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Titus Chapter
Two
I.
Content of the Chapter
How Do God’s Workers Preach Sound Doctrine
I. The items that God’s workers themselves should take
notice of
A. the
things that they speak should be proper for sound doctrine (v.1)
B.
they should show themselves to be a pattern of good works in all things (v.7a)
C. in
doctrine showing integrity; sound speech that cannot be condemned (v.7b-8)
D.
speaking the things that the salvation of God shall accomplish upon believers
(v.11-15a)
E.
exhorting and rebuking with all authority (v.15b)
II. God’s workers should give appropriate exhortation
and teachings according to different targets
A. how
to exhort the older men (v.2)
B. how
to exhort the older women (v.3-4)
C. how
to exhort the young women (v.4-5)
D. how
to exhort the young men (v.6)
E. how
to exhort bondservants (v.9-10)
II.
Verse by Verse commentary
Tit. 2:1 “But as for you, speak the
things which are proper for sound doctrine:”
YLT: “And thou -- be
speaking what doth become the sound teaching;”
Meaning of Words: “proper for”: be
good for, appropriate, right; “sound”: wholesome, healthy, safe and sound;
“doctrine”: teaching.
Literal Meaning: “But as for you” the word “but” shows that it is opposite
to the previous discussion about heretical teachers (See 1:10-14).
“Speak
the things which are proper for sound doctrine:” “sound doctrine” indicates that sound teachings,
i.e. the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ and apostles, are the content of
Christians’ faith.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) Preachers should shepherd the flock of God by
“the sincere milk of the word”, that they may “grow” thereby and become mature
(See 1Pet. 2:2).
2) In order to guard against heresies, we’d better
teach sound doctrine to all believers first.
3) God’s servants have the responsibility of
rebuking those who speak the truth wrongly and pervert the truth for their
errors (See 1:13) and moreover, it is their duty to think over carefully,
observe the word of the Lord and standardize the things that they have preached
correctly, that they will be proper for sound doctrine.
4) Preachers should have systematic and thorough
study on the truth revealed by the Bible and regard sound doctrine as the
standard to rule the church and teach believers.
5) The sound word of God is the center of
believers’ faith and life and it is also the basis for dealing with all
problems.
6) Sound teachings which are teachings that promote
the spiritual health must bear the fruit of good behavior.
Tit. 2:2 “that the older men be sober,
reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience;”
YLT: “aged men to be
temperate, grave, sober, sound in the faith, in the love, in the endurance;”
Meaning of Words: “sober”:
clear-headed, not drunk; “reverent”: honorable, grave; “temperate”: prudent,
sound in mind; “sound”: wholesome, strong.
Literal Meaning: “that the older men be
sober, reverent, temperate” “the older men” is
the masculine gender in the original and therefore it refers to male old ones;
“sober” refers to keeping the judgment for propriety and not indulging oneself;
“reverent” refers to being steady, earnest and honorable; “temperate” refers to
being clam and composed and unwilling to be provoked. The previous virtues are
all related to the wisdom accumulated through life experience.
Please note that there is
not imperative verb in the second and third verses in the original and it is
the gentle syntax. In Chinese Union Version the word “exhort” is added in
translation because the whole sentence implies exhortation. However, when
exhorting the older men and women, we should hold the humble attitude, lest
their sense of self-respect be hurt.
“Sound
in faith, in love, in patience;” “faith” stresses
on the individual reliance upon God; “love” stresses on the affections towards
men; “patience” refers to the ability to resist compression towards things;
“sound” refers to the soundness in character and it is not only used to
describe one’s state in faith but also in love and in patience.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) When preachers exhort the older believers, their
attitude should be gentle and they should be careful in words and tones, that
good effect will be achieved.
2) A more excellent way to deal with the teachings
of error is the positive admonishment in the moral aspect (See v.2-6, 9-10) and
teachings which encourage the spiritual growth (See v.12).
3) The older Christians should be experienced and
calm in character and reach the peak of perfection and be flawless in the
spiritual attainments.
4) When one grows upon into a senior, he should
learn to know what kind of behavior would benefit him. The most terrible thing
in one’s life is that he has learned nothing from his life.
5) The good behavior of life is not only the
responsibility of the leaders of the church but also the virtue that every
believer should have.
6) Christians do not live as recluses but live in
the world and live a different life from the world (See 1Tim. 3:7).
7) The older believers should control themselves
well because of their more abundant experience in life and faith and they
should also look after the feelings of those around them.
8) If one truly draws near to God in his life, his
faith will increase progressively with time and life experiences and won’t
lose. Time makes our faith in God increase instead of decreasing.
9) The greatest danger that time brings to men is
that they think themselves better than others because of experience so that
they carp at others, lose compassion and even their love grow cold.
10) The trouble in one’s life is able to increase
his ability to endure like steel-refining. The more experiences of troubles one
has, the more power of longsuffering he will have.
Tit. 2:3 “the older women likewise,
that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine,
teachers of good things--”
YLT: “aged women, in like
manner, in deportment as doth become sacred persons, not false accusers, to
much wine not enslaved, of good things teachers,”
Meaning of Words: “likewise”: in the
same way, in like manner; “reverent”: sacred, appropriate, devout; “teachers of
good things”: teaching men to do good.
Literal Meaning: “the older women likewise” “likewise” is “in
like manner” in the original. Here it means that the exhortations to the older
men are also applicable to the older women.
“That
they be reverent in behavior” “behavior” refers
to walking, including the attitude and life style; “reverent” refers to being
worthy of holiness and piety.
“Not
slanderers, not given to much wine”
“slander” refers to the groundless smear; “not given to much wine” refers to
being enslaved by wine and it is worse than “not given to much wine” (See 1Tim.
3:8).
“Teachers
of good things--” it refers to
teaching men good things, especially teaching younger generation by personal example
in the family (See 1Tim. 2:12). Please note that here it does not refer to
teaching in the meeting.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) Behavior originates from the inner character and
therefore Christians must cultivate good spiritual character.
2) Behavior of mature women should be the natural
expression of their inner life. It is not that they do one thing before men and
another behind men.
3) The older women bear important responsibility
both in the church and in the society and they are able to have great influence
upon younger generation both in the positive and negative aspects.
4) It should always be the responsibility of
Christians to use their experience to instruct and encourage others instead of
hindering, threatening or dejecting them.
5) A common failing that the older women easily
make is that they are stuffy, do whatever they want, clack, chatter away and
are keen on rumors and slanders with interest.
Tit. 2:4 “that they admonish the
young women to love their husbands, to love their children,”
YLT: “that they may make
the young women sober-minded, to be lovers of husbands, lovers of children,”
Meaning of Words: “admonish”: train.
The
Background: “that they admonish the
young women” at that time women
seldom had opportunity for receiving the formal education and the young women
mainly received instructions from older women and followed their examples.
Literal
Meaning: “that they admonish the
young women” “admonish” is a
kind of training in mind which makes them have sober mind and consider
comprehensively and soundly in order to make the right decision. “The young women” refers to young married women.
“To
love their husbands, to love their children” in the original is “lovers of husbands, lovers of
children” and these are what God ordered women in the beginning (See Gen.
3:16). However, now women need to be revealed and trained to so that the normal
functions will be fully brought into play.
Tit. 2:5 “to be discreet, chaste,
homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not
be blasphemed.”
YLT: “sober, pure,
keepers of houses, good, subject to their own husbands, that the word of God
may not be evil spoken of.”
Meaning of Words: “good”: dealing with
men friendly and kindly; “blasphemed”: speak evil, profane.
Literal Meaning: “to be discreet, chaste,
homemakers, good” “discreet” refers
to controlling oneself and keeping a self-disciplined life; “chaste” refers to
having good testimony in the moral life; “homemakers” refers to dealing with
the work of the family diligently; “good” refers to dealing with household well
with kind mood.
“Obedient
to their own husbands” the word
“obedient” is usually used to describe the attitude towards those who are above
and the authorities; “their own husbands” are the heads of wives on behalf of
Christ in the family (Eph. 5:22-24).
“That
the word of God may not be blasphemed.”
“The word of God” is the message of the gospel (See 2Tim. 2:9), i.e. the
content of Christians’ faith; “blasphemed” refers to profaning. The whole
sentence refers to making others not reproach the faith of Christians because
of them.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) From Paul’s exhortation to young women (See
v.4-5), we could know their responsibility to the family and family is their
main sphere of activities.
2) The greatest work, responsibility and right in
the world are to establish a family. None of the greatest careers in the world
could compare the career of ruling the family.
3) “Homemakers” in the original
means “making the family a family”. Unfortunately, too many so-called families
are like hotels in which love and warm are lacked. It’s no wonder that they
lose the witness that they should bear.
4) Believers should be kind to their family
members, that the family would be full of harmonious atmosphere.
5) Begetting sons and daughters cannot hinder one
from walking with God (See Gen. 5:22). In fact, the true pious life in the
family cannot be found in other places.
6) Whether the word of God is taught rightly in the
church could be checked out by whether the married sisters obey their own
husbands.
7) If believers cannot show the quality of life
that they should have in their daily life, the word of God will be humiliated.
And therefore Christians should correct our behavior of life for the sake of
the gospel.
8) Any behavior which causes men in or out of the
church to censure, regardless of men or women, would make others question the
faith of Christianity or debase its persuasion.
Tit. 2:6 “Likewise, exhort the
young men to be sober-minded,”
YLT: “The younger men, in
like manner, be exhorting to be sober-minded;”
Meaning of Words: “sober-minded”:
sound in mind, wholesome in thoughts.
Literal Meaning: the word “likewise”
is “in like manner” in the original (it has not been translated in the Chinese
Union Version). Here it means that the exhortations to young women in v.4 and
v.5 are also applicable to the young men. However, “love their husbands” (See
v.4) and “be obedient to their own husbands” (See v.5) should be “love their wives”
and “loving their own wives” (See Eph. 5:24-25).
“Exhort the young men to be sober-minded” the word “exhort” is the word with order
in the original and it means advising and admonishing; “sober-minded” indicates
that one is able to control himself in the daily life and his walkings do not
go beyond rules.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) He that rules his spirit is better than he that
takes a city (Prov. 16:32).
2) The sober mind is one of the important virtues
that Christians should have. A spiritual one is not an unwise one.
3) What young men should pursue first is being
sober-minded------self-control. One has to learn to control himself, otherwise
he cannot serve others.
4) “Being sober-minded” is the spiritual quality of
keeping life safe. Men have defense because they are able to control
everything.
Tit. 2:7 “in all things showing
yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity,
reverence, incorruptibility,”
YLT: “concerning all
things thyself showing a pattern of good works; in the teaching
uncorruptedness, gravity, incorruptibility,”
Meaning of Words: “show”: bring, lead
to; “doctrine”: teaching; “integrity”: without impurities, purity,
incorruptibleness, uncorrutedness; “reverence”: grave, sound.
Literal Meaning: “in all things showing
yourself to be a pattern of good works;” the word “in all things” in the beginning of this
verse could also be used to describe “be sober-minded” in all things in v.6 and
“showing yourself to be a pattern of good works” in all things in this verse;
“good works” refers to good behavior.
“In
doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility” “integrity” specially indicates that the motive
is pure and sincere, without any sense of greed; “reverence” specially
indicates that the attitude is sincere and grave, without frivolousness.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) The trouble of religious believers is that “they
say and do not” (Matt. 23:3)------they only teach others and are unable to
teach themselves.
2) Teaching by personal examples is more important
than verbal instruction. Those who serve God should not only teach sound
doctrine but also set a good example with their own conduct to manifest the
truth.
3) Men can be led by men and cannot be driven by
men. And therefore leaders in the church should set good examples instead of
issuing orders.
4) The pure and sound doctrine of preachers should
include three elements: a) integrity------their motive and contents are pure,
that they won’t corrupt others; b) reverence------their declaration and
attitude are with dignity, that they are honorable; c) sound speech that cannot be condemned (See v.8)------their words and quotations
are sound, so that they are impeccable.
5) Preachers must have upright motive: they preach
not to show their own talents and wisdom to attract men to themselves but to
attract them to turn to the faith.
6) Preachers must maintain the dignity of the Lord
messengers. They should not let it be bought by fame or benefits but be
faithful to the mission that the Lord has entrusted them.
Tit. 2:8 “sound speech that cannot
be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil
to say of you.”
YLT: “discourse sound,
irreprehensible, that he who is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having
nothing evil to say concerning you.”
Meaning of Words: “sound”: healthy,
wholesome; “condemn”: blame, convict, accuse, sentence; “opponent”: contrary,
hostile.
Literal Meaning: “sound speech that cannot be
condemned” “sound speech”
indicates that the speech they preach and the word they say daily all conform
to the truth of the Bible; “that cannot be condemned” refers to not giving men
any mistake to be attacked.
“That
one who is an opponent” “who is an
opponent” refers to those who preach heresies and Judaic legalists.
“May
be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you” “having
nothing evil to say of you” on one hand refers
to not leaving a flaw in “words” and on the other hand indicates that the
expression of himself (See v.7) is impeccable.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) Heretical teachers like carping in words and
therefore preachers should pay attention to words and do not leave themselves
open to attack to opponents.
2) Sound doctrine is the best vaccine to resist
heresies because such doctrine has immunity which makes believers resistant to
poison.
Tit. 2:9 “Exhort bondservants to be
obedient to their own masters, to be well pleasing in all things, not answering
back,”
YLT: “Servants -- to
their own masters to be subject, in all things to be well-pleasing, not
gainsaying,”
Meaning of Words: “answering back”:
gainsaying, retorting.
The
Background: in the ancient
times, slavery prevailed in the Roman Empire. Slaves could be bought freely in
the market and masters had sovereignty over slaves and therefore the slaves at
that time did not have the so-called “human rights”. In addition, many slaves
turned to believe in the Lord Jesus at that time and “there is neither bond nor
free” in the church (Gal. 3:28; Col. 3:11). And therefore some believing slaves
misunderstood that they were no longer under the bondage of their masters and
had behavior unsuitable for their status and the social problems were brought
about.
Paul, in his epistles, admonished the
believing slaves to be still under the hand of their masters (See Eph. 6:5-8;
Col. 3:22-25). Apparently, he seemed to agree with the unreasonable slavery.
But actually he did not agree with it. He did not take reforming the society as
his duty but humbled himself under the domination of God, lest the mission that
he had received from God be blurred------preaching the word of life and letting
life play a role in men so as to change the unreasonable present situation
naturally.
Literal Meaning: “Exhort bondservants to be
obedient to their own masters” “bondservants”
refers to slaves at that time; “be obedient” in the original is reflexive and
it refers to the voluntary obedience instead of the forced obedience.
“To
be well pleasing in all things” indicates that all
the behavior makes the master quite satisfied.
“Not
answering back” “answering back”
refers to not only the defiant reply of words but also the rude attitude.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) The freedom of Christians is not the freedom of
not being restricted by life and principle in the world. Contrarily, it is
being under the system and order of men and manifesting the glory of Christ
life.
2) Christians are not those who are not ruled by
orders but “I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me” (Matt. 8:9).
Tit. 2:10 “not pilfering, but
showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior
in all things.”
YLT: “not purloining, but
showing all good stedfastness, that the teaching of God our Saviour they may
adorn in all things.”
Meaning of Words: “good fidelity”:
good and faithful, fine and reliable; “adorn”: decorate, beautify; “doctrine”:
teaching, instruction.
Literal Meaning: “not pilfering, but showing
all good fidelity” “pilfering” refers
to stealing. “Showing” according to the original, two words are put together
and it refers to fully showing and showing in everything. “Good fidelity”
refers to good performance expressed from inner hearts and all aspects of life
are involved.
“That
they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things” “God our Savior” indicates that God is the
source of salvation (See 1:3) and He is the Savior of believers (1Tim. 4:10).
The whole sentence shows that the good behavior of bondservants could be the
beautiful adornment of the doctrine of God our Savior. It means that the good
behavior of bondservants comes into being because they receive the doctrine of
God and therefor it makes men give glory to the doctrine of God.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) The motive that Christians do not do mean things
is not that they are afraid of being punished but for bearing witness of
Christians.
2) It is the extremely noble life that believers
regard the word of God as the adornment of their life.
3) Good behavior is the fruit of the faith of
Christianity (See Eph. 2:10) and it is classless.
Tit. 2:11 “For the grace of God that
brings salvation has appeared to all men,”
YLT: “For the saving
grace of God was manifested to all men,”
Literal Meaning: “For the grace of God that
brings salvation to all men” “all men” refers
to all human beings; here “grace” refers to the perfect salvation, including
redemption, remission of sins, justification, reconciliation, being born from
above, sanctification, constantly being renewed and being transformed into the
image of the Son of God finally.
“Has appeared” means that grace has been manifested among men
through the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ (See John. 1:14, 17).
Tit. 2:12 “teaching us that, denying
ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly
in the present age,”
YLT: “teaching us, that
denying the impiety and the worldly desires, soberly and righteously and
piously we may live in the present age,”
Meaning of Words: “teach”: instruct;
“deny”: abandon, reject, refuse, disavow; “soberly”: sober in mind, cautious,
self-control; “righteously”: just, upright.
Literal Meaning: “teaching us that, denying
ungodliness and worldly lusts” the verb “deny” in
the original is the past participle form and it refers to the “one-off” action.
“Ungodliness” refers to not regarding God as God or letting Him have the way
out upon us. “Worldly lusts” refers to regarding the worldly things as
satisfaction and joyous lusts.
“We
should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age” “soberly” stresses on towards ourselves;
“righteously” stresses on towards others; “godly” stresses on towards God.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) God’s grace not only saves us forever but also
teaches us how to live in the world nowadays.
2) Since Christians are children of God, we should
reject the life style of not taking God to heart (ungodliness) and not make a
concession to lusts of “worldly lusts”.
3) Believers should not only live a godly life but
also reject worldly lusts in their inner motives.
4) When believers let the grace of God (See v.11)
reign in their life, the former bad behavior will be replaced by godly life.
5) Believers should be determined to living godly
and we cannot go so far to being caught unawares and falling into traps easily
when allure comes.
Tit. 2:13 “looking for the blessed
hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,”
YLT: “waiting for the
blessed hope and manifestation of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus
Christ,”
Meaning of Words: “look for”: expect
earnestly, raise one's head and look forward to.
Literal Meaning: “looking for the blessed
hope” refers to earnestly waiting for what has
been received by faith.
“And
glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” only a definite article was used in this
sentence, i.e. here “God” and “Christ” refer to one. And therefore “great God”
could be regarded as the manifestation of the divinity of Jesus Christ and the
appearing of God the Father has not been mentioned in any place in the New
Testament. For this reason, some Bible exegetes held that it should refer to
the appearing of the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) The Lord Jesus is both a man and God. His first
appearing brings salvation into the world and His second appearing brings the
blessed hope to believers who love Him.
2) Christ humbled Himself in His first coming: He,
standing in the position of sinners, was punished for our sins. And His second
appearing is full of glory and He will bring us the blessed hope.
3) To Christians, the present world is temporary
and in which the evil power prevails. And therefore in the world, Christians
should have the behavior of new men in Christ on one hand and on the other we
should yearn for the second coming of Christ who will bring in the blessed and
glorious situation.
Tit. 2:14 “who gave Himself for us,
that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own
special people, zealous for good works.”
YLT: “who did give
himself for us, that he might ransom us from all lawlessness, and might purify
to himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works;”
Meaning of Words: “redeem”: ransom,
deliver; “lawless”: iniquity.
Literal Meaning: “who gave Himself for us” It indicates that the Lord gave Himself
for us, i.e. He gave Himself as a sacrifice to replace us to be crucified.
“That
He might redeem us from every lawless deed” It indicates that its aim is to releasing us from
sins (See Matt. 1:21), i.e. making us be justified.
“And
purify” “And” refers to
another aim; “purify” refers to making us be sanctified.
“For
Himself His own special people” refers to “to
Himself a special people” in the original. It refers to being the special
people of God Himself (See Exod. 19:5; Deut. 7:6, 14:2, 26:18; 1Pet. 2:9).
“Zealous
for good works” in the original
refers to “those who are zealous for good works”.
This verse shows the procedure, achievement and aim
of salvation:
1) the procedure: who gave Himself for us;
2) the achievement: He might redeem us from every lawless
deed and purify;
3) the aim: for Himself His own special people,
zealous for good works.
Tit. 2:15 “Speak these things,
exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you.”
YLT: “these things be
speaking, and exhorting, and convicting, with all charge; let no one despise
thee!”
Meaning of Words: “all”: the whole.
Literal Meaning: “Speak these things, exhort” “these things” refers to the nature and
aim of the salvation of God (See v.11-14); “speak”; “exhort”.
“And
rebuke with all authority.” “With all
authority” refers to using the spiritual authority from all aspects. “Rebuke”
refers to correcting men by exposing their mistakes.
“Let
no one despise you.” It means that do
not let the other side despise his spiritual authority.
This verse shares four imperative verbs to point
out how do God’s servants shepherd all the Saints:
1) “speaking”: the public declaration.
2) “exhorting”: the individual concern.
3) “rebuking”: the condemnation of the special
case.
4) “letting no one despise”: the performance in
common condition.
III.
Outlines of the Spiritual Lessons
The Life and Performance of Work that
Various Kinds of Men should Have
I. The older men
(male):
A. being sober (v.2a)
B. being reverent (v.2b)
C. being temperate (v.2b)
D. being sound in faith, in love, in
patience (v.2c)
II. The older women:
A. being reverent in behavior (v.3a)
B. being not slanderers (v.3b)
C. not being given to much wine (v.3b)
D. being teachers of good things (v.3c)
III. The young
women:
A. loving their husbands (v.4a)
B. loving their children (v.4b)
C. being discreet (v.5a)
D. being chaste (v.5b)
E. being homemakers (v.5b)
F. being good (v.5b)
G. being obedient to their own husbands
(v.5c)
IV. The young men
(male)------being sober-minded (v.6)
V. The Lord’s
Workers:
A. in all things showing themselves to
be a pattern of good works (v.7a)
B. in doctrine showing integrity,
reverence, incorruptibility (v.7b)
C. sound speech that cannot be condemned
(v.8)
D. speaking the salvation (v.15a)
E. exhorting (v.15b)
F. rebuking with all authority (v.15b)
G. letting no one despise you (v.15c)
VI. Bondservants:
A. being obedient to their own masters
(v.9a)
B. being well pleasing in all things
(v.9b)
C. not answering back masters (v.9c)
D. not pilfering (v.10a)
E. adorning the doctrine of God our
Savior in all things (v.10b)
The Features of the Salvation of God
I. The salvation of
God is universal------“the grace of God that brings salvation to all men” (v.11)
II. The salvation of
God is in the present age------“teaching us…in the present age” (v.12)
III. The salvation
of God is thorough------“gave…redeem…purify” (v.14 in the original the verbs
are in the past tense)
The Great Message of the Grace of God
I. The grace of God brings salvation to men (v.11)
II. The grace of God
teaches men how to live (v.12)
A. teaching men the things that they
should abandon
B. teaching men the things that they
should do
III. The grace of
God teaches men to wait for the second coming of the Lord (v.13)
IV. The grace of God
teaches men to know the death of Christ
A. redeeming us
B. purifying us
C. separating us to be His own special
people
D. making us zealous for good works
V. The grace of God
is the message which should be spoken (v.15)
──
Caleb Huang《Christian Digest Bible
Commentary Series》
Translated by Sharon Ren