How Could You Forget?

Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed,  Titus 3:1  NASB

Remind – You’ve probably never asked, “Why do these followers of the Messiah need reminding?  Aren’t they new men and women in the Lord?  Haven’t they given up the old life and adopted the way of the spirit?”  Apparently, Paul thinks the job isn’t quite done.

“Remind” is the imperative of the Greek verb mimnēskō plus the preposition hupŏ (hupŏmimnēskō).  The preposition is used to strengthen the verb.  But we must ask, “Why does Paul feel this is necessary?  Do I really need to recall (that’s what the verb means) my obligation to rulers and authorities?”  Not remembering that I live under the rule of Caesar and the declarations of his procurators would be a tragic mistake.  I could die.  It’s hardly something that would slip my mind.  “Ruler” is the Greek term archḗ, used of Roman procurators.  Used with exousía, it signifies those who rightfully have authority.  In fact, the two terms are always found together except in the single verse Jude 6.  What Paul has in mind is not any person in authority but only those persons who are rightfully in authority, and this means those persons who are in authority because God has put them in that position.  Paul is not giving a blanket endorsement to all social and political rules.  That would be entirely inconsistent with his strong sense of sovereignty, his Mosaic moral code, and his belief in the coming Kingdom.  Caesar might “rule” in this world today, but that does not make him God’s elected representative.  We find that same distinction in the letter to the Romans, especially in the often misunderstood (and politically co-opted) verse in chapter 13.[1]  What the followers of the Messiah need to be reminded about is not the Roman government but rather the authorities in the synagogue.  They are in their position because God has chosen them.  Gentiles coming into the assembly must recognize that authority and be subject to it.  After all, they are the ones joining, not the one accepting.

Now the rest of the verse, and the following, makes sense.  Why should these newly adopted Gentiles submit to the authority of the Jewish leaders of the synagogue?  Because by doing so they will learn how to be ready for “every good deed.”  That means they must first understand what a good deed is.  Not every moral act is a good deed.  A good deed is “the self-revelation of the personal God,”^[2] not the cognitive assessment of a rational moral philosophy.  “ . . . we are shown what is ‘good’ by the revelation of God’s will in the law.”^[3]  Doing a good deed is really the fulfillment of Torah, and for that the Gentiles need both the education and the example of the authorities in the community—the Jewishcommunity.  We will investigate Paul’s continuing argument in the next verse, but the foundation begins here, in the Jewish community, among members who come out of a very different world with a very different view of who’s in charge.

Topical Index: rulers, authorities, archḗ, exousía, hupŏmimnēskō, remind, Titus 3:1

[1] “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established.”  Romans 13:1, NIV.  See Mark Nanos on the proper reading of this claim.

^[2] Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1985). Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Abridged in One Volume (p. 3). Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans.

^[3] Ibid.