TITUS

Part Two – Chapter Two

The Responsibilities of Believers to Each Other

 

By Michael K. Farrar, O.D.

© God’s Breath Publications

 

The Responsibilities of Believers to Each Other – Chapter Two

 

“You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine.”

 

In chapter 2 of Titus, Paul continues with his instructions to Titus of how to guide, manage and lead the Christians in the churches on Crete. He begins with a major and all-encompassing statement. All his instructions for the local churches to properly function are grounded on this one statement. This single sentence covers the foundation upon which spiritual growth is founded and upon which relationships should be governed, whether it is in the home, in the community or within the church body. Sound Biblical doctrine must be taught. Soundness of doctrine means that whatever is taught must be in line with Biblical truth. There can be no wavering from the Holy Scriptures, no introduction of foreign concepts, social influences or cultural interpretations. Unless sound Biblical doctrine is the standard, all forms of heresy, falsehood and misunderstandings can creep into the lives of Christians. This will not only hinder spiritual growth in the lives of Believers, there is also a chance Christians will wander down all sorts of unrighteous paths and be drawn into distractive false teachings.

 

“Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.”

 

Paul’s first area of emphasis in teaching and instruction is that the older men of local church bodies be taught to be moderate and pleasant in attitude. They should also be taught to be self-controlled in their behavior and deeply grounded in their faith. This faith should be built upon a foundation of love for God and others, as well as established by their ability to endure the struggles and trials of life. One might notice here that these are not natural skills and abilities that come automatically when one becomes a Christian. These qualities must be taught and practiced in life in order to be perfected in the life of a man. The reason that the older men are to be taught these things is because they bring a quality of maturity to leadership in the church. Their experiences over their life teamed up with Biblical instruction in Christian living will provide a wealth of knowledge and wisdom from which the rest of the church will benefit. Young men will be taught similarly with the help of the more mature men. Their years of life experience viewed through Biblical eyes can be extremely helpful in training up the young men in the faith.

 

“Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.”

 

Paul’s second instruction is for the teaching of older women in their faith as well. They are to be instructed to be reverent in the manner in which they live. Reverent means worshipful and respectful in attitude and lifestyle. This example will not only facilitate building their marriages and families it will also instruct younger women in the manner in which they are to conduct themselves. Women are to be taught not to be slanderers spreading inaccurate information about others. They are not to be gossips either where accurate, but very private information, is often spread without the permission of those whom the facts are about. It is interesting that Paul next includes a standard for the older women that is also a standard elsewhere in scripture for a man being considered for eldership. They are not to be addicted to wine. Wine was often necessary in the first century to quench thirst and wash down food because clean water was often scarce. Men in gatherings could become addicted to wine through mutual encouragement. Women at home where the wine was often stored could also become addicted to it as well. So women were to be taught to be sober and self-controlled when it came to the use of wine. Paul also instructs the older women to teach younger women what is good and truthful. This concept would assure the wise content of what the older women should discuss and teach the younger women and this would provide for the younger women’s spiritual growth.

 

Age does not always make us wiser; be it a man or a woman. We can accumulate bad habits, false perceptions of how to live life and inappropriate ideas about what is true. We are all accountable to God for how we live and what we teach others. We should avoid passing down bad habits and false beliefs not grounded in scripture to those that are younger than us. If we ground ourselves in sound Biblical doctrine we can establish the next generation’s foundation in truth.

 

Paul also lays down a holy gauntlet for these older women. They are to be given the critical responsibility of training the younger women in the areas of how to love their husbands and children. While we might think that being a loving spouse should be a natural skill, we all know that the passion of a honeymoon can diminish at times. A godly and mature deep love must exist and be fostered between wives and husbands in order for them to endure the occasional stresses of a marriage relationship. Likewise children while cute and adorable have their own moments when they test their mothers and fathers. It is necessary that young mothers be instructed in how to endure the moments of trials and tribulations that children might put them through. All these situations of struggles in marriage and child-raising must be done with a godly attitude that should be trained and developed through sound Biblical teaching and mutual support from others older and wiser.

 

Paul continues with instructions for what the older women should teach the younger women. Self-control must be both modeled and taught. Older women must teach the younger ones on how to be pure in character, to be busy about their home managing it well according to the standard of the Proverbs 31 wife. They should be taught how to be kind, not only to those in their family,  but also to those in the community or church who sometimes make it hard to exhibit this kind of graceful behavior. Older woman would have years of experience in how to deal with situations where rude and hard to please individuals pushed boundaries, but who should be shown Christian kindness as a ministry.

 

Paul also lays down the important concept that the younger wives, just like the older women would be submissive to their husbands as laid out in Ephesians 5. While here Paul is emphasizing that wives should be subject to their husbands we know that Ephesians 5 also talks about how both husbands and wives are to submit to each other. The Biblical concept is that the husband should be respected as the leader in the home and the wife should be loved by the husband as Christ loved the Church. Refer to this passage below for support of this instruction from Paul.

 

Ephesians 5:22-33

 

“22 Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. 24 But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, 26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. 28 So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; 29 for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, 30 because we are members of His body. 31 FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH. 32 This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. 33 Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.”

 

These instructions on how the older women should be taught and in turn how they should teach the younger women will lay down an honorable reputation of Christian families and marriages. This in turn will uphold the reputation of the Word of God as a foundation upon which to build one’s life and their reputation will not be stained or soiled

 

“Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled.”

 

Next Paul turns to how the young men should be taught. They are to be encouraged to be self-controlled as any Christian should be. Young men are prone to push boundaries of behavior and if a young man can learn self-restraint and discipline, most other areas of his life will often fall into place. This training in sound Biblical doctrine concerning self-control will permeate a young man’s life, especially if the teaching is done by older men who are strong in their faith, integrity and wisdom.

 

“In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.”

 

Paul even addresses the manner in which Titus is to live and teach others in this letter. He states in the following verses that in all that he does, Titus is to set a good example. This includes, but is not limited to, how he teaches those in the churches in Crete. He must show integrity in his life and a godly seriousness about how he walks according to the life of Christ. He should be grounded and sound in his choice of words so that he cannot be challenged or condemned for how he expresses himself and portrays the truth of the gospel. Paul knows that there will be those within the church that will question his authority or teaching and possibly even rebel against it. If Titus lives a life of integrity and grace in how he deals with the Christians in Crete, any opposition will be proved false and groundless. When Christians live above reproach, even those who disagree with their lifestyle are often speechless in their attempts to criticize for they cannot argue against godly living and a loving attitude.

 

“Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.”

 

Paul additionally covers how Titus must instruct Christian slaves. Slavery was a reality in the Roman culture of the day and Paul knew it was extremely important to teach slaves how to be Christian in their conduct so that other slaves and hopefully even their masters might come to faith in Christ. Titus is instructed to encourage slaves to respect and submit to their masters in all that is requested of them and to go even beyond this and strive to please their masters. This involves not only doing as they are told, but also not questioning or talking back to them. This godly respect for the authority over them could possibly win others to Christ by their example. Titus is also instructed by Paul to teach slaves not to steal from their masters as this would be a sin. This basic Christ-like living, based on sound doctrine, is a requirement for anyone who is a slave; as much as free men and women.

 

This teaching addressed to slaves who were Christians in the Roman Empire, could also be applied to those who work for employers today. While employees are not slaves, the concept would still apply for them since they labor for their employers. The application would be that those Christians who are employed should be diligent in how they work and be honest in all their dealings with someone else’s business. While they represent their employer in how they work, they also represent Christ in how they work as well.

 

“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope — the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.”

 

Paul now covers some basic sound doctrine that is the foundation upon which all the former instructions are laid. He discusses the absolute established fact that the grace of God that provides for the salvation of everyone has appeared in Jesus Christ. This sound Biblical doctrine teaches us who believe, to say no to ungodliness and the passions and temptations of the world. It demonstrates how we must be self-controlled and godly in how we live in such an evil age as we wait for the hope we have in our Lord. This hope is sure, that we have been purified by the blood of Jesus and eagerly live our lives according to the instruction in God’s Word.

 

“These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.”

 

Finally this chapter ends with Paul’s encouragement again, to “These, then, are the things you should teach…” Titus is to teach and encourage all the things that Paul has instructed him to, but to also rebuke with all authority any who fail to live to the godly standard given to him by Paul. Paul was given authority by God, so Titus was given authority by Paul and should understand that he also speaks, teaches and instructs with the authority of God as well. Paul ends chapter two with a strong personal word, that Titus should not let anyone despise him. This is probably a subtle warning that in his leadership in the churches some will feel ill towards him because of his position of authority. Men placed in great positions of responsibility and authority, even if handling their actions and words correctly, are still despised and ill-treated at times and this is an encouragement from Paul, a friend and fellow servant of God.

 

“Those who teach by their doctrine must teach by their life, or else they pull down with one hand what they build up with the other.”
Matthew Henry