1Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s chosen ones and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness, 2in hope of eternal life, which God, who can’t lie, promised before time began; 3but in his own time revealed his word in the message with which I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our Savior, 4to Titus, my true child according to a common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior.
5I left you in Crete for this reason, that you would set in order the things that were lacking and appoint elders in every city, as I directed you— 6if anyone is blameless, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, who are not accused of loose or unruly behavior. 7For the overseer must be blameless, as God’s steward, not self-pleasing, not easily angered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for dishonest gain; 8but given to hospitality, a lover of good, sober minded, fair, holy, self-controlled, 9holding to the faithful word which is according to the teaching, that he may be able to exhort in the sound doctrine, and to convict those who contradict him.
10For there are also many unruly men, vain talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, 11whose mouths must be stopped: men who overthrow whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for dishonest gain’s sake. 12One of them, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, and idle gluttons.” 13This testimony is true. For this cause, reprove them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, 14not paying attention to Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn away from the truth. 15To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their mind and their conscience are defiled. 16They profess that they know God, but by their deeds they deny him, being abominable, disobedient, and unfit for any good work.
The phrase translated here as “I am he” reads in Greek, “egō eimi”: literally, “I myself am.” Here and in John 8:58, Jesus applies to Himself the divine name, “I am” (cf. Exod 3:13-14) and thus identifies Himself as God. The New Testament confirms Jesus’ self-identification as God by referring to Him as God explicitly (John 1:1, 18; 20:28; Acts 20:28; Rom 9:5; Titus 2:13; Heb 1:8; 2 Pet 1:1) and ascribing to Him divine attributes like omnipresence (Eph 1:23; Col 1:17), omniscience (John 16:30; 21:17; Col 2:3), existence before creation (John 1:1; 17:5; Col 1:15-17; Heb 1:10; Rev 1:8, 17; 2:8), equality with God the Father (John 5:18; Phil 2:6), and even deity itself (Col 2:9).
Scripture credits Jesus, moreover, with performing acts that only God can perform: e.g. creating the universe (John 1:3, 10; Eph 3:9; Col 1:16; Heb 1:2, 10), preserving it (Col 1:17; Heb 1:3), forgiving sins (Matt 9:2 par; Luke 7:48; Acts 5:31; Col 3:13), saving human beings (Matt 1:21; Acts 5:31; Phil 3:20; 2 Tim 1:10; Titus 1:4; 2:13; 2 Pet 1:11; 2:20; 1 John 4:14; cf. Isa 43:11), and judging them (Matt 25:31-46; John 5:22, 27; Acts 10:42; 17:31; Rom 2:16; 14:10; 2 Cor 5:10; 2 Tim 4:1, 8). John, in fact, states that Christ performs every act whatsoever that the Father performs (John 5:19). The New Testament’s authors, moreover, endorse by precept and example the worship of Jesus with the reverence due to God alone (John 5:23; 20:28; 1 Cor 1:2; Rom 14:10-11; Phil 2:10-11; Heb 1:6; Rev 1:5-6). Scripture teaches, therefore, that Jesus is not only a man, but also God: one person with a divine as well as a human nature (cf. Phil 2:6-7).