You’ve done a really great job of doing the overview of Titus, then the chapter studies for chapters one and two. Now it’s time to move on to the third and final chapter of our book.
The Inductive Green Dotted Line
One of the things that helps in inductive is to outline the commands with green dotted lines. The first thing we see in chapter three is a command: Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed, to malign no one, to be uncontentious, gentle, showing every consideration for all men.
Put a green dotted line around all of that, reminding yourself that this is a command. There are a few questions to answer about this command. First, who is commanded to remind them? Furthermore, who is the “them” in verse one?
In writing this letter to Titus, Paul was telling Titus to do some things in Crete – remember he was to set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city? In Chapter 3 verse one we see another thing that Paul tells Titus to do – to remind them to be subject to rulers. Paul used an “implied” you when talking to Titus – he didn’t write “Titus, you be sure to remind them to be subject to rulers” but he implied that it was Titus’ job to do that.
Now the question of the “them” – who is to be subject to rulers? We have to remember that Paul didn’t put the chapter divisions in his letter. Those divisions were put in much later in an attempt to help the reader more accurately understand the letter. However, sometimes chapter divisions confuse the reader because we assume that the writer’s thought has ended and he’s moved on. In this letter, Paul’s thoughts in Chapter Three are a continuation of what he had been saying in Chapter Two.
Look at chapter two again. Paul had told Titus to address several groups of people: Older men, older women, young men, and bond-slaves. Then he moves on in Chapter Three to talk to all the groups together – Remind them all to be subject to rulers.
Mark the commands throughout all of Chapter Three, making sure to use context to decide the subject of the command.
Cross-References in your Bible
One thing we haven’t talked about yet is using the cross-references that are in your copy of the Bible. Most Bibles come with some cross-references already done for you that are listed in a center column, in the margins, or below the text. The Bible publishers have done what we did with the Strong’s to find what the Bible says about a subject. There are a lot of topics that can be further studied with cross-references in Chapter Three, and a good place to start is with those in your Bible. Just remember that there are more – the Bible publishers don’t have room to make note of all the possible references, so they chose a few. Start with those and then move on to what you can find in your Strong’s
Finishing Up
I hope that you’ve had fun studying Titus. The method that you learned can be applied to any book of the Bible, and should be applied to any book of the Bible! I want to encourage you to keep studying – the thing I’ve found is that studying the Bible is very habit forming – once you start studying the Word, you quickly develop a habit of studying, and when that happens, it’s easier to study than to stop studying! That’s a good place to be in!
Janine Bear is a wife, a mother of four teenagers, and a Pastor in Rogers, MN. Her passion is teaching people to study the Word, and does that whenever she gets a chance. She’s available for conferences, retreats, seminars and Bible studies.
