by Edwin Crozier<\/p>\n
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 all true doctrine falls under the heading of healthy teaching. However, since the empty talkers and deceivers are upsetting families, we are not surprised Paul emphasizes healthy teaching to shore up the homes among the Christians on Crete.<\/p>\n
Paul has already described the mature character of elders within the congregation. These were men who held a recognized and appointed role of leadership within the congregation. In Titus 2:2, Paul tells Titus what all the older men are to strive to be: sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, love, and in steadfastness. These terms are surprisingly similar to the very men who should be appointed elders, reminding us that the character of pastors is a standard goal of maturity for all Christians.<\/p>\n
Older women are to be reverent in their behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. These character traits are reminiscent of the character of the wives of deacons in I Timothy 3:11. Not only must they have these good character traits, but they are also to teach what is good. Why? So they can teach the younger women. Titus is not to teach the young women; the older women are to do that. Paul clearly recognizes the danger of Titus getting closely involved with the younger women. Just as Paul had told Timothy to treat the younger women as sisters with all purity (I Timothy 5:2), he establishes a boundary for Titus to help maintain purity.<\/p>\n
The older women are to teach the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands. No doubt, this is the kind of behavior that leads to reverent behavior that is neither slanderous nor enslaved to wine.<\/p>\n
The young men seem to get off pretty easy. Titus is charged simply to teach them to be similarly self-controlled. However, we should recognize this as a kind of synecdoche, that is, part for the whole. He uses one term from the list about older men to represent the larger list. Paul’s point is certainly not that young men are to be self-controlled like the older men, but that they are allowed to be undignified and unsound in faith, love, and steadfastness. Certainly, we expect the older men to be farther along in all this than the younger. But the older men only get that way by being taught these things as younger men.<\/p>\n
Again, I have no doubt healthy teaching encompasses all true teaching in all areas. But healthy teaching has a great emphasis on healthy families and healthy individual behavior in those families. Yes, we need to make sure our congregations are following healthy teaching, but let us not ignore the healthy teaching that should govern our lives at home.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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 all true doctrine falls under…<\/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":[1383,451],"class_list":["post-96983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-soundness","tag-teaching"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":96540,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/sound-doctrine\/","url_meta":{"origin":96983,"position":0},"title":"Sound Doctrine","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 9, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"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\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":96983,"position":1},"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":96983,"position":2},"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":91417,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/check-your-soundness\/","url_meta":{"origin":96983,"position":3},"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":8551,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-a-congregation-have-the-right-to-mandate-what-is-preached\/","url_meta":{"origin":96983,"position":4},"title":"Does a congregation have the right to mandate what is preached?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 12, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Thank you for your excellent response - It covers the subject well. The congregation's abuse of this is precisely the issue. Does this give the brethren the right to mandate or demand what he is to preach and teach? I am not talking about suggestions or a curriculum. I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":542,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/preachers\/","url_meta":{"origin":96983,"position":5},"title":"Preachers (Article)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 9, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Among the duties or roles within the church listed in Ephesians 4:11-12 is the work of the evangelist. The word is translated from a Greek word which referred to a person who brought joyous news of victory from the battlefront. 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