We are studying Paul’s letter to Titus to learn how to ‘live Christian’ in this present world. We invite you to read the introduction to this series for some historical background.

We looked at the importance of elders teaching sound doctrine in the last part of our special series. We now move to what sound doctrinal teaching can accomplish in a local church. This is all part of what it means to live Christian in this present world.

Titus 2:1-5

But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine: that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience; the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things— that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed.

Paul turned his attention to the next step in how Titus was to accomplish the goal of building strong churches in Crete, especially in view of what he had just written about some people in the church teaching heretical doctrines (Jewish fables, commandments of men). Paul told Titus that the elders were to shut the mouths of the false teachers in the church and rebuke them sharply. What must follow false teaching is correct teaching so that the entire congregation understands the importance of the sharp rebuke.

Notice that much of what Paul wanted Titus to emphasize in his teaching concerned personal behavior – how people lived (living Christian). Paul set a high bar for living Christian two-thousand years ago and God has not lowered the bar since then. If we think things are different now because we’re somehow smarter or more advanced, we need to think again. The words Paul wrote to Titus then are still incumbent upon all of us now.

It’s important to see how Paul structured his letter. So far, we have seen the importance of qualified elders and the work they do in shutting down false teaching in the church. The purpose for doing that is to have a healthy church and encourage Christians to live Christian in the present world. That means knowing and living sound doctrine. Doing that supports the ministry of preaching the Gospel and making disciples.

We will see Paul address five specific groups of people in churches in Titus 2 –

  1. older men
  2. older women
  3. young women
  4. young men
  5. slaves

We will begin with the first three groups in this part of the study and look at the other two in the next part.

  • speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine … Paul told Titus to speak (λάλει – say, proclaim) the things that are proper (πρέπει – fitting, consistent with, suitable, right) for sound doctrine (ὑγιαινούσῃ διδασκαλίᾳ – healthy teaching, uncorrupted instruction) … Paul used the word ὑγιαινούσῃ eight times in his letters to Timothy and Titus, usually connected to “words,” “doctrine” or “faith” … Jesus Christ wants His churches to be healthy, sound, in all of these areas … that church health begins with the health of church leaders, the elders …
  • that the older men … Πρεσβύτας means “aged men, old men” … it generally identified men who had adult children who had children of their own (grandfathers) … if you compare what Paul told Titus to speak to older men, you’ll see how the behavior matches what Paul said about appointing elders at the beginning of the letter to Titus … “elders” would often come from the older men in a church … even as church elders were to be excellent examples of living Christian in the present world, all of the older men in each church were to also live exemplary lives that other members of the church and members of the community could look to as a model of what a Christian should do and say …
  • be sober … νηφαλίους means “temperate, vigilant, not intoxicated” …
  • reverent … σεμνούς means “dignified, serious, venerable, deeply respected, august” … it doesn’t mean older Christian men can’t have fun, but it does mean they are dignified in their words and actions … they have an air of seriousness about them …
  • temperate … σώφρονας means “self-controlled, curbing one’s desires and impulses, of sound mind, well-balanced” …
  • sound in faith, in love, in patience … Paul used the word ὑγιαίνοντας again, which goes to the health of a person … older men were to be healthy in respect to their faith (πίστει – faithfulness, fidelity), love (ἀγάπῃ – pure love, benevolent love, esteemed love) and patience (ὑπομονῇ – patient endurance, steadfastness) … all of these attributes would be necessary in the special ministry older men have in a church …
  • the older women likewise … πρεσβύτιδας means “aged women, older women” … it generally identified women who had adult children who had children of their own (grandmothers) … ὡσαύτως means “in like manner” … older women also had an important role to play in the church …
  • that they be reverent in behavior … καταστήματι means “demeanor, conduct, deportment, behavior” … older women were to behave in a particular way as part of living Christian and being an example to others in the church … they were to be reverent (ἱεροπρεπεῖς – suitable to a sacred character) …
  • not slanderers … the Greek word is διαβόλους and is the same word used for Satan in Matthew chapters 4, 13 and 25; Luke chapters 4 and 8; John chapters 6, 8 and 13; Acts chapter 13; Ephesians chapters 4 and 6; 1 Timothy chapter 3; and 2 Timothy chapters 2 and 3 … the word means false accuser … someone who slanders is accusing others falsely, which is what Satan does … Paul wanted Titus to teach older Christian women not to do what Satan does, not to speak the language of the devil, which is to accuse and defame falsely … no Christian should do that, but it’s interesting that Paul would mention that specifically in context with older women in the church … it may have been a particular problem in the churches of Crete, but is certainly something that could happen in any church … the fact that Paul used a name of the devil in warning older women in the church about their behavior should cause all Christians to pause and consider the ramifications of such a command …
  • not given to much wine … μηδὲ οἴνῳ πολλῷ δεδουλωμένας (not to wine much being enslaved) … the word δεδουλωμένας means “to enslave, bring under subjection” … the problem Paul pointed out was of older women becoming enslaved or under subjection of much wine … Paul wrote something similar in 1 Timothy 3:3 where he was addressing the qualifications of elders … older men and older women are examples, role models, to younger men and women … they must control themselves physically, mentally, emotionally and socially … drinking wine was part of the food and beverage culture of the time, so that’s not the issue … the issue is both being enslaved and subject to much wine and becoming drunk from the drinking of wine … Paul warned about the dangers of both … a Christian’s physical appetite is also in view here … Paul had already quoted from a Cretan philosopher who wrote centuries earlier that Cretans were “lazy gluttons” … the Greek word translated “glutton” is γαστέρες and means “belly, stomach” …
  • teachers of good things … older women in the church were to be καλοδιδασκάλους (a teacher of good, teacher of what is noble) … the word comes from kalós which means “attractively good” and didáskalos which means “teacher of winsome goodness” … we get our English word “didactic” from didáskalos … the life of an older Christian woman was to be pure and attractive to those who knew her so that she could teach goodness to younger women in the church …
  • that they admonish the young women … ἵνα σωφρονίζωσιν τὰς νέας (so that they may train the young women) … older women in the church were to “train” younger women … unfortunately, that is a role the modern church rarely emphasizes … many older women in churches don’t see that they have much of a ministry left to do … I know because I have talked with them over a period of many decades … I’ve taught and preached on the subject, but still little to no change in how the church looks at older women … that blame falls on church leaders who should know better … Paul didn’t hide this from the church, he made it clear to anyone in leadership who reads the Bible and believes it’s true … older women are in a powerful position to help shape the lives of younger women in the church … for church leaders to ignore that fact is tragic … remember, we’re looking at Living Christian in the Present World … if church leaders bypass any part of Paul’s commands to the church, they are doing the members of their church a great disservice and withholding some of the blessings God has for His people when they obey Him in everything …the word σωφρονίζωσιν means “to recall to one’s senses, admonish, make sober-minded, make sane, living in divine moderation”) … that’s the kind of training ministry older women have in the church, if they are allowed to do it … so, what areas of training did Paul recommend?
  • to love their husbands … φιλάνδρους εἶναι (loving one’s husband to be) … an older woman who had lived a life of loving her husband would certainly qualify as someone who could teach a younger woman about loving their husband … remember, older women in the church are role models for younger women … loving your husband is important to marriage and family, including church family …
  • to love their children … φιλοτέκνους (loving one’s children) … another important area of ministry for older women in the church, teach younger women to love their children … children respond well in a loving family relationship … mothers who loved their husbands and children were highly regarded in both pagan and Jewish cultures of the time (based on ancient funerary inscriptions – J.N.D. Kelly, The Pastoral Epistles, Hendrickson, 1963, pp 240-241; “Julias Bassus to Otacilia Polla my sweetest wife, who loved her husband and children and lived with me blamelessly for thirty years.” funerary inscription at Pergamum, Marvin Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament, Volume IV, Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1887)
  • to be discreet … σώφρονας means “self-controlled, of sound mind, temperate, balanced, modest” …
  • chaste … ἁγνάς means “pure, holy, sacred, free from ceremonial defilement” …
  • homemakers … οἰκουργούς means “workers at home, housekeeper, busy at home” …
  • good … ἀγαθάς means “inherently good, kind, good in nature, lack of irritability” …
  • obedient to their own husbands … ὑποτασσομένας means “be subject to, submit to” … this is similar to what Paul wrote the Colossian and Ephesian churches: “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord” (Colossians 3:18) “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything” (Ephesians 5:22-24) … it’s interesting that Paul addressed both a wife’s love for her husband and being obedient (subject) to her husband in the same section of Titus … this issue has become quite contentious in modern churches and denominations to the detriment of both … and, no, I haven’t forgotten what Paul wrote to husbands: “Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them.” (Colossians 3:19) “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her.” (Ephesians 5:25) … this is not a matter of superiority or inferiority … Paul made that clear when he introduced the topic in his letter to the Ephesians: “submitting to one another in the fear of God.” (Ephesians 5:21) … men and women are equal in God’s eyes, what differs are the roles he chosen for each to live out … it’s good for us to remember that God has a path for husbands and wives to take together in this life … older women in the church who have walked that path can teach younger women how to walk it … why?
  • that the word of God may not be blasphemed … ἵνα μὴ ὁ λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ βλασφημῆται … Christians, men and women, have a higher purpose than themselves: what they want, what they think, how they feel … to many Christians today are focused on how everything impacts them personally … what about how things impact our lives have on the precious Word of God? … should we give that some serious consideration? … absolutely! … that should be our greatest consideration and highest priority … the word βλασφημῆται means “slandered, blasphemed, maligned, speak evil against” … blasphémeó is where we get the English word blaspheme … did you know that the way a Christian lives can blaspheme the Word of God? … it can and often does … that’s Paul’s warning and he emphasizes that older Christian women play an important role in ensuring that blasphemy doesn’t happen by the way they live their lives and how they train younger women in the church … I think that if church leaders understood what Paul said in Titus 2, they would (should) be more open to supporting older women in training younger women … the fact we rarely see or hear this emphasized is an indictment on modern church leaders …

We cannot live Christian if we leave out anything that our Lord and His apostles have given to us as commands. The potential for blaspheming God’s Word in the way we live is a real possibility, and unfortunately, is something we see all too often in churches and ministries around the world.

Next Time

We will continue to look at the qualities of a sound church in the next part of our special study about Living Christian in the Present World. The lives of young men and slaves in the church are our focus next time.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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