Teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine

Titus 2:1-3 - There’s always something we can learn from younger followers of Jesus, filter through the discernment of God’s Word, and teach to others.

Oct 18, 2025

Titus instructing the older men of the Cretan church. Image generated by ChatGPT (OpenAI) using the DALL·E model.

“You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine. Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance. Likewise, 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.”
‭‭Titus‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Of all the books of the New Testament, Titus is one that we haven’t examined much. Only five other times have verses from this epistle appeared in Heaven On Wheels. The epistle is attributed to our favorite letter-writer — the apostle Paul — and is addressed to Titus, who is thought to have been a Gentile converted to Christianity by Paul and who eventually became the bishop of the island of Crete.

That’s what the Epistle to Titus is all about — instruction to bishops and presbyters (elders) of the early church about their requirements to gain those positions and their duties once they have taken on the responsibility.

Today we’re looking at the first three verses of the second chapter of Titus. The previous chapter ends by reminding Titus and his fellow church leaders to rebuke those who are “full of meaningless talk and deception”, including those who are falling back on Jewish customs (food restrictions and circumcision). Paul begins this chapter by telling Titus to “teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine”.

Those other people might teach legalism, but Paul is directing Titus to teach not only “right thinking”, but “right living” as well. The NLT Bible shows this verse as “Promote the kind of living that reflects right teaching.”

Where does this “right teaching” come from? The Bible. It’s an instruction manual written by God telling mankind how to live. We can’t proclaim that we believe the Bible is the inerrant Word of God if we ignore its instruction on how to conduct our lives! Anything else is pure hypocrisy.

Paul is asking Titus to fulfill the Great Commission from Matthew 28:20, where Jesus instructed His disciples to teach “them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Paul begins by telling Titus to “Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.” Part of Titus’s flock at the church in Crete must have included some older men, which could have presented a problem to a much younger man like Titus. Only with love and wisdom would Titus be able to instruct the older men without them taking offense.

You might think that older men might already know how to “be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled”. If there’s one thing that making it to 68 years of age has taught me, it’s that this type of attitude doesn’t come automatically with age!

Paul also advised Titus to teach these older men to practice these virtues “sound in faith, in love and in endurance”. I’m not sure I agree with the NIV translation of the ancient Greek word ὑπομονή (hypomonē) as “in endurance” — the usual translation is simply “patience” or “the characteristic of a man who is not swerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith and piety by even the greatest trials and sufferings”.

I like what David Guzik had to say in his Enduring Word commentary:

i. Patience is the great ancient Greek word hupomone. It means a steadfast and active endurance, not a passive waiting. Older men are not to just patiently wait around until they pass on to the next world. They are to actively endure the challenges of life; even the challenges of old age.

Titus now turns his thoughts to the older women in the church. Image generated by ChatGPT (OpenAI) using the DALL·E model.

Now Paul turns his thoughts to the “older women” in the church. He’d like Titus to teach them “to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good.” Being reverent in the way they live could be construed as being nicely dressed rather than trying to dress like a much younger woman, or how they present themselves in public.

Once again looking at the original Greek, the word translated as “reverent” is ἱεροπρεπής (hieroprepēs). One of the meanings of this word is “befitting men, places, actions or sacred things to God” — in other words, being able to carry out the responsibilities of a deaconess or other position within the church hierarchy. D. Edmond Hiebert put it this way:

The conduct of the older women must reveal that they regard life as sacred in all of its aspects.1

Paul also suggests that the older women are “not to be slanderers”. A fun word study here is the Greek word translated here as “slanderer” — it is διάβολος (diabolos) — the same word used for devils! Slandering others and gossiping can be seen as doing the devil’s work, so this is quite appropriate.

In Greek and Roman culture, one common weak point of older women was a tendency to be “addicted to much wine”. It would not do for an older woman serving in a position at a church to be seen overindulging in wine, nor worshipping the Lord with a nasty hangover. This misdeed of older women was even more pronounced in Crete than it was in Ephesus, so Paul made a special point of calling out this failing.

What the older women should do is “teach what is good”. They might face special challenges as Christian leaders, but God can also use their wisdom and years of experience to teach younger women to live reverent lives. Once again, Guzik provides an explanation of why they should mentor younger women:

This gives the older women something positive to live towards, instead of the negative things of slander and alcohol abuse.

As an older Christian, I found today’s verses to be quite inspiring! There’s always something we can learn from younger followers of Jesus, filter through the discernment of God’s Word, and teach to others.

Heaven On Wheels Daily Prayer:

Today’s prayer is from Knowing Jesus:

Heavenly Father, thank You for the instructions that are found within Your Word. Thank You for those older people that You placed in my life, to give me wise advice and sound teachings. As I too get older, please use me to be a source of help and encouragement to those that are younger in years. Give me sound wisdom and understanding of Your Word and the ability to be used by You to admonish and instruct others as You see fit, in humility and grace. This I ask in Jesus’ name, AMEN.

Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Commentary quotations from Enduring Word are used with the written permission of the author

Hiebert, D. Edmond “Titus: The Expositor’s Bible Commentary” Volume 11 (Ephesians-Philemon) (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1978)