Titus 2

Titus 2:1

IV. EXERCISE IN THE CONGREGATION (2:1-15) 2:1 The lives of the false teachers were a libel rather than a Bible. By their conduct they denied the great truths of the faith. Who can measure the damage to the Christian testimony by those who professed great sanctity but lived a lie? The task assigned to Titus (and to all true servants of the Lord) was to teach what is proper for sound doctrine. He was to close the awful chasm between the lips of God’s people and their lives. Actually this is the keynote of the Epistlethe practical outliving of healthy doctrine in good works. The following verses give practical examples of what these good works should be. 2:2 First we come to the older mennot elders in the official sense, but men of physical age and maturity. They should be sober. Primarily this means moderate in the use of wine, but extends to mean careful in all areas of conduct. They should be reverent and dignified, yes, but pleasenot gloomy! Others have enough troubles of their own. The older men should be temperate, that is, balanced and discreet.

They should be sound in faith. Age makes some people callous, bitter, and cynical. Those who are healthy in faith are thankful, optimistic, and good company. They should be sound in love. Love is not self-centered; it thinks of others and manifests itself in giving. And they should be vigorous in patience.

Age has its infirmities and disabilities, often hard to take. Those who are sound in endurance bear up under their trials graciously and with fortitude. 2:3 Older women should also be reverent in behavior. Deliver us from giddy women whose thoughts are centered on frivolous matters! They should not be slanderers. The word Paul uses here is the Greek word for devil (diabolos). It is an apt word because malicious gossip is diabolical in its source and character. They should not be slaves to drink. In fact, they should not become enslaved by any food, beverage, or medicine. Although not assigned a public teaching ministry in the church, older women are commissioned to teach in the home. Who can measure the potential of such a ministry! 2:4 Specifically, an older woman should admonish the young women. Years of Bible study and practical experience enable her to pass on valuable counsel to those starting out in life. Otherwise each new generation is doomed to learn the hard way, repeating the mistakes of the past. While the responsibility for teaching is put on the older women here, any wise young person will cultivate the friendship of godly older Christians and solicit their advice and correction. A young woman should be taught to love her husband. But this means more than just kissing him when he leaves for work. It includes the myriad ways in which she can show that she really respects himby acknowledging his headship in the home, by making no major decisions apart from him, by keeping an orderly home, by paying attention to personal appearance, by living within their means, by confessing promptly, by forgiving graciously, by keeping the lines of communication always open, by refraining from criticizing or contradicting her husband in front of others, and by being supportive when things go wrong. They should be taught to love their childrenby reading and praying with them, by being at home when they return from school or play, by disciplining firmly and fairly, and by molding them for the Lord’s service rather than for the worldand hell. 2:5 Young women should be taught to be discreet. This means having a fine sense of what is appropriate for them as Christians and avoiding extremes. They should be chaste, faithful to their husbands and avoiding impurity in thought, word, or action. They should be good homemakers. They should realize that this is divine service which can be done for the glory of God. Older women should try to inculcate the high honor of serving the Lord in the home as a wife and mother rather than working in industry or business and neglecting the home and family.

Young women should be taught how to be goodhow to live for others, to be hospitable, to be gracious and generous, and not to be self-centered and possessive. They should be obedient to their own husbands, acknowledging them as head of the house. If a wife is more gifted and capable than her husband, rather than dominating him, she should encourage and aid him to be more active in home leadership and in serving the local church. If tempted to nag, she should resist the temptation and praise him instead. All of this is to keep the word of God from being blasphemed or discredited. Throughout this Letter, Paul is conscious of the reproach brought upon the Lord’s cause by the inconsistent lives of His people. 2:6 Paul did not urge Titus to teach the young women. For discretion’s sake this ministry is left to the older women. But Titus is told to exhort the young men, and the particular admonition is that they should be sober-minded and control themselves. An appropriate wordsince youth is the time of brimming zeal, restless energy, and burning drives. In every area of life, they need to learn continence and balance. 2:7 Paul has a special bit of advice for Titus too. As one charged with a public ministry in the churches, Titus has to exercise care to present a consistent pattern of good works. There should be a close parallel between his doctrine and his deportment. His teaching should be characterized by integrity, reverence, and incorruptibility. Integrity means that the teaching should correspond with the faith once-for-all delivered to the saints. By reverence Paul insists that the teaching should be dignified and sensible. Incorruptibility, a virtue unfortunately deleted here in most modern Bible versions, has to do with the sincere teacher who cannot be corrupted from the way of truth. 2:8 Sound speech that cannot be condemned is free from anything to which exception might be taken. It should be free from side-issues, doctrinal novelties, fads, crudities, and the like. This type of ministry is irresistible. Those who oppose sound teaching are put to shame because they cannot find a chink in the believer’s armor. There is no argument as effective as a holy life! 2:9 Special instructions are now given for slaves. We should remember that the Bible acknowledges the existence of institutions of which it does not necessarily approve. For instance, the OT records the polygamous lives of many of the patriarchs, yet polygamy was never God’s will for His people. God has never approved of the injustices and cruelties of slavery; He will hold the masters responsible in a coming day. At the same time the NT does not advocate the overthrow of slavery by forcible revolution. Rather, it condemns and removes the abuses of slavery by the power of the gospel. History shows that the evils of slavery have disappeared wherever the word of God has been widely preached and taught. But in the meantime, where slavery still exists, a slave is not excluded from the very best in Christianity. He can be a witness to the transforming power of Christ, and he can adorn the doctrine of God our Savior. More space in the NT is devoted to slaves than to rulers of nations! This may be a clue to their relative importance in the kingdom of God. Christian bondservants should be obedient, except when it would mean disobeying the Lord. In that case they would have to refuse and patiently suffer the consequences as Christians.

They should give satisfaction in every respect, that is, be productive both as to quantity and quality. All such service can be done as to Christ and will be fully rewarded by Him. They should not talk back or be impudent. Many slaves had the privilege of leading their masters to the Lord Jesus in the early days of Christianity, largely because the difference between pagan slaves and themselves was so glaring. 2:10 One of the most obvious differences was that Christians did not succumb to the besetting sin of other slaves, namely, pilfering. The Christian ethic bound them to strict honesty. Is it any wonder that Christian slaves commanded higher prices at public auctions? In general they were taught to show complete and true fidelity. They were to be totally trustworthy and thus adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every aspect of their lives and service. What was true of Christian bondservants then should be true of all Christian employees today. 2:11 The next four verses form a beautiful vignette of our salvation. But in admiring this literary gem, we must not divorce it from its setting. Paul has been urging consistent behavior on all members of the family of God. Now he shows that one of the great purposes of our salvation is to produce lives of unadulterated holiness. For the grace of God … has appeared. Here the grace of God is virtually synonymous with the Son of God. God’s grace appeared when the Lord Jesus visited our planet and especially when He gave Himself for our sins. He appeared for the salvation of all men. His substitutionary work is sufficient for the redemption of all. A bona fide offer of pardon and forgiveness is made to all. But only those who truly receive Him as Lord and Savior are saved. There is no suggestion here or elsewhere in the Bible that everyone will be saved at last. Universal salvation is a lie of the devil. 2:12 The same grace that saves us also trains us in the school of holiness. There are No-No’s in that school which we must learn to renounce. The first is ungodliness, which means irreligion. The second is worldly lustsnot just sexual sins, but also the lust for wealth, power, pleasure, fame, or anything else that is essentially worldly. On the positive side, grace teaches us to live soberly, righteously toward others, and godly in the pure light of His presence. These are the virtues that should characterize us in this world, where everything about us is going to be dissolved. It is the place of our pilgrimage and not our final home. 2:13 While living as aliens in the world, we are inspired by a magnificent hopethe appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. By this are we to understand the Rapture, when Christ appears in glory to the church and conveys it to heaven (1Th_4:13-18)? Or does it refer to Christ’s coming to reign, when He appears in glory to the world, puts down His foes, and sets up His kingdom (Rev_19:11-16)? Basically we believe Paul is speaking of the firstChrist’s coming for His bride, the church. But whether it is His coming as Bridegroom or as King, the believer should be prepared and looking for His glorious arrival. 2:14 As we await His Return we never forget the purpose of His First Coming and of His self-sacrifice. He gave Himself not only to save us from the guilt and penalty of sin but to redeem us from every lawless deed. It would have been a half-way salvation if the penalty of sin had been canceled but its dominion in our lives was left unconquered. He also gave Himself to purify for Himself His own special people. The 1611 King James quaintly says a peculiar people. Too often we are a peculiar people, but not in the way He intended! He didn’t die to make us an odd or strange people, but a people who belong to Him in a special waynot to the world or to ourselves. And He gave Himself for us that we might be zealous for good works. We should have enthusiasm to perform acts of kindness in His name and for His glory. When we think of the zeal of men for sports, politics, and business, we should be provoked to jealousy and inspired to good deeds. 2:15 These are things that Titus was commissioned to teachevery thing discussed in the foregoing verses, and particularly the purposes of the Savior’s passion. He was to exhort or encourage the saints to lives of practical godliness and to rebuke any who contradicted the apostolic teachings either by word or by life. And he didn’t have to be apologetic in carrying on a forceful ministry; let him do it with all authority and boldness of the Holy Spirit. Let no one despise you. Titus need have no qualms about his youth, his Gentile background, or any natural disability. He was speaking the word of God, and this made all the difference.