by Russ Bowman<\/p>\n
“But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine<\/em>” (Titus 2:1).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Sound doctrine – healthy teaching – is vital. It is the task of men like Titus – evangelists who declare the gospel of Jesus Christ. And it should be the aim of everyone who aspires to follow the Lord, because healthy teaching is not simply focused upon truths to be embraced. It is practical in its ends. What we believe determines who we become.<\/p>\n
Paul has warned Titus about those “insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers<\/em>” who “subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not<\/em>” (Titus 1:10-11). Whoever these men were, their doctrine was corruptive both to themselves and to those who embraced it (Titus 1:10-16). In contrast, Paul tells Titus to teach those things that are “proper for sound doctrine<\/em>” – suitable or fit for healthy teaching. This doctrine is constructive. It makes godly people. Godly older men. Godly older women. Godly young women. Godly young men. Godly bondservants. The grace of God instructs all followers in the qualities of seriousness, righteousness, and godliness (Titus 2:11-12). God wants a people redeemed from lawlessness and purified for Him (Titus 2:14). Good teaching makes good people.<\/p>\n
This truth does not rule out the possibility that some teaching involves concepts or directives. In His revelation, God helps us to understand Himself and His will so that we might put our faith in Him. But even those parts of doctrine that are more abstract or that direct our worship or how we are to function collectively will eventually impact our behavior. If my understanding is faulty, it will lead not only to disobedience but also to a character that is less than what God desires. Perverted doctrine produces polluted people. When we embrace anything less than God’s will, we become less than what God desires.<\/p>\n
Sound doctrine – healthy teaching – is vital. What we believe determines who we become.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Russ Bowman “But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine” (Titus 2:1). Sound doctrine – healthy teaching – is vital. It is the task of men like Titus – evangelists who declare the gospel of Jesus Christ. And it should be the aim of everyone who aspires to follow…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[77,1383],"class_list":["post-96540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-doctrine","tag-soundness"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":96983,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/healthy-teaching\/","url_meta":{"origin":96540,"position":0},"title":"Healthy Teaching","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 27, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Edwin Crozier Though there are some teachers who need to be silenced, as Paul explained at the end of Titus 1, teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach, upsetting whole families, Titus needs to teach what accords with sound or healthy doctrine. I have no doubt\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":91417,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/check-your-soundness\/","url_meta":{"origin":96540,"position":1},"title":"Check Your Soundness","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 20, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton To be sound is to be solid and healthy as opposed to weakened and sickly. There are six areas mentioned in the book of Titus that we need to examine in ourselves. Are you: Sound in the doctrine you believe and practice? (Titus 1:9; 2:1):\u00a0 Is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":96356,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-falling-away\/","url_meta":{"origin":96540,"position":2},"title":"The Falling Away","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 30, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Hugh DeLong \"But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron\" (I Timothy 4:1-2). Paul's warning\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":48396,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-sound-mind-in-a-sound-body\/","url_meta":{"origin":96540,"position":3},"title":"A Sound Mind in a Sound Body","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 19, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Timothy 4:6-16 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Back in the time of the early church, a Roman poet, Juvenal, stated \u201cYou should pray for a sound mind in a sound body.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The thought is clear. To have one without the other is far from an enjoyable life. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":61353,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/doctrine\/","url_meta":{"origin":96540,"position":4},"title":"Doctrine","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 11, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"A person will not reach heaven if they advocate a doctrine different from God A person who changes God's teaching is condemned - Galatians 1:6-10; I Timothy 6:3-5; Revelation 22:18-19 Men are to be instructed not to teach different doctrines - I Timothy 1:3-4 We are commanded to reject a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Notes","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/notes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":55266,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/balance-in-sound-preaching\/","url_meta":{"origin":96540,"position":5},"title":"Balance in Sound Preaching","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 23, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Dudley Spears One of the definitions of balance is, \"A harmonious satisfying arrangement or proportion of parts or elements, as in a design. 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The Lord is at hand\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/balance-300x194.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96540"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96540\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}