Paul has just given Titus instructions on what to teach older men and younger men, older women and younger women, and slaves. As he wraps up this section of his letter, he gives Titus some of his reasons for such teachings, and the ultimate reason, which we will address next week, appropriately for the Christmas season.

Take a look at this week’s very encouraging passage in Titus 2:11-12:

Many commentaries view this passage as Paul’s theological reasons for his call to Christian living to the various groups in the preceding verses.

He starts this section off by stating that “the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared.” What a statement! The Greek verb is in the past tense, indicating something that has already happened. Of course, he is speaking of Christ’s appearance to mankind, God’s ultimate revelation of himself.

Be careful to note that Paul does not say “the grace of God appeared bringing salvation to all men.” Rather, he states that “the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men,” meaning Christ. Our salvation is found in Christ alone, and God’s actions in sending his Son demonstrate his grace.

Paul has been giving Titus some specific instructions for varying age groups within the church in Crete. He has covered older men and women, along with how the older women were to instruct the younger women. In this week’s passage, he moves on to the younger men.

You can see this passage in Titus 2:6-8:

Right off the bat, Paul tells Titus that the first thing needed among the younger men is self-control. Why? Because this may be the biggest problem area that younger men face. Developing self-control is something that will benefit almost every single part of their lives.

The term “younger men” usually referred to men under forty years of age in New Testament times. But if Paul’s instruction to Titus about older men was centered around men in their in their sixties or better, then that leaves a significant gap between the two. Because of this, Paul may be including men up to about sixty years of age in this category.

And self-control is definitely needed among this age group, even today. This phrase means to keep their heads, to be sensible, and to think clearly. This is the same idea exhibited in regard to the older men and women. With the frequency Paul uses this word and its various forms, it seem likely that this may have been a big problem on Crete.

Paul’s instructions to Titus in the middle portion of his letter are broken down in order to address various groups within the churches that Titus is working with. First, Paul addressed older men. In this week’s passage, he addresses both older women and younger women.

You can see his encouraging words in Titus 2:3-5:

Paul begins this paragraph with an interesting word: “Likewise.” In the same way, then, Titus is to instruct the older women, and in turn, the younger women. This word seems to be one of Paul’s favorites in the Pastoral letters, indicating a close comparison to what just came before.

In this case, Paul instructed Titus what to each the older men. In the same way, he is to also instruct the older women to be reverent int he way that they live. Paul’s meaning here probably meant women who have families, but whose children are grown have already left the home and begun families of their own. These are women that no longer have children to train. But Paul indicates that simply because they no longer have the role of instructing their own kids on a daily basis does not mean that their work is finished. They can continue to pass on their knowledge to others. In order to do this, they are given four instructions.

Paul shifts his focus to Titus as the second chapter in this brief letter begins. In chapter one, he discussed elders and their need to address false teaching. Now, he shifts to the true doctrine that Titus is to instruct the churches, and breaks it down for various groups.

He begins with older men in Titus 2:1-2:

In contrast to the false teachers and their intent to lead people astray, Paul encourages Titus to focus on teaching solid and sound doctrine to the people in the churches in Crete. This section is organized similarly to 1 Timothy 5:1-2, where Paul breaks things down by gender and age for Timothy as well. Here, however, his focus is less on how to relate to each of these divisions, and more on how they are to behave. Their behavior, in accordance with sound doctrine, will allow them to lives lives that shine a light into the darkness in Crete.

Paul begins by changing his focus a bit. In the previous passages, his instructions were to the elders of the churches. But now, he shifts to speak directly to Titus. This is what he is to teach, this chapter gives Titus the direction he is to fix his focus as he leads these churches.

In comparison, his instruction is to be solid in sound teaching, or healthy teaching. This stands in stark contrast to the unhealthy teachings of the false teachers.

As Paul finishes the first chapter of this letter to Titus, he adds a final comment to his description of the false teachers active in Crete. And his opinion is not a good one in the slightest.

You can read his remarks in Titus 1:15-16:

Paul does regard the false teachers very highly at all, and that is apparent as he finishes his description of them to Titus in this chapter. We must remember, the context for this passage is the false teachers. But others have used this passage to justify sinful behavior by ripping it out of its proper context.

Much of the false teachers’ doctrines apparently were centered around the ideas of Jewish ceremonial cleanliness. In the context in which Paul writes this, Paul seems to connect this back to the human commands and Jewish myths mentioned in verse 14. What Paul is definitely not saying is that those who have been purified can engage in sinful behavior and justify it. This is not a license to sin.

In fact, Paul’s point is in the next portion of the very same sentence: “To those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure.” Here Paul is making a clear distinction between those who have allowed Jesus to make them pure and those who claim to have purity through the Jewish rituals, but actually live sinful and disbelieving lives. This includes both the false teachers and those who have been led astray by their teachings.

Paul has been instructing Titus to address the false teachers on Crete, and he leaves little doubt that these “rebellious people” are some of the very Cretans themselves.

You can see his statements about the people of Crete in Titus 1:12-14:

Paul does not paint a very good picture of the people on the island of Crete, but he does so by their very own words. He quotes a Cretan philosopher and prophet by the name of Epimenides, who lived around 600 BC. According to tradition, Epimenides predicted the Persian War ten years early, and may have been responsible for the Greeks to sacrifice to “the appropriate gods.” According to a Greek historian, this led the Athenians to create an altar “to an unknown god,” giving Paul the opportunity to address the Greeks in Acts 17:23.

The irony here is that Epimenides was a Cretan himself. Therefore, if he states that all Cretans are liars, then he is a liar, and his statement is a lie, making the opposite claim, that he is speaking the truth.

Paul, however, states that his statement is actually true, that Cretans have a reputation for being dishonest for the purpose of selfish gain. They were known as being “evil brutes,” or wild beasts, who would do whatever it took to get ahead, regardless of what it took. Since Crete has no wild animals, the native population took on that role, according to Epimenides. Pushing others out of the way to gain an advantage for themselves is characteristic of wild animals.

In contrast to the description of the strong character of elders, Paul turns to the rebellious, the false teachers, and instructs Titus on how best to counter them.

Take a look for yourself in Titus 1:10-11:

Paul quickly shifts from describing the qualities of the men that Titus needs to install in positions of church leadership to those who form the opposite character. These rebellious individuals were a primary reason that solid spiritual leaders were needed. Someone needs to silence these men with solid doctrine.

These people are rebellious. This is the same word used in verse 6, translated as “disobedient.” The idea conveyed here is insubordination and an attitude that rebels against God’s Word and its authority. They reject the truth. Their teaching has no value, it is simply meaningless talk, leading nowhere. In fact, these false teachers are doing nothing more than leading people stray and deceiving them. There is no useful purpose to their teachings.

Unlike the two letters to Timothy, where Paul is somewhat vague about just who these false teachers are, even though he names a couple of them, in this letter, he plainly states that these false teachers are members of the “circumcision group.” That means they are of Jewish background. This does not necessarily imply that they were members of the church, or even believers. They may not have been at all. Early historians have placed a sizable Jewish population on the island of Crete.