Titus 2

SPEAKER 01 : 0:08

Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. Allen J. Huth shares a Bible passage with comments from over 35 years of his personal Bible reading journals and applies the Word of God to our daily lives.

SPEAKER 02 : 0:23

Today we are in Titus chapter 2, and I’m going to read the 15 verses of Titus chapter 2. 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. Slaves 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. For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age. waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. Declare these things, exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you. In 1999, after reading Titus 2, I had a couple of those one-line summaries. Speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine. Then I referred to verses 2, 6, and 8. Old men and young men. And lastly, chapter 2 is a great men chapter. In 2008, I wrote, quoting verse 1, Speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine. Where do we get sound doctrine? The Bible. Act in ways so that the word of God will not be dishonored, so nothing bad can be said about us. Deny ungodliness and worldly desires. In 2013, I wrote, But as for you, We need to be different than what is in the world. I continued to write, As an older man, I am to be dignified, sound in my faith and in love. Older women are to be reverent in behavior and teach young women to be godly wives and mothers. We should all be models of good works with integrity and sound speech. We represent Jesus. There needs to be a difference in our behavior. Paul starts out chapter 2 with that little phrase, but as for you. So let’s go back to the end of chapter 1 to see what he’s contrasting here. In chapter 1, verse 10, Paul was saying, “…for there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers, and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party. They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach.” And in verse 15, Paul continues, “…to the pure all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure. But both their minds and their consciences are defiled. They profess to know God, but they deny Him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.” And then he starts chapter two with, but as for you, of course, he’s talking to Titus, but as for you, the but as for you applies to us today. As Christians, are we noticeably different in our behavior? And Paul gives us some examples for older men and older women here in chapter 2. How are we to be different as Christians? He says in verse 2, older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. I don’t know where the line gets drawn between young men and older men, but I suppose at my current age I’d be considered an older man. I’m in my 60s, so am I sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith and love and steadfast? Lord, let it be so. In verse 6, Paul goes on to the younger men. Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. Show yourselves in all respects to be a model of good works and in your teachings. Show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned. Regardless of our age, men, we are to be men of integrity, faith, love, dignity, and self-control. Paul also talks to women. In verse 3 he says, They are to teach what is good, and so train the younger 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. So older women have the responsibility to train up younger women. Why act this way? Why be different than the world? Paul tells us in verse 11, For the grace of God has appeared bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives. People around us should see the difference salvation makes in a life. Do people see these characteristics in you? Whether you’re an older person or a younger person, do you exemplify biblical, godly character to those around you? From Titus chapter 2, may I encourage you to take an inventory of not only what you believe, but how you behave. Father help us to line up our behavior with our beliefs. Help us represent you well here in our sojourn on the earth. By your grace you have brought salvation for all people. May people see Jesus in us through our behavior. And if we’re failing, where we’re failing, Lord, help us renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and live a self-controlled Christian life in you. Holy Spirit, help us live godly lives while we wait for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen. Thanks for listening to Add Bible, brought to you by the Ezra Project. The Ezra Project was founded in 2002 to connect God’s people to God’s Word. I have a passion for the Word of God, and I have a heartfelt desire to see Christians live lives according to biblical principles. For the first 14 years of the Ezra Project, we spoke in churches, encouraging folks to come back to the habit of daily Bible reading. But then in 2016, God reshaped our ministry outreach with these podcasts going directly to the Christian community. We hope you will share AdBible with your circle of friends and family. And we hope that if you are being blessed, that you would visit our website, EzraProject.net, and see how you can financially partner with the Ezra Project. I believe connecting God’s people to God’s Word is one of the greatest needs in our churches today. I hope you agree and that you will prayerfully consider becoming a financial partner with the Ezra Project. Visit EzraProject.net. Thank you. Thank you for listening to AdBible. Though the Bible can be read at the speed I’m speaking in about 78 hours, surveys show we don’t read it. How many of you have ever read the Bible cover to cover? How many have tried and failed? I want to encourage you to try it again. I want to share with you what I call the Triple I Doctrine and some powerful reasons to stay in your Bible daily. I begin with a verse from 2 Peter 1.21. But holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. That’s how we got the Bible. The Holy Spirit moved holy men of God to write it, all of it. Because He did, we can now look at the Triple I Doctrine, the inspired, infallible, inerrant Word of God. What do these terms mean? Inspired means God-breathed. 2 Timothy 3.16 says, All Scripture is given by inspiration of God. What does infallible mean? It means no potential or ability to err. Totally reliable. It cannot contradict itself. And Hebrews 6.18 says, It is impossible for God to lie. And the last one is inerrant. What does that mean? It means it’s technically correct. It’s free from falsehood and deceit. Wholly true. It’s doctrine. It’s history. It’s science. It’s geography. And Matthew 5.18 says, For assuredly I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. And Revelation 22, 18 and 19 say, For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book, if anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book. And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the book of life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. So the Triple I Doctrine is reason enough to be in God’s Word each day. But in case you need more encouragement, here are three more thoughts. First, improve your spiritual maturity. According to Barna Research, of the seven dimensions in which Americans were asked to rate their faith maturity, Bible knowledge ranked dead last. So if you want to improve your spiritual maturity, stay in God’s Word daily. Number two is develop a dynamic relationship with God. Dr. Woodrow Kroll, former president of Back to the Bible, wrote a book called Taking Back the Good Book. He said, When people tire of reading the Bible, it’s because they read it for the wrong reasons or in the wrong way. They read the Bible to gain knowledge, store facts, or pick up a few principles to live by. When you see the Bible as a means to a dynamic relationship with God, you can’t get enough of it because you can’t get enough of Him. And the third thought is to be transformed. Don’t read the Bible to be informed. Read it to be transformed. And I’m going to share a fun little story with you about being transformed by the Word of God. It’s about an old man who lived on a farm in the mountains of Kentucky with his young grandson. Each morning, Grandpa was up early, sitting at the kitchen table reading from his old, worn-out Bible. His grandson, who wanted to be just like him, tried to imitate him in any way he could. One day the grandson asked, Papa, I try to read the Bible, just like you, but I don’t understand it, and what I do understand I forget as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Bible do? The grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and said, take this coal basket down to the river and bring back a basket of water. The boy did as he was told, even though all the water leaked out before he got back to the house. The grandfather laughed and said, you’ll have to move a little faster next time and send him back to the river with the basket to try again. This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned home. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was impossible to carry water in a basket, and he went to get a bucket instead. The old man said, I don’t want a bucket of water. I want a basket of water. You can do this. You’re just not trying hard enough. And he went out the door to watch the boy try again. At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water would leak out before he got far at all. The boy scooped the water and ran hard, but when he reached his grandfather, the basket was again empty. Out of breath, he said, See, Papa, it’s useless. So you think it’s useless, the old man said. Look at the basket. The boy looked at the basket, and for the first time, he realized that the basket looked different. Instead of a dirty old coal basket, it was clean. Son, that’s what happens when you read the Bible. You might not understand or remember everything, But when you read it, it will change you from the inside out. So read the Bible so you can improve your spiritual maturity, develop a dynamic relationship with God, and be transformed, not informed.