Titus 2.5-Five Purposes and a Result of Older Christian Women Training Younger Christian Women
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday April 6, 2014
Titus: Titus 2:5-Five Purposes and a Result of Older Christian Women Training Younger Christian Women
Lesson # 17
Please turn in your Bibles to Titus 2:2.
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. (NASB95)
“Sensible” is the adjective sōphrōn (σώφρων), which is used of younger Christian women describing them as individuals who think according to the standards which appear in the Word of God.
Thus, Paul is instructing Titus and the Cretan Christian community that older Christian women are to train younger Christian women to be “sound-minded.”
“Pure” is the adjective hagnos (ἁγνός) (ahg-noce), which is used of younger Christian women and means “pure” in the sense that these women were to be sexually pure as a result of experiencing sanctification which Paul wanted to be the result of being trained by older Christian women.
“Workers at home” is the adjective oikourgos (οἰκουργός), which means “homemakers” indicating that Paul wanted older Christian women to train younger Christian women in the Word of God to be “homemakers.”
It pertains to carrying out household responsibilities or duties indicating that younger Christian women were to be preoccupied with domestic affairs or their duties in the home.
This does not imply that if a Christian woman today works outside of the home because she needs to supplement the income of her husband that she is violating the Word of God.
If it means providing sufficient food and clothing for her family, she should go to work.
However, Christian couples should be very careful that they are not deceiving themselves.
A Christian woman should not have a career if it means neglecting the raising of her children or taking care of her husband.
She should not get a job if her purpose is so that she and her husband can fulfill their lusts or greed for things.
In other words, Christian women should not be working so that their family can buy a flat screen television or go expensive vacations at the expense of raising her children.
The first priority for Christian women who have children is raising them according to the standards of the Word of God.
She should not get a job because she is bored.
There is nothing wrong with her getting a job while her children at school.
But its important that she be home when her children get home.
Therefore, a woman’s career does not take first priority over raising her children and taking care of her husband.
Her first responsibility is taking care of her husband and children.
The Christian woman has been given a ministry in her own home with her husband and children.
A wise husband will allow his wife to manage the affairs of the household since God has ordained her ministry to be in the home.
Constable writes “God wants wives to make homemaking a priority. A woman's home is the primary arena of her ministry. It also makes a statement about her values. Normally homemaking includes nurturing children (cf. Prov. 1:8; 1 Thess. 2:7). Supplementing the family income may be a possible option (cf. Prov. 31:16, 24). However a mother should take a job only if both her husband and she agree that this would be best for the family.”
“Kind” is the adjective agathos (ἀγαθός), which means “performers of divine good” indicating that younger Christian women were to be characterized as performing divine good in the sense that their actions are to be divine in quality and character because they are the result of obeying the Father’s will.
It describes actions as being intrinsically valuable, intrinsically good, inherently good in quality but with the idea of good which is also profitable, useful, benefiting others, benevolent because it is based upon and motivated by the teaching of the Spirit in the Word of God.
It describes actions which are intrinsically valuable, intrinsically good, inherently good in quality but with the idea of good which is also profitable, useful, benefiting others.
“Being subject to their own husbands” denotes that younger Christian women were to voluntarily submit to the authority of their husband and which authority was delegated to the husband by God.
The word speaks of younger Christian women being obedient to their husbands as a result of older Christian women training them in the Word of God to do so.
“So that the word of God will not be dishonored” presents the result of older Christian women training younger Christian women in the Word of God to be lovers of their husbands and children, sound-minded, pure, homemakers, performers of divine good, and voluntarily obedient to their own husbands.
It denies any idea of non-Christians speaking against or blaspheming the Word of God, i.e. the teaching of Jesus Christ and His apostles, which reflects God’s holy person and character as a result of improper conduct on the part of younger Christian women.
Titus 2:3 Likewise, older women are to be characterized as reverent ones in the area of conduct, not slanderers, not enslaved to much wine, teachers of good 4 in order that they would be able to train younger women to be lovers of their husbands, lovers of their children 5 sound-minded ones, pure ones, homemakers, performers of divine good, those who voluntarily obey their own husbands so that the Word originating from God will not be slandered. (My translation)
In Titus 2:3, the apostle Paul instructed Titus and the Cretan church that older women in the Christian community were to be characterized as reverent ones in the area of their conduct, not slanderers, not alcoholics, but teachers of good.
Then, in Titus 2:4, he begins to present the seven-fold purpose for which he wants these women to be characterized by these things, which is that they would be qualified to train younger Christian women.
These older Christian women were to train younger Christian women in the Word of God to be lovers of their husbands and children.
This love was to be according to God’s standards as found in the teaching of the Word of God and not according to the standards of Satan’s cosmic system.
Now, here in Titus 2:5, Paul completes the list of purposes for which he wants older Christian women to train younger Christian women.
He wanted these older Christian women to train the younger Christian women to be sound-minded, pure ones, homemakers, performers of divine good and to voluntarily obey their husbands.
Then the apostle Paul presents the result of this training, which is that the Word of God would not be slandered by the non-Christians.
This would be accomplished as a direct result of the godly conduct of these younger Christian women, which is the direct result of the older Christian women training them in the Word of God.
The list of virtues for younger Christian women which Paul presents in Titus 2:4-5 reflect God’s standards, which are found in the Word of God.
Some of these virtues reflect cultural practices in the first century.
However, this is not the basis for these duties of younger Christian women.
They are in fact based upon God’s creative purposes and order as is evident in 1 Timothy 2:13-15 and 1 Corinthians 11:8-10.
J. Hampton Keathley III writes “Proverbs 14:1 proposes a vital maxim for the home. It reads, ‘The wise woman builds her house, But the foolish tears it down with her own hands.’ The apostle was concerned that these younger women have God’s ordained perspective or biblical wisdom regarding the home and their roles since this is so important to the well being of the Christian family (husbands, wives, and children alike), on society as a whole, and on the testimony of the Christian community to the world. But this was and is not a matter of cultural norms or practices, but of biblical wisdom or God’s ordained plan. Some of what is said here fits with cultural practices, but this is not the basis for the duties called for in this passage. This is clear in other passages where more detail is given on the Christian home and the roles and duties of both husbands and wives (cf. Eph. 5:23f). The duties described are based on God’s creative purposes and order as is evident in 1 Timothy 2:13-15 and 1 Corinthians 11:8-10. Seven duties are now described. The first six can be divided into three pair.”
Paul’s teaching in 1 Timothy 5:13-14 are similar to his comments here in Titus 2:4-5.
In the former, he instructs Timothy and the Ephesian church that he wanted younger widows to get remarried and then presents the reasons why, which helps us to understand why he wanted younger Christian women to be homemakers.
1 Timothy 5:13 Furthermore, in fact, simultaneously, they acquire the habit of being idle ones. They, themselves make it their habit of wandering about the various homes. Indeed, not only idle but also gossips as well as busybodies. They make it their habit of speaking about things, which are improper. 14 Therefore, I myself always want younger women to be married, to bear children, to manage a household in order to, as a certainty, cause themselves to provide the enemy absolutely no opportunity for slander. (My translation)