Titus 2:2-6

²Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance. ³Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. ⁴Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, ⁵to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God. ⁶Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled.

Paul tells Titus to teach older men and younger men, as well as older women, who will then be able to teach the younger women. Paul is implicitly telling these Cretan Christians that they’re lives are intertwined with one another. Their desire to grow in grace is not just for their own personal relationship with God; it has an impact on the well-being and the witness of the whole congregation.

First, Titus is to instruct the older men in matters of their physical character (they ought to be temperate, worthy of respect, or dignified, and self-controlled, or sensible); Calvin says, “In the life of old men, therefore, let there be displayed ‘a becoming gravity,’ which shall constrain the young to modesty.” Titus is also to instruct the older men in matters of their spiritual health (sound in faith – trusting Christ, sound in love – caring deeply and selflessly for others over themselves, and sound in endurance, or patience, or perseverance – steadily making progress in their walk with Christ and not backsliding). Calvin calls these – faith, love, and patience – the “sum of Christian perfection.” Titus is to preach sound doctrine to the older men, especially in relation to the application of these elements in their lives.

Second, Titus is to instruct the older women in similar matters regarding their inward beauty (to be reverent – especially in terms of modest dress, not to slander – gossip in over-talkativeness – or be a winebibber (Proverbs 23:20), and to teach). Carolyn Mahaney has written a fabulous book, so I’m told, called Feminine Appeal that addresses women, both young and old, using this text. Ligon Duncan says, “Their character is to evidence God’s transforming grace at work in their lives, and they’re to teach by their example, by their life, the young women of the congregation. They’re not only to be motivated in the Christian life because of God’s grace to them…out of gratitude to God; but they’re to be motivated to live the Christian life because there’s someone watching them, someone that they ought to encourage, someone younger than them who doesn’t know the ropes like they know them… [someone who] needs to be encouraged along the way in living the Christian life.”

Third, Titus is to instruct younger men simply to be self-controlled. Calvin says, “It is as if he had said, ‘Let them be well regulated and obedient to reason.’” Fourth, going back to the motive for the older women, they are to teach the younger women. It’s not enough for older women to live rightly; they must also teach younger women. It’s interesting to me that Paul doesn’t tell Titus to teach the younger women. They are off-limits, possibly though not likely for sexual reasons, but probably because young women lacked cultural respect. The older women, instructed by Titus, are to then teach the younger women “to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands.” These instructions, chastity and avoiding imprudence, are not merely for the younger women, but are for all women, regardless of age. Because the older women have more experience, they are the instructors, generally speaking.

No doubt these teachings hit home with the Cretan Christians exactly where they were in their lives. The word of God is to be learned (sound doctrine) and applied directly to these areas of each Christian’s life. If we had to pick one common element, it might be sober-mindedness, something crucial to Paul in this letter (1 Timothy 5:1-2). “Self-controlled” is the same idea, and the verb form is found in v4, translated “train.” It means to “bring them to their senses.” Think about that in light of what we know of Cretans! It’s perfect instruction.