Titus 1:3Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

The dignity of a herald consists in telling everyone what has truly happened, adding nothing and subtracting nothing.

Therefore, if one must preach, one must preach with boldness. Otherwise it will not be preaching.

For this reason Christ did not say, "say it on the housetops," but, "preach on the housetops" (Mt 10:27). He indicated the character of the preaching by both the place and the manner of action.

"Entrusted to me according to the commandment of God our Savior." By the expressions "entrusted to me" and "according to commandment," he marks his trustworthiness, so that no one may take offense, turn aside, or become obstinate.

Therefore, if this is God's commandment, then I do not have authority over myself. I am fulfilling an order.

Of the things we must do, some depend on us, and others do not. What He commands us does not depend on us. What He permits us depends on us.

For example: "Whoever says to his brother, 'Fool,' shall be liable to the Gehenna of fire" (Mt 5:22). This is a commandment.

And again: "If you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar.

First go and be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift" (Mt 5:23-24). This too is a commandment, so that the one who does not fulfill it is inevitably subject to punishment.

But when the Lord says, "If you would be perfect, go, sell your possessions," and again, "He who is able to receive this, let him receive it" (Mt 19:21, 12), this is not a commandment.

Here He leaves what is said to the listener's will and permits him a free choice of action. Here doing or not doing lies within our power.

But commandments do not lie within our power. We must either fulfill them, or be punished for not fulfilling them.

The Apostle expresses the same when he says, "I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me, and woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel" (1 Cor 9:16).

I will present this still more clearly, so that it may be evident to all.

For example, one to whom authority in the Church has been entrusted, and who has been honored with the dignity of the episcopate, will not be guiltless if he does not explain to the people what must be done.

A layman, however, is not bound to this in the same way.

Therefore Paul says, "according to the commandment of our Savior," I do this.

Notice how the very expressions correspond to what I have said. Above he says, "God, unchanging in His word." Here he says, "according to the commandment of God our Savior."

If He is Savior, and Himself commanded this out of His desire for our salvation, then this is not a matter of love of power. Here there are faith and the commandment of God the Savior.

Thus Christ said, "preach upon the housetops" (Mt 10:27), indicating by both the manner and the place the directness, impartiality, and freedom of the proclamation.

Notice that the sequence required him to say, "He manifested in His own times," that is, eternal life. But he did not put it this way. He said, "He manifested His word."

Rightly so, for the Gospel embraces everything. It embraces what is given to us in the present, such as piety, faith, and truth.

It also embraces what is promised in the age to come, namely eternal life. Some, however, understood "His Word" to mean the Son.

"Entrusted to me according to the commandment of God our Savior." This preaching, he says, has been entrusted to me.

Therefore, if it has been entrusted to me, I must not think anything unworthy of the One who entrusted it to me. I must not pretend, nor express displeasure at what has been entrusted to me.

Moreover, it has been entrusted to me by commandment. In other words, I am compelled to do this involuntarily.

Of the things that must be done, some are done by commandment and others by exhortation.

For example, "be reconciled to your brother" (Mt 5:24) is a commandment, and whoever does not fulfill it is punished.

But "sell your possessions" (Mt 19:21), if you wish, and again, "he who is able to receive this, let him receive it," are exhortations. Whoever does not fulfill them is not punished.

Thus he says, the preaching has been entrusted to me by commandment, so that I must necessarily fulfill it.

"Woe to me," he says, "if I do not preach the Gospel" (1 Cor 9:16). This is not from love of power, but from necessity.

Whose commandment is it? That of God the Savior.

Therefore, if God, who desires our salvation, commanded this, how shall I not show my disposition toward the saving work?

How else did He promise, surely promising to men who did not yet exist before eternal times, except in this way?

In His eternity and in His very Word, coeternal with Him, that which was to happen in its own time had already been predestined.

According to Bishop Theophan, the Apostle speaks as though saying: "I am an Apostle. This is what I am appointed to do: to plant faith, to dispose souls toward true piety.

I am to incline and inspire them toward both by the hope of the all-blessed life. In every epistle the Apostle repeatedly and variously mentions eternal life (Phil 3:20; 1 Cor 15:19).

Christianity in its spirit begins with detachment from the world and striving toward the eternal. It is strengthened throughout its whole course in the light of Jesus Christ.

The hope of eternal life is so essential that the Apostle did not think it superfluous to confirm it with indisputable proofs: the truthfulness of God and the fact that it enters into God's eternal plans.

Eternal life stands in the counsels of God as the initial principle and final goal of this existence of all created things."

"With God everything has its own time. The time came to reveal His hidden counsels, and He revealed them.

But He keeps these times in His own authority (Dan 1:7), as He does the very course of events. They too were appointed from eternity, and therefore are God's.

The Lord Jesus Christ, having accomplished and ordered all that was needed for receiving eternal life, sent the Apostles to call all to receive this life.

A special portion in this labor was assigned to Saint Paul, that he might call the Gentiles to participation in the inheritance of the promise.

He expressed all this in the words, 'by the preaching entrusted to me.' He considered it necessary to set this forth in order to dispose the Cretans to humble obedience to his words and to the fulfillment of his directions" (Saint John Chrysostom).

This is what the Apostle expressed by the words: 'but manifested in His own times.' 'His own' means fitting, proper, and appropriate, as the Prophet also says: 'It is time for the Lord to act' (Ps 118:126)."

With God, everything has its own time. The time came to manifest His hidden counsels, and He manifested them.

Yet He holds these times in His own authority (see Acts 1:7), as He also holds the very course of events. They too are determined from eternity and therefore are God's.

"He manifested" means that He announced it in a clear, unveiled word, and by deed itself arranged everything needed to receive participation in this promise.

Therefore this word points to the whole divine economy of salvation, accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ, in Whom is eternal life itself.

"His word" means the word by which He uttered and confirmed the promise in the pre-eternal counsel. "Word," τον λογον, means this word, that is, the word of promise, as we commonly say, "he gave his word," meaning a promise.

Blessed Theophylact writes: "What did He manifest? His word, he says, that is, the Gospel. For the Gospel embraces everything: what is given to us at the present time, such as piety, faith, and truth, and what is promised in the age to come, namely eternal life."

The tri-hypostatic God was pleased to determine that, for our salvation, the Son of God should become incarnate. Having suffered in the flesh and endured death on the Cross, He rose and ascended into heaven.

Sitting at the right hand of the Father, He intercedes eternally for us. For the ordering of each one's salvation He sent the Holy Spirit, by Whose grace we are saved, becoming partakers of eternal life.

What was laid down from eternity God has now manifested both by word and by deed. Saint Paul writes about this in greater detail below in this same Epistle.

We were, he says, worthless and ruinous. "But when the grace and love for mankind of our Savior God appeared ... He saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit ... that, having been justified by His grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life" (cf. Tit 1:3-5, 7; also Tit 2:11-13).

Eternal life is received in perfection in the future. But it begins and ripens here according to the laws of the incarnate economy.

Therefore the manifestation of the word of promise is the proclamation of the incarnate economy. Its acceptance with full faith and corresponding labors is the pledge of eternal life.

The Apostle expressed this by indicating the manner in which the word of promise was manifested: "through preaching."

The Lord Jesus Christ, having accomplished and arranged everything needed for receiving eternal life, sent the Apostles into the world with a lofty proclamation, to call all to receive this life.

A special part of this labor was assigned also to Saint Paul: to go to the Gentiles and call them to participation in the inheritance of the promise.

The Lord Himself gave him this commission, appearing to him personally on the road to Damascus and then in the temple at Jerusalem.

The Apostle expressed all this here: "through preaching, which was entrusted to me according to the commandment of God our Savior."

He considered it necessary to set this forth in order to dispose the Cretans to hear his word humbly and to fulfill his directions, for they did not know him fully.

Saint Chrysostom makes these observations on the words: "He manifested His word through preaching," that is, openly and with boldness. Such is the meaning of the word "preaching."

As a herald in the arena proclaims in the presence of all, so we also proclaim, because we are assured of the truth. We add nothing, but say what we ourselves have heard.

The dignity of the herald consists in telling all what has actually happened, neither adding anything nor taking anything away.

By the expressions, "which was entrusted to me" and "according to the commandment of the Savior," the Apostle shows his reliability, so that no one may resist, refuse, or be offended.

I, he says, received a commandment. Therefore I have no authority to alter or change anything. I fulfill a commandment.

Commandments are not within our power. We must either fulfill them or suffer punishment for failure to fulfill them.

The Apostle expresses the same thing elsewhere when he says: "necessity is laid upon me. Woe is me if I do not preach the gospel" (cf. 1 Cor 9:16).

The words "God our Savior" in the present place refer to the Lord Jesus Christ, for Saint Paul personally received from Him the commandment to preach.

A similar expression in other places directly indicates the Lord Jesus, as in: "awaiting the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ" (Tit 2:13).

In other passages, Saint Paul uses the words "God the Savior" also of God the Father.