As preached by Timothy O'Day.
A rightly ordered church...
1) lives in accord with healthy doctrine (1)
2) through teaching and modeling (2-10)
3) in order to frame the glory of God by our lives (5b, 8b, 10b).
Set in Order By Healthy Doctrine
Titus 2:1-10
October 20, 2024
Two important sections in the book of Deuteronomy are found in chapters 13 and 18, which tell us the test of a prophet. While they are similar, they offer two different tests. In chapter 13, a man may tell of what will happen or do a mighty work, but the people are warned by Moses not to follow him if he then tells people to go after another God besides the one true God as he has made himself known through special revelation. In Deuteronomy 18, the false prophet is one who says something will come to pass but then it does not come to pass. Such a man is to be rejected as a prophet.
The tests, then, are about consistency. If this man is really a prophet, then not only will he be able to make accurate prophecies, but he will also call the people to follow the true God as he has revealed himself through other prophets.
Consistency is vital in the test of what is true, which is why it is so strongly stressed in this letter and, in particular, this section of the letter to Titus.
Our Current Spot in Titus
If you recall, Titus is a letter written by Paul to his co-worker Titus. After engaging in missionary work on the Island of Crete, Paul had to leave early for unknown reasons. He left Titus behind to set in order what remained (1:5), beginning with appointing qualified men to lead the church and protect it from the false teaching that had already sprung up among and in the churches.
These false teachers are known to be false because, as we saw in 1:10,14, they are insubordinate to the word of God, turning away from it as truth and instead inserting what men teach. Like the warning of Deuteronomy 13, they are departing from what God has said and trying to lead other people to do the same. But not only this, they cannot deliver what they promise. Viewing Scripture as insufficient and leaning on the teaching of men, they themselves do not end up living godly lives like they claim. Instead, as verse 16 says, “They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works…”
This is why Paul turns his attention in Titus 2:1-10 to how the people of God are to be different. They are to look at what God has said and to live in accord with what God has said. This is what Paul means in 2:10 when he says to Titus, “But as for you…” meaning, don’t be like those false teachers. Instead, be like this: teach what accords with sound doctrine.”
Titus 2:1-10 is thus telling us that God’s people are not merely saved by the gospel, they are changed by the gospel. The church is not just the assembly of the saved; we are also the assembly of those claimed by God. Thus, these verses continue to show us what it means to be a rightly ordered church.
A rightly ordered church…
Lives in accord with healthy doctrine (1)
As I just said, Titus is to be different than the false teachers in two ways. He is to teach the church how to live in accord with sound doctrine, which will require him to teach sound doctrine.
The word “sound” is another way of saying “healthy.” When we say that someone is of sound mind and body, we mean that they are healthy. This expression, “Sound doctrine,” does not refer merely to a few individual beliefs, but the totality of what the Bible teaches. To put this another way, you do not simply hold to individual beliefs. All of your beliefs fit together, influence each other, and are thus connected. Richard Lints uses the analogy of fabric. Fabric is made of individual threats that are interconnected and depend on one another to make the whole. If you pull on a thread, it will inevitably affect the rest of the threads. You’ve probably experienced this when you have pulled on the thread in an article of clothing. The thread doesn’t just come out, but pulls several others with it, sometimes even ruining the garment.
So it is with our doctrine—our theology.
The theology of the false teachers was messed up because they rejected the trustworthiness, authority, and sufficiency of Scripture (see 1:9-10, 14). Titus is to do the opposite of this by holding to Scripture alone in his instruction and teaching. Scripture shows us what we are to believe and how we are to live in light of truth.
The Connection Between Belief and Behavior
The fact of the matter is that your behavior always flows from your beliefs. Your doctrine leads to your doing. Your life may not reflect what you profess to believe, but your life will always display what you really do believe.
You can say all day long that you believe God is omnipresent—meaning that nothing is hidden from his gaze. But if you hide sin, not confessing it to others, but instead harboring it, then you are actually the fool who says in his heart, “God cannot see it.”
You can say all day long that you believe salvation comes by faith alone, in Christ alone, through God’s grace alone, but if you then look around the church and all you see is people falling short, then you are creeping into (or living in) a legalistic attitude that says people get into the church by grace, but you stay in by performance.
How you think, feel, and act flow from what you really believe and the authority to which you are committed.
Now, if that convicts you, let me just say that everyone is inconsistent to an extent. None of us are arrived at Christlikeness and Christ is the only human to have ever lived who was consistent in all things. If you are in Christ, you are just on the path of becoming consistent as you are exposed to God’s word and changed by the power of his Spirit.
Your belief and behavior are inconsistent. So here is the question, “What are you going to do about it? There are really just two options in front of you.
First, you can ignore the conviction of God’s Spirit and continue to hide. Simply pretend that you are something you are not. I don’t recommend this kind of misery. This is like seeing the check engine light on in your car and ignoring it, hoping that everything will be fine, but it never is. It only gets worse.
Second, you can live in the freedom of the gospel. The gospel frees you from pretending because the gospel frees you from having to justify yourself. Why do you think people, including you and me, are tempted to either deny that they have sinned or justify their sin? Because know that we are actually obligated before God to obey him, but we haven’t. So we pretend by hiding or justifying our sin. But Christ sets you free from this by actually doing all that is necessary to make you right with God.
Since Christ died the penalty for your sin, you do not have to deny or hide your sin. You can simply confess it. You are free from having to perform. You do not have to pretend to be something you are not. You can actually confess your sin because there is grace and mercy for you, purchased by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus himself.
When you do this, the commands of God move from being the words that condemn you to being the instruction that actually sets you free.
How is it that commands and instruction from God’s word actually set you free? Think of it like this. When you are in an above-ground swimming pool, you could foolishly say that the walls of the pool are inhibiting. They are keeping you from swimming further. So you gripe and complain about the walls of the pool, pushing against them and trying to break free of them. When you actually break over the wall, then you find yourself out of the water completely. What you thought was freedom, is actually loss. And, if you break the walls completely down, then swimming actually becomes impossible.
That’s sin. It promises freedom, but it actually separates you from life and joy. God’s commands are not a burden. They are instruction in the good and true life.
In Christ, you are free from having to justify yourself and now free to walk in God’s ways for his pleasure and your joy.
How are you to live in the joy and freedom of having your life increasingly conformed to Christ who has saved you? That’s our second point.
Through teaching and modeling (2-10)
The doctrine of the gospel leads to a changed life because the doctrine of the gospel declares that when you come to Christ, you are made new. In order to live a life that accords with doctrine, you need to be exposed to that doctrine through teaching and how to apply it through models that live it out.
But if the teaching is going to take effect and the model is going to help you bear fruit in your own life, you need to first be changed by the gospel. The instructions in verses 2-10 assume this, so let me give you some Bible instruction to show you that this is the case.
Paul is writing to the New Covenant people. What is the promise of the New Covenant? Consider Jeremiah 31:31-34, in which God laid out the promise of the New Covenant brought in by Jesus,
“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
With good cause, we naturally gravitate toward the declaration that the Lord will forgive us our sins and remember them no more. That is a glorious reality, guaranteed by the finished work of Christ, that we should never forget and take lightly. In Christ, you really are forgiven completely and finally. Your sins, past, present, and future, are paid in full. He will never cast you out!
But our celebration of this reality should not cloud out another promise of the New Covenant: in Christ, the law is written on your heart. Put differently, your heart is made new. Instead of sin and rebellion directing you, God has written his desire and his ways on your heart. Now when you read the word of God, you feel drawn to obey it not because you feel guilty, but because you love it. It is who you want to be because, in Christ, it is who you are.
The word of God is not just doctrine you read, it is doctrine written on your heart. So when you are exposed to it in God’s word, you feel drawn by God’s Spirit to conform to it.
The gospel is the good news that in Christ you are forgiven and made new, so it fits that your life should be new. The reason Titus is to instruct in a new way of living is because, when you come to Christ, you have a new identity and new ability. This is why the behavior listed in verses 2-10 fits. A new identity calls for a new way of life.
The Church As the Place of Teaching and Modeling
As we are made new in Christ, we are brought together in the church, where we receive instruction in doctrine and modeling for how to live out that instruction. Paul addresses 6 groups in particular who are to receive this instruction and, to some extent—some lesser, others greater—model for others in the church a life that fits with the truth of the gospel. He specifically addresses older men, older women, younger women, younger men, Titus himself, and bondservants.
Each of these individuals needs to receive instruction and, to some extent, model for others what Christlikeness looks like. The heaviest burden of modeling falls onto the older men and women, and Titus as a leader. It is worth noting, however, that no matter your age, people are looking at you as a model. If you are older, more people are watching you because they expect you to have an experience that is worth emulating. If you are in your 50s, guess what? Everyone is watching you. But if you are in your twenties, guess what? These 7,8, and 9-year-olds are watching.
So let’s hear this instruction of how each group is supposed to live. For the sake of time and for some clarity, I am going to summarize each group and point out the doctrinal truth that undergirds this kind of behavior.
Older men—Live as a pillar for your church, not as a weathervane.
You are to be…
Sober-minded: you aren’t drunk on new ideas or disturbed by new events.
Dignified: conducting yourself in a way that makes it easier for people to honor you and listen to you. If you act like a teenager, people will not hear you as an older man with wisdom.
Self-controlled: you have cultivated the ability to say no to your passions and yes to what Christ calls good.
Sound (healthy) in faith, love, and steadfastness: when people look at you, they see your faith in Christ maturing, your service to others as a guide, and your running of the race to heaven as something that can be emulated.
What all of this communicates is that you are an example of a man who can serve as a pillar for the church because you are held by the key doctrines of the church. A life like this reflects these doctrinal realities:
You aren’t shifting with the times, but you are solidly controlled by the fact that Jesus is Lord and is in control,
You bear the responsibility to pass on your faith to others,
Christ's ways are the best ways,
Christ will return to judge and deliver you and his people, so endure!
Older women—Live as pillars for your church, not subverters of God’s good order
You are to be…
Reverent in your behavior: Not trying to live like a young woman. Be who you are. Age and conduct yourself with the dignity that age brings.
Don’t give your time to slander and wine: This might sound funny, but many women give themselves over to this as they age and have more time. But do not spend your time about your own pleasure tearing others down. Instead…
Teach what is good, and so train the young women: women have a gift to teach other women that men do not have. As you age, you have an authority of experience that other women will hunger to have if they are wise. Be ready to give it. And the wisdom you pass on is how to live as one who submits to God’s creation order instead of one who subverts it.
What this communicates is that the word of God is true. Genesis 2 teaches us that the normal pattern for most women is to be married and have children. That is what is assumed in the instructions to younger women. The temptation for men is to throw off the responsibility of leadership; the temptation for women is to throw off the responsibility of being a helpmeet. To devout yourself to teaching younger women how to love their husbands, children, and care for the home is to devout yourself to saying, “God’s creation order is good no matter what the world has to say.
Younger women—rejoice in God’s good creation order
An assumption of what is normal is made in these instructions. This is not saying that all women must be married, but it is saying that women should rejoice in God’s good creation order in which marriage plays a key role. Older women are to pass on these things that they do themselves to young women:
Love their husbands and children. Love is a choice, not merely an emotion. This instruction is powerful if you recall that women in this time did not choose their spouses. By loving their husbands, wives modeled their love and devotion to their Lord, Jesus.
Be self-controlled: cultivate the ability to say no to your passions and yes to Christ.
Pure: not seeking to gain praise and attention by exploiting your bodies in ways that God does not approve. Instead, seeking holiness.
Working at home: while this does not mean a woman cannot work outside of the home, she cannot abandon her responsibilities to the home.
Kind: in the context of working at home, she is to be hospitable and welcoming to others.
Submissive to her own husband: She does not need to submit to other husbands, but she willingly submits to her husband as her head and authority. While she does not follow him into sin since Christ is Lord, she follows him as her head given to her by Christ so as to model the relationship of Christ and the church in her marriage.
This is inflammatory instruction in the world today, but it is instruction built on the fact that a woman was created to be a helpmeet and she is biologically geared toward having children. These instructions make sense if you read Genesis 2 and say that God’s word is trustworthy, authoritative, and sufficient. While not all women will marry or have children, no woman should willingly forsake marriage and children as a rejection of God’s creation order. In other words, you can embrace these things and call them good even if you are not able to marry and have children. You can celebrate the beauty of this image and this teaching in the way you live and speak about marriage and children.
And what a testimony this is in our world today.
Younger men—prepare for service by mastering your passions
It might seem funny that young men are given one instruction, but they are. I do not think it is because they have no need of further instruction. Rather, I think it stems from the fact that for young men, it all begins with self-control and the instructions given to others can all fall under this same category of self-control.
As you aim to be one who says no to his passions in order to say yes to Christ, you proclaim the Lordship of Jesus and his goodness as a master.
Young men, you can be self-controlled through the power of God’s Spirit. And, when you practice self-control, you give a good testimony to others about the power and goodness of Christ.
Titus—set an example for all in conduct and in speech
While this is direct instruction to Titus, it also serves as instruction for anyone in a type of leadership position in the church. Leaders will be watched more closely, so leaders of any kind must do the following:
Model good works
Teach with integrity (pure motive so you are not disqualified in the end), dignity (serious manner so you will be taken seriously), and healthy speech (content that lines up with the truth).
Conducting yourself this way lives in light of the fact that God will hold you accountable for the way you lead, model, and teach.
Bondservants—imitate Christ as a willing servant, not a begrudging one
Bondservants were not quite slaves, but they were not quite employees either. it is fitting to call them slaves if we also remember not to impose US chattel slavery assumptions on them. To be treated as a bondservant was demeaning, but to choose to serve as what Christ frees slaves to do. Slaves are to choose to be submissive in all things, meaning…
They aim to please those they serve instead of arguing with them.
They aim to be faithful with what they are entrusted with instead of stealing.
According to the world, service is demeaning. But according to Christ, it is the measure of your greatness. When the disciples argued with each other about greatness, Jesus called them together in Mark 10:42-45 and said this to them,
“You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Do you see what Jesus is telling us there? The world says greatness is measured by how much you can get from others, but he says that greatness is measured by how much you can give to others. In this way, bondservants, who were required to serve, could show Christ by becoming willing servants who aimed to please instead of complain.
All of these behaviors fit healthy doctrine because they flow out of what God has said in his word.
Yet, saying all of this should naturally lead us to a closing question: why do this? What is the motivation for having a life that is in accord with sound doctrine? That leads us to our closing point.
In order to frame the glory of God by our lives (5b, 8b, 10b)
Notice the 3 purpose statements in this passage in verses 5, 8, and 10. The concern in these verses is that God’s word would not be reviled, that opponents would not have ammo to write off the gospel message, and that (positively) our lives might adorn the gospel.
“Adorn” refers to how someone dresses or sets up a room. To adorn the doctrine of God is not to add to it; it is to live in such a way that the attention of others is drawn to it.
If you come to my house you will notice that there are big windows in my living room. It is one of Haley’s favorite features of the home. We can watch the birds and look at the mountains. Last year I did a bathroom remodel and, to Haley’s chagrin, I placed our old toilet in the backyard. For months it sat there. As a result, do you know what happened when you looked out of our back windows? Your eyes would not be drawn to the majestic mountains, the beautiful snow, or the peaceful trees. They would be drawn to the toilet.
When our lives are in accord with healthy doctrine, the eyes of others are not distracted but drawn to the beauty of God in the gospel. As you grow in Christlikeness, it isn’t to draw attention to yourself. It is to free others up to see Christ instead of seeing you.
Growing in these behaviors does not begin by focusing on behavior. It begins by focusing on the glory of God in the gospel. It begins by rejoicing in and embracing the gift of Christ in the gospel. When you delight in God, then you will delight to magnify his glory in your life by getting out of the way so that others may clearly see his beauty, goodness, and grace.
Let us all turn our eyes to the beauty of his grace by going to the Lord’s table together.
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