Paul enjoins Titus to "put THEM in mind" to
be SUBJECT unto those in EARTHLY AUTHORITY and "READY (PREPARED)" to PERFORM that which is GOOD (Titus 3:1)
- particularly when it comes to PRAYING for those in EARTHLY AUTHORITY, so that there may be PEACEFUL LIVING CONDITIONS
for the sharing of the SALVATION MESSAGE (I Timothy 2:1-4)
The "THEM" would be the "ELDERS" that
Paul charged Titus to "ordain in EVERY CITY" (Titus 1:5)
The ELDERS IN AUTHORITY should serve as EXAMPLES of how
to be UNDER AUTHORITY (Titus 2:9)
This SUBMISSION to EARTHLY AUTHORITY is also God's desire
for EVERY BELIEVER, because ALL AUTHORITY is "ordained of God" for the administration of LAW and ORDER
(Romans 13:1-5)
The "Most High God" as "Possessor of Heaven
and Earth" (Genesis 14:18-19) "created Man in His Own IMAGE" (Genesis 1:27) by giving Adam and Eve "DOMINION (AUTHORITY)" over the EARTH
(Psalms 8:4-8 cf.Genesis 1:28)
After the Flood, that "DOMINION (AUTHORITY)"
was extended over his FELLOW MAN (Genesis 9:6) as a reminder of God's PURPOSE for Man's CREATION (Genesis 1:27-28)
COMPLIANCE with EARTHLY AUTHORITY is to be honored (Romans 13:6-7 cf.Luke 20:21-25) ONLY with the EXCEPTION if there be a CONFLICT with DIVINE AUTHORITY
as in the case of:
Peter and John before the Sanhedrin (Acts 4:18-20)
These ELDERS IN AUTHORITY must be RESPECTFUL unto ALL
(Titus 3:2), so as to ARREST the NEGATIVE ELEMENTS in the assembly (Titus 1:10-13)
by BEING POSITIVE EXAMPLES in:
There is a most important reason WHY a BELIEVER should
"SPEAK EVIL OF NO MAN" (Titus 3:2) - the
BELIEVER was HELPLESSLY LOST BEFORE being "SAVED" BY GOD (Ephesians 2:1,4-5):
It was when "the KINDNESS and LOVE of God our Savior"
(Titus 3:4) that "God, Who is rich in MERCY" (Ephesians 2:4)
"hath QUICKENED (MADE ALIVE) us together with Christ" (Ephesians 2:5):
"NOT by WORKS of righteousness which we have done,
BUT according to His MERCY He SAVED us" (Titus 3:5)
SALVATION is "the GIFT of God" (Ephesians 2:8),
i.e. ETERNAL LIFE is "the GIFT of God ... through ... Christ" (Romans 6:23)
We will forever be displayed as the trophies of HIS "EXCEEDING
... GRACE" (Ephesians 2:7), because we "are HIS WORKMANSHIP ... in Christ" (Ephesians 2:10)
God's MERCY (Titus 3:5 cf.Ephesians 2:4-5)
has been "ABUNDANTLY shed through Jesus Christ our Savior" (Titus 3:6) unto (with reference to) the believer's being "justified by His
GRACE" (Titus 3:7)
God is also "able to make ALL GRACE ABOUND"
to the believer, so that the believer "having ALL SUFFICIENCY in ALL THINGS, may ABOUND to EVERY GOOD WORK"
(II Corinthians 9:8)
Just as "the SUFFERINGS ABOUND" in the believer,
so does the believer's "CONSOLATION also ABOUNDETH by Christ" (II Corinthians 1:5)
The "God of HOPE" is able to "FILL"
the believer with "ALL JOY and PEACE in believing" causing the believer to "ABOUND in HOPE, through
the power of the Holy Spirit" (Romans 15:13)
The apostle (Ephesians 1:1) of GRACE (Ephesians 3:2) prays that the believer's "LOVE may ABOUND yet more and more
in ALL KNOWLEDGE and in ALL JUDGMENT (DISCERNMENT)" (Philippians 1:9)
The believer is made an "HEIR according to the hope
of eternal life" (Titus 3:7), which was "PROMISED before the world began" (Titus 1:2)
The believer is made a "JOINT-HEIR with Christ"
and will be "GLORIFIED TOGETHER" with Christ in the SAME MEASURE that the believer "SUFFERS WITH
Him" (Romans 8:17-18 cf.Philippians 3:10;II Timothy 2:12)