In the hope of eternal life, which was made certain before eternal time, by the word of God who is ever true;

but in his own seasons manifested his word in the message, wherewith I was intrusted according to the commandment of God our Saviour;

For this reason I left you behind in Crete, so that you would set right what remains unfinished, and appoint elders in every city as I directed you,

He must hold firmly to the trustworthy word [of God] as it was taught to him, so that he will be able both to give accurate instruction in sound [reliable, error-free] doctrine and to refute those who contradict [it by explaining their error].

One being of themselves, which was a poet of their own said, "The Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, and slow bellies."

Everything is pure [i.e., ceremonially acceptable] to the person who is pure [i.e., who has been cleansed by the blood of Christ], but to those who are [spiritually] corrupt, and do not believe [in Christ], nothing is pure, but both their minds and consciences are corrupted. [Note: This statement was intended to remove the physical restrictions imposed by the law of Moses].

For the saving grace of God was manifested to all men,

For there was a time when we also were deficient in understanding, obstinate, deluded, the slaves of various cravings and pleasures, spending our lives in malice and envy, hateful ourselves and hating one another.

But when the mercy of God our Saviour, and his love to man was seen,

not as the result of any righteous actions that we had done, but in fulfillment of his merciful purposes. He saved us by that Washing which was a New Birth to us, and by the renewing power of the Holy Spirit,

[This was] so that, being made right with God by His unearned favor, we could have the hope of [possessing our] inheritance of never ending life [in heaven].