COMMENTARY ON TITUS

LESSON NUMBER 12

“ ^{Tit 2:6} Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded. In all things showing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine showing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you.” (Titus 2:6-8)

SPEAKING THINGS BECOMING SOUND DOCTRINE, #3

INTRODUCTION

               Paul is admonishing Titus to “speak the things that are befitting for sound doctrine,” ^NASB or “teach what is in accord with sound doctrine.” ^NIV There is a manner of life that is befitting of the Gospel, and there is one that reproaches the Gospel, moving men to blaspheme the word of God. Sound teaching is not tailored for society, but instructs men to so live their lives as to “adorn the doctrine,” confirming that truth and a spiritual life never move a person to live in contradiction of the Gospel. It is never right or comely for individual Christians, or an entire congregation, to live in such a manner as to require extensive correction. Such a condition ,is shameful, as Paul indicated in his letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor 6:5; 15:34). Paul told the Ephesians it was “shameful” to even speak of things that contradicted the very nature of life in Christ Jesus (Eph 5:12). The epistle to the Hebrews informs believers that fall away they “put” Christ, the subject of the Gospel, “to open shame” (Heb 6:6). One of the few things for which Jesus commended the Ephesian church was that they could “not bear them that are evil” (Rev 2:2). Such an attitude is not sufficient of itself, but must be accompanied by a strong love for. and commitment to, the Lord Jesus Himself. A church that is tolerant of sin is one that is at a distance from the Savior, who died for sin, and delivers men from its power. Speaking things that become the sound doctrine involves teaching the people of God to conduct their lives in strict harmony with the doctrine of Christ. Stated in other ways, this is living by faith (Heb 10:38), living unto the One who died for us and rose again (2 Cor 5:15), and walking in the Spirit (Gal 5:25). This is living in such way that the Holy Spirit is not grieved (Eph 4:30) or quenched (1 Thess 5:19). It is walking as dear children (Eph 5:1). Those whose lives contradict the doctrine are in a most dangerous circumstance. As long as they live in such an uncomely manner, a distance is forming between them and the Savior – a distance that can only be arrested by a hearty quest to apprehend that for which they have been apprehended.

YOUNG MEN AND SOBER MINDEDNESS

               ^{Titus 2:6} “ Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded.”

               YOUNG MEN. Other versions read “younger men.” ^NRSV “Young men” is a term that compares the ones being addressed with the aged, older, and more tenured men. Technically, these can range from juveniles to married men capable of begetting and raising children. Here, the word indicates they are either adults or approaching adulthood. The exhortation that is delivered to them assumes they are subjected to desires and social pressures that will lead them away from Christ. The trait they are admonished to have does not apply to little children, who are not yet capable of extended thought, judgments, and determinations.

               LIKEWISE. This word means “in the same manner,” ^THAYER similarly, ^CJB and “in the same way.” ^NLT The young men will be exhorted to have the same trait as a “bishop,” (1:8), the “aged men” (2:2), and the “young women” (2:4). The fact that the “aged women” were to teach the “younger women” to be “sober” confirms that they themselves were required to have this trait (2:3-4). Here, then, is a characteristic that is to be found throughout the entire church, from the leaders to the ones being led, and from the older to the younger.

               SOBER MINDED. Other versions read, “sensible,” ^NASB “self-controlled,” ^NIV “to control themselves,” ^NRSV and “be self-restrained and to behave prudently [taking life seriously].” ^AMPLIFIED The words “sober minded” are translated from a single Greek word – swfronei/n (soph-ron-ein). This is a very large word, encompassing the manner of thought, the subject of thought, a proper perspective of life, and the consistent subduing and rejecting of inordinate thought.

               The studied definition of “sobriety” that is shown above indicates the depth of both the concept and the word. It postulates the presence of danger and the illusiveness of the truth. It also presumes the strong downward pull of fleshly desires. A religion that caters to the flesh is lethal, and there really is no hope of a person yielding to such influences to work out their own salvation “with fear and trembling” (Phil 2:12).

               The grace of God teaches those who receive it to “live soberly” (Tit 2:12), alert, subduing fleshly lusts, and sensitive to Divine direction. It is something that is strongly exhorted – a requirement that is mandated by the very nature of salvation as well as the length of life: “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet 1:13). Notice that being sober is linked to thinking (“the loins of your mind”), and “hope,” by which we are saved. The suggestion is that the lack of sober mindedness will render us incapable of being ready for the return of Jesus. Again, the presence of a fierce adversary demands that one have a sober mind: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour; Whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world” (1 Pet 5:8-9). Again, the suggestion is that Satan cannot be resisted without having a sober mind – one that is serious, alert, and sensitive.

               A sober mind is essential in waiting for the Lord to return and receive us unto Himself. “Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night” (1 Thess 5:6-7). The text adds that being sober has to do with putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and the helmet of the hope of salvation (1 Thess 5:8). It is difficult to conceive of anything being more important!

               Young men being sober is not an option – not if one, like Paul, desires to apprehend that for which he has been apprehended (Phil 3:12-13). Being sober minded involves more than simply being serious: one must be serious about the right thing. Young men must not allow themselves to be consumed with things pertaining to this world – even legitimate things. At the upper end, it is possible for education, an occupation, and a successful life to actually upstage one’s quest for eternal life. At the lower end there is the appetite for pleasure, popularity, and self-gratification. All of these areas of life – both emotional and intellectual – are fraught with danger. However, those dangers cannot be perceived unless a person is sober-minded.

               It is possible to throw yourself into the affairs of this life, then loaf through ones spiritual life, like taking a vacation from what it really to be desired. In our time, young men are faced with a society much like that of the citizenry of Crete. It is a sensual society, dominated by surface thinkers who cavort upon the landscape of life just as though there were no heaven and hell, and that Jesus was not returning to judge the world in righteousness.

CONSISTENCY OF LIFE AND PURE DOCTRINE REQUIRED

               “ ^2:7 In all things showing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine showing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity.”

               Now Paul addresses Titus himself, who was probably a young man. There must be nothing in him that detracts from the truth of God. The totality of his life is involved in his ministry. It ought to be noted here that those who minister to the saints, or in any way address them with words, are themselves to be living examples of the doctrine. Those who are not willing to live consistent godly lives are given no license to address the children of God.

               IN ALL THINGS. Other versions read, “in everything,” ^NIV “in all respects,” ^NRSV “always,” ^GWN “in every respect,” ^NAB “in every way,” ^NET “above all things,” ^TNT and “concerning all things.” ^YLT

               There is no facet of life in which we are allowed to walk at a distance from God, or fail to devote yourselves wholeheartedly to Him. No believer is free to conduct any aspect of his life as though he had not been bought with a price, being solemnly obligated to live for the One who died for him and rose again. For those who are in Christ, there is no such thing as secular and spiritual. No part of the lives of the redeemed can be lived outside of the perimeter of faith, apart from the domination of a joyful and expectant hope.

               This is a consistent teaching delivered to the saints. “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor 10:31). “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him” (Col 3:17). “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men” (Col 3:23).

               A PATTERN OF GOOD WORKS. Other versions read, “a pattern of good deeds,” ^NASB “set them an example by doing what is good,” ^NIV “a model of good works,” ^NRSV and “a pattern and a model of good deeds and works.” ^AMPLIFIED

               The meaning here is that “good works” are urged upon the people of God, and Titus is to proclaim their necessity. From Genesis to Malachi, the phrase “good works” does not occur in any standard version of Scripture. The first place the expression is used is Matthew 5:16: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matt 5:16). Ephesians 2:10 reveals that God creates us in Christ Jesus in order that we might do the “good works” He has ordained for us. Wealthy believers are admonished to be “rich in good works” (1 Tim 6:18). The Scriptures are said to be able to make the man of God “perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Tim 3:17). Jesus is said to have given Himself in order to purify a “peculiar people” who are “zealous of good works” (Tit 2;14). Those who believe in God are admonished to “maintain good works for necessary uses,” or “daily necessities” ^NIV (Tit 3:14). Believers are to faithfully assembly together, provoking one another to “good works” (Heb 10:24-25). Those in Christ are to so conduct their lives that their critics may behold their “good works” and glorify God “in the day of visitation” (1 Pet 2:12). Now Paul tells Titus to live in such a manner as to rightly define “good works.”

               IN DOCTRINE SHOWING INCORRUPTNESS. Other versions read, “purity in doctrine,” ^NASB “in your teaching show integrity,” ^NIV and “holy in your teaching.” ^BBE

               No person has a right to teach what is wrong, what tends to lead people to the wrong conclusion, or what conflicts with any word of Scripture. There are teachings that are like bruises on a piece of fruit, or a torn section on a garment. They are like a sieve that cannot hold the truth, yet they are proclaimed as though they were the truth. Every preacher and teacher is obligated to God for what they say. If God sanctifies people through the truth (John 17:17), then what can be said of doctrines or teachings that are corrupt, inaccurate, and contrary to the mind of the Lord? There are some who do corrupt the word of God, but we are not to be identified with them. Every preacher and teacher must be able to say with Paul, “For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ” (2 Cor 2:17). What we teach must be right. It cannot be wrong.

               IN DOCTRINE SHOWING GRAVITY. The word “gravity” means “dignity, sanctity, purity,” ^THAYER “propriety,” ^LOUW-NIDA “solemnity,” ^{LIDDELL-SCOTT} and “augustness.” ^LEH As used here, it means adherence to the highest principles and ideals. The doctrine, or teaching, itself is to be characterized by dignity and grandeur – separate from humor, fables, fads, and the likes. Doctrine has to do with shaping men for eternity, and is to be approached with that mind-set.

               IN DOCTRINE SHOWING SINCERITY. Other versions read, “sincerity and earnestness,” ^NJB “integrity,” ^PNT Incorruptibility,” ^YLT and “with dignity and seriousness.” ^AMPLIFIED The idea is that what is taught must not be conducive to obsolescence. It must not be faddish, reflecting the passing trends of the day. It is to be pure, undiluted, and reflecting both the mind of the Lord and the nature of salvation. Both the preacher and what he preaches are to free from worldly contaminants. Jesus died to deliver us from “this present evil world” (Gal 1:4), and none of it is to be found in either our persons or our teaching. Since nothing about “newness of life” contributes to lack of purity and sincerity, those who possess such qualities have been living too close to the world. The solemn injunction: show “sincerity” in your teaching.

SPEECH THAT CANNOT BE CONDEMNED

               ^2:8 “Sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you.”

               Inherent in this text is an acute awareness of adversarial influences that are all about those who speak in the name of the Lord. This is in addition to the fact that we all live and speak in the presence of the Lord Himself. Bishops are to be able to exhort and convince the gainsayer with “sound doctrine”(1:9). Older men are admonished to be “sober, grave,” and “temperate” (2:2). Older women are told to be “in behavior as becometh holiness” (2:3). Younger women were told to conduct their lives so “the word of God be not blasphemed” (2:5). Now Titus is admonished concerning what and how he preaches and teaches.

               SOUND SPEECH. Other versions read, “soundness of speech,” ^NIV “saying true and right words,” ^BBE “everything you say be so wholesome,” ^CJB “a sound message,” ^NET “healthy language,” ^WEYMOUTH and “sound and fit and wise and wholesome, vigorous and irrefutable and above censure.” ^AMPLIFIED

               The word “speech” relates to the words that are employed in preaching. This is compared with the message itself, or the teaching that is being conveyed to the people. There is a kind of speech that is not suitable for the conveyance of the truth of God, and the preacher and teacher is to see to it that he does not employ such language. The words that are employed are to be capable of containing the truth that is intended to be conveyed. The vocabulary of the world is not appropriate for the conveyance of the truth of God. Such terms as “cool,” “fun,” “exciting,” etc., are not the best vocabulary for declaring the truth of God. They carry with them associations that are neither large nor precise enough to declare or clarify Divine intent.

               This is not a matter that requires the development of a manual of appropriate words. It is to be understood that each one who speaks for Christ is responsible to choose “words of understanding,” (Prov 1:2), “words of truth” (Prov 22:21), “words of knowledge” (Prov 23:12), and “words . . . taught by the Spirit” (1 Cor 2:13). A special alertness is required in our generation to speak with such words, just as it was in the society of the Cretians.

               CANNOT BE CONDEMNED. Other versions read, “beyond reproach,” ^NASB “cannot be censured,” ^NRSV “against which no protest can be made,” ^BBE and “speech that cannot be criticized.” ^NAB At the high end, this would be language that directly contradicts the words of Scripture. At the low end, it would be vulgar, the vernacular of slang, and suggestive speech that is crude and uncomely, obviously reflecting the worldly mind-set.

               Some speech is expressly forbidden: “Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient” (Eph 5:4). Another way of referring to speech that cannot be condemned is, “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers” (Eph 4:29). Colossians 3:8 refers to speech that can be condemned as“filthy communication of your mouth.”

               Another kind of speech that can be condemned is that which has an appeal to covetousness: “For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error” (2 Pet 2:18). Health and wealth preaching falls into this category.

               HE THAT IS OF THE CONTRARY PART. Other versions read, “an opponent,” ^NKJV “the opponent,” ^NASB “those who oppose you,” ^NIV and “he which withstandeth.” ^GENEVA This is someone who is in competition with what is said, and consequently with the one who is saying it. It may be a person of the world, raw and spiritually uncultured, who manifestly loves the world and has no regard for the truth at all. It may be a devoutly religious person, like a Jew, or a member of some of the cults who have little regard for Jesus Himself. It could even be an educated and cultured man who accepts any and all religion in the name of philosophy.

               The idea is that the opponent, whoever it may be, finds fault with what is being taught because of the way that it is said. It will further become evident that the person who said it, and the way he said it, contradicted generally accepted traits of devout men. Scripture refers to this kind of person: “For he that in these things [righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit] serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men” (Rom 14:17-18). The person is speaks for God properly can do as Paul, commending “ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God” (2 Cor 4:2).

               NO EVIL TO SAY OF YOU. Oh, for the grace to speak in such a manner that those who oppose us have “nothing bad to say about us.” ^NASB That is, that they may not be able to say something that is legitimately against us. Peter spoke of such a circumstance in this way: “that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ” (1 Pet 3:16). Jesus spoke of such people as “saying all manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake” (Matt 5:11).

               The “shame” of those who are “of the contrary part” may not be experienced now, and they may speak evil of you anyway – as they did of Stephen. However, they will have to lie to do. Shame may come when they see the truth, and repent as Paul did. It may also never come until the day of judgment when they will have to acknowledge their error before an assembled universe.