Speak Things Which Become Sound Doctrine

Titus 2:1-10 But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine: 2 That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience. 3 The aged women likewise, that [they be] in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; 4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, 5 [To be] discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. 6 Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded. 7 In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine [shewing] uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, 8 Sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you. 9 [Exhort] servants to be obedient unto their own masters, [and] to please [them] well in all [things]; not answering again; 10 Not purloining, but shewing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.

INTRODUCTION

After Jesus had the multitude to sit down on the mountain, He taught that His followers are to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world (Mt 5:13-14). The reason was that His followers had a gigantic task laying before them of which they were not yet made aware. They were to influence the towns and villages where they live by bringing the message of the Messiah to their ears. We are aware of the spread of the gospel message by the Apostles and followers of Jesus the Christ. The Roman Empire tried to snuff out the flame but failed. The message flourished. Some planted the gospel seed while others watered. The harvest was plentiful, and it continues today.

However, while the gospel message has expanded it has also come under attack. Paul’s message to Titus was to “set things in order.” The beginning of setting things in order was to appoint leadership in each of the churches on the island of Crete. He was to root-out the deceivers and stop their mouths as they were subverting whole houses.

Paul continues his treatise with Titus by declaring the things that were obvious. There are people of all ages, personalities, backgrounds, Gentile, and Jew within the churches. They needed to be coached on how to get this done.

That is our subject today, “how to teach the correct doctrine.” The spreading of the gospel must continue from generation to generation. There are two main audiences to achieve that goal: the family and the church.

Titus was to teach all the new converts to become “sound in the faith” (1:13). The simple gospel is not to change the system and politics of the system where Christians find themselves. The goal was to change those that are in the system. To spread the gospel spread it to marriages, families, slaves, work, and in the church. Transformation begins by hearing the Word of God. Plant the seed. And the seed needed to be the truth of the gospel with no deceit.

But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine.

On the heels of identifying those that were teaching false doctrine and fables, Paul declares another marching order. “Speak Sound Doctrine.” What is sound doctrine? It is apparent that Titus did not ask Paul what he meant. The term sound doctrine from the Greek to English simply means to speak sound, “healthy, wholesome, uncorrupt” doctrine, “teaching, learning.”

Speak wholesome and uncorrupt teaching concerning the Gospel

GETTING THE MEN IN A POSITION TO TEACH

2 That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.

The teacher must show himself as a student of what he is to teach. There is no room for hypocrisy.

Sober – not affected by alcohol

Grave – devoted to the LORD

Temperate – having control over sensual desires, self-controlled, chaste

Sound in Faith – relying upon and trusting in the LORD

Charity – exhibiting the love of God towards man

Patience – restraint in the face of opposition

GETTING THE WOMEN IN A POSITION TO TEACH

3 The aged women likewise, that [they be] in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;

Likewise, the women must show themselves as a student of what they are to teach.

Behavior as becometh holiness – characterizes the LORD and the nature of His superiority and excellence in the way they live

Not false accusers – not slanderers. The word devil comes from the Greek root word slanderer. They would have control over their tongue

Not given to much wine – it is obvious that alcohol was a problem among the Cretians. However, the older women should have mastery over their fleshly desires and cravings.

Teachers of good things – encourage the younger women in self-control and that the former things must pass away in order for the fulfillment of the LORD to take place.

4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, 5 [To be] discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.

The reason the older women need to present themselves in holiness, self-controlled, and sober is in order to teach the young women. It is evident that the Apostle Paul had younger wives in mind as he instructed Titus.

Sober – not affected by alcohol

To love their husbands, to love their children – Paul show the importance of the Christian family unit

Discreet – self controlled

Chaste – modest, clean , pure

Keepers at home – domestically inclined

Good - beneficial

Obedient to their own husbands – a constant subject of Paul (Eph 5:24; Col 3:18; 1Pet 3:1, 5)

The reason for all this is so “that the Word of God is not blasphemed by their lives.”

6 Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded. 7 In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine [shewing] uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, 8 Sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you.

Paul now turns his attention to the men.

Sober minded – to be of sound mind concerning the things of the LORD

Shewing a pattern of good works – giving examples of approved work in deed and labour

Uncorrupted in their doctrine – Their doctrine would not be influenced by false teaching

Gravity - honesty

Sincerity - incorruptibility

Sound speech – speaking true doctrine

9 [Exhort] servants to be obedient unto their own masters, [and] to please [them] well in all [things]; not answering again; 10 Not purloining, but shewing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.

Paul now turns Titus’ attention to the ministry of the servants. In the early church, freedom was a byword. Freedom from eternal damnation brought great peace. However, some slaves/servants were seeing Christianity as a means of escaping their servitude to their masters. Paul adamantly taught against this. Not because he wanted slaves to continue to be slaves, but that houses could be won to Christ by the testimony of the slaves that served them.

Obedient unto their own masters -submitting themselves in servitude (Eph 6:5; 1Ti 6:1)

Please them well in all things – this only applies to those areas where they are lawfully required and not contrary to the will of God (Eph 6:6)

Not answering again – to do what the master requires the first time. Not arguing or disputing as long as it was not contrary to the will of God.

Not purloining but showing all good fidelity – being trustworthy, not stealing or embezzling.

CONCLUSION

Teaching sound doctrine cannot only be taught by the elders. The Apostle Paul understood this very well. His impassioned plea to Titus was to correct those things that needed to be corrected. False doctrine from deceivers can be put to an end if the teaching of sound doctrine begins in the home and carries over to the church.