The big picture
Titus 3 brings the letter's theology into public conduct, memory, controversy, and travel arrangements. Submission to authorities is joined to readiness for every good work, restraint in speech, gentleness, and meekness toward all. The reason is not that believers come from a naturally superior class. Paul includes himself in the former foolishness, deception, lust, malice, envy, and mutual hatred from which the chapter turns. The turning point is God's kindness and love, and salvation is explicitly grounded in mercy rather than righteous works already performed. Regeneration, renewal by the Holy Ghost, justification by grace, and hope of eternal life describe the rescue. Yet the chapter quickly returns to maintaining good works, distinguishing the basis of salvation from the life it produces. Fruitful teaching is then contrasted with endless disputes, and even correction of a divisive person is given a limit. The final travel instructions make the letter's favorite phrase tangible: good works include meeting actual needs so people can continue their journeys without lack.
Central truth
God saves by mercy rather than human righteousness, renewing his people through the Holy Ghost and Jesus Christ so that justified heirs practise gentleness and useful good works instead of former hostility. Paul directs Titus to refuse fruitless disputes and persistent divisiveness while ensuring that coworkers receive practical support, so the community's good works meet real needs rather than produce empty argument.
The study notes have a page of their own
The movement by movement analysis, the words to trace, the verse by verse notes and where readers differ are written for someone studying alone. They are on the Deep Personal Reflections page for this chapter. This page is the lesson.
A chapter-specific teaching brief
These anchors come from this chapter itself. They help a teacher use the Level 1 overview, the Level 2 study, and the Scripture text as one lesson.
Open with the chapter’s first image
Titus 3:1: “Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work,”
Slow down at the turning point
Titus 3:9: “But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.”
Keep this word trail visible
good, works, foolish, grace, love, maintain
What to explain, in order
Teach the passage in this order. Each step names the verses it rests on, so every point can be shown in the text before it is applied.
Titus 3:1–8
Titus 3:1-2
Good citizens and gentle neighbours
"Put them in mind" tells you Titus is reminding, not introducing something new. Read 3:1-2 and list everything in it. Explain "principalities and powers" here as civil rulers, since "magistrates" follows. Show that obedience to rulers is one item among several: readiness for good work, no slander, no brawling, gentleness, meekness toward all. Teach this first because it sets the problem the rest of the passage answers: why should believers be gentle with people who are hostile to them? Keep Acts 5:29 ready for anyone who asks whether rulers must be obeyed in everything.
Titus 3:3
We ourselves also
Read 3:3 slowly and let the "we" register. Explain "sometimes" as formerly and "divers" as various. Paul lists foolishness, disobedience, deception, slavery to lusts and pleasures, malice and envy, and ends with "hateful, and hating one another". He includes himself. Teach this here because it supplies the reason for 3:2: believers cannot look down on unbelievers once they remember what they themselves were. Do not ask the class for personal examples; the verse makes its point without confessions, and some in the room may carry things they should not be pressed to name.
Titus 3:4-5
But God
Mark the "But" of 3:4 as the turning point of the passage. What appeared was "the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man", a love for humanity. Then read 3:5 and set its two halves side by side: "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us". Explain "washing of regeneration" as the cleansing of new birth, and present the baptismal and spiritual readings fairly without settling them for the class. Teach this after 3:3 because mercy only looks like mercy against the background of what it saved.
Titus 3:6-7
Poured out, justified, heirs
Read 3:6-7. The Holy Ghost is shed "abundantly", not rationed, "through Jesus Christ our Saviour". Then 3:7 gives the result: "being justified by his grace", made "heirs according to the hope of eternal life". Explain "justified" as declared righteous before God. Point out that the passage names God, the Holy Ghost and Jesus Christ within one sentence about salvation. Teach this here because it completes the account of what God has done, and the class needs it whole before the passage turns to what believers do.
Titus 3:8
A faithful saying, and good works
Close with 3:8. "This is a faithful saying" seals 3:4-7 as reliable. Then Paul tells Titus to affirm these things constantly so that believers "might be careful to maintain good works". Put the order on the board: mercy, renewal, justification, inheritance, and then good works. Note that the works are "good and profitable unto men": they help people rather than merely display piety. Teach this last because it turns the doctrine back to the public life of 3:1-2, and because it is the bridge into the closing instructions of 3:9-15.
Titus 3:9–15
Titus 3:8-9
Profitable and unprofitable
Begin by reading 3:8 and 3:9 as a pair. One sentence ends with things "good and profitable unto men"; the next begins with things "unprofitable and vain". Explain each item in 3:9: foolish questions, genealogies, contentions and "strivings about the law". The genealogies may be speculation built on family lines, as 1 Timothy 1:4 suggests, but do not invent more than the letter tells you about what was argued. Teach this first because the whole closing section contrasts useful action with useless controversy, and the class needs Paul's measure before applying it.
Titus 3:10-11
Two warnings, then a boundary
Read 3:10 and explain "admonition" as a warning meant to correct. The divisive man is warned twice, not once and not endlessly. Explain "heretick" from the setting of 3:9: a man who forms a party around his disputes, not a believer with a sincere question. Then read 3:11: such a man "is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself". He condemns himself by persisting after correction; the church does not invent his guilt. Teach this second because it answers the obvious question: what happens when someone will not let the useless arguments go?
Titus 3:12
Plans for the winter
Turn to the personal arrangements. "When I shall send Artemas unto thee, or Tychicus" shows that Paul has not chosen yet. Titus is to "be diligent to come" to Nicopolis, where Paul has "determined there to winter". Point out the words "when", "or" and "there", and resist turning plans into a completed itinerary. Note that Paul sends a replacement before calling Titus away, so the work in Crete is not abandoned. Teach this here because it shows the same care for the churches that ran through chapter 1, now in the ordinary business of travel.
Titus 3:13-14
Good works for the road
Read 3:13. Zenas "the lawyer", whose legal field the verse does not name, and Apollos are travelling, and Titus is to send them on "diligently, that nothing be wanting unto them". Then read 3:14 and show that it is the same instruction widened: "let ours also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses". The good works of 3:8 now have names and needs. Explain "unfruitful" as having nothing to show. Teach this as the practical climax of the letter: teaching about mercy ends in a church that provides for its workers' journeys.
Titus 3:15
Grace be with you all
Close with the greetings. "All that are with me salute thee" shows that Paul writes from among companions, not alone. "Greet them that love us in the faith" asks Titus to carry that love to the believers in Crete. Then "Grace be with you all", and the "all" is the whole church, not Titus only. Teach this last because it puts every instruction in the letter, the elders, the households, the gentleness, the warnings and the travel money, under the grace already described in 2:11 and 3:7.
Where learners get stuck
The misreadings this passage tends to produce, and how to answer each from the text.
Titus 3:1–8
"Christians must obey the government no matter what it commands."
Verse 1 calls believers to be subject to rulers and to obey magistrates, and that is a real duty. But the apostles, ordered to stop preaching, answered, "We ought to obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29). Titus 3:1 puts the duty beside readiness "to every good work"; it does not command evil work. Teach civil obedience as the normal posture and refusal as the exception, required only when obeying would mean disobeying God, and then done without brawling.
"Being gentle to everyone means never saying anyone is wrong."
The same letter tells Titus to "rebuke them sharply" (1:13) and to reject a divisive man after warning him twice (3:10). The gentleness and meekness of 3:2 rule out slander and brawling, not truth. The model is God's own kindness in 3:4, which did not pretend we were good but saved us anyway. A believer can disagree firmly and still refuse to speak evil of anyone.
"The washing of regeneration proves that baptism saves by itself."
Traditions read 3:5 differently: some see baptism here, others the Spirit's inner cleansing that baptism signifies. Present them fairly. Every reading has to account for the whole verse: salvation is "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy", and the renewing is "of the Holy Ghost". The verse is about God's mercy and the Spirit's work; it does not settle the mode or the recipients of baptism.
"If good works do not save, they are optional."
Verse 8 follows verse 5 directly and insists that believers be "careful to maintain good works", and Paul wants this affirmed "constantly". The works are not the price of salvation but its purpose, as 2:14 already said, and its proper fruit; they are "good and profitable unto men". A believer who drops them has not understood mercy better than others. They have forgotten what it was for.
Titus 3:9–15
"Paul says we should not ask questions about the Bible."
Verse 9 names "foolish questions", along with genealogies and strivings about the law, and judges them by their fruit: "unprofitable and vain". The same letter demands an elder who can teach and refute (1:9) and gives Titus sound doctrine to speak (2:1). Questions that seek the truth are welcome. Arguments kept going for their own sake, or simply to win, are what Paul tells Titus to avoid.
"A heretic is anyone who disagrees with our church."
In this verse the word comes straight after the contentions of 3:9 and describes a man who keeps dividing the church after two warnings (3:10). Its meaning here is shaped by that context. It is not a label for every honest questioner or for every believer in another tradition. Paul's procedure, "after the first and second admonition", also rules out instant verdicts. Use the word carefully, and keep the warnings in the process.
"Rejecting someone means we can treat them with contempt."
The instruction comes soon after 3:2-3, where believers are to speak evil of no man because they were once hateful themselves. To reject here is to stop giving the divisive man a platform after the warnings have failed (3:10). It does not license slander, mockery or cruelty. 2 Timothy 2:25 still hopes that God will give such opponents repentance, and a church that rejects someone should still pray for him.
"These travel details are leftovers with nothing to teach."
Paul ties them directly to the theme of the letter. Verse 14 says that sending Zenas and Apollos well is how believers "learn to maintain good works for necessary uses, that they be not unfruitful". The same phrase, "maintain good works", appeared in 3:8. The names show that good works are not an abstraction. They are provisions, food and money for real people on a real road.
Learning objectives
- Describe the public conduct commanded in verses 1–2.
- Explain the force of 'we ourselves also.'
- Contrast former hostility with God's appearing kindness.
- Distinguish mercy from works as the basis of salvation.
- Trace the saving actions attributed to God, Spirit, and Christ.
- Explain why believers must still maintain good works.
- Contrast profitable good works with unprofitable disputes.
- Identify the two admonitions preceding rejection.
- Distinguish persistent divisiveness from sincere questioning.
- Explain the conditional arrangements for Titus's travel.
- Identify the support requested for Zenas and Apollos.
- Connect necessary uses with the letter's call to fruitfulness.
Teacher preparation
- Read 2:11–14 before 3:1–8; keep grace's training connected with public conduct.
- Explain 'sometimes' in 3:3 as formerly, 'divers' as various, and 'principalities and powers' through the accompanying reference to magistrates.
- Mark 'we,' 'us,' and 'our' throughout 3:3–7; the teacher belongs within the confession of former need.
- Prepare to distinguish the baptismal and spiritual-cleansing readings of 'washing of regeneration' without disguising the debate.
- Plan fictional examples of public disagreement and practical service; avoid requiring conversion accounts or political disclosure.
- Read 3:8 with 3:9; underline profitable and unprofitable before treating the dispute instructions separately.
- Explain 'admonition' as warning or correction and 'wanting' as lacking needed provision.
- Read 'heretick' within the persistent division of 3:9–11; do not use the term as a label for every honest questioner.
- Mark 'when,' 'or,' and 'there' in 3:12; distinguish planned travel from a completed itinerary.
- Prepare a simple fictional support plan for travellers; do not invent the named coworkers' routes, supplies, or biographies.
Evidence and interpretation checks
Explicit
Read 3:5 directly: salvation is not by works of righteousness already performed but according to God's mercy, through regeneration and renewal. Anchor the procedure in 3:10: a first and second admonition precede rejection; do not replace the stated warnings with an instant verdict.
Scripture-supported
Compare 3:5–8 with Ephesians 2:8–10; both distinguish salvation's gracious basis from the good works for which believers are responsible. Read 3:13–14 beside 3 John 5–8; both connect Christian cooperation with tangible provision for travelling workers.
Strong inference
Infer that remembering shared former need undercuts contempt from 3:2–3: the call for meekness toward all is followed by 'we ourselves also.' Infer that the named travel support exemplifies good works from the sequence of 3:13–14; the letter puts useful service beside actual people needing help.
Possible or traditional reading
Present 'washing of regeneration' in 3:5 as understood baptismally by some traditions and as spiritual cleansing by others; distinguish the wording from a complete sacramental explanation. Present Zenas's title 'lawyer' in 3:13 as possibly referring to expertise in Jewish law or civil law; the verse does not identify his legal specialism.
Limit
Do not derive baptism's mode or recipients from 3:5, or unrestricted obedience to every human demand from 3:1; neither question is fully treated here. Do not claim from 3:12 that Paul is already at Nicopolis, decide whether Artemas or Tychicus was eventually sent, or invent the travellers' destination.
Discussion with answer guidance
1. What belongs alongside obedience to magistrates in the public instructions?
What a good answer contains
The list in 3:1-2 is longer than one duty. Believers are "to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates", and also "to be ready to every good work", and "To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men". A good answer sees that the civic duty sits inside a whole posture toward outsiders: useful, gentle and free of slander. A weak answer reduces the paragraph to political submission, or makes the submission unlimited and forgets Acts 5:29.
Show teacher guidance
Read 3:1–2: readiness for good works, restraint from slander and brawling, gentleness, and meekness toward all. Do not reduce the paragraph to political submission.
2. Why say 'we ourselves also' before describing foolishness and hatred?
What a good answer contains
Because gentleness toward "all men" (3:2) needs a reason, and Paul gives it: "For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived" (3:3). "Sometimes" means formerly. Paul puts himself and Titus inside the list, which ends "living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another". A strong answer sees that remembering where believers came from removes the contempt that makes them harsh with outsiders. A weak answer lets the class talk about other people only, as if believers were a different kind of human being.
Show teacher guidance
Use 3:3: Paul includes himself and fellow believers in the former condition. Correct an answer that lets the class treat outsiders as a different moral species.
3. What changes the direction of the passage after the catalogue of hostility?
What a good answer contains
The "But" of 3:4: "after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared". The change comes from God's side. Verse 5 says what did not bring it about, "Not by works of righteousness which we have done", and what did, "according to his mercy he saved us". A good answer places the turning point in God's kindness appearing, not in people improving themselves after 3:3. A weak answer imagines the hateful people of 3:3 slowly gathering enough good deeds to qualify.
Show teacher guidance
Read 3:4–5: God's kindness and love appear, and mercy saves. The decisive turning point is not a claim that people finally assembled enough righteous deeds.
4. How are God, the Holy Ghost, and Jesus Christ named in the saving action?
What a good answer contains
God our Saviour shows kindness and saves "according to his mercy" (3:4-5). The saving is "by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost" (3:5), and the Spirit is the one "Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour" (3:6). A strong answer notices that the title Saviour is given both to God (3:4) and to Jesus Christ (3:6), and that all three are at work in one salvation. A weak answer makes the Spirit an optional extra or leaves Christ out of the passage.
Show teacher guidance
Trace 3:4–7: God saves in mercy, the Holy Ghost renews, and the Spirit is shed abundantly through Jesus Christ.
5. What status and expectation follow justification by grace?
What a good answer contains
"That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life" (3:7). Justified means declared righteous, and it is "by his grace", not by the works just denied in 3:5. The status is heirs; the expectation is eternal life, which reaches back to the "hope of eternal life" in 1:2. A good answer sees that an heir receives by relationship, not by wages. A weak answer makes the inheritance a reward for having improved since 3:3.
Show teacher guidance
Use 3:7: believers become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Do not describe inheritance as wages paid for the former conduct of 3:3.
6. Why insist on good works immediately after denying that works saved us?
What a good answer contains
Because those who have received mercy are the very people who should be "careful to maintain good works" (3:8). Paul calls what he has just said "a faithful saying" and wants Titus to "affirm constantly" these things. The works are not the basis of salvation (3:5) but its fruit, and they are "good and profitable unto men". A strong answer holds the order: mercy first, works after, and works that actually benefit others. A weak answer either lets 3:5 cancel 3:8 or lets 3:8 creep back underneath 3:5.
Show teacher guidance
Compare 3:5 with 3:8: works are not the saving basis but are the believer's useful responsibility. Keep the order clear: fruit, not an entrance fee.
7. Which words connect verse 9 to the instruction immediately before it?
What a good answer contains
Verse 8 ends, "These things are good and profitable unto men." Verse 9 begins with "But" and names the opposite: "foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain". A good answer sees that Paul measures a discussion by what it produces for people, not by whether it is clever or difficult. Good works help someone; these arguments help no one and leave everyone where they began. A weak answer hears verse 9 as a rule against thinking hard about Scripture.
Show teacher guidance
Compare 'profitable' in 3:8 with 'unprofitable and vain' in 3:9. The contrast evaluates fruitfulness, not whether a discussion is interesting or difficult.
8. What must happen before the divisive person is rejected?
What a good answer contains
"A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject" (3:10). Two real warnings come first. Explain "heretick" here from its context: a man who keeps pressing his disputes until the church divides, not someone with an honest question. Verse 11 gives the reason for the final step: such a man "is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself". A strong answer keeps both halves, patient correction and a real boundary. A weak answer either skips the warnings or lets the argument run forever.
Show teacher guidance
Read 3:10–11: first and second admonitions. Preserve both meaningful correction and an eventual boundary; do not substitute either endless argument or immediate expulsion.
9. Why does avoiding foolish questions not prohibit serious study of Scripture?
What a good answer contains
Because the same letter requires the elder to be "Holding fast the faithful word" and able "by sound doctrine" to answer opponents (1:9), and tells Titus to "speak thou the things which become sound doctrine" (2:1). Paul has just taught some of the richest doctrine in the letter in 3:4-7. What 3:9 forbids is a particular kind of argument: foolish, endless, about genealogies and the law, and productive only of strife. A good answer separates study that serves faith and life from disputes that serve pride.
Show teacher guidance
Read 3:9 beside 1:9 and 2:1: the same letter requires faithful teaching. Distinguish productive examination from the fruitless disputes specifically named.
10. What arrangements govern Titus's proposed journey to Paul?
What a good answer contains
"When I shall send Artemas unto thee, or Tychicus, be diligent to come unto me to Nicopolis: for I have determined there to winter" (3:12). Paul has not yet chosen which man to send; Titus is to come once a replacement arrives, and Paul has decided where he means to spend the winter. A good answer keeps the "or" and the future tense: these are plans, not a record of what happened. It also notices that Paul does not leave Crete without a worker when Titus goes.
Show teacher guidance
Use 3:12: Paul plans to send Artemas or Tychicus, and Titus is to come to Nicopolis, where Paul has determined to winter. Retain the alternatives and future plans.
11. What does Paul request for Zenas and Apollos beyond a friendly farewell?
What a good answer contains
"Bring Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey diligently, that nothing be wanting unto them" (3:13). That means more than a farewell: it means provisions, money and whatever they need for the road. "Wanting" means lacking, the word already used of the churches' needs in 1:5. A strong answer sees that Christian hospitality includes paying for the journey, as 3 John 5-8 also teaches. A weak answer treats the verse as a polite send-off that costs nothing.
Show teacher guidance
Use 3:13: help them on their journey so nothing is lacking. Let the practical force land; a warm goodbye is not the same as adequate provision.
12. How do necessary uses, fruitfulness, and the final greeting fit together?
What a good answer contains
"And let ours also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses, that they be not unfruitful" (3:14). The phrase "maintain good works" returns from 3:8, and now it is tied to necessary uses, real needs like those of Zenas and Apollos. The letter then closes with greetings from "All that are with me" and the words "Grace be with you all" (3:15). A good answer sees that practical help, the love of believers for one another, and grace belong together. A weak answer treats the closing as filler after the theology is done.
Show teacher guidance
Read 3:14–15: practical good works belong within a community of shared faith, love, and grace. Do not treat the travel arrangements as disposable material after the theology.
Responsible application
Heart and habits
Ask learners to compare two fictional attitudes toward people who disagree, one contemptuous and one mindful of shared need for mercy.
Relationships and community
Draft a response to an invented public disagreement that remains truthful and firm without slander or brawling; gentleness need not mean agreement.
Make good works useful
Have groups plan help for an ordinary fictional community need and explain its benefit without presenting service as payment for salvation.
Support the journey
Plan practical assistance for fictional visiting workers, distinguishing verified needs from assumptions and preserving the recipients' dignity.
Session plans
Two timings of the same lesson. The shorter keeps the reading, the central discussion and one response; the longer gives the confusions and the application their own time.
Titus 3:1–8
45 minutes
Put them in mind
Read 3:1-2 and list the conduct on the board. Take question one.
We ourselves also
Read 3:3 without comment, then take question two. Do not ask for personal examples.
But God
Read 3:4-7 slowly. Take questions three and four, and touch briefly on confusion three.
Heirs by grace
Take question five. Write mercy, renewal, justification and inheritance on the board in that order.
Careful to maintain good works
Read 3:8. Take question six and confusion four.
Key verse and prayer
Read the key verse together and pray for one public need the group can help to meet.
90 minutes
Hard to be gentle with
Ask, without names, what kinds of people the group finds it hardest to be gentle toward. Keep the answers general.
Put them in mind
Read 3:1-2. Take question one and confusion one, with Acts 5:29.
We ourselves also
Read 3:3. Take question two and connect it with the opening discussion.
Gentle is not silent
Work through confusion two with 1:13 and 3:10.
But God
Read 3:4-7 twice. Take questions three, four and five, and confusion three.
Mercy and works
Read Ephesians 2:8-10 beside Titus 3:5 and 3:8. Take question six and confusion four.
Useful good works
Plan one practical act of help for a need in the local community, and say why it is not payment for salvation.
Handout and prayer
Read the key verse together, point to the take-home line, and pray for the people the group found hard to be gentle with.
Titus 3:9–15
45 minutes
Profitable or vain
Read 3:8-9 and take question one. Write profitable and unprofitable on the board.
Warnings and a boundary
Read 3:10-11. Take question two and confusion two.
Study is not quarrelling
Take question three with 1:9 and 2:1, and confusion one.
Plans for the winter
Read 3:12 and take question four. Mark the words "when", "or" and "there".
Nothing wanting
Read 3:13-14. Take questions five and six, and confusion four.
Grace be with you all
Read 3:15 and the key verse together, and close in prayer for workers who travel.
90 minutes
Helpful and unhelpful arguments
Ask the group to describe, without names, a discussion that helped them and one that only produced heat.
Profitable or vain
Read 3:8-9 and take question one. Explain genealogies and strivings about the law.
Study is not quarrelling
Take question three with 1:9 and 2:1, and work through confusion one.
Warnings and a boundary
Read 3:10-11 with 3:2-3. Take question two and confusions two and three, and read 2 Timothy 2:23-25.
Plans for the winter
Read 3:12, take question four, and mark the alternatives and the future plans.
Nothing wanting
Read 3:13-14 with 3 John 5-8. Take questions five and six and confusion four.
Support the journey
Plan practical help for an imagined visiting worker: list real needs and how to meet them without embarrassing anyone.
Handout and prayer
Read the key verse together, point to the take-home line, and pray for the missionaries and travelling workers the group supports.
Adapting the lesson
Titus 3:1–8
Children
Use a simple before and after: a picture of children quarrelling, and a picture of someone being kind to a child who had been unkind. Read 3:4-5 and explain that God was kind to us before we were good. Ask how that changes the way we treat someone who is unkind to us. Leave out the debates about baptism and about rulers.
Youth
Online argument is where they meet 3:2. Read 3:1-3 and ask what speaking evil of no man would look like in a comment thread. Let 3:3 do its work without asking anyone to share their past. Spend time on 3:5 and 3:8 together, so they leave knowing both that works do not save and that grace does not leave them idle.
Adults
Discuss civil responsibility and its limits with Acts 5:29, and honest gentleness toward people with opposite politics. Give 3:4-7 careful attention and present the readings of 3:5 fairly. Ask which good works in the congregation are "profitable unto men", actually helpful to neighbours, and which are only busy.
One to one
Read 3:3-5 together and ask whether they find it easier to believe in God's kindness toward others or toward themselves. If they are weighed down by their past, let "according to his mercy he saved us" be the line they take away. If they are hard on others, let "we ourselves also" do its gentle work.
Titus 3:9–15
Children
Compare two friends getting ready for a trip: one helps pack food and water, the other keeps arguing about who is right while nothing gets packed. Read 3:13-14 and ask what Zenas and Apollos needed. Let the children fill a pretend travel bag for a missionary. Leave out the verses about rejecting a divisive person.
Youth
They know arguments that never end. Read 3:9 and ask how to tell a question that seeks the truth from a fight that only wants to win. Then read 3:10 and notice the two warnings. Finish with 3:13-14 and challenge them to help meet one real need, so good works become something they do and not only something they discuss.
Adults
Discuss how a congregation handles a persistently divisive person: the two warnings, who gives them, and how to protect people without humiliating anyone. Do not turn the lesson into a ruling on a present conflict. Then give real time to 3:13-14 and to practical support for missionaries and visiting workers, including money.
One to one
Ask whether they are caught in a dispute that has become unprofitable, and read 3:9 together. If they are the one being warned, let 3:10 be heard as mercy before a boundary. If they are worn out by someone else's divisiveness, show them that Paul permits a limit. Close with 3:15 and pray grace over them.
Song and video learning lab
A song or video may interpret, compress, or dramatize the text. Its value becomes clearer when its choices are compared with Scripture.
- Before the media: the exact passage and its central movement.
- During the media: the words, people, events, and emotions the artist emphasizes.
- After the media: what it clarifies, what it leaves out, and what belongs back in the biblical text.
Handout
One page for learners to take home. The print button prints this section alone.
Titus 3:1–8
The passage in brief
Paul reminds the believers in Crete to be good citizens and gentle neighbours: ready to do good, speaking evil of no one and not quarrelsome. He gives the reason: we ourselves were once foolish and hateful too. Then God's kindness and love appeared, and he saved us, not because of anything good we had done but because of his mercy, giving new birth and pouring out the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ. Those who have received such mercy are to be careful to do good works.
A verse to keep
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
Titus 3:5 · King James Version
Questions to take home
What does 3:1-2 ask of believers toward everyone around them?
Why does Paul include himself in 3:3?
According to 3:5, what saved us, and what did not?
This week
Think of someone you find hard to be gentle with, remember 3:3, and do them one practical good this week.
Titus 3:9–15
The passage in brief
At the end of his letter Paul tells Titus to avoid foolish arguments that do nobody any good, and to warn a divisive person twice before having nothing more to do with him. He plans for Titus to join him for the winter once a replacement arrives. He asks Titus to send two travelling workers on their way with everything they need. Believers are to learn to do good works that meet real needs, so that their lives bear fruit. Paul ends with grace for them all.
A verse to keep
And let ours also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses, that they be not unfruitful.
Titus 3:14 · King James Version
Questions to take home
What makes the arguments of 3:9 different from the good works of 3:8?
What comes before the boundary in 3:10?
What practical need could you help meet this month, like those of Zenas and Apollos?
This week
Before your next argument, ask whether it will help anyone, and spend that energy meeting one real need instead.
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