Titus 2.2-Paul Defines Proper Conduct for Older Christian Men
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday March 16, 2014
Titus: Titus 2:2-Paul Defines Proper Conduct for Older Christian Men
Lesson # 14
Please turn in your Bibles to Titus 2:2.
In Titus 2:2-10, the apostle Paul addresses the responsibilities of various groups in the Christian community on the island of Crete.
He addresses the appropriate godly conduct of older men and women in the Christian community as well as in relation to younger men and women as well as slaves.
In Titus 2:2-3, Paul addresses the proper godly conduct which older men and women in the Christian community are to manifest as a lifestyle.
Then, in Titus 2:4-5, the apostle addresses the responsibilities of younger Christian women which they were to learn from the older women.
In Titus 2:6-8, he addresses the proper godly conduct of younger Christian men.
Lastly, in Titus 2:9-10, Paul addresses the proper godly conduct which slaves were to manifest in relation to their masters.
Titus 2:2 Older men are to be temperate, dignified, sensible, sound in faith, in love, in perseverance. 3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, 4 so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, 5 to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored. 6 Likewise urge the young men to be sensible; 7 in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, 8 sound in speech which is beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us. 9 Urge bondslaves to be subject to their own masters in everything, to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, 10 not pilfering, but showing all good faith so that they will adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect. (NASB95)
“Older men” in Titus 2:2 is the noun presbutēs (πρεσβύτης) which is describing males in the Christian community who were older in the sense that they were their forties or were forty-six years of age or older since in the first century this was the age in which a man was considered “older.”
“Temperate” is the adjective nēphalios (νηφάλιος), which means to be free from spiritual drunkenness, free from excess, passion, rashness, and confusion, to be level headed, to be clear and rational in one’s thinking, to be sober in one’s thinking, to be self-possessed under all circumstances, to be self-controlled.”
In Titus 2:2, the adjective nēphalios again means “level-headed” but this time it is describing older men in the Christian community indicating that older men in the Christian community must be level-headed, temperate, and show moderation in all things, and are to be sober in their thinking.
It describes the older men in the Christian community as being “sober and rational in their thinking, level-headed and temperate” because they are influenced by the Spirit (cf. Ephesians 5:18) as a result of obeying the Spirit’s teaching in the Word of God which He has inspired.
“Dignified” is the adjective semnos (σεμνός), which means “dignified” and is used in relation to older men in the Christian community.
It means that they should be characterized as being those who are worthy of respect and are honorable and describes them as serious and not a clown, yet not devoid of a sense of humor.
“Sensible” is the adjective sōphrōn (σώφρων), which refers to one who is of sound mind, one who has control over their emotions and desires and is wise from the application of the Word of God.
It denotes one who uses discretion, and has self-control, and discipline, thus one who is sober-minded, wise or of sound mind we could say because one is under the influence of the Spirit.
The adjective sōphrōn describes a person who thinks according to the standards which appear in the Word of God.
Thus, Paul is reminding Titus and the Cretan Christian community that older men in their community are to be characterized as “sound-minded.”
“Sound in faith” indicates that older men in the Christian community were to be characterized as level-headed, dignified, sound-minded “by” being sound with regards to the Christian faith.
In other words, by obeying the gospel and the apostolic teaching they would be characterized as level-headed, dignified and sound-minded.
“Faith” refers to the content of what Paul taught the churches or in other words it is another description of the gospel.
It refers to the gospel from the perspective of a body of doctrine or that which is believed by the church.
“Love” is the noun agapē (ἀγάπη), which means “divine-love” since it does not refer to the function of human love but rather the exercise of divine-love that is produced by the Holy Spirit through the believer who is obedient to the command to love one another.
It is used of the love of God manifested in the life of older men in the Christian community.
It indicates that they were to be characterized as reflecting God’s love towards the Father and the Lord Jesus by demonstrating this love in their relationships with members of the body of Christ.
The noun agape indicates that they were to be characterized as obeying the Lord Jesus’ command to love one another as He loves (John 13:34).
The noun agape refers to the love of God reproduced in the life of the Christian by the Holy Spirit when they exercise faith in the Word of God and specifically faith in their union and identification with Christ.
The word refers to God’s love practiced by Christians toward the Lord and their fellow Christians since this is the direct result of exercising faith in the command in John 13:34.
Divine love exercised by Christians is distinguished from the exercise of human love in that the former is a response to God’s love for the Christian and an expression of faith in God whereas the latter is based upon the attractiveness of the object.
Therefore, the emphasis with this word is upon God’s love being reflected in the lives of the older men in the Christian community on the island of Crete as it functions towards the Lord and their fellow Christians and all people.
“Perseverance” is the noun hupomonē (ὑπομονή), denotes that Paul wants the older men in the Christian community on the island of Crete to be characterized as sound in the practice of godly perseverance which is produced by the Holy Spirit so as to exemplify this godly virtue.
It speaks of these older men remaining faithful to the Lord by being obedient to the Word of God despite the obstacles in life such as the old sin nature, self, the cosmic system of Satan.
It denotes that they were to be characterized as bearing up under intense pressure and not quitting on God.
It depicts them as enduring undeserved suffering on behalf of the communication of the gospel.
The noun hupomonē depicts older men as staying disciplined and subjecting themselves to the will of God, which demands the acquiescence of their will to the Father’s will.
The word conveys the idea of these older men not permitting their adverse circumstances to get them to surrender or quit on the plan of God.
The word describes them as having a triumphant confident expectation of reward and blessing in the midst of adversity.
It also involves these men doing what is right and never giving in to the temptation or trial and is a conquering perseverance and the ability to deal triumphantly with anything that life can do to them.
It accepts the blows of life but in accepting them transforms them into stepping stones to new achievement and spiritual growth.
Hupomonē is the attitude of the faithful Christian as a soldier of Christ who in the thick of battle, is not discouraged and quits but rather fights on courageously whatever the difficulties.
Titus 2:2 Older men are, as an eternal spiritual truth to be characterized as level-headed, dignified, sound-minded by being characterized as sound in the Christian faith, in the uniqueness of divine-love, in the uniqueness of godly perseverance. (My translation)
Therefore, here in Titus 2:2, the apostle Paul is reminding Titus and the Cretan church that older men in their community are to exemplify spiritual maturity to the rest of their community.
They were to be examples of spiritual maturity.
With regards to character, Paul is teaching the Cretan church that their character and conduct is to be distinguished from the character and conduct of the Judaizers and those apostate pastors and Christians who adhered to their false doctrine.
The older men in the Christian community on the island of Crete were to lead the way for the rest of the community by exemplifying Christian character and virtues.