Bible Series: "Nine Little Letters"

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Like Jude, the title of the book is also its author.  Titus is a letter of disciplship sent to another of Paul's converts like Timothy.  Titus was doing the wortk of an evangelist among Paul's church plants to move them forward in their work for the Lord.  Paul calls him his son (Titus 1:4), his brother (2 Cor 2:13), his partner and fellow-helper  (2 Cor 8:23) and one who walked in the same steps as himself to the church at Jerusalem (Gal 2:1).  He was with Paul in Rome and then Dalmatia (2 Tim 4:10) after which there is no further mention of him in the Scriptures.  The letter was written between 62 and 64 AD while Paul was in the prison.  Some date it a couple years later because of  Paul's reference to wintering in Nicopolis in Epirus (Titus 3:12) and the context of his ministry at that time.  Titus worked with Paul to see the new churches appropriately fitted with sound Pastors to lead their work after Paul, Timothy and Titus passed their time.

As with the letters to Timothy, this letter was to encourage Paul's fellow workers to press on under the Lord to furnish the ministerial needs of the church doing its birthing and early adolesence.  As Titus served as an evangelist, he no doubt provided the early training for the pastors and saints at several of Paul's churches.     

Titus' letter was written to the dispersed believers just like 1 Peter and Jude.  These were likely the people in the dozens of churches Paul had planted and many missionaries encouraged and trained through the years.  These were mostly Gentile believers rather than Jewish believers.  Titus tries to stay away from quoting Jewish traditions and ritual observance.  

The Christian movement was believed by the Jewish religious leaders to be doomed to failure as soon as those leaders  murdered Jesus of Nazareth.  Acts 9 tells us that Saul of Tarsus was permitted by the Sanhedrin to expand his geographical area for persecuting Christians outside Judea and into Asia.  Saul was converted on the way to Damascus of Syria and became known as Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ.  The hope that Christianity offered was far superior to the persecutions of the Jews and Romans on the Christians, and served to strengthen believers for the thousands who faced death for their beliefs.