Practical Holiness. — KEN D. MILLER

But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. Bondservants are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior. – Titus 1:1-10 ESV

They say the best defense is a good offense. So, in order to assist Titus in his battle against false teachers and their heretical teaching, Paul has told the young pastor to surround himself with qualified men who can help him lead the church. But Paul didn’t stop there. He also told Titus to be willing to rebuke his flock for their laziness and gluttony, so that they might be “sound in their faith” (Titus 1:14 ESV). Now Paul gets specific. He gives Titus detailed and practical descriptions of how various groups within the body of Christ are to conduct their lives. First of all, Titus is to teach only that which “accords with sound doctrine” (Titus 2:1 ESV). Sound doctrine was essential to Paul. It was the glue that held the body of Christ together. That is why he spent so much time writing letters to churches he had helped to establish. He knew that the most difficult days for any believing congregation were those that lay ahead, after they had initially come to faith in Christ. Salvation was to be followed by sanctification, and that was going to require sound doctrine, teaching that was in accord with the words of Jesus and the Old Testament Scriptures. In his first letter to Timothy, Paul reminded him that the law “is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine” (1 Timothy 1:9-10 ESV).

He went on to tell Timothy, “If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing” (1 Timothy 6:3-4 ESV). In his second letter to Timothy, he warned him that people would prove to be fickle and drawn to falsehood, desiring to hear teaching that condoned their behavior and excused their love of the world. “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths” (2 Timothy 4:3-4 ESV).

But Paul is not just telling Titus to teach solid, reliable doctrine. He is wanting him to get specific and show how that doctrine should show up in real life. The New Living Translation puts verse one this way: “promote the kind of living that reflects wholesome teaching” (Titus 2:1 NLT). Good doctrine should produce good behavior. The teachings of Jesus, expounded and expanded upon by the apostles, were to have a dramatic impact on the lives of those who placed their faith in Jesus as their Savior. Christ followers were to be Christ-like. So, Paul begins with the older men in the church. He tells Titus that they are to be characterized by sober-mindedness, an ability to think clearly, unhampered by alcohol or anything else that would confuse their capacity to judge wisely. They are to be dignified or worthy of respect, not acting in childish or immature ways. Their lives are to be marked by self-control, able to manage their natural desires and passions. They are to have a healthy faith that shows up in how they live their lives. And their are to be characterized by a love for others and a willingness to patiently endure with those who are difficult to love.

Paul next moves his attention to older women in the church. Their lives were to be marked by behavior that reflected their holiness. On other words, their godliness should show up in tangible, visible ways. They were not to be addicted to gossip and slander or, for that matter, wine. And they were to teach the younger women by modeling for them what godliness looked like in the life of a believing woman. And while Paul provides a list of good behaviors that the older women were to teach to the younger women in the church, I don’t think he had a class in mind. This was to be modeled teaching. Their lives were to be the primary lesson the younger women studied and from which they learned the expectations of God for holiness.

The younger women were to love their husbands and children well. While this sounds like a no-brainer, we know how difficult this can be in a normal relationship between a husband and wife. Marriage can be difficult. Raising children can be extremely challenging. And older women were to model for the younger women what loving your husband and children looked like over the long haul. Their lives were to be a tangible example of what living self-controlled and selfless lives looked like. Purity or wholesomeness was to be a powerful motivation for these young wives and mothers. They were to be diligent workers, ordering their home well. This does not mean that wives are not to work outside of the home. But in Paul’s day, that was a rare option for women. He was simply calling for an attitude of diligence and order in their responsibilities, that would apply in every area of their lives – either at home or at work. And again, these older women were to have modeled what submission to their husbands looked like. It was not an issue of worth or value, power or weakness. It had to do with a willing submission to God’s intended order of things. Paul was not saying that the husbands were better, smarter or more deserving of the leadership role in the home. He was simply saying that God had a prescribed order of responsibility. He had placed the man as the head of the home and expected him to lead well. Many men don’t. That is an all-too-proven fact. But God intended for the wife to be an asset to her husband, encouraging and assisting him in his God-given role, seeing themselves as partners in this thing called marriage. In fact, Jesus would say that they are not really partners, but a single unit, joined together as one by God Himself in the marriage ceremony. The two of them are to act as one, in loving unison, as they raise their family and conduct their lives on this earth.

And younger men, which would include younger fathers and husbands, as well as single men, were to be self-controlled as well. They were not to be driven by their passions or controlled by their lusts. And Titus, as a young man himself, was to be a model of godly behavior, using his own life as a teaching tool that revealed integrity, dignity and godly speech. Young men were to not to use their youth as an excuse to act like fools or shirk their responsibilities as Christ-followers. They were to take their faith seriously and live their lives in such a way that the outside world could not point a finger at them and call them hypocrites.

Paul closes his list of individuals within the church by addressing bond-servants or slaves. In that day and age, there were many who found themselves operating as household slaves or servants because of unpaid debts. There were others that were outright slaves, captured as a result of wars and sold into slavery as servants. But many of these individuals had come to faith in Christ there on Crete. And they had become members of the local fellowships. So, Paul doesn't want to leave them out. It is interesting to note that Paul does not address the institution of slavery. He neither condemns nor condones it. He was not out to change the unjust institutions set up by men that took advantage of the weak or helpless. He was out to change hearts. Which is why he tells Titus that these individuals were to remain submission to their masters in everything. He didn’t tell them to rebel or run away. In fact, he told them to use their slavery as a platform on which to exhibit their faith in Christ. They were obey and not argue. They were to refrain from stealing and show themselves to be trustworthy and reliable. And their overall behavior, even as slaves, was to bring glory and honor to God.

Good doctrine should result in good conduct. Belief that doesn’t impact behavior is to be questioned. An individual who claims to know Christ and declares themselves to be a follower of Christ, but whose life exhibits no qualifying characteristics, is to be doubted. Paul would even say there are to be rebuked. The way we live our lives is one of the greatest testimonies to the life-transforming power of the gospel. It is to be practical proof of the Holy Spirit’s presence and power within us. All of these characteristics and behaviors that Paul has listed are Spirit-produced, not man-made. They come about as a result of a reliance upon the Spirit and an adherence to good, solid teaching of sound doctrine.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Ken Miller