In Titus 2:1-6 Paul instructed Titus to speak things which become sound doctrine. He was to teach the Cretians things which were befitting sound doctrine. These things he was instructed to teach were things dealing with behavior. In other words, if you believe the sound doctrine of the Bible, what you do should match what you believe. Your conduct and your deportment should testify of your faith in the words of God.
Paul addressed four groups of people. He addressed the aged men, the aged women, the young women, and the young men. Each was to be given specific instructions concerning their behavior.
Instructions to Aged Men – Titus 2:2 they are to be:
- Sober – exercising cool, dispassionate reason. Cool headed. Contrast this behavior with the behavior of men in this age of outrage. You can’t imagine the problems that have been caused in churches by men who have lost their cool and stirred up trouble.
- Grave – authoritative, having a serious and dignified quality or demeanor.
- Temperate – moderate in the indulgence of appetites, having the body in subjection.
- Sound in faith – faith that is sound is founded in truth and strong. Living by sound doctrine from the true words of God results in sound faith.
- Sound in charity – this is the kind of charity that never faileth, 1 Cor 13:8.
- Sound in patience – patient until God works things out his way in his time. These three qualities of faith, charity, and patience are essential in aged men in good churches. They keep the church strong and together.
Instructions to Aged Women – Titus 2:3 they are to be:
- In behavior as becometh holiness – they are to be holy 1 Pet 1:15-16, not “act” holy, and their inward holiness is to be apparent in their behavior. The meek and quiet spirit of 1 Pet 3:4 is the direct result of the presence of the hidden man of the heart.
- Not false accusers – women profess to have an intuition about people. Unfortunately, they are often wrong. You cannot imagine the untold damage that has been done to churches by women who have spread false accusations about others. They must keep their tongue.
- Not given to much wine – just like the bishops in 1 Tim 3:3 and deacons in 1 Tim 3:8.
- Teachers of good things – aged women can teach many good things from the words of God and from practical experience. Look at the influence Eunice and Lois had on Timothy’s faith in 2 Tim 1:5. In Titus 2:4 the aged women are to teach the young women.
Instructions to Young Women – Titus 2:4-5 they are to:
- Love their husbands – there is more to love than the natural attraction of infatuation. Aged women have to teach the young women to love their husbands. There appears to be little to no instruction on this subject today. Premarital instruction has been very helpful to our young couples.
- Love their children – again there is more to love than the natural affection of a mother for her child. She must be taught to love her children. For example, one of the best ways to show love to your children is one of the hardest things to do, Prov 13:24.
They are to be:
- Sober – see the definition of sober under aged men, above. Young women are too emotional and irrational, particularly today. And many of them are on dope.
- Discreet – to be discreet is to be prudent and wise in avoiding errors or evil. Contrast the fair woman of Prov 11:22, who is without discretion.
- Chaste – she is to be a virgin when she marries and to be faithful once she’s married. She needs to be taught this. Notice that the strange woman of Prov 2:17 forsakes the guide of her youth. Unfortunately, many mothers have enabled their daughters to fornicate and don’t even realize it.
- Keepers at home – a keeper is one who has the care, custody or superintendence of anything. Like the virtuous woman of Prov 31, she keeps the home. Ideally, she should be a stay-at-home mother to fulfill this duty. Dr. Tom Williams preached that one of the greatest influences that propelled the rise in the divorce rate was mothers entering the workplace during and after WWII.
- Good – a woman, then, has a much better possibility of being a good woman if she is taught how to be good by good women.
- Obedient to their own husbands – a young woman must be taught to obey her husband. Sara obeyed Abraham, 1 Pet 3:6. We live in a society that has taken the word “obey” out of the marriage vows and has destroyed this doctrine. This is all the more reason that younger women need to be taught to obey their husbands.
That the word of God be not blasphemed. If younger women refuse to do the things that aged women are supposed to teach them, then the word of God is blasphemed. This is the same as cursing God or accusing Jesus Christ of having an unclean spirit. Unfortunately, we live in a society that has taken away every single one of these instructions. Is there any wonder, then, why American homes have been destroyed?
Instructions to Young Men – Titus 2:6 they are to be:
Sober minded – young men are to be habitually sober, calm, and temperate. Many of them are doped up or drunk. They live in a world where young men are far too emotional and irrational. It’s all about their “feelings” with them. You might ask why there weren’t more instructions given to young men. I would answer that they are incapable of handling more than one instruction at a time. If they will just do this one thing, there is hope that they might grow up to be aged men who have learned to be what aged men in this text are supposed to be. If they will walk with men like the aged men above, they will catch on. We have to be careful not to overwhelm them. I being facetious, of course.
Conclusion: despite the fact that the world generally disagrees with everything in this passage, we must be faithful, as the stewards of God’s words, to live these things and to teach them to our young people. We do not come by these things naturally.