Talk of JESUS .com

Tag: titus

Personal Letters from Nicopolis – Intro
Personal Instructions and Greetings

When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, be diligent to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there.
Letter of the Apostle Paul to Titus 3:12 Legacy Standard Bible

We have been following the missions of Paul and others in Acts of the Apostles for some time now and might easily miss a small personal instruction such as this found at the end of one of the Apostle’s many letters.

Just a brief record of one winter:
- Paul will stay in Nicopolis for one winter.
- He instructs Titus that he will send one of two others to him, either Artemas or Tychicus.
I emphasize in my pause in ACTS by this introduction to Paul’s letters in context that during these historical missional journeys all of the apostles nurtured both personal and community relationships with those won to the Lord Jesus Christ.

A.D. 52-57
```
Paul's THREE missions over ELEVEN years from ~ A.D. 49 to ~ A.D. 57 would have included 10 winters. 

Please COMMENT if YOU can pinpoint the actual YEAR or place in ACTS when this occurred. 
```
Further Personal Greetings, Blessings, Thanks & Instructions

Diligently help send Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way so that nothing is lacking for them.

And our people [that is, followers of the Lord Jesus Christ] must also learn to lead in good [occupations] works to meet pressing needs, so that they will not be unfruitful.

All who are with me greet you.

[Paul does not say who these disciples of The Way traveling to Nicopolis for their winter stay might be, but through the Holy Spirit they remain connected to the church and those who receive his letter through Titus. The Apostle then asks them to extend their love to others in the faith.

Greet those who love us in the faith.

Grace be with you all.

Titus 3:13-15 – closing of Paul’s letter

Greetings and Grace
```
Note Paul's humility in Christ and tenderness toward those to whom the Apostle writes:
```
Paul, a slave of God

and an apostle of Jesus Christ,

according to [for] the faith of God’s elect and the full knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness, in the hope of eternal life, which the God who cannot lie promised before times eternal [from all eternity]..
```
And in Paul's 'sent out' purpose as Christ's apostle to the Gentiles here he connects his servitude to the risen Jesus as they must receive his gospel from God, even referring to Christ as God.
```
.. but at the proper time manifested [made known] His word in preaching,

with which I was entrusted

according to the commandment

of God our Savior,
Titus 1:1-3 LSB
```
All this deep connection and theology in just a brief introduction and closing of a short letter written to a fellow beloved leader of the church.
```
To Titus, my genuine child according to our common faith:

Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

Νικόπολις

Nicopolis

Nicopolis meaning “city of victory”

There were many cities by this name, — in Armenia, Pontus, Cilicia, Epirus, Thrace —

The one in Titus 3:12 seems to refer to the city was built by * Augustus in memory of the battle of Actium on a promontory of Epirius.
- Before Augustus Caesar seized power he was known as Octavian. His victory on 2 September 31 B.C. at Actium (pictured above on map near Nicopolis) secured Rome’s strategic position as rulers of the Mediterranean.
- Paul, as a Roman citizen, would have felt at home in such Roman cities.
The one in the subscription of Titus seems to refer to Thracian Nicopolis, founded by Trojan on the river Nestus, since he calls it the city of Macedonia.

When did Paul write?

Our focus in this overview of Paul’s letters is more toward the relationships the Apostle and disciples of The Way create with each other than the how, where and when he wrote.

Paul may have been in Thrace or Macedonia. Perhaps some of these letters were written in part on his journeys abord ships between destinations. And in these ten years having spent extended time in so many towns and cities Paul’s letters may well have been composed from his guest quarters in some of the homes of recipients (perhaps even Titus) to whom the Apostle wrote on a later occasion and circumstance.

What we do know is the approximate times and chronology of most of Paul’s letters.

This chronology and connection to events Luke records in ACTS of the APOSTLES will be the focus of our series looking at Paul’s letters.

Time to Write to Loved Ones
```
ALL dates approximate.
```
- A.D. 30
  - Resurrection & Ascension of JESUS CHRIST
- A.D. 37
  - JESUS appears to Saul (Paul)
    
    ACTS 9
- A.D. 47
  - Paul and Barnabas depart on their first missionary journey
    
    ACTS 13
- A.D. 49
  - ACTS 15
THE COUNCIL AT JERUSALEM

Epistle from the Council of Jerusalem – Acts 15:20

& Letters to the CHURCH sent out into all the world

THESE INCLUDE LETTERS (or Epistles)

from: James the brother of Jesus & leader (in A.D. 49) of the Jerusalem church

from: Paul to the Galatians

Letters of the A.D. 50’s
```
a generation (~20-30 years) after the Lord's resurrection

All dates approximate:
```
- A.D. 50 – John Mark, who had accompanied Barnabas and Paul on Cypress writes his GOSPEL.
- Paul writes two letters to the Thessalonians
Three Weeks in Thessalonica- Acts 17

During Paul’s SECOND missionary journey

And during Paul’s THIRD missionary journey (where we have once again paused briefly) THESE LETTERS:
- Paul writes TWO letters to the Corinthians living in the Achaian city larger and more important that Athens.
- The Apostle Paul, a Roman citizen, also writes to the Romans around the end of his third missionary journey (A.D. 57) and two years prior to his own journey to Rome.
Later Letters of the A.D. 60’s – 80’s

Our introduction to these Church Letters is NOT expositional but topical. And these are personally relational to those Christians to whom the Apostles wrote.

I will also point to Scripture from other Epistles yet to be written (as of this pause in ACTS of the APOSTLES ) when later events will connect the Church in many more ways to our struggles of a 21st century C.E. faith.

These include Titus written around A.D. 64-66 on which I have focused today

AND other important ‘personal letters’ instructing leaders and others of the church including:

an Epistle to Philemon and TWO letters to Timothy.

Several letters written in the early A.D. 60’s to churches Paul has already visited on his current and previous missions.

Ephesians

Philippians

Colossians

Luke will also complete his Gospel in the early A.D. 60’s as does the Apostle Matthew.

Nero has been Emperor of Rome during most of these times (A.D. 54-68) and things are about to get much worse for all of the Empire including Jerusalem, which revolts against ROME beginning in A.D. 66 and will eventually be destroyed in A.D. 70 as the Jewish Wars continue on into A.D. 73.

As the world of ROME begins to disintegrate while Paul and Peter and every other Apostle except John are executed, the Gospel and Letters of a New Testament go into all the world — a world to which the Lord Jesus Christ came and died for sinners like you and like me — that we might have eternal life in Him.

MORE Letters arriving SOON… God-willing…
January 13, 2024
Why Submit? – a letter from Peter – 4
Why should we submit to anyone? If a follower of Christ Jesus encounters difficulty from your community, your boss, your spouse or anyone else, why submit to their will rather than your own?

We began last time with Peter telling us the purpose of our good works through Christ Jesus:

Submit to every human authority because of the Lord… For it is God’s will that you silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good. Submit as free people, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but as God’s slaves.
1 Peter 2:13a,15-16 CSB

The Apostle opened his first letter to the persecuted church with blessings and encouragement concerning this salvation through Christ Jesus. But Peter quickly proceeds, warning the faithful against those opposed to the risen Savior.

He assures us that Jesus is the cornerstone of the church and that faithful followers of Christ are living stones. Yet because of Christ some will stumble because they disobey our Lord.

Peter now adds specific applications to their lives and ours.

Remember Our Example Before Men

No witness is better than a personal witness.

For you were called to this, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
1 Peter 2:21

Although Peter had been part of the inner circle of the Lord, most first century believers had only the good works of the Apostles as their image of Christ risen and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Part of Peter’s authenticity becomes evident by his own admissions of failings. We first hear of this humility in Peter when Jesus first called him.

Luke 5:

The crowds are pressing into Jesus who is teaching near Lake Tiberias, as the Romans called this Sea of Galilee. He sees two boats having returned from less than successful fishing that day.

3 He got into one of the boats, which belonged to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from the land. Then he sat down and was teaching the crowds from the boat.

Peter, of course, also listens to Jesus preach from his boat.

4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”

5 “Master,” Simon replied, “we’ve worked hard all night long and caught nothing. But if you say so, I’ll let down the nets.”

6 When they did this, they caught a great number of fish, and their nets began to tear…

When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’s knees and said, “Go away from me, because I’m a sinful man, Lord!”
Luke 5:8 CSB

Peter, James and John that day all became Jesus’ closest Disciples and friends. Surely believers who witnessed Peter during his brief years following the Lord’s resurrection came to know this humble, yet sometimes boisterous redeemed sinner who writes this letter.

1 Peter 2:

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
1 Peter 2:9 CSB

If you are the one receiving this letter doesn’t this make you feel special, that is, set aside for God?

God chooses you through Christ! Peter is just the Lord’s humble messenger of the Good News. But then he explains this further to the largely gentile or non-jewish hearers of his letter.

10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

In Christ Jesus we are chosen, therefore we must act differently than the world around us. By God’s grace we have received mercy and can show our good works to others.

How to submit to others

13 Submit to every human authority because of the Lord…

We have already looked at the list of those we resist by our lack of humility. Peter will remind us later in his letter:

Since Christ had to suffer physically for you, you must fortify yourselves with the same inner attitude that he must have had.
1 Peter 4:1 JB Phillips New Testament

In this sense we feel the prescribed holiness of the priest made possible only by the grace of God through the Holy Spirit.

Masters

We abhor slavery. Yet in a sense all are slaves of servants to someone; Christians moreso, as Peter insists.

19 For it brings favor if, because of a consciousness of God, someone endures grief from suffering unjustly. 20 For what credit is there if when you do wrong and are beaten, you endure it?

This is a fair question the Apostle asks. For such a situation, whether physically or metaphorically, our beating is punishment for sin, a transgression of some law of man or a Law of God.

But when you do what is good and suffer, if you endure it, this brings favor with God.

Christ’s example before men

21 For you were called to this, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.

This witness of Jesus by Peter stands as a question to new Christians for every example to follow his mention of slaves or servants.
- Are you a servant of God? Then the Father is your Master.
- Is Christ Jesus your Lord? Then Jesus must be your new Master.
Why then do you not follow Jesus’ example before men?

22 He did not commit sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth; 23 when he was insulted, he did not insult in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten but entrusted himself to the one who judges justly.

We just have trouble doing that, new Christian or long-time believer, don’t we?

Then Peter reminds us of the reason Christ came to us as a man, the suffering servant predicted by scripture.

24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree [cross]; so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness.

The sinless Son of Man, Jesus, became the sacrificial lamb, His Blood the covering for our own sins. Therefore, we must live to righteousness.

For you were like sheep going astray, but you have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
1 Peter 2:21 CSB

Submission to Husbands

In the same way, wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands…

Once again, a topic perhaps as malaligned as slaves serving masters.

Some translations soften the blow of this topic offensive to some women of the church. Wives are often more zealous for Jesus than their husbands.

It may be helpful for Christian wives to remember that Peter was a devoted husband, who called Jesus his Master. MacArthur’s outline heading: Submission in the Family may be most appropriate.

1 Peter 3:

Peter tells our sisters in the Lord why they must submit and how they must act to reflect Christ’s glory.

… so that, even if some disobey the word, they may be won over without a word by the way their wives live when they observe your pure, reverent lives.

Pure and reverent lives. How often do we hear this call even to Christian men? Other translations shed additional light on Peter’s meaning:
- While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. KJV
- when they see your respectful and pure conduct. ESV
- as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior. NASB
Twenty-first century culture nearly everywhere has strayed far from these original meanings and we must not devalue Christian women in any way simply because the Bible clearly states the roles of both men and women.

Chaste and respectful behavior

ἁγνός – hagnos chaste – exciting reverence, venerable, sacred, pure; pure from carnality, chaste, modest; pure from every fault, immaculate; clean (in the Hebrew sense of cleansed)

Paul, in his letter to Titus uses this same word for wives when he encourages older women to mentor younger women in the church:

‘to be sensible, pure, G53 workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.’
Titus 2:5 Strongs Concordance BlueletterBible.org

φόβος – phobos respectful – fear, dread, terror or alarm, that which strikes terror; also: reverence for one’s husband

What does it mean to reverence the Lord God? Or reverence Jesus Christ as your Lord?

Let us not confuse fear and dread with respect and reverence, not even of husbands, who must honor their wives. For the enemy of Christ would have some men fear their wives, having no reverence for Christ or God our merciful Father.

ἀναστροφή – anastrophē behavior – manner of life, conduct, behaviour, deportment” from G390; behavior:—conversation.

Of course our good works (or evil works) quickly become most evident by our words in women and especially in men. Peter’s additional encouragement to wives faithful to their husband and faithful to the Lord points toward a Christ-like example from women as well. The writer of Hebrews uses this same word also translated as conduct when he writes:

Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, G391 imitate their faith.
Hebrews 13:7 NASB Strong’s concordance from BlueLetterBible.org

Your inner beauty

Remember, Peter is married. He may also have a sister or daughter – the Bible does not confirm this. Many, perhaps most of the Apostles were married, had daughters and sons, sisters and brothers.

Isn’t it most familial that in Christ the early church referred to each other as “brother” and “sister,” and greeted each other with a kiss?

Therefore acknowledging our humility of role, as Christ also humbled Himself as a servant, Peter points inward to our soul rather than the desirable outward appearances of the world.

3 {NASB} Your adornment must not be merely external…

The cultural particulars of the time or locale carry less importance, but reflect the appropriateness of the saints.

The imperishable qualities of a wife in Christ

4 [NASB] but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.

She is a quiet and gentle soul. Oh, such a compliment to her husband, such a witness to a gentle Jesus. She also will submit to the Father – a bruised reed she will not break.

Peter puts forth the example of Sarah, wife of Abraham, as a holy example of a wife who does submit to her husband. She called him ‘lord,’ the Apostle reminds. A servant calls their master, lord.

Do you call Jesus Lord?

Peter also calls upon husbands to ‘live with your wives in an understanding way.’ What does he mean?

The Apostle presumes that as a brother in Christ that you have a ‘gnosis‘ of scripture and the Lord; that is, a deeper more perfect and enlarged knowledge of this religion, such as belongs to the more advanced.

She is ‘the weaker vessel,’ knowing less about God while she submits to you. It may have been so in the first century, yet in this day I must ask you, husbands who claim Christ, is it so?

Do you know more about the Bible and about the Lord than your wife? Who is truly ‘a weaker vessel’ in knowledge of Christ our Lord?

Is Christ your Lord?

Are you an unrepentant sinner or by grace a sinner saved in Christ Jesus?

In addition to living honorably as a witness to unbelievers, the Apostle next suggests how to live honorably among other Christians.

Beloved Christian brother, dear sister in the Lord,

Peter will next call upon all brothers and sisters in the Lord to do no evil. He has more instruction to those of us who submit to the teaching of Jesus.
```
To be continued... 
```
August 28, 2019
My Love – 3 – Affection
Affection! How hurriedly has this love fled our homes in the hustle and bustle of these last days?

Hardly a child will remember affectionate extended time with both father and mother at home. It is a great failure of our broken, worldly ‘christian’ families. How by our selfish quests for ‘happiness’ in the world ‘christians’ have forgotten not only the importance of our marriage vows, but also the affection and stability needed by our children for this essential love.

The word for this love in Greek is storgē. This love is our natural affection of a parent toward our off-spring and the dependent children toward parents without whom they would not have been born and could not survive as God has intended.

The relationship carries on into the extent of the lives of parent and child even well into adulthood and times when circumstance may dictate a child caring for their aging parent prior to death.

Briefly consider the affection and nearness of the families of Noah, Abraham and Jacob (even when his son, Prince Joseph of Egypt, cared for all of the sons of Israel and their families).

Read how near David remained in his affection, honor and relationship to his father Jesse. See how the families of the Priests and Prophets all lived together in one home or places near to one another as the faithful of God maintained the love and affection of community.

Another antiquated use of this storge love is expressed by a people for their King (even if he ‘did evil in the eyes of the Lord.’) We do not get to choose this relationship of inequitable dependence.

Our children must depend on and require the love and affection of their father and of their mother (and to a lesser extent, the people of their King, Queen, Governor, President or leader). A parent (or King) has duties of affection and responsibility toward each child (or subject).

Look also to the application for widows in this. Look to the needs of their children. See the God-given affection of dependence on family, rather than independence of self-will.

When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, Lazarus was not only a beloved friend but also responsible for his unmarried sisters, Mary and Martha.

What wonderful long-term affection of one in need dependent on a family member to provide or care for them. It is the familial plight of children, widows and widowers, aging parents, handicapped children or siblings. Love provides the compassion they need.

Is it not our God-given duty to love our children with the greatest affection?
- Is your instant message, your text, your clever ‘fb share’ enough affection?
- Is it enough for only a ‘single’ parent to manage this important love God expects from all of us?
Storge (per se) is not specifically used in the Greek New Testament; however this love and affection of family is well documented in many books of the Bible.

The Apostle Paul uses a similar word as direction to those with charge of our church family for some who must submit as children of God as a dependent one of Christ’s body, His church. Please hear the appeal and responsibility for this love (storge) as instructed in Paul’s Letter to Titus, a leader in establishing the foundation of the church and family.

Titus 2

Teach Sound Doctrine
But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. 2 Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. 3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good,

4 and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.

6 Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. 7 Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, 8 and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.

We ought to see a hierarchical dichotomy in this instruction between the expected mature behavior of the older men and older women of the church, in contrast to their loving responsibility to train the younger women and younger men in the will and ways of Christ Jesus our Lord.

The instruction in the King James Version describes these differences with serious gravity.

That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience. The aged women likewise…

Would this not also imply a similar duty and affection for the husband and wife of our Christian homes?

And to these instructions Paul adds (as just reason for the older women): … that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;

How are we doing with that, men and woman of Christ’s church, in our Christian homes? Are we, as mature Christians, ‘teachers of good things?’

We can be certain that our affection, teaching and guidance in the love of the Lord in our homes is much needed in this 21st century. (If you don’t believe it, just ask nearly any of our ‘christian’ youth.)

These young men and young women so depend on us and look to us; yet so often as parents and as their mentors of the church we ignore our teens and fail our youth.

Hear once more (in the KJV) what Paul instructs the older women and note once more that it is OUR responsibility to teach them (again, a familial dependent love):

That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,

To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.

(I have added links to definitions in the Greek, in some instances root words, and always other uses of the same Greek word in New Testament scripture for your own study.)

Again, I ask us: has this love, this affection been diluted and nearly lost in our Christian homes?

On a personal note, I must confess to our son and our daughters how miserably I have failed in this love and affection so needed in our own now-broken christian home; as I confess to my wife by our vows before the Lord my great failure to show the love of the Blood of Jesus to her and His compassion for the struggles of my own wife in the Lord. For this (like so many broken christian marriages and families) I am truly sorry that WE are no witness of example to the church and to the world.

I pray that the Lord and your personal prayer and study of scripture will convict you in those areas of love where Christ Jesus would have you grow, love even more and be blessed.

Pray also for me, my wife and our broken family – our grown children, yet in need of compassion.

To be continued
February 8, 2015