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THE MEN & WOMEN OF GOD. Titus 2:1-5. 01/29/2023. #4.
1 But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine: 2 that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience; 3 the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things— 4 that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, 5 to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed.
1. The preacher’s task
a. Just like with Timothy, Titus is told to teach sound doctrine (lit., healthy teaching)
b. 3 levels of sound doctrine: what is true about God, what to believe, and how to act
c. Receiving good doctrine should produce both moral and worthy behavior
d. Without application, teaching is a hollow academic exercise of little value (James 2)
2. The older men
a. Older men = mature (not just elderly, but beyond youth and inexperience)
b. Mature believers are to lead the way for younger ones, as examples, guides, and mentors
c. 3 unbiblical patterns in the modern church:
a1. Emphasis on youth and new ideas
a2. Emphasis on classes, seminars, and celebrity Christians
a3. De-emphasis on experience and mentors
d. The list of qualities for the mature men is daunting:
a1. Sober = temperate in all things (not only by not being drunk, but by vigilance and wisdom)
a2. Reverent = honorable, respectable (a believer should have a reputation for decency)
a3. Temperate = rational, sensible, reasonable
a4. Sound of faith = spiritually healthy belief and trust
a5. Love = self-sacrificing grace and charity
a6. Patience = “to remain under” (not quick to take offense or be frustration)
e. These qualities are not just leadership traits, but for all believers
3. Godly women
a. Addresses the older women (mature)
b. The different traits for the women speak to the different types of temptations and challenges between the genders
c. List of traits are similar to deacons in a sense:
a1. Reverent behavior = a holy demeanor or character (not profane or irreverent)
a2. Not slanderers = from diaboulus (diabolical; the “devil” comes from this word) = to malign, gossip, impugn (the temptation to gossip and ruin other people’s reputation is a function of sinful pride and jealousy)
a3. Not a drunkard
a4. Teachers of good things (there is a mentoring obligation of mature believers to teach younger ones in the faith)
d. Notice the mentoring requirement of mature women to teach younger ones and for it to be heeded
a1. Teach to love their husbands (phileo – to have affection for husbands and not be bitter)
a2. To have affection for their children (not allow frustration to block fondness)
e. Teach young women to be discreet (temperate, self-controlled), chaste (pure, sexually clean)
f. To be keepers of the home = this does not mean that women cannot work outside the home, for the Proverbs 31 woman did so, but it means her main responsibility is running the household
g. Goodness, and obedience to husband (submitting to his authority and leadership as unto Lord – Ephesians 5)
h. Maintain a godly testimony and teach younger women to do the same (GAL. 5:16-26)
Key verse: Galatians 5:16-26
16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.