Titus 2.1-In Contrast to the Judaizers, Titus was to Communicate Those Things Which Are Consistent with Sound Doctrine
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday March 9, 2014
Titus: Titus 2:1-In Contrast to the Judaizers, Titus was to Communicate Those Things Which Are Consistent with Sound Doctrine
Lesson # 13
Please turn in your Bibles to Titus 1:1.
Titus 2:1 But as for you, speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine. (NASB95)
This verse stands in contrast to the previous statement in verse 16, which describes the unregenerate Judaizer.
Therefore, the apostle is presenting a contrast between the unregenerate Judaizer who rejected the gospel and the apostolic teaching and Titus who was to continue to proclaim the gospel as well as communicate the apostles’ teaching.
“As for you” is a reference to Titus and is in the emphatic position in the sentence emphasizing a contrast between the false teaching of the Judaizers and what Titus taught which was in accordance with sound doctrine.
“Speak” is the verb laleo which refers to the act of Titus speaking to the body of Christ in the sense of communicating those teachings which are in accord with sound doctrine.
The present imperative form of the verb is a “customary present imperative” whose force is for Titus to simply continue making it his habit of speaking to the body of Christ in the sense of communicating those teachings which are in accord with sound doctrine.
“Those things which” is referring to the various doctrines of the Christian faith and specifically, it is referring to what Paul teaches throughout the rest of this epistle.
“Are fitting” denotes that Titus was to continue making it his habit of speaking or communicating those teachings which are “consistent with” or “agree with” sound doctrine.
“Doctrine” is referring to the content of apostolic teaching.
It appears often in the Pastoral letters referring to the content of Christ’s teaching and His apostles in contrast to those who taught false doctrine or doctrine that was not in accord with the Lord’s teaching and His apostles (1 Timothy 4:1, 6, 13, 16; 5:17; 6:1, 3; 2 Timothy 3:10, 16; 4:3; Titus 1:9; 2:1, 7, 10).
“Sound” is referring to accepted and authoritative apostolic teaching that is free from error or falsehood since it is inspired by the Holy Spirit and promotes spiritual growth in the body of Christ.
This is in contrast to the false doctrine taught by these unidentified pastors in Crete and the Judaizers.
Titus 2:1 You, however, continue making it your habit of communicating those things which are in a state of being consistent with sound doctrine. (My translation)
Titus 2:1 marks an emphatic contrast between what Titus was to continue making it his habit of communicating to the body of Christ and the legalistic teaching of the Judaizers who taught strict adherence to the dietary regulations of the Mosaic Law.
Therefore, “those things which are in a state of being consistent with sound doctrine” and which Titus was to continue making it his habit of communicating to the body of Christ is a reference the various doctrines of the Christian faith and specifically that which Paul teaches in this epistle.
This contrast is indicated clearly by Paul’s statements in Titus 1:15-16, which allude to the Judaizers’ teaching regarding the dietary regulations of the Mosaic Law.
These dietary regulations, like circumcision, were given by God to Israel to distinguish her from the Gentile nations, which she was to dispossess in Canaan.
The ceremonial aspect of the Law contained the list of those land animals, birds, insects and marine life that were designated by God as unclean or unfit for consumption for the Israelites and those which would be clean or fit for consumption.
Under these dietary regulations, the term “unclean” was used to describe those foods, which were commonly consumed by Gentile peoples but the Israelites were forbidden by God under the Mosaic Law to partake.
On the other hand, “clean” was a technical term as well to describe those foods, which God in the Law ordained as being fit for consumption by the citizens of the nation of Israel (Leviticus 11; 20:15; Deuteronomy 14:3-21; cf. Leviticus 17:10-16; 19:26; Deuteronomy 12:15-25).
The Lord Jesus Christ and His apostles whose teaching is in the New Testament make clear that the dietary laws of the Mosaic law did not apply to the church (Mark 7:2, 5; 14-19; Acts 10).
Paul taught the churches throughout the Roman empire that all foods were fit for consumption (Romans 14:14; 1 Corinthians 10:25).
The Judaizers were causing divisions in the church by attempting to impose the ritual of circumcision upon the Gentile believers (Acts 15; Gal. 5) and by imposing the observance of laws of food of the Mosaic Law on the Gentiles (Col. 2:16-17).
In Romans 16:17, Paul warns the Roman believers to watch out for those who cause divisions and temptations to sin and apostasy contrary to the doctrine they’ve been taught and that they were to avoid them.
In Titus 1:15, Paul is saying that for the Christian who is clean through faith in Jesus Christ, they can eat all foods and are not under the dietary regulations of the Law.
The Judaizers taught that the Christian way of life involved adhering to these dietary restrictions.
Everything is unclean for the non-Christian and especially for those Jews who reject Jesus Christ as Savior and erroneously believe adherence to the Law can result in their justification since their unclean state defiles even the food they eat in the judgment of God.
Therefore, the apostle Paul is teaching that the observance of the dietary regulations of the Law, which the Pharisees and Judaizers taught as a means of being declared justified by God, is not the means of living spiritually since one must be justified through faith in Jesus Christ.
He is teaching that a person does not become ceremonially pure and acceptable to God for His use through observance of the dietary regulations of the Law but rather they become ceremonially pure through faith in Jesus Christ.
The gospel taught that a sinner is justified through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone and not by the works of the Law.
If this is the case, and it is, then those pastors on the island of Crete who were in apostasy from rejecting the apostle Paul’s teaching and thus the gospel were wasting their time and more importantly opposing God and hindering His efforts in the devil’s world.
By stating in Titus 1:15 that for the benefit of the clean, all things are as an eternal spiritual truth existing in the state of being clean, Paul is reminding Titus and the Cretan church to remind these apostate pastors of their freedom they possess due to their identification with Christ in His death and resurrection.
They were already clean through faith in Jesus Christ which resulted in their death to the Law.
Thus, why put themselves in bondage by trying to please God with regulations which don’t apply to them because of dying to the Law through faith in Jesus Christ.
Titus 1:16 expresses the fact that the unregenerate Judaizer emphatically asserted or declared that they possessed an intimate knowledge of God so that they possessed a close relationship with Him.
This again is due to the privileges given to them by God which are listed by Paul in Romans 9:1-5.
The unregenerate Jew was of the conviction that they knew God in the sense that they possessed an intimate knowledge of God and thus a close relationship with Him in contrast to the Gentile.
Titus 1:16 speaks of the unregenerate Judaizer renouncing any association with God by their sinful actions which are the direct result of his sinful unregenerate state.
Consequently, the unregenerate Judaizer was detestable to God or abhorrent to Him because God is holy and they were sinners by nature and practice.
Another consequence of denying any association with God by their sinful actions was that they were existing in a state of being disobedient to God.
These individuals were also worthless for any kind of good work meaning that they were of no use to God as a result of their actions which cause themselves to deny any association with God.
Now, Paul mentions all this about the unregenerate Judaizer in Titus 1:16 since the Judaizers were leading pastors in Crete away from obedience to the gospel and their freedom in Christ which comes from obedience to the gospel.
So in Titus 2:1, Paul commands Titus to continue making it his habit of communicating those teachings which are consistent with sound doctrine and by doing so this will produce godly living which stands in stark contrast to the legalistic teaching of the Judaizers which produced ungodly conduct.
Adherence to unsound teaching will produce ungodly living in the body of Christ while on the other hand adherence to sound teaching will produce godly conduct in the body of Christ.
The Scriptures emphasize that Christians must adhere to sound doctrine (1 Timothy 4:1-6; 2 Timothy 4:1-4).
The Scriptures also emphasize the importance of avoiding false doctrine (Matthew 16:12; Romans 16:17; 1 Timothy 6:3-5; Hebrews 13:9; 2 John 9-10).
Paul warned his students to hold fast to the doctrinal instruction that they had received from him (2 Thessalonians 2:15; 2 Timothy 1:13).
This avoidance of false teachers was practiced by the Lord, His apostles and their disciples (Mark 8:15; Luke 20:46; Philippians 3:2; 2 Peter 2).