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. (Titus 2:4-5)

According to Paul’s instruction, Titus was not to make it his work to teach the young women directly. Instead, he was to equip and encourage the older women to teach the young women. Of course, this doesn’t mean that the young women were barred from listening to Titus teach. It simply means that it was wrong – and perhaps risky – for Titus to make the young women a focus of his ministry. If there was a young women Bible Study group, Titus shouldn’t teach it. The older women should teach and encourage the younger women in some rather basic things.

We shouldn’t assume that Paul thought that these were the only things that the young women needed to know, but these were important. What were those things?

– That they should love their husbands and be obedient to their own husbands.
– That they should love their children.
– That they should be discreet, chaste, homemakers, and good.

Instruction for the young women was to begin with home matters. God has given them a strategic position of influence and assistance to their husbands and their children, and they must let love dominate their influence and assistance.

That seems pretty basic – but there is an important lesion even in that. More people than we think need to be taught the basics. We often assume that everyone grows up learning how to do these things, we many people (or even most people) do not.

We should not say, “I know how to do those things. I really don’t have anything to learn.” There may be important aspects of family life or other life basics that we haven’t learned or haven’t learned correctly. We may have bad habits of thinking or doing that need to change and brought under God’s wisdom.

We don’t only look at what we need to learn; we should also look at who we could teach. Perhaps God has put people in your circle of influence that you can teach in some basic things of life. There are people who need to learn about godly family life and the kind of habits that build a happy life. Don’t just assume that everyone knows those things. You might be the one to help them.

These basics are important for us to learn, know, and teach – so that the word of God may not be blasphemed. When Christians don’t live in a Biblical, godly manner it means that the word of God might be blasphemed among the ungodly.

Learn, know, and teach the basics.

Click here for David’s commentary on Titus 2

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. (Titus 2:1-2)

The Apostle Paul spent a lot of time in Titus chapter 1 telling his younger associate how to deal with problem people. But Titus didn’t only need to give attention to the problems, he also had to teach Christians the right way to live.

That’s what Paul had in mind when he wrote, “things which are proper for sound doctrine.” The idea behind this phrase has to do with right living, not just right thinking. The Living Bible translates this, “Speak up for the right living that goes along with true Christianity.” The New Living Translation has “Promote the kind of living that reflects right teaching.”

We can’t escape it. The Bible is a book that tells us how tolive. It is the height of hypocrisy to say that we believe its truth if we ignore how it tells us to live our lives. We don’t always like it, but we always need to hear how God expects us to live.

Paul simply wanted Titus to fulfill the command of Jesus in Matthew 28:19-20: Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. In that effort, he first told Titus how to teach the older men.

Titus had some older men among the Christians in Crete. They had to be approached with love and wisdom, or they might easily be offended when they were taught by a younger man like Titus.

Paul wanted Titus to know that the older men must live with the maturity and wisdom that their years should give them. This means sober, reverent, and temperate lives. The command to teach these things means that they do not come automatically with age. Sometimes we think that when people are older, they must be wiser. This is often the case, but not always.

The older men must also have stability, being stable in the right things: sound in faith, in love, in patience. As we get older, we tend to “harden” in our ways. This is a good thing if we “harden” in the ways of faith, love, and patience. Becoming hard of heart is no way to grow old gracefully.

Finally, notice that Paul wrote that the older men should be concerned with patience.

That is the great ancient Greek word hupomone. It means a steadfast and active endurance, not a passive waiting. Older men are not to just patiently wait around until they pass on to the next world. They are to actively endure the challenges of life; even the challenges of old age. Doing this they will not only be blessed themselves, but a blessing to all who know them.

As you grow older, are you growing in the right direction?

Click here for David’s commentary on Titus 2

To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled. (Titus 1:15)

In his work as a pastor and leader on the island of Crete, Titus had to deal with a lot of difficult people. Some of those people were legalistic; they saw life with God mainly as a list of rules to keep more than a relationship of trust and love.

The people with such an emphasis on rules could find something impure in just about everything. To them, anyone who enjoyed their food was a glutton. Anyone who enjoyed sex in marriage was filled with lust. Anyone who rested for a day was lazy. Anyone who did good business was greedy. For them, the religious life was all about what you didn’t do, couldn’t do, and shouldn’t do.

That’s why Paul reminded us, “To the pure, all things are pure.” Those legalists had polluted minds (defiled) and walked by fear more than by faith (unbelieving). They denied that Christians could enjoy the basic, good, and godly pleasures of this world that are not sin.

As a pastor, Timothy had to deal with the same kind of people. Paul warned Timothy about those forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth (1 Timothy 4:3). Paul knew that if a Christian walked in the purity of Jesus, these things were pure to him. But to those of a legalistic mind (those who are defiled and unbelieving), they seemed to believe nothing is pure. The problem was with their defiled and unbelieving minds and consciences, not with the things themselves.

It’s important to not take this in a wrong way. Yes, Paul wrote: “all things are pure.” But of course, Paul did not mean that obviously sinful things (pornography, illicit drugs, and the like) are pure. Paul has in mind those things which are permitted by Scripture but forbidden by legalists in a mistaken attempt to earn favor with God.

So, Paul would say: “Enjoy that meal, and thank God for it.” He would say, “Enjoy your rest, and thank God for it.” That same principle applies to all good and legitimate pleasures God gives us.

I can’t confirm the source, but I heard it once said that Jewish rabbis taught that on the day of judgment, we will have to give account for all the legitimate pleasures God gave to us that we never enjoyed. You won’t find that specific statement in the Bible, but there is some truth to that thought.

This is our Father’s world. He has filled it with many legitimate pleasures. We should receive them and enjoy them with gratitude, and if a legalist tries to make us feel guilty we remember, “To the pure, all things are pure.”

Click here for David’s commentary on Titus 1

For there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers… (Titus 1:10)

In the previous section of Titus, Paul told his associate the kind of men he should look for as he appointed leaders for churches spread out all over Crete (Titus 1:5-8). Then he told Titus what those leaders should do – “hold fast the word of truth” (Titus 1:9). Now in verse 10 Paul tells us one reason why it was important to appoint good leaders.

The reason was because, “there are many insubordinate.” The word Paul used for insubordinate speaks of someone who will not submit to God’s order of authority. Like the English word, the ancient Greek word translated “insubordinate” is the negative form of the word submit– an insubordinate person will not submit.

God has established an order of authority in several different areas of life. There is an order of authority in the home, in the church, in the workplace, and in the community. God wants us to recognize the places where He has place an order of authority in our lives, and He wants us to submit to that authority.

Our submission to God should be absolute—we should do whatever He truly tells us to do. God is perfect and all-wise—but people are not. God never commands absolute submission to any human authority. If an authority tells us to sin, we should refuse and choose to obey God rather than man (Acts 5:29).

But often—even most the time—our submission problem doesn’t have to with being told to sin. We are just asked to do something that we don’t think is a good idea or we don’t want to do. Don’t be insubordinate. If you recognize someone as a leader in your life only until they tell you “no,” then you are almost certainly insubordinate and need to be a better follower.

When someone is in rightful authority over us and we submit to them—when we have a different opinion and it isn’t a matter of sin—we then demonstrate our trust in God more than in the authority. It’s good to respectfully tell the person in authority if you have a different perspective or opinion, but then submit. If they are wrong, then let God deal with them.

Notice one other thing. Paul asked for a high level of character among the leaders who should be submitted to (Titus 1:5-8). This is important. It’s easier to submit to someone when their character is respected. When leaders act in ways that invite less respect, they make their job a lot harder. When leaders are corrupt, it helps ruin the foundation of God’s order of authority.

So, don’t be insubordinate. Show yourself as one who can submit to God and to whatever rightful authority God has placed you under. Follow the leaders God puts in your life. God appoints leaders and orders of authority for a purpose, and part of that purpose is our own Christian growth.

Click here for David’s commentary on Titus 1

“Just, holy, self-controlled…” (Titus 1:8)

We have carefully considered Paul’s list of qualifications to look for in leaders among God’s people. Those who oversee the work of the church are not to be chosen according to charisma, talent, status, or other such qualities. We should look for character, the kind of men who can be described by this list in Titus 1:7-9.

1 Timothy 3 gives a similar list, and we understand that this isn’t a search or demand for perfection, but that we should look for the ones who best meet these measures, and that they should be the values of a leader’s life.

We understand that this list is for more than leaders; every Christian should care about this list because it gives God’s description of what spiritual maturity and godliness look like practically. We may never have the calling to leadership, but every Christian should grow towards the character of a godly leader.

We also appreciate this list because in many ways it gives us a wonderful description of Jesus in His earthly life. He perfectly fulfilled all God’s expectations for leaders.

In this phrase from Titus 1:8 we see that a pastor or leader in the church must be just, holy, and self-controlled.

Another way to say this is that the pastor or leader should be right toward men – loving justice, fairness, and right treatment. He should be just. That is a good and important quality for all believers. God wants us to care about what is right and just.

The pastor or leader should also be holy– that is, right toward God. The idea behind holiness is separation, the one who is separated from the anti-God culture all around us and separated unto the God who is Himself holy. Holiness isn’t something just for leaders; God wants all His people to be holy (1 Peter 1:15-16).

Finally, the pastor or leader should be self-controlled. We can think of this as being right towards one’s self. The self-controlled person is not ruled by their own appetites. They are able to say “no” to the desires of the flesh so they can say “yes” to God and to His plan for their life. The person who does not know self-control will never fulfill their God-given destiny, being hindered by the tyranny of self. Matthew Henry wrote, “How unfit are those to govern a church who cannot govern themselves!” That is true for leaders, and for all followers of Jesus Christ.

The three go together:

– Just: right towards others.
– Holy: right towards God.
– Self-controlled: right towards self.

Remember that only one person ever lived this way perfectly: Jesus Christ. He fills the life of His people so that they have the power to live in that same direction – so look to Him to be just, holy, and self-controlled. We also take comfort in the fact that Jesus died to atone for our sin for every time we are not just, holy, and self-controlled.

Click here for David’s commentary on Titus 1