The follower of Jesus Christ is called to pure and holy living. Titus 2:2-8 is actually a model for mentoring that kind of life. Three clear points are made:
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The older is to teach the younger [one may be old or young in age or spiritual maturity];
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God’s creation of male and female as equally dignified but different is reflected in separate instructions to men and women;
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Older men and women (parents, teachers, or the spiritually mature) are not called to educate children in sex, but to instruct boys and girls in “purity.”
Accurate Teaching
Titus 2:1 – Modern society with its trendy and sophisticated thinking makes it difficult for Christians to discern accurate teachings. God’s Word tells us that the wisdom of this world is foolishness to him (1Corinthians 3:19). Sometimes worldly ideas are even wrapped in Jesus. So as not to be fooled, we must know the living Word who came to live among us (John 1:1, 14). One topic that confuses and even intimidates parents is sex. Intentionally or not, most sex education has been tainted by worldly ideas or inaccurate teachings. That’s because the origin of modern school sex education is not Biblical, but human. It is not based on “accurate teaching.”
Accurate teaching is Biblical teaching. In the Bible, God calls his children to holy (not sexy) living. “Be my holy people because I, the Lord, am holy. I have separated you from other people to be my very own” (Leviticus 20:26). “Stay away from sexual sins. Other sins that people commit don’t affect their bodies the same way sexual sins do. People who sin sexually sin against their own bodies. Don’t you know that your body is a temple that belongs to the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit, whom you received from God, lives in you. You don’t belong to yourselves. You were bought for a price. So bring glory to God in the way you use your body” (1 Corinthians 6:18-20).
Adult Influence and Responsibility
Adults are to guard the innocence of childhood. Christian parents do this first and foremost by reminding their children (and themselves!) that they belong to God. The love he demonstrated toward them in Jesus Christ will never diminish or depart. It is this love that is the proper and most powerful motivation for making good choices.
Secondly, adults guard innocence by surrounding sons and daughters with the Word of God and defending against worldly ideas. It is a privilege to instruct children with the Truth that will guide and protect them all their lives. Parents need not be intimidated in their role as teachers for they have been equipped for the job. The Bible contains everything that is needed to help boys and girls respect themselves and others, understand why men and women are equal but different, resist sexual temptation, protect human life from the moment of fertilization, and “live the kind of life that goes along with accurate teachings.”
And there’s more! Jesus, who motivates good choices, is our hope when bad choices are made. Every time we fail to live the kind of life God demands, there is always hope in Jesus! Jesus has mercy on those who are truly sorry for their sins and want to start over. Repentant sinners who put their trust in God’s accurate teaching-his Holy and life-changing Word-will be forgiven and led back onto the good path of life.
Older Men Teach Younger Men
Titus 2:2; 6-8 – God wants older men to teach younger men “to use good judgment” (v.6). The most difficult challenge for an older man is to set an example by “doing good things” (v. 7). Good things include being “sober,” the development of “good character,” and being well-grounded in “faith, love, and endurance” (v. 2). When an older man teaches, he is to be an example of “moral purity and dignity” (v. 7b).
The concept of chivalry is seen in these passages. Chivalry is the protective covering around purity. Ephesians 5:25 describes the chivalry of Jesus Christ. He not only guarded the purity of his Bride, the Church, he sacrificed his life for her. This chivalrous love was modeled by most of the men on board the Titanic who gave their lives so that women and children might live. ”Titanic” love begins before marriage. For a young man, it means practicing chivalry or the art of being a gentleman. It means caring about the needs of others before self. It means being in control of passion. It means treating all young women as he wants his someday wife to be treated.
All of this is expecting a lot! Thus it intimidates men of faith-be they fathers, grandfathers, or teachers-because they are painfully aware of their own sinful nature (Titus 3:3). But, men need not be intimidated by the world or by their own past (Titus 3:4-8). Sins that have been confessed to God are forgiven and forgotten in Jesus Christ. Men of faith can show young men the way to the Cross where the Savior forgives all sins and changes lives not just by offering forgiveness but also by asking for forgiveness for themselves. In Jesus, all men are equipped to start over—fresh and new. In Jesus Christ, older men of faith can be confident in raising sons to be morally pure. In Jesus Christ, older men of faith can set a standard based on God’s Word for life. Even though the world will oppose it, truth will always be light in the darkness.
Older Women Teach Younger Women
Titus 2:3-5 – Once again, we find instructions specific to gender. An older woman sets an example that honors God by not gossiping. Most women have a deep and natural desire to verbalize their thoughts and feelings. This may relieve stress but, more importantly, allows her to nurture, share creativity, offer assistance, or even praise. God desires that a woman practice self-control in her speech and in her behavior. What comes out of her mouth should be respectful of others and pleasing to her Creator. A woman’s words should not lead others to sin.
An older woman should be an example of virtue or sexual purity. But, what if she has not been virtuous? Women need not be driven to despair because of immoral living. “God is faithful and reliable. If we confess our sins, he forgives them and cleanses us from everything we’ve done wrong” (1 John 1:9). In Jesus, a woman is free to start over. In so doing, she leads other women from despair to hope (Titus 3:3-8).
The passages in Titus 2 are filled with life-changing and generational truth for women. Women are not duplicates of men. A woman of faith trusts God’s design for womanhood. She understands that being a wife and mother is a high calling. ”Homemaking” is a vocation which has a profound generational impact. Even if a woman is not married, she can still make a home—a “safe” place for others, a sphere of influence. The married woman does not see being under her husband’s authority as repressive or threatening. Instead, she remembers that a husband’s leadership is God’s way of bringing order out of chaos.
Living a Pure and Holy Life
The Christian man or woman who trusts God’s Word and is equipped to live in a way that honors God will appreciate the rewards.
Titus 2:11-14 – Living a pure and holy life begins when the Holy Spirit helps us recognize our need for a Savior. By ourselves, we cannot live a holy life. The sin in us prevents us from living in a way that pleases God. But, when we are moved by the Spirit to remember the price that Jesus paid for each of our lives by dying on the Cross, we begin to understand how valuable we really are. God’s “saving kindness” appeared in Jesus “for the benefit of all people” (vs. 11). Jesus gave himself for us—to save us from all sin, including sexual sins that we commit against our own bodies or the bodies of others. Jesus’ blood purified us! It gives us a certain hope in the “appearance of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ” (vs. 14)! Remembering and trusting this, we are free to be “enthusiastic about doing good things”—to strive to live a pure and holy life!
Sexual Purity
Remembering this, we also see purity in a new light. Purity is about more than abstinence from sex. Purity is a lifestyle of choices and behavior that glorifies God. Purity is saying “no” to wrong things and “yes” to invitations from God to do good things. That does not make sexual purity a Victorian or prudish idea. It is God’s idea! Many parts of Scripture speak about holiness in regard to sexual thoughts and actions. We are to flee sexual immorality (1 Corinthians 6:18) because the believing Christian has been purchased at great cost by Christ’s death and resurrection. The Christian’s body, which will be raised on the Last Day, is, even now, a temple of the Holy Spirit who lives within us (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
Propriety, Mystery, Modesty
Purity is about propriety, mystery, and modesty. Fathers and mothers, as well as pastors and teachers, show obedience to God when they guard virtue by maintaining a child’s innocence. God’s Word says, “Do not awaken love or arouse love before its proper time” (Song of Songs 3:5b). The purity of children must be nurtured in a special garden tucked safely behind a protective fence. That fence is the home. God entrusts the training of children to their parents. The church is called to support and assist parents.
Purity must grow in an environment where modesty is preserved. This is not a coed classroom. It is nearly impossible to train in purity when intimate topics are discussed between boys and girls in a casual manner. Lessons in anatomy are not the same as lessons in sex. Rather than trying to remove embarrassment (a natural protection from God for unmarried men and women), the parent or Titus mentor should do everything they can to maintain modesty. We dignify girls by explaining that there is mystery in more clothing than less and that a girl’s behavior can raise—or lower—a boy’s standard. We dignify boys by leading them away from the “temptress” (Proverbs 7) and teaching them how to guard a woman’s virtue.
Purity respects male and female as equal, but not the same. Both man and woman were created in God’s image (Genesis 1:27). Woman was like the man (Genesis 2:23). But, woman was created at a different time, in a different way, and for a different purpose (Genesis 2:15, 22; 3:20).
Purity respects man in his role as a servant-leader (Luke 22:26). Jesus led his bride, the Church, to holiness on the Calvary road. He may have looked weak, but he was strong in saying “no” to the temptations of the world while leading his Bride to holiness.
Purity respects woman in her role as the “rib” (Genesis 2:22) and “pillar” (Psalm 144:12b). She is strong, yet delicate and fragile; supportive, yet vulnerable to attack. Purity respects woman as the bearer of life and, therefore, places her within protective, yet pleasant, boundaries. These boundaries are drawn by God to respect the physical and psychological differences between male and female. Woe to those who attempt to erase these boundaries or ignore them by pretending that boys and girls are the same. Woe to the adults who remove the protective covering of modesty and desensitize children by repeatedly making them “comfortable” with topics of sex and “sexuality” while raising their curiosity (Matthew 18:1-10; Luke 17:1-2). Purity continues in marriage (Hebrews 13:4) where one man and one woman become one flesh for life (Mark 10:7, 9).
God wants us to strive to live a pure and holy life and to “never let sin rule.” Overcoming the rule of sin comes from trusting that God in Christ has removed the power of sin. We need not be controlled by sin for we live under “God’s favor” (Romans 6:11-14).