The Importance of Sound Doctrine (Titus 2)

Introduction

If you have your Bible, please turn it to Titus 2.

Anyone who has been at Grace for any amount of time knows that I highly emphasize the need of right or sound doctrine—a big part of that push is simply because of the truth that if we’re Christians, we ought to know what we believe according to Scripture.

However, there are other reasons as to why I push right, sound doctrine—(1) because the Word of God insists on right teaching, but (2), what this passage emphasizes is that without right teaching, no local church can be healthy.

What we’ll see as we work through this text, Titus 2 is that right doctrine, sound teaching is the foundation for how the church as a whole ought to function—how everything works together and builds each other up—or, in other words, without sound doctrine, the rest of the church doesn’t mesh the way that it’s supposed to.

Let’s read Titus 2 together, after which I’ll explain how we’ll dig into the passage.

Titus 2 ESV

1 But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. 2 Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. 3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, 4 and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. 6 Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. 7 Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, 8 and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. 9 Bondservants are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, 10 not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior. 11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. 15 Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.

As we study this passage, we’re going to divide it into three sections: (1) Teach Sound Doctrine (1), (2) The results of Teaching Sound Doctrine (2-10), and (3) How Sound Doctrine Trains (11-15). What you’ll see as we work through the passage is that we absolutely need to be focused on right teaching because right teaching results in right living that results in a working church. Or, in other words, without right teaching, the church itself cannot be right. Ultimately, what today’s sermon will focus on is this idea of seeking right teaching for the purpose of being built up, which will result in a healthy church.

Prayer for Illumination

Teach Sound Doctrine (1)

Our passages starts with a rather simple statement from Paul to Titus and it is this sentence that differentiates Titus from the false teachers that Paul pushed against in last week’s passage.

So, in the last two weeks of passages, Paul points out two primary ideas in an effort to deal with the false teaching issues in Crete. He does this by first reminding Titus and the church in Crete that there are biblical qualifications for eldership in the local church; and he does this by pointing out that there are people who will come and teach false things for the purpose of their own benefit.

He makes the point that only those who fit these qualifications ought to be leading churches—he says that they ought to be above reproach, the husband of one wife if he’s married, with children who are obedient if they have children. An elder ought to love good things, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined while rejecting arrogance, quick-temperedness, being a drunkard, violent, or greedy for gain. Lastly elders ought to know the truth well and be able to proclaim the truth well in order to give sound instruction while confronting false teachings. So, a line of defense concerning false teaching within the local church are the elders of the local church; and thus, be sure that your elders are qualified according to Scripture to lead the local church.

Last week’s passage then continued by showing us what false teachers typically look like—that they are vain in their speech (what they say has no true meaning), they deceive and they need to be silenced because they’re dividing whole families that were at one time biblically sound. In reality, Paul points out that they claim to know God, but in reality, they show that they don’t really know God.

So, v. 1 of ch. 2, contrasts them from what Titus needs to be like. Whereas the end of ch. 1 describes false teachers as being vain, deceitful, subversive, and really antithetical to everything that an elder is supposed to be according to Scripture, Titus ought to be like this (note how it’s all based on one key idea):

Titus 2:1 “1 But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine.” — it’s interesting to me that Paul throughout his writings emphasizes the need for sound doctrine.

We see it here, but we also see it in 1 Tim 1:3, when Paul tells Timothy that elders need to be able to teach the truth well and ch. 4 when he tells Timothy to contrast himself from false teachers by teaching the truth. We also see this push in 2 Tim 3 when Paul tells Timothy the importance of sound doctrine found in the Word of God.

When Paul speaks to the Ephesians, he points out how they had heard the truth according to the Word of God in 1:13; he says something similar to the Thessalonians in 2 Thessalonians 2.

But it isn’t just Paul who emphasizes the need of sound doctrine, but really, it’s the whole Bible that emphasizes it.

Even Jesus Himself, when he makes the statement that you will know them by their fruit in Matthew 7, He’s speaking about false teachers who come into the sheepfold with ravenous teeth seeking to devour Christians.

Or, even just think how Revelation ends—whereas the primary application for that passage serves as a warning not to add or take away from the prophecies of Revelation, I think it easily applies to all of Scripture. Revelation 22:18–19 “18 I warn everyone who hears the words of . . . this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book . . . God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.” (ESV)

The reality is that sound doctrine is of utmost importance in the local church and shouldn’t be neglected for the sake of an appearance of unity or even for the sake of mission.

The reality is, without sound doctrine, we can’t be unified because what are we exactly unifying over? Without sound doctrine, we can’t really be on mission together because what exactly are we trying to win people to? If the doctrine isn’t the same, we’re not unified and if the doctrine isn’t the same, the mission isn’t the same.

In fact, I would argue that until the doctrine is sound, the local church isn’t actually healthy and is really leading people astray.

In fact, it’s clear in Paul’s letter to Titus that without right doctrine, the church can’t function the way that it is intended to function. In the next fourteen verses Paul then shows us what happens within the local church when the doctrine is sound and the people actually respond to the teaching. Let’s look at vv. 2-10 again.

The Results of Teaching Sound Doctrine (2-10)

Titus 2:2–10 ESV

2 Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. 3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, 4 and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. 6 Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. 7 Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, 8 and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. 9 Bondservants are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, 10 not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.

When sound doctrine is understood and applied within the local church context, the behavior of the people change. They stop looking at themselves or even just their nuclear families, and they start mutually building one another up. Paul’s examples are based on different groups of people within the body of Christ.

He speaks to older men, older women, young women, young men, and then those who are bondservants and what he says though they can seem to be commands, I’m arguing aren’t actually commands—they’re the fruits of right teaching when people actually apply the right doctrine. So, when the local church actually learns the truth and applies the truth, this is the result:

Older men are going to be sober-minded (or maybe clear-headed), they will be dignified (they’re going to act like an adult worthy of honor), they will be self-controlled, sound or steadfast in their faith and they will exhibit love—and the implication is that they ought to teach younger men to be likewise.

V. 3, Older women within the church are to be reverent (or respectful) in behavior, they aren’t to be slanderers (the idea being that they avoid gossip), they should not be slaves to wine, but rather, they ought to teach what is good so that they can train younger women in the local church.

In particular, v. 4 says that they are to train younger women to love their husbands and children, to also be self-controlled, pure in mind and heart, the idea of working at home doesn’t imply that they cannot have a career outside the home, but they are to take care of their home. They are to learn from the older women to be kind, to be submissive to their husbands (though, let me clarify, that submission doesn’t imply passivity, but rather a recognition of God’s order of the family (as seen in Ephesians).

vv. 6-8 then shifts focus to the younger men who are to be trained to be self-controlled, a model of good works, with integrity and dignity in teaching. Younger men ought to speak in such a way that others cannot condemn him for his speech to the extent that when someone wants to speak evil against this person, they really have nothing that they can say.

Lastly, vv. 9-10 deal with the relationship between bondservants and masters—bondservants are to submit to their master, they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith. Now, we don’t have bondservants and masters in the same sense, but we do have employees and employers and I don’t think it would be wrong for us to say that employees while working for employers ought to submit to their employers (as long as the employer isn’t requiring something sinful or ethically wrong), employees should be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering (not a thief), but do all in good faith.

Again, the idea is that when sound doctrine is taught within the local church and the people within the local church actually take seriously and apply that doctrine, the results should look like this:

A church in which everyone works together to build one another up. A body of believers that exemplify what it looks like to be a group of believers rather than any other secular or earthly group.

And really, what we see in Titus is that the result of right teaching that’s actually applied by the people within the congregation are men and women who act like God intended them to act at home, at church, and at work.

We see people who exhibit the fruits of the Spirit and who care for one another in such a way that they want to see the others within the group grow and mature

We see a body of believers in which we’re intentionally pouring our lives into one another in such a way that we’re all growing and in our growth, it results in the different ideas presented to us in vv. 2-10.

If this is the result of sound doctrine and its teaching within the local church, I think you can see just how important sound doctrine really is.

The problem is that many churches have reversed what ought to happen within the local church—so, they focus more on unity, love, or the mission (all good things), but they neglect the sound teaching portion.

But without sound teaching, without sound doctrine, there’s nothing that ought to unify us, the mission is focused wrongly, and it’s not genuine love if there isn’t truth.

And, the reality is, I don’t think I have to even give examples of this happening—all I have to do is ask you to think clearly about churches that you’re familiar with:

Which one of those churches is more focused on unity than on truth?

Which one of those churches is more focused on love than sound doctrine?

Which one of those churches is more focused on the mission rather than teaching?

And in each of those instances, if you’re being honest, you’ll recognize that what they claim is unity actually isn’t, what they think love is actually is the opposite, and their mission is side-tracked because they don’t understand what they’re actually supposed to be winning people to.

True, biblical, sound teaching, when applied by the congregation results in people who genuinely care for each other enough that they’re pouring out their lives for each other to mature and to grow.

When the truth is proclaimed and taken seriously, God transforms the people within the church.

Now, if you’re watching carefully, you might have noticed that I skipped over two phrases in this section, I did that intentionally—I skipped over the phrase, “that the word of God may not be reviled” in v. 5 and “that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior” in v. 10.

The idea behind both those statements is that when sound doctrine is taught and the congregation takes it seriously and applies to to their lives, God’s Word is looked on favorably and Christian thinking is honored to some extent.

Now, those who are atheistic and utterly oppose the Gospel, will continue to do so even if you could live every aspect of the Gospel perfectly.

However, the idea is that if the teaching is right and the people within the church actually apply the teachings of Scripture, then those around us who even oppose us won’t have much that they can accuse us of.

And thus, God’s Word won’t be reviled and really God, Himself will get more glory out of our lives.

Now, the last five verses then gives us an idea of how exactly sound doctrine trains us to become what vv. 2-10 tells us to be as a body of believers. Let’s take a look at vv. 11-15.

How Sound Doctrine Trains (11-15)

Titus 2:11–15 ESV

11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. 15 Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.

What v. 11 shows us is that becoming what vv. 2-10 requires the church to be doesn’t happen in and of ourselves—we cannot just try to be like this on our own ability, but rather this process starts at salvation.

Or, in other words, just trying to change our outward behavior does nothing in the long-term—we can act how we ought to, but in reality, it’s nothing more than an act.

Rather, it is by God’s grace in which we receive salvation in the first place, which is the initial change that we need before v. 12 tells us that the grace of God has appeared and trains us “to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age.”

We don’t force ourselves to act a certain way, but God’s grace, which we experience in salvation and through the Holy Spirit trains us to reject both ungodliness and worldly passion (what we would often call sin and degradation).

We don’t force ourselves to act a certain way, but the grace of God, which we experience in salvation and through the Holy Spirit trains us to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives (or, it’s through God’s grace that we learn to become the people exemplified in Titus 2:2-10.

And as we’re being trained like this through God’s grace and His Spirit, vv. 13-14 tells us what the end goal of all that is—that we are trained as we wait for our “blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.”

Or, in other words, this process of training, of renouncing ungodliness and worldly passions and becoming self-controlled, upright, and godly continues until the day that we see our Savior face to face.

We know this because part of the reason that He sacrificed Himself on the cross was to redeem us or to buy us from lawlessness or sin for the purpose of purifying us—part of Jesus’ substitionary atonement on the cross was to set us from from sin and the effects of sin so that we could actual live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives as we await His return.

Notice, that last phrase that we are to be a people or a possession of Jesus who are zealous for good works, which gives us a clear image that despite the modern church culture—it is not enough to just visit church once a week, but rather, we are to be zealously doing good works.

In conjunction with vv. 2-10, it seems to imply that part of those good works that we ought to be doing is pouring ourselves into the lives of those around us.

Or, in other words, as a body of believers, part of the good works that we’re to be zealous for is the mutual building up of those around us.

And all of that starts with the teaching of sound doctrine, as Paul reminds Titus in v. 15, “Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.”

Through the regular proclamation of sound doctrine in the local church, unbelievers become believers, believers start to mature in their understanding of truth, which results in action.

In this passage, the action is that of working together to build one another up within the body of Jesus Christ, but the idea of sound teaching leading to right behavior is prevalent in the idea of renouncing ungodliness and worldly passions to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives.

This implies a putting on of the new man, the exhibiting of the fruits of the Spirit, and the growth of a believer to be exactly what God had created him to be.

But again, it starts with the declaration or the proclamation of sound doctrine—we have to get the teaching right or we aren’t a biblical church.

It is sound doctrine that points us to Jesus Christ, it is sound doctrine that tells us that we need to repent, it is sound doctrine that the Holy Spirit uses to train us to live the way that God intends for us to live, that’s why sound doctrine is so important.

And that’s why anytime we soak in anything less than sound doctrine, we don’t actually grow or mature the way that we ought to and our church doesn’t function in the way that it’s supposed to, and our witness (our mission) falls short.

In the remaining few minutes, let’s talk about some specific application from this passage.

Application

Despite what many people (even people leading churches and denominations believe), sound doctrine, right teaching is vitally important for the health of the local church. Again, it is through sound doctrine that we’re initially pointed to Jesus Christ. It is through sound doctrine that we recognize our need to repent from sin and follow Him. It is through sound doctrine that the Holy Spirit trains us to live the way that God intends for us to live. It’s through sound doctrine that we work together for the mutual building up of one another in the body of Christ.

When sound doctrine is neglected or rejected, people aren’t pointed to Jesus, they’re not encouraged to repent from sin and follow Him. When sound doctrine is neglected, believers don’t actually mature in their faith. When sound doctrine isn’t taught, we don’t live the way that God intends for us to live and our church doesn’t thrive the way that it is intended to thrive.

As such, there are three application points that I want you to reflect on, take home, and then apply: (1) Don’t settle for anything less than biblical teaching and preaching, (2) Allow the Bible and its teaching to train you in godliness, and (3) Apply what the Bible teaches within the local church context.

First, don’t settle for anything less than biblical teaching and preaching—if it is through biblical teaching and preaching that people learn of Jesus, their need to repent from their sins and believe in Jesus Christ, and if the proclamation of sound doctrine is how the Holy Spirit then trains us to live upright, self-controlled, and godly lives, then settling for anything less isn’t just foolish, I’d argue that it’s sinful.

Now often, when I hear Christians do this, it’s often not based on the teachings themselves, but rather their feelings about a person or their willingness to overlook certain issues because some of what the person says is good.

So, it sounds something like this, “I know that his teaching isn’t solid, but he’s always there for me when something happens in life” or “I know that the preaching isn’t biblical all the time, but most of the time it is.”

But according to Scripture, if we’re in a situation where there is false teaching, we ought to confront it and if the person refuses to repent, we are to remove them; and if we can’t for whatever reason, we are to leave.

Or, in other words, we ought not settle when the preaching and teaching isn’t biblical because the teaching and preaching has a direct effect on how the Gospel is received, how men and women repent of their sins, and how Christians mature in the faith through the work of the Holy Spirit.

Don’t allow emotion or a willingness to overlook falsities because some of what the person says is true to cause you to settle for less than biblical teaching and preaching—bad theology hurts people.

It might hurt you, it might hurt others, but it will hurt people.

You need to firmly accept only biblical teaching and preaching; and you need to reject everything that’s false and anyone who continues to teach and preach false things.

Second, allow the Bible and its teaching to train you in godliness

You can read the Bible every day, you can listen to sound teaching every hour, you can read good books and study theology, but unless you actually allow the Holy Spirit to work in you and train you in the way that it is meant to within the context of sound teaching, it’s not doing you any good.

I’ve often pointed out that some of the most intellectually knowledgable people about Scripture and theology are atheistic or at best agnostic—meaning, they know all the facts of Scripture and theology, but they’ve never actually applied any of that knowledge in a salvific way.

Likewise, even as a Christian, you can do the same thing—where you know what the Word of God says, but you don’t actually apply what the Word of God says.

And thus, you have knowledge, but you aren’t growing.

The reality is that true Christian sanctification or growth works like this: through sound teaching, your mind is engaged and transformed. As your mind is engaged and transformed, the affections of your heart grow for the things of God and really for God, Himself as your affections towards earthly things lessen. And as your affections change, your actions change and you start being zealous for good work rather than doing only what pleases you.

So, if this isn’t the pattern of growth in your life, then something isn’t quite right.

If you’re hearing good teaching, reading good books, studying theology, and digging into Scripture, but you aren’t having your mind transformed, your affections changed, and your actions zealous for good works, you need to check your heart—you might not even know Jesus or if you know Jesus and you aren’t growing in this way, you’re probably holding onto sin rather than repenting from sin and seeking Jesus.

You need to allow sound doctrine, true teaching to train you in godliness through the power of the Holy Spirit.

And lastly, you need to apply what the Bible teaches within the local church context.

Paul’s letter to Titus emphasizes that true doctrine, right teaching will influence the church itself. Or, in other words, if you as a Christian are growing by applying right teaching in your life, it will result in a church that reflects Titus 2.

Where we’re all working together to help each other to mature and to grow.

Where older men are helping younger men, older women with younger women. Where we’re all serving together to help bring about the spread of the Gospel, the growth of God’s Kingdom, and the maturation of all in this room.

It’s only when you allow the Holy Spirit to work within you and mature you through the process of learning true and right doctrine that you then work towards these goals or ends.

And if you aren’t working towards these goals or ends, you have to ask, “why not?”

You need to be applying the Bible’s teachings within the local church context so that we’re a church like what Paul tells Titus to aim for.

Scott Swain with Ligonier Ministries has an excellent statement concerning how important sound doctrine is and I’d like to end with it.

Doctrine promotes a number of ends. Sound doctrine delivers us from the snare of false teaching (2 Tim. 2:24–26; Titus 1:9-11), which otherwise threatens to arrest spiritual development (Eph. 4:14) and to foster [church] discord (Rom. 16:17). Doctrine serves God’s saving work both inside (1 Tim. 4:16) and outside the church (Matt. 5:13-16; Titus 2:9–10; 1 Peter 3:1–6). Above all, doctrine promotes God's glory. Doctrine shines forth as one of the glorious rays of the gospel of God (1 Tim. 1:10–11) and, by directing our faith and love toward God in Christ, it enables us to walk in His presence and give Him the glory He deserves (1 Peter 4:11; 2 Peter 3:18).

God loves us; and in His goodness He has given us the good gift of doctrine (Ps. 119:68) that we might learn of Him and of His gospel, and that we might please Him in our walk. Doctrine is the teaching of our heavenly Father, revealed in Jesus Christ, and transmitted to us by the Holy Spirit in Holy Scripture, and it is to be received, confessed, and followed in the church, to the glory of God’s name.

Scott Swain, “What is Sound Doctrine?” January 27, 2017, https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/what-sound-doctrine

Titus 2 reminds us of the importance of sound doctrine—you shouldn’t settle for anything less than biblical teaching and preaching because it directly influences whether you grow as a Christian and whether our church acts biblically or not.

Don’t settle for anything less from the elders of your church, from others that you might listen to at home, or from your typical sources for teaching and preaching.

Pastoral Prayer