students came from all over the empire.
WHICH NICOPOLIS?: At least three cities had this name. Most think Paul meant this one, the biggest, on the route between Greece and Italy. A note at the end of Titus in the KJV says it was written from Nicopolis, but that note was added by later copyists.
WHAT IT DOES NOT PROVE: Nothing here names Paul. The ruins show that the city he picked for the winter was real and important.

CONFIDENCE: HIGH FOR THE CITY · WHICH NICOPOLIS IS DEBATED

Titus 3

Heirs of Grace

Avoid Divisions// Romans 16:17–20

Final Remarks and Greetings

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