Titus, the recipient of this letter, was a full Greek by ancestry and likely a convert under Paul's ministry (1:4). As an uncircumcised follower, Titus was the young man Paul used when in Jerusalem to defend the effects of salvation by faith alone (Galatians 2:1-3). While Titus is never mentioned in the book of Acts, we do have some background on him. He was the one Paul sent to Corinth from Ephesus (2 Corinthians 8:16-17) to handle the relational conflicts the church of Corinth was experiencing with Paul. Titus is referenced as Paul's co-laborer (2 Corinthians 8:23) and distinguished as having a similar pastoral burden for the church as Paul.

Paul had a special dependence and trust in Titus that is often overlooked with his name being absent from the book of Acts. When Paul went to preach in Troas, he could not stay because of his concern for Titus (2 Corinthians 2:12-13). Burdened that Titus had not returned from Corinth, Paul left and moved on to Macedonia where Titus rejoined him, comforting him with the good news of the successful ministry to Corinth (2 Corinthians 7:5-16). Based on Titus’ report, Paul wrote 2 Corinthians.

It is clear Titus' presence was a special comfort and strength to Paul, and, when with Titus, Paul seemed to minister with much greater strength.

While Paul was being shipped to Rome during his first imprisonment, he spent some time on the island of Crete and must have considered it a place needing a church (Acts 27:7-21). After Paul's imprisonment, one of the journeys Paul made was to Crete with Titus to establish a church on the island. Paul departed from Crete after some time, leaving Titus as an interim pastor to organize the fellowship and establish the leadership team (1:5), after which he was to meet Paul in Nicopolis (3:12). Lastly, we know Titus was with Paul during his second imprisonment in Rome (2 Timothy 4:10), and tradition says he was the overseer of the church on Crete, dying of natural causes there.

Crete would have been a particularly difficult place to establish a church. First, Crete's name alone in the ancient world was linked to moral instability. Second, Jewish legalists would have been present on the island (1:10), who were using their teaching for their own gain. Their teaching was encouraging people to turn from the truth (1:14), defiling their minds to the degree that the followers of Crete were becoming lax in good works. The subject of these false teachers frames the letter to Titus.

Paul's purpose in writing the book was clearly as much to remind Titus of the power of the gospel as it was to embrace and release God's saving grace, birthing good works rather than loose living (2:11-15).