Exhort bondservants to be obedient to their own masters, to be well pleasing in all things, not answering back, not pilfering, but showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things. (Titus 2:9-10)

Titus was to teach bondservants about their specific duties as Christians. Because slaves were welcome to be full members of the church, Christians shocked the larger culture in the ancient world by mixing slaves and masters in the social setting of the church service. This meant that a slave might go to church and be an elder over his own master.

Nevertheless, Christian slaves were to be obedient to their own masters. Paul didn’t say that bondservants should be obedient to every free man, only to their own masters. This means that Paul recognized that bondservants had obligations, but only to their own masters.

At the same time, as in every arena of human submission, our obedience and submission are limited by our higher responsibility to obey God. As Peter said in Acts 5:29, We ought to obey God rather than men when there is a conflict between the two.

Another way Christian servants were to honor God was by not pilfering. This type of offence was so common in the ancient world that sometimes the words servant and thief were used interchangeably. It was assumed that servants would steal from their masters in these small ways.

Simply, Titus must direct servants to be good workers in all ways, to be well pleasing in all things. By their hard work and humble submission, they will adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.

That’s a wonderful thought: that believers, by their godly living, can adorn God’s truth; in some way decorate it make it beautiful. According to one commentator, to adorn “literally means to take precious jewels and arrange them so as to show their true beauty.”

In one sense the gospel doesn’t need adornment. At the same time, we can show the beauty of the gospel by the way we live. We often think we need better words to adorn the gospel. Better words are fine, but what we really need are better lives.

You don’t need a high position to adorn God’s truth. Even the bondservants among the early Christians could display and reveal the beauty of the doctrine of God our Savior.

This week, ask God for the wisdom and strength to adorn His truth.

Click here for David’s commentary on Titus 2

Likewise exhort the young men to be sober-minded. (Titus 2:6)

As Paul told Titus how to guide and encourage different groups of people in the church, he eventually came to the young men. In speaking of what Titus should say to the young men, he started with the word “likewise.”

Likewise is a linking word. It shows that what the young men need to learn isn’t all that different from what the younger women, the older women, and the older men need to learn. We may need a slightly different emphasis depending on our station in life, but the essential message of godly living is the same.

Yet, there was specific instruction to direct to the young men: that they be sober-minded. This was a quality that the older men were also to have (see Titus 2:2), but this quality had a special importance for young Christian men.

In English, we usually use the word “sober” to mean “not intoxicated,” either by alcohol or drugs. The ancient Greek word that is translated here has a deeper significance. According to William Barclay, “The word is sophron, and it describes the man with the mind which has everything under control… strength of mind which has learned to govern every instinct and passion until each has its proper place and no more.”

I like the way that the Living Bible translates the phrase, “exhort the young men to be sober-minded.” It says, urge the young men to behave carefully, taking life seriously. This was the only command Titus was told to emphasize to the young men, but it is sometimes a difficult one for them to live. Young Christian men have a special calling to not live an out-of-balance life, but one that take seriously both this life and eternity.

The sober-minded man or woman can certainly laugh and have fun in life, but at the same time they know that there is more to life than having a good time. They know the place for fun, and they know the place for serious work. They know the danger of making everything a joke or making everything serious. Sometimes we say, “a place for everything and everything in its place.” For the sober-minded man or woman, they know and live that wisdom.

Is God speaking to you about some way your life is out of balance? Ask God for the wisdom to pursue and live a sober-minded life.

Click here for David’s commentary on Titus 2

The older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; that they admonish the young women (Titus 2:3-4).

In this section of Paul’s letter to Titus, the apostle told his younger associate how to deal with particular groups of Christians in the churches on the island of Crete. It is something like this: “Keep this in mind when you deal with the older men. Keep this in mind when you deal with the older women. This with the younger women, this with the younger men.”

In the section dealing with the older women, he told Titus to pay attention to the following things, because the older women have their own set of temptations and opportunities.

That they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers: The idea behind behavior includes a suggestion of dress and how a woman carries herself. It was important for the older women to be good examples in their life and words (not slanderers).

Not given to much wine: This was a common failing of older women in Roman and Greek culture. Paul recognized that this special challenge needed special instruction. In fact, Paul’s phrase here is that they should not be “slaves of wine.” It’s easy to let what seems to be an innocent liberty to become something that enslaves us.

Teachers of good things: If the older women have special challenges, they also have special opportunities. God can use their wisdom and experience as they admonish the young women. This gives the older women something positive to live towards, instead of only the negative things of inappropriate living, talking, and alcohol abuse.

The instruction I would most like to focus on is one that applies far beyond older women in any culture. It is a potential trap for anyone. Paul warned that Christians should be “not slanderers.”

The word for slanderers is the same word used for “devils.” When the older women – or anyone else, for that matter – slander and gossip, they then do the devil’s work. When we spread lies about other people it is as if we say to the devil, “You can take a break. Let me do some of your work for you.” When we use the troubles or failings of other people as conversational entertainment, we do the devil’s work.

This is a word for all of us, not only the older women. Each one of us should determine that, God helping us, we will speak the truth about others. We will speak well of others. And when we do need to speak of some kind of sin or error in others, we will do it in truth, love, and humility. Don’t do the devil’s work for him!

Click here for David’s commentary on Titus 2

They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work. (Titus 1:16)

Paul wrote to Titus about the kind of people causing trouble among the Christians on the island of Crete. He described them in several ways.

First, Paul said “They profess to know God.” If you asked these difficult people if they knew God, they would absolutely say, “Yes!” But it isn’t enough to claim to know God; one must have more than good words. In James 2:19 it says that even demons believe that God exists, and it makes them tremble!

While these difficult people claimed to know God, Paul also said of them: “but in works they deny Him.” They talked a good talk, but in works they deny Him. How they lived contradicted their profession to know God. We can’t just go by what a person says. We have to also look at how they live.

The Bible tells us that it is possible for a person to do a lot of good, and yet still not be in right relationship with God. Jesus warned us of those who claim to know God and even do good things in His name, yet Jesus would say to them: “I never knew you; depart from Me.” (Matthew 7:21-23).

That’s why Paul could use such strong language of these difficult people: “Being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.” These were strong words, but Paul meant it. These difficult people probably pretended to have a higher spirituality than Titus or other godly leaders. But Paul saw right through their spiritual façade and wanted Titus – and all the Christians on Crete – to see through it also.

To me, the most interesting word in that short list is “disqualified.” According to William Barclay, this translates the ancient Greek word adokimos, and was used in many different ways

– It was used to describe a counterfeit coin.
– It was used to describe a cowardly soldier who failed in battle.
– It was used of a candidate rejected for elected office.
– It was used of stone rejected by builders. If a stone had a flaw that was bad enough, it was marked with a letter A (for adokimos) and set aside as unfit.

It’s important that we receive God’s grace and never become disqualified in any of those ways.

– To be true, and never counterfeit in our faith in God.
– To be brave in our life and service of Jesus Christ.
– To live in a way that honors God’s election of us in Christ Jesus.
– To fulfill our place as a stone set in the “temple” of God’s people.

God helping us, we will never hear those terrible words, “I never knew you; depart from Me.” (Matthew 7:21-23).

Click here for David’s commentary on Titus 1

One of them, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith. (Titus 1:12-13)

More than 50 years ago, the musicians Simon and Garfunkel wrote in a song that “the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls.” That’s really not true in the way they probably meant it, but there is something in the idea that God can speak His truth through some unusual sources.

We see this in Titus 1:12-13, where Paul explained to Titus why the need was so great on the Island of Crete – because the Cretans were a difficult people, well-known for being “liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”

As evidence of this, Paul quoted a Cretan poet whom he called “a prophet of their own.” This shows us that sometimes God can use something despite the source. It also shows that Paul knew enough of these pagan poets so that he could analyze and understand the people he tried to reach with the gospel.

But Paul did not mean that the Cretan writer he quoted was an inspired prophet of God. That writer did have it correct when he described the character of the people of Crete. As Paul wrote, this testimony – not the entiretestimony of this writer – is true. That Cretan author told the plain truth about his own people. According to one commentator, this Greek poet was named Epimenides.

Notice that Paul didn’t say to Titus, “Cretans are liars and cheats and gluttons, with one of the worst reputations of any group in the Roman Empire. You should look for an easier group to work with.” Instead he said, “I know how bad they are. Go out and see them changed through the power of Jesus and for His glory.”

Yet it wouldn’t be easy, and it could not always be done gently. That’s why Paul told Titus, therefore rebuke them sharply. Because of the generally hardened character of the people of the island of Crete, they must be dealt with directly. Titus himself must rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, and he must also appoint leaders who will do the same.

Do you live in the midst of a challenging people? Maybe the people you live around don’t have the same character faults as the Cretans, but maybe they have different faults. It’s important that you learn what you can from the culture, but always bring the truth of God’s word up against the faults of the culture. Sometimes you can do that gently, sometimes it needs to be done sharply—but either way, we can do it in love and wisdom. God helping us we will, even among a difficult people.

Click here for David’s commentary on Titus 1