        
- CLARKE'S COMMENTARY -
AC Chapter 1
- The apostle's statement of his character, his hope, and
his function, 1-3.
- His address to Titus, and the
end for which he left him in Crete, 4,5.
- The
qualifications requisite in those who should be appointed
elders and bishops in the Church of God, 6-9.
- Of
false teachers, 10,11.
- The character of the Cretans,
and how they were to be dealt with, 12-14.
- Of
the pure, the impure, and false professors of religion,
15,16.
Verse 1. Paul, a servant of
God
In several places of his other epistles
St. Paul styles himself the servant of Jesus
Christ, but this is the only place where he calls
himself the servant of God. Some think that he
did this to vindicate himself against the Jews, who supposed
he had renounced God when he admitted the Gentiles into his
Church. But if thus to vindicate himself was at all
necessary, why was it not done in his Epistle to the Romans,
the grand object of which was to prove that the Gentiles came
legally into the Church on believing in Christ, with out
submitting to circumcision, or being laid under obligation to
observe the rites and ceremonies of the Jewish law? This
reason seems too fanciful. It is very likely that in the use
of the phrase the apostle had no particular design; for,
according to him, he who is the servant of Christ is
the servant of God, and he who is God's servant
is also the servant of Christ.
The faith of God's
elect
The Christians, who were now chosen
in the place of the Jews, who, for their obstinate rejection
of the Messiah, were reprobated; i.e. cast out of the Divine
favour.
The acknowledging of the
truth
For the propagation of that truth, or
system of doctrines, which is calculated to promote godliness,
or a holy and useful life.
Verse 2. In hope of eternal
life
In expectation of a state of
being and well being which should last through
eternity, when time should be no more. This includes, not only
the salvation of the soul and its eternal
beatification, but also the resurrection of
the body. This was a point but ill understood, and not
very clearly revealed, under the Mosaic law; but it was fully
revealed under the Gospel, and the doctrine illustrated by the
resurrection and ascension of Christ.
Which God, that cannot lie,
promised
We have often seen that the
phrase, the foundation of the world, means the Jewish
economy, and, before the foundation of the world, the
times antecedent to the giving of the law. This is evidently
the meaning here. See 2 Timothy
1:9-11.
before the world began, as Mr. Locke observes on
Romans
16:25.
The true literal translation is before the
secular times, referring us to the Jewish jubilees,
by which times were computed among the Hebrews, as among the
Gentiles they were computed by generations of men.
Hence, Colossians
1:26,
Verse 3. But hath in due
times
In its own times. See
1 Timothy
2:6; ; Galatians
4:4; ; Ephesians
1:10;; 2:7.
God caused the Gospel to be published in that time in which it
could be published with the greatest effect. It is impossible
that God should prematurely hasten, or causelessly delay, the
accomplishment of any of his works. Jesus was manifested
precisely at the time in which that manifestation could best
promote the glory of God and the salvation of man.
Manifested his word
His doctrine-the doctrine of eternal
life, by the incarnation, passion, death, and resurrection of
Jesus Christ.
Which is committed unto
me
That is, to preach it among the
Gentiles.
According to the commandment of
God our Saviour
This evidently refers to
the commission which he had received from Christ. See Acts
9:15: "He is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name
before the Gentiles." For, "I have appeared unto thee for this
purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these
things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which
I will appear unto thee; delivering thee from the people and
from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee; to open their
eyes, to turn them from darkness to light," Acts
26:16, the commandment; and according to it he became the
apostle of the Gentiles.
God our Saviour.-As the commission was given by
Jesus Christ alone, the person whom he terms here God our
Saviour must be Jesus Christ only; and this is another
proof that St. Paul believed Jesus Christ to be GOD. This
eternal life God had promised in a comparatively
obscure way before the foundation of the world, the
Jewish dispensation; but now under the Gospel, he had made
it manifest-produced it with all its brightness,
illustrations, and proofs.
• CLARKE Top
Verse 4. To Titus, mine own
son
Him whom I have been the instrument of
converting to the Christian faith; and in whom, in this
respect, I have the same right as any man can have in his own
begotten son. See the preface; and See Clarke on 1 Timothy
1:2.
Verse 5. For this cause left I thee
in Crete
That St. Paul had been in Crete,
though nowhere else intimated, is clear from this passage.
That he could not have made such an important visit, and
evangelized an island of the first consequence, without its
being mentioned by his historian, Luke, had it happened during
the period embraced in the Acts of the Apostles, must be
evident. That the journey, therefore, must have been performed
after the time in which St. Luke ends his history, that
is, after St. Paul's first imprisonment at Rome, seems almost
certain.
Set in order the things that are
wanting
It appears from this that the
apostle did not spend much time in Crete, and that he was
obliged to leave it before he had got the Church properly
organized. The supplying of this defect, he tells Titus, he
had confided to him as one whose spiritual views coincided
entirely with his own.
Ordain elders in every
city
That thou mightest appoint
elders-persons well instructed in Divine
things, who should be able to instruct others, and observe and
enforce the discipline of the Church. It appears that those
who are called elders in this place are the same as
those termed bishops in Titus
1:7. We have many proofs that bishops and elders were of
the same order in the apostolic Church, though afterwards they
became distinct. Lord Peter King, in his view of the primitive
Church, has written well on this subject.
In every city. This seems to intimate
that the apostle had gone over the whole of the
hecatompolis or hundred cities for which
this island was celebrated. Indeed it is not likely that he
would leave one in which he had not preached Christ crucified.
• CLARKE Top
Verse 6. If any be
blameless
See Clarke on 1 Timothy
3:2.
Having faithful
children
Whose family is converted to God.
It would have been absurd to employ a man to govern the Church
whose children were not in subjection to himself; for it is an
apostolic maxim, that he who cannot rule his own house, cannot
rule the Church of God; 1 Timothy
3:5.
Verse 7. Not
self-willed
Not one who is
determined to have his own way in every thing; setting up his
own judgment to that of all others; expecting all to pay
homage to his understanding. Such a governor in the Church of
God can do little good, and may do much mischief.
Not soon angry
Not a choleric man; one who is irritable; who
is apt to be inflamed on every opposition; one who has not
proper command over his own temper.
Verse 8. A lover of
hospitality
A lover of good men
A lover of goodness or of good
things in general.
Sober
Prudent
in all his conduct. Just in all his dealings.
Holy in his heart. Temperate-self-denying and
abstemious, in his food and raiment; not too nice on points of
honour, nor magisterially rigid in the exercise of his
ecclesiastical functions. Qualifications rarely found in
spiritual governors.
Verse 9. Holding fast the faithful
word
Conscientiously retaining, and
zealously maintaining, the true Christian doctrine,
according to the instructions, or
according to the institutions, form of sound doctrine,
or confession of faith, which I have delivered to thee.
That he may be able by sound
doctrine
If the doctrine be not
sound, vain is the profession of it, and vain its
influence. It is good to be zealously affected in a good
thing; but zeal for what is not of God will do no good to the
souls of men, how sincere soever that zeal may be.
To exhort
Them
to hold the faith, that they may persevere.
And to convince
Refute the objections, confound the sophistry, and convert
the gainsayers; and thus defend the truth.
• CLARKE Top
Verse 10. There are many
unruly
Persons who will not receive the
sound doctrine, nor come under wholesome discipline.
Vain talkers
Empty boasters of knowledge, rights, and particular
privileges; all noise, empty parade, and no work.
Deceivers
Of
the souls of men by their specious pretensions.
They of the
circumcision
The Judaizing teachers, who
maintained the necessity of circumcision, and of observing the
rites and ceremonies of the Mosaic law, in order to the
perfecting of the Gospel.
Verse 11. Whose mouths must be
stopped
Unmask them at once; exhibit them
to the people; make manifest their ignorance and hypocrisy;
and let them be confounded before the people whom they are
endeavouring to seduce.
Subvert whole
houses
Turn whole Christian families from
the faith, attributing to the broad way what belongs
only to the strait gate; ministering to disorderly
passions, and promising salvation to their proselytes, though
not saved from their sins.
• CLARKE Top
Verse 12. One of themselves,
even a prophet of their own
This was
Epimenides, who was born at Gnossus, in Crete,
and was reckoned by many the seventh wise man of
Greece, instead of Periander, to whom that honour was
by them denied. Many fabulous things are related of this poet,
which are not proper to be noticed here. He died about 538
years before the Christian era. When St. Paul calls him a
prophet of their own, he only intimates that he was, by
the Cretans, reputed a prophet. And, according
to Plutarch, (in Solone,) the Cretans paid him divine
honours after his death. Diogenes Laertius mentions
some of his prophecies: beholding the fort of Munichia, which
guarded the port of Athens, he cried out: "O ignorant men! if
they but knew what slaughters this fort shall occasion, they
would pull it down with their teeth!" This prophecy was
fulfilled several years after, when the king, Antipater, put a
garrison in this very fort, to keep the Athenians in
subjection. See Diog. Laert., lib. i. p. 73.
Plato, De Legibus, lib. ii., says that, on the
Athenians expressing great fear of the Persians, Epimenides
encouraged them by saying "that they should not come before
ten years, and that they should return after having
suffered great disasters." This prediction was supposed to
have been fulfilled in the defeat of the Persians in the
battles of Salamis and Marathon.
He predicted to the Lacedemonians and Cretans the captivity
to which they should one day be reduced by the Arcadians. This
took place under Euricrates, king of Crete, and Archidamus,
king of Lacedemon; vide Diog. Laert., lib. i. p. 74,
edit. Meibom.
It was in consequence of these prophecies, whether true or
false, that his countrymen esteemed him a prophet; that
he was termed , a divine man, by Plato; and
that Cicero, De Divin., lib. i., says he was
futura praesciens, et vaticinans per furorem:
"He knew future events, and prophesied under a divine
influence." These things are sufficient to justify the epithet
of prophet, given him here by St. Paul. It may also be
remarked that vates and poeta, prophet and
poet, were synonymous terms among the Romans.
The Cretians are always
liars
Evil beasts
Ferocious and destructive in their manners.
Slow bellies.
Addicted to voluptuousness, idleness, and gluttony;
sluggish or hoggish men.
Verse.13. This witness is
true.
What Epimenides said of them nearly
600 years before continued still to be true. Their original
character had undergone no moral change.
Rebuke them sharply.
Cuttingly, severely; show no indulgence
to persons guilty of such crimes.
That they may be sound in the
faith
That they may receive the incorrupt
doctrine, and illustrate it by a holy and useful life.
Verse 14. Not giving heed to Jewish
fables
See on 1 Timothy
1:4;; 4:7.
Commandments of men
The injunctions of the scribes and Pharisees, which they
added to the law of God.
That turn from the
truth.
For such persons made the word of
God of none effect by their traditions. Sometimes the verb
signifies to be averse from, slight, or
despise. So, here, the persons in question despised the
truth, and taught others to do the same.
• CLARKE Top
Verse 15. Unto the pure all things
are pure
This appears to have been spoken
in reference to the Jewish distinctions of clean and
unclean meats. To the genuine Christian every kind of
meat proper for human nourishment is pure, is lawful, and may
be used without scruple. This our Lord had long before
decided. See on Luke
11:39-41.
But unto them that are
defiled
In their consciences, and
unbelieving, unfaithful both to
offered and received grace, nothing is
pure-they have no part in Christ, and the wrath of God
abides upon them. Their mind is contaminated with
impure and unholy images and ideas, and their
conscience is defiled with the guilt of sins
already committed against God.
Verse 16. They profess that they
know God
He still speaks concerning the
unbelieving Jews, the seducing teachers, and those who had
been seduced by their bad doctrine. None were so full of
pretensions to the knowledge of the true God as the Jews. They
would not admit that any other people could have this
knowledge; nor did they believe that God ever did or ever
would reveal himself to any other people; they supposed that
to give the law and the prophets to the Gentiles
would be a profanation of the words of God. Hence they became
both proud, uncharitable, and intolerant; and in this
disposition they continue till the present day.
But in works they deny
him
Their profession and practice were at
continual variance. Full of a pretended faith, while utterly
destitute of those works by which a genuine faith is
accredited and proved. Dio Cassius represents Caesar as
saying of his mutinous soldiers:
"Having the name of
Romans, while they had the manners of the Gauls." How near are
those words to the saying of the apostle!
Being abominable
This word sometimes refers to unnatural lusts.
And disobedient
Unpersuadable, unbelieving, and
consequently disobedient. Characters remarkably
applicable to the Jews through all their generations.
Unto every good work
reprobate.
Adulterate;
like bad coin, deficient both in the weight and
goodness of the metal, and without the proper
sterling stamp; and consequently not current. If
they did a good work, they did not do it in the spirit in
which it should be performed. They had the name of God's
people; but they were counterfeit. The prophet said;
Reprobate silver shall men call them.
1. THOUGH the principal part of this chapter, and indeed of
the whole epistle, may be found in nearly the same words in
the First Epistle to Timothy, yet there are several
circumstances here that are not so particularly noted in the
other; and every minister of Christ will do well to make
himself master of both; they should be carefully registered in
his memory, and engraven on his heart.
2. The truth, which is according to
godliness, in reference to eternal life, should be
carefully regarded. The substantial knowledge of the truth
must have faith for its foundation, godliness
for its rule, and eternal life for its object and end.
He who does not begin well, is never likely to finish fair. He
who does not refer every thing to eternity, is never
likely to live either well or happily in time.
3. There is one subject in this chapter not sufficiently
attended to by those who have the authority to appoint men to
ecclesiastical offices; none should be thus appointed who is
not able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and
convince the gainsayers. The powers necessary for
this are partly natural, partly gracious, and
partly acquired. 1. If a man have not good natural
abilities, nothing but a miracle from heaven can make him a
proper preacher of the Gospel; and to make a man a Christian
minister, who is unqualified for any function of civil
life, is sacrilege before God. 2. If the grace of
God do not communicate ministerial qualifications, no
natural gifts, however splendid, can be of any avail. To be a
successful Christian minister, a man must feel the
worth of immortal souls in such a way as God only can show
it, in order to spend and be spent in the work. He who has
never passed through the travail of the soul in the work of
regeneration in his own heart, can never make plain the way of
salvation to others. 3. He who is employed in the Christian
ministry should cultivate his mind in the most diligent
manner; he can neither learn nor know too much. If called of
God to be a preacher, (and without such a call he had better
be a galley slave,) he will be able to bring all his knowledge
to the assistance and success of his ministry. If he have
human learning, so much the better; if he be accredited, and
appointed by those who have authority in the Church, it will
be to his advantage; but no human learning, no ecclesiastical
appointment, no mode of ordination, whether Popish, Episcopal,
Protestant, or Presbyterian, can ever supply the Divine
unction, without which he never can convert and build up
the souls of men. The piety of the flock must be faint and
languishing when it is not animated by the heavenly zeal of
the pastor; they must be blind if he be not
enlightened; and their faith must be wavering when he can
neither encourage nor defend it.
4. In consequence of the appointment of improper persons to
the Christian ministry, there has been, not only a decay of
piety, but also a corruption of religion. No man is a true
Christian minister who has not grace, gifts, and
fruit; if he have the grace of God, it will appear in
his holy life and godly conversation. If to this he add
genuine abilities, he will give full proof of his ministry;
and if he give full proof of his ministry, he will have
fruit; the souls of sinners will be converted to God
through his preaching, and believers will be built up on their
most holy faith. How contemptible must that man appear in the
eyes of common sense, who boasts of his clerical education,
his sacerdotal order, his legitimate authority to
preach, administer the Christian sacraments, ministry! Such a
person may have legal authority to take tithes, but as to an
appointment from God, he has none; else his word would
be with power, and his preaching the means of salvation to his
perishing hearers.
• CLARKE Top
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Copyright Statement
The Adam Clarke Commentary is a derivative of an
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Bibliography
Information
Clarke, Adam. "Commentary
on Titus 1". "The Adam Clarke Commentary".
<http://www.studylight.org/com/acc/view.cgi?book=tit&chapter=001>.
1832.
|
