What to do now...

Today or over the weekend I'd like you to begin marking the key words in Titus 1. Please print out the copies of the chapter that I emailed you so that you can mark and write all over it. Here is an example of what I mean by marking key words. Use your colored pencils and as you go through the text...


So every time you see Paul or a reference to Paul, such as I, you will circle those words in purple. Every time you see Titus or a reference to him you will do a red rectangle around the word. Every time you see a conjunction word... but, for, or, so that, for this reason....etc. mark them with three dots above them in green.
And so on.

This is to help you see the meaning or purpose of the scripture more clearly. See point 3 below.

You want to begin a book study by doing an overview. Scripture should always be interpreted according to context. (understanding what the text means)

Context
Con = with
Text = the weave

We start with the overview because it helps with the frame work

When you are looking at doing an overview of the scriptures, these are the things you want to pay attention to...
1) What type of literature it is (listed below)
2) Historical Setting - we need to understand the culture it was written in, mark people to identify this better and look at the who, what, when, where, why, how What do you think it is for Titus? The WHO is Paul, the author Titus the recipient and it is about those who contradict (you can mark the who contradict by underlining them in brown 2x)
3) Mark Key Words - this helps unlock the meaning to the text, they are usually repeated words, they are key to understanding the books message, if the word was removed the text would lose it's meaning
4) Lists (key word mapping), there are several lists in Titus. The first one starts in Vs 6 and goes to the end of Vs 9. It starts with 1 - above reproach 2 - the husband of one wife 3 - having children who believe 4 - above reproach 5 - not self- willed .... there are 18 points in this list. See if you can see the rest of them.
5) Theme/s - what is the key theme throughout this book?
6) Purpose - why was this book written?

Types of literature written in the Bible.

• doctrinal
• letter
• poem/poetry
• phrophetic
• biographical
• historical

What type of writing do you think Titus is? I'll help you out here. MOST of the New Testament is doctrinal. Titus is also doctrinal. Doctrine is defined as "a codification of beliefs or "a body of teachings" or "instructions", taught principles or positions, as the body of teachings in a branch of knowledge or belief system." You will see throughout Titus different lists and instructions. They are talking about sound doctrine.

Books like Song of Solomon, Psalm & Proverbs are poems or poetry.
Joshua & Exodus are narratives.
Kings is historical.
Etc.

OK - I know I have given you a lot of information here. I have already given you the type of literature it is as well as the historical setting. Here is what you can do today and over the weekend:
1) Find explore the type of literature & historical setting for yourself.
2) Find an overall theme for the book of Titus
3) Find themes for each of the paragraphs in Titus 1
4) Mark the words listed on the "marking key words"
If you have more time and want to continue... go ahead and start marking the lists by putting a subscript 1, 2, 3, etc at each point of the list.

We will do the same for Chapter 2 on Monday. I'll send you Chapter 2 & 3 in your email today so you can mark all key words if you want to. Please let me know if you are struggling with anything or need help! Blessings!