Godly (And Not So Godly) Attributes

Introduction

Good evening ladies, tonight’s the second teaching of Titus. This was a real struggle for me as I began to study it for many reasons, but God is faithful and with the help of the prayers of several ladies, I do have something to share with you tonight from Titus 1:5-9.

I’m going to start, though, with our next Simeon Trust principle, which is called, “Staying on the Line.” That means, “Don’t add to the text or take away from the text.” Legalism is a form of adding to the text and lawlessness is a form of taking away from the text. Give example of Eve adding to the text.

Let me pray before I start into the body of tonight’s text. Titus 1:5-9. Pray

As we learned last week, Paul is speaking to his fellow worker Titus in this letter so everything we read in this letter, needs to be seen as that. Paul began by making sure his authority to write this letter and give Titus the responsibilities he gave him was without question. In vs. 5, he tells Titus that he is expecting Titus to continue setting things in order in Crete (Paul was obviously called elsewhere in the middle of his work in Crete) and he also wanted him to appoint elders to continue the work after Titus leaves. The next portion of the letter to Titus is all about how Titus will find the men God would want to be elders in the different churches in Crete. 1 Corinthians 14:33 says “God is not a god of confusion, but of peace. "Putting things in order, and finding elders who will keep that order, will bring the peace that God desires for His churches.

Paul begins with an all-encompassing truth of what elders must be like. They must be men who are above reproach (not man’s idea of what is reproachful, but God’s) - even Christ was not above reproach according to man, apparently, since they put Him to death. The apostles were reproached by men - most of the time without merit, but Paul did reproach Peter once so we know that being above reproach is not fully attainable for our elders - they are sinful men, after all. However, there should be nothing reproachful in them from a biblical standard on an ongoing, rebellious basis.

Paul also then says they should be a husband of one wife and have children who believe, who cannot be accused of dissipation or rebellion. This is a very good indicator of how a man might shepherd the church, which is why Paul used it since marriage and children are common to most men. What does it mean by husband of one wife? Because of the time and location of this letter, it probably means divorced men (an all-too frequent practice with little reason for the divorces) or polygamists (which was common in that area and time). What does it mean by children who believe? We know it cannot mean that they are responsible for their children’s salvation because the Bible is clear that salvation belongs to the Lord. From the next phrase, “not accused of dissipation and rebellion" it makes sense to see this caution as his children should be being brought up with discipline and taught to love the Lord. Children should be disciplined when they show signs of indulging their sinful nature and the children should react in a way that shows their respect and love for their father even if they have not acknowledged Christ as their Lord and Savior. As adult children are no longer under their father’s authority, they are not as helpful in determining a man’s suitability to be an elder (unless all of a man’s adult children are out of control and causing problems (that would definitely be something to be concerned about)).

This verse gives us a good example of staying on the line Talk about it.

Paul then goes into godly attributes to look for and ungodly attributes to shun as he searches for the men whom God has called to be elders. Here’s what I want you to take home from tonight: PRAY for our elders to grow in these godly attributes and continually work at ridding themselves of these ungodly attributes.

He begins with ungodly attributes. These attributes, Paul reminds Titus and us, could cause a man to not be above reproach or blameless.

Self-willed or arrogant - confident in themselves, not looking to the Lord for everything. Self-confident, self-pleasing, self-centered - set on one’s own will or way instead of being free and willing to seek and take advice and defer to others’ thoughts and desires (where reasonable).

Quick-tempered (easily angered - 1 Corinthians 13:5, anyone?) not easily provoked, but gentle and patient

Addicted to wine - not needing to drink all the time. Taken together, 1 Tim. 5:23 and Ephesians 5:18, Paul teaches that a little wine can be helpful in some circumstances, but too much is dissipation (indulgence) and causes distraction of the mind and wastes its energy).

Pugnacious - root words mean to fight with fists. The Greek word is variously translated gets into fights or violent. Basically, no punching people in the nose if you don’t like what they say!

Fond of sordid gain - basically Titus is to be looking for men who are not getting into ministry to earn money (Catholic indulgences?) and from vs 14 in Titus 1, we learn that Titus is dealing with Cretans who were described by one of their own as always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons - these kind of people could easily try to use ministry for their own monetary gain. Also, we are reminded of Paul writing to Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:10 where he says, “love of money is a root of all sorts of evil. Not a good thing for an elder to be!

PRAY for your elders to be watching themselves and each other to avoid having these ungodly attributes!

Next, Paul give Titus godly attributes to look for as he searches for these elders for the churches in Crete.

Hospitable - this is a good one to start with right after talking about fond of sordid gain because a hospitable will reveal he is not in love with money as he is willing to spend money for the good of others. He will be willing, when necessary, to take strangers into his house.

Loving what is good - good men or good things (Genesis 1 - And God saw that it was good). Loving what is good comes from the Father and allows the elders to be an example of the Father whom they love.

Sensible - variously translated sober-minded (Jake story) or self-controlled - think before you do or speak.

Just - variously translated upright - be fair and morally righteous, give to all their due. Elders should know their flock well enough to be able to comfort, exhort, encourage, etc. them according to their personalities and lives.

Devout - variously translated holy - Reverencing and worshipping God correctly

Self-Controlled - variously translated disciplined - one of the fruit of the Spirit; control oneself, be disciplined in speech, food intake, exercise, thought-life, work, and other things - a high and hard calling! PRAY for your elders!

All of these attributes seem to have to do with a man’s way of life and manner. In verse 9, Paul switches gears a little bit and begins to talk about the work they will be doing as elders.

Elders, says Paul, need to hold fast the faithful Word - the Word that’s been taught by God through the ages, the Word learned through Christ’s life and death:

Man is a creature full of sin, but because of God’s love for us, Christ (Who is God) came to earth to live life as we do, but unlike us Christ never sinned. He pleased His Father (our Father and Creator) in all respects. Because of our sin, we cannot please the Father. We sin against Him and deserve punishment. We deserve God’s wrath. But because Christ never sinned and pleased the Father in all that He did, He was able to take the Father’s wrath on our behalf. Jesus Christ took the full brunt of the wrath that we all deserved and died (was separated from His Father) in our place. If the Lord grants us eyes to see and we acknowledge Christ’s goodness and our sinfulness and trust in His death in our place, God transfers Christ’s righteousness to us and we are granted eternal life - the ability to live in our Creator’s and Father’s presence forever and ever! What a great and gracious gift!

Your elders are tasked with holding fast to this truth, this Biblical teaching, and to using it to exhort their flock and protect their flock from wrong and sinful teaching. PRAY for your elders.

But, ladies, I want you to remember that these attributes are not just expected of the elders - we must seek to grow in them as well. As you pray for your elders to grow in these areas, examine yourself and start making progress in growing in these areas.

Obviously, my main application is to PRAY for your elders!! Pray they will make progress in the areas they need growth in; pray for them to be vulnerable to let people see the areas they need extra growth in, and pray that we will all have eyes to see their growth in certain areas and encourage them with it.

Secondly, Christian woman, never stop growing! If there are any here who don’t know Christ yet, seek Him with all your heart and begin your growth journey!

Ladies, PRAY for your elders and pray for each other’s growth too.

Let’s pray.