Titus is hand picked because of the glory's strength of grace now showing through him in his knowledge of the gospel's secrets. Lets see what Paul reveals here. Notice to what term Paul does not make reference to, which is broadly used today, and which one is not used.
2Corinthians 8:16-9:5 "But thanks be to God, which put the same earnest care into the heart of Titus for you. For indeed he accepted the exhortation; but being more forward, of his own accord he went unto you. And we have sent with him the brother, whose praise is in the gospel throughout all the churches; And not that only, but who was also chosen(G5500) of the churches to travel with us with this grace, which is administered by us to the glory of the same Lord, and declaration of your ready mind: Avoiding this, that no man should blame us in this abundance which is administered by us: Providing for(G4306) honest things(G2570), not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men. And we have sent with them our brother, whom we have oftentimes proved diligent in many things, but now much more diligent, upon the great confidence which I have in you. Whether any do enquire of Titus, he is my partner and fellow-helper concerning you: or our brethren be enquired of, they are the messengers of the churches, and the glory of Christ. Wherefore shew ye to them, and before the churches, the proof of your love, and of our boasting on your behalf. For as touching the ministering to the Saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you: For I know the forwardness of your mind, for which I boast of you to them of Macedonia, that Achaia was ready a year ago; and your zeal hath provoked very many. Yet have I sent the brethren, lest our boasting of you should be in vain in this behalf; that, as I said, ye may be ready: Lest haply if they of Macedonia come with me, and find you unprepared, we (that we say not, ye) should be ashamed in this same confident boasting. Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren, that they would go before unto you, and make up beforehand your bounty, whereof ye had notice before, that the same might be ready, as a matter of bounty, and not as of covetousness." (KJV)
2Corinthians 8:16-9:5 "But thanks be to God, who put into the heart of Titus the same earnest care I have for you. For he not only accepted our appeal, but being himself very earnest he is going to you of his own accord. With him we are sending the brother who is famous among all the churches for his preaching of the gospel. And not only that, but he has been appointed(G5500) by the churches to travel with us as we carry out this act of grace that is being ministered by us, for the glory of the Lord himself and to show our good will. We take this course so that no one should blame us about this generous gift that is being administered by us, for we aim(G4306) at what is honorable(G2570) not only in the Lord's sight but also in the sight of man. And with them we are sending our brother whom we have often tested and found earnest in many matters, but who is now more earnest than ever because of his great confidence in you. As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker for your benefit. And as for our brothers, they are messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ. So give proof before the churches of your love and of our boasting about you to these men. Now it is superfluous for me to write to you about the ministry for the Saints, for I know your readiness, of which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready since last year. And your zeal has stirred up most of them. But I am sending the brothers so that our boasting about you may not prove empty in this matter, so that you may be ready, as I said you would be. Otherwise, if some Macedonians come with me and find that you are not ready, we would be humiliated—to say nothing of you—for being so confident. So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for the gift you have promised, so that it may be ready as a willing gift, not as an exaction." (ESV)
2Corinthians 8:16-9:5 "I thank GOD for Titus; he feels entrusted with an equal urgency about you. He readily responded to our prompting and immediately volunteered to go. A brother who is very gifted in the gospel and popular with every church will accompany Titus. He was also [1,G5500]handpicked by all the churches to join us on this journey of grace in the administration of the gifts of the LORD. We know that this will meet with your approval since it is what you really wanted to do all along. (The word, [1,G5500 made of a compound of G5495 with the base of G5494 and a congener base of G5490] cheirotoneo means to handpick or to vote by a show of hands. Look at 1Corinthians 16:3.) We understand how sensitive money matters are and have taken the utmost precautions to secure the transparency of the administration of your bountiful gift. We [1,G4306]anticipate this to be a [2,G2570]beautiful testimony to the LORD and to everyone. (The word, [1,G4306 from G4253 and G3539] pronoeo means to know in advance, to anticipate; the word [2,G2570] kalon means beautiful.) Along with these two men we are also sending a brother is whom we have great confidence; he has often proven himself trustworthy in many different situations and is now even more eager than ever since he knows how urgent we feel about you. As for Titus, he is my close companion and represents my heart to you. The Friends who accompany him are commissioned by the churches to the glory of Christ. Give there churches proof of your love and confirm to good reason we have to be proud of you. Our commitment to administer this relief fund to assist our fellow Saints is obvious. It shouldn't even be necessary for me to write to you about this. When I witnessed your enthusiasm a year ago, I bragged about you before the churches in Macedonia and your zeal greatly inspired many of them. So now I am sending these Friends in response to your readiness to confirm our boasting about you. I just want to make sure that should some of the Macedonians perhaps join me when I visit you that it won't turn out to your and our embarrassment! This is the reason why I have recruited this team, to go in advance and give you the necessary time to arrange for the blessing that you have promised. I want it to remain the blessing that you originally intended and not something that you now feel pressured to give!" (The Mirror)
The young churches were filled with the glory and grace of GOD back then, but what about today? Now we shall carry on in chapter 9 to see who gives most. Until next time may the LORD bless each of you and your families with his richness.
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