Titus 3:1-11

Conduct Toward Those Outside the Church

3:1 Remind them to be subject to rulers and ¹  authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work. 3:2 They must not slander ²  anyone, but be peaceable, gentle, showing complete courtesy to all people. 3:3 For we too were once foolish, disobedient, misled, enslaved to various passions and desires, spending our lives in evil and envy, hateful and hating one another. 3:4 ³  But “when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared, 3:5 he saved us not by works of righteousness that we have done but on the basis of his mercy, through the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, 3:6 whom he poured out on us in full measure ⁴  through Jesus Christ our Savior. 3:7 And so, ⁵  since we have been justified by his grace, we become heirs with the confident expectation of eternal life.” ⁶ 

Summary of the Letter

3:8 This saying ⁷  is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on such truths, ⁸  so that those who have placed their faith in God may be intent on engaging in good works. These things are good and beneficial for all people. 3:9 But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, ⁹  quarrels, and fights about the law, ¹⁰  because they are useless and empty. 3:10 Reject a divisive person after one or two warnings. 3:11 You know ¹¹  that such a person is twisted by sin ¹²  and is conscious of it himself. ¹³ 

[3:1]  ¹ tc Most later witnesses (D² 0278 Ï lat sy) have καί (kai, “and”) after ἀρχαῖς (arcai", “rulers”), though the earliest and best witnesses (א A C D* F G Ψ 33 104 1739 1881) lack the conjunction. Although the καί is most likely not authentic, it has been added in translation due to the requirements of English style. For more discussion, see TCGNT 586.

[3:2]  ² tn Or “discredit,” “damage the reputation of.”

[3:4]  ³ tn Verses 4-7 are set as poetry in NA²⁶/NA²⁷. These verses probably constitute the referent of the expression “this saying” in v. 8.

[3:6]  ⁴ tn Or “on us richly.”

[3:7]  ⁵ tn This is the conclusion of a single, skillfully composed sentence in Greek encompassing Titus 3:4-7. Showing the goal of God’s merciful salvation, v. 7 begins literally, “in order that, being justified…we might become heirs…”

[3:7]  ⁶ tn Grk “heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

[3:8]  ⁷ sn This saying (Grk “the saying”) refers to the preceding citation (Titus 3:4-7). See 1 Tim 1:15; 3:1; 4:9; 2 Tim 2:11 for other occurrences of this phrase.

[3:8]  ⁸ tn Grk “concerning these things.”

[3:9]  ⁹ tn Cf. 1 Tim 1:4.

[3:9]  ¹⁰ sn Fights about the law were characteristic of the false teachers in Ephesus as well as in Crete (cf. 1 Tim 1:3-7; Titus 1:10, 14).

[3:11]  ¹¹ tn Grk “knowing” (as a continuation of the previous clause).

[3:11]  ¹² tn Grk “is perverted and is sinning.”

[3:11]  ¹³ tn Grk “is sinning, being self-condemned.”