The church has to teach sound and solid doctrine
The church has to teach the doctrine based on the Word of God; otherwise, it is not a church. Remember that at the very beginning of the church, on the day of Pentecost, we were told, in Acts 2:42, that those who were added to the church on that day ... persevered in the doctrine of the apostles, in communion with one another, in the breaking of bread and in prayers. These were the signs of identity of the first church: the doctrine of the apostles, communion, the breaking of bread and prayer. The appearance of a church building, its interior decoration or the comfort of its facilities does not really matter. It is the message that resonates from the pulpit that will tell us if the church is really a church, organized as Paul understood it, and how the Word of God describes it.
In the first chapter we find that the elders whom Tito was going to name had to be able to do two things: exhort and refute the heretics. It is important that a person in charge of the church does not pass the totality of his ministry rebutting what everyone else says. There are some who play what we would call a negative ministry: all they do is to attack the enemies of the gospel. This is important, but we believe that we all need to engage in a balanced ministry. An elder should be able to exhort from the Word of God, just as he should be able to respond to a heretic. We will find that in this second chapter of the letter to Titus, the emphasis of the apostle Paul will fall on the teaching of the Word of God. Before concluding today, and in order to grasp the tone of the aforementioned emphasis of the apostle, expressed in this chapter, we are going to read the first verse of this second chapter of this letter addressed to Titus:
"But you speak what is in accordance with sound doctrine."
The expression healthy doctrine, which can also be translated as "sound teaching" means the doctrine of the apostles. The most important issue, the first on the list of priorities of the early church was the doctrine of the apostles. By the way, what we read in these epistles or letters that we are studying is also a part of the doctrine of the apostles.
So let us remember that, as we explained in our introduction to the book, the outline that we will follow in this second chapter will be as follows: "The church must teach sound and sound doctrine (verses 1 to 10) and,
"The church must preach the grace of God (verses 11 to 15).
Let's see what he says then, verse 2 of this chapter 2 of the Epistle to Titus:
"May the elders be sober, serious, prudent, healthy in faith, in love, in patience."
That is, they had to be healthy in their love and patience. They have to be sober, that is, vigilant, very serious, men who could be respected and capable of controlling themselves. Then we have the message for the old women in verse 3, where we read:
"Older women are also reverent in their demeanor, not being slanderers or slaves of wine, but teachers of good."
Older women should be reverent in their behavior.
Slander here refers to not being gossips, or addicted to much wine. And they should be good teachers for younger women. Let's continue reading verses 4 and 5 of this second chapter:
"That they teach the young women to love their husbands and their children, to be prudent, chaste, careful of their house, good, subject to their husbands, so that the word of God is not blasphemed."
There are several things that can be highlighted here. Careful of your home, this indicates the importance of the influence and activity of women in the home as a wife and mother, especially in the difficult times in which we live for the stability of the family, marital relationships and relationships between Fathers and sons.
Source
Now, he also says of them that they are good, subject to their husbands. The idea of obedience here is for a woman to respond to her husband. Responding or reacting to the other party in a love relationship is comprehensive and positive. This is the same Greek word that the Apostle Paul used in chapter 8 of his epistle to the Romans, verse 7. There it is spoken about obedience, and it has been translated as subjection. But we believe that it is necessary to understand what he means. In verse 7 of chapter 8, the Epistle to the Romans says: Because the designs of the flesh are enmity against God, because they are not subject to the law of God, nor can they. The thought of the apostle Paul is that the natural man, the carnal man, can not respond to God, because he has no relationship with him, has not recognized or accepted that love of God that initiates a relationship. He has no way to respond to God Now, the wife must respond to her husband, that is, that she must respond to her husband's love.
Credits for the Bible school following the teacher.
Biblical reference Reina valera 1960.
www.steemchurch.net
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