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Jonathan Griffiths: We have a very deep need to know how to live out this gospel in a very confused, in a rather toxic culture. We need to be reminded of those things and learn those things that accord with, that resonate with, that go along with sound doctrine.

Steve Hiller: Welcome to Encounter the Truth with Jonathan Griffiths. Jonathan, today as we continue in our series "Transformed by Truth," it sounds like part of what we're going to be looking at here today is to really understand how we apply the gospel to our lives each and every day.

Jonathan Griffiths: Yeah, that's absolutely right. And it's a key emphasis of the book of Titus. Paul really wants the Christians who live on the island of Crete who are receiving this letter through Titus, he really wants them to understand that it's not just enough to understand the gospel message.

That gospel message needs to be matched by life transformation. And he gives us some very specific instructions as to what that life transformation will look like. And they needed it, the ancient Christians on Crete 2,000 years ago, and we need it today in our own context as well.

Steve Hiller: Well, we're going to continue to look at this today as we continue our series "Transformed by Truth." We're in Titus chapter two as we begin our message, "Adorning the Doctrine of God." Here is Jonathan.

Jonathan Griffiths: I don't know if any of you are train enthusiasts. I expect there are a few who have a lingering childhood fascination among us who just love to look out on the countryside for trains that are passing by to observe their different models and their different configurations and all the rest. Now, under normal circumstances, we all know, whether train enthusiasts or not, we all know that a train is pulled by an engine followed by the main passenger and goods cars. We don't have to be rail enthusiasts to know that much.

But just occasionally, for a short distance, perhaps, maybe at the train yard, you will see a train that is not being pulled by an engine but that is being pushed by an engine from the rear of the train. The goods cars, the passenger cars are leading and the engine is behind. Maybe you've observed that on some occasion or another. It has sometimes been observed that Titus chapter 2 is a little bit like a train with an engine at the end, at the back, and not at the front where it normally would be.

For those who are familiar with the gospel message, those who have been grounded in good Bible teaching for some time, for us who have been believers for a while, we are very accustomed to seeing and understanding that the gospel of Jesus Christ drives everything in the Christian life.

Jesus came to save us. He has lived the perfect life. He lived the life that you and I have failed to live. He has died the death that we deserve to pay the price of our wrongdoing, to purchase our pardon. We could not save ourselves, but Jesus has saved us. And that's the foundation, that's the basis, that's the driver for everything else for those who trust in him.

Now, for us who know the gospel in that way, we are very accustomed to considering the practicalities of Christian living, the imperatives of Christian ethics and lifestyle. We are very accustomed and rightly so, we're accustomed to talking about those things as flowing from the gospel, as being driven by the gospel, as being an appropriate follow-on response to the gospel.

After all, we are not saved by being good or by doing good. We are saved by trusting in Jesus who is perfectly good and who has died to pay for all that is bad in us and for all who believe. Now, that's the order, isn't it? That's the order that we know. Gospel first, transformation, lifestyle, good works, second. The gospel engine drives the train.

But here's the thing, and I wonder if you noticed it. Here in Titus chapter 2, Paul starts with lifestyle. Paul starts with ethics. He starts with behavior, and he gets to the engine of the gospel later. Verses 1 through 10, which we're focusing in on today, those verses, they are all about behavior. You will have noticed that.

In verse 11, Paul will get to the gospel. Just notice it with me. He has all kinds of ethical instruction in verses 1 through 10, and then in verse 11, he turns to the good news that is the engine, the basis of all this lifestyle transformation. All these good things are things that Titus should teach for the believers to do, for, verse 11, the grace of God has appeared bringing salvation for all people.

Here in Titus chapter 2, the engine of the Christian life is at the rear. It is at the end. And the goods cars that normally follow, the ethics and the lifestyle pieces, they lead the charge. It's a backwards train. It's a little unusual for the Apostle Paul. It's a little surprising.

But I take it that the Apostle has a reason for reversing the order on this occasion. I take it that there is an emphasis that he wishes to make. Now, remember where we are. This is a letter addressed to Titus, Paul's coworker, whom he has left at Crete to carry on the work at this new church. And he tells Titus to make sure, verse 1, that unlike all those false teachers, those ungodly teachers, he, Titus, as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine.

Teach some things that really go along with and resonate with sound teaching of the gospel, with sound doctrine. Now, observing that, it reminds us actually of how the letter opened. Just notice back with me chapter 1 and verse 1. Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth which accords with godliness. There is a resonance here between doctrine and life with gospel and godliness.

You see, Paul knows that good doctrine, sound theology, is not enough. He knows that a firm grasp of gospel truth is not all that the complete Christian needs. The believers at Crete, they've been taught the gospel. They have been grounded in some good doctrine.

And so the great need there at Crete is not to teach the church abstract theology at the moment. There is some soundness in that sense. No, the great need of the church that Paul perceives just now is to learn what accords with sound doctrine. They need to learn the practicalities of Christian living that go along with the gospel, that flow from the gospel.

They were living in a toxic culture. We saw that last time. And they were being influenced by false teachers who were corrupt and ungodly people. And the great need for the church at Crete was to learn the implications of the gospel. They needed to see how their faith would impact their daily living.

Now, as I've reflected on that, on this reverse order here in chapter 2, it strikes me that our need today is not so very different. I tend to think that we're pretty doctrinally sound as a church. I am comfortable with our theological approach, our commitment to the Bible. I think there is some soundness and solidity there.

But I do think at the same time that we have a very deep need to know how to live out this gospel in a very confused, in a rather toxic culture. We need to be reminded of those things and learn those things that accord with, that resonate with, that go along with sound doctrine. And that's what the Apostle Paul gives us in this vitally important passage. It's practical teaching.

It's quite detailed, as you'll notice. He breaks things down group by group within the church. And he gives each one of us, none of us can escape this much as we might like to sometimes, he gives each one of us every group concrete guidance. Now, we're going to take Paul's lead here and follow his direction. We're going to go group by group and consider what it looks like to live out the sound doctrine that we believe. Paul begins with the older men, verse 2.

Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. I think it's no mistake that Paul begins here with the older believers, the men and the women, as he looks at the practicalities within the church of living out the gospel. Much of the health of the church of Jesus Christ depends on the example that older believers set for younger believers.

You see, older believers are actually trendsetters when it comes to godliness. And there's a choice to be made, a vital choice as to how to use that influence and as to the kind of example that will be set. You see, it is sadly possible, and we probably all know this, it is sadly possible for men to have fruitful spiritual lives in their youth, in their middle age, but then to gradually lose the plot as the years go by.

Perhaps to grow bitter, or to become jaded and critical, to grow cooler in their love for the Lord, to have perhaps a sense of entitlement, you know, having served well for decades, having invested so much. Now it's time to relax in service or claim ownership or focus on self. All those things, they can happen. Maybe you've seen it in some measure.

But Paul is eager that these older men should finish well and use their influence well. They're to remain steady in doctrine and in life, sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, and they are to be sound. Sound in every respect.

To be sound is to be healthy and to be whole. I was looking out the window the other day and caught sight of a neighbor's wooden deck that looked a little bit uneven. I know they'd done some work on the deck. And I was noticing the boards and they looked kind of damp and tired. They'd absorbed moisture. And from a distance, it really looked as though the rot had begun to set in. I thought to myself, it wouldn't take too much to step right through some of those boards. Anything but sound.

We should notice that this is the same language as in verse 1. The sound doctrine of the apostolic teaching must make these older men sound, healthy, whole in every way, in faith. This sound doctrine must make them trust the Lord and walk closely with him day by day.

And how easy it could be for an older man to be a stickler for doctrine but to have cooled off in personal faith. Isn't that a danger? Not just to care about the truth, that's one thing, but to love the Lord and his people in faith and love.

Again, as the years go by and the frustrations increase in number, perhaps at the way that things are now and how they weren't that way before, as the bitterness of past hurts and failures maybe mount up, love, it can cool. It's tragically possible for an older man to be doctrinally sound, yes, but rather unloving in approach, jaded, critical, whatever, even a little bit harsh.

And then sound in steadfastness, Paul says, steady, day by day, walking with the Lord, reading his word, encouraging his people, serving in the church. Steady so that in a time of trial or uncertainty for the fellowship, maybe when tragedy strikes, the younger people in the church can turn to the older men for counsel and for comfort, knowing that they will be steadfast, even perhaps when others might be tempted to waver.

If you're an older man in the church, can I ask you to take away verse 2 and just reflect on it perhaps later today before the Lord? Is this how you are aging? It's a good question, isn't it? Older men of the kind Paul speaks of here are such a gift to the rest of us in the church, such a blessing to the fellowship. Are you among them? Are you aging, growing older in this way?

Steve Hiller: You're listening to Encounter the Truth with Jonathan Griffiths and a message called "Adorning the Doctrine of God." It's part of our series "Transformed by Truth." We'll get back to Titus 2 in just a moment.

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Jonathan Griffiths: Paul now turns to older women. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, verse 3, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. The life of the older woman should be marked by reverence, reverence for the Lord first and foremost.

And we might ask, well, what exactly does that look like? Well, Paul answers the question actually in negative terms to begin with. This reverent life means not behaving in certain ways. Not being slanderers.

It's great to be in touch with others. It's great to be relationally networked. Maybe women are better at this than men in some ways. To have good friendships, good relationships, you know, to get together, to talk. But Paul highlights a danger that goes with that gift. How easily the conversation turns to a little piece of insight, perhaps, that isn't so widely known, a juicy piece of news about another family or whatever. Okay, a bit of gossip, let's call it what it is.

And soon the conversation turns to slander, pure and simple. It's just, it's not reverent toward God. It's not reverent toward his saved people. Reverent behavior, Paul says, also means not being slaves to much wine. And maybe that's a danger. Maybe the children have left home. Retirement has come. There's time. And there's, you know, a casual glass of something with supper, it becomes a regular glass of something with lunch, it becomes the afternoon refreshment, it becomes slavery to a habit. That's what irreverent behavior might look like.

But both those things, they also speak of a kind of idleness, don't they? A wastefulness of time and of energy. And Paul says there is actually something positive, there is something fruitful to be done here. There is a constructive, a reverent, a godly way to invest energy and time for the older woman, middle of verse 3. They are to teach what is good and so train, and it's very active language, train the young women to love their husbands and children.

You know, there is a very special and quite unique role for older women in the church family in the work of ministry in the fellowship. There is something here that Paul cannot do very well, that Titus cannot do, that the elders cannot do. That is to come alongside the younger women personally and relationally and to teach them what it looks like to be a godly woman, a godly wife, a godly mother.

You see, Paul and Titus won't have very much credibility if they try to do it. The dynamics would be pretty odd, frankly, if they tried. But the older women, the older women can do this. They see, they have credibility. They have experience. The dynamic is going to be so healthy and so good.

I can't tell you actually how often in ministry in the life of the church there is this specific need. And sometimes we actually we try and brainstorm. We go through lists of names thinking, who could help in this situation? Who could this older woman be? And we think about Titus 2 sometimes in our ministry team.

There is this need for an older woman to give time and love and concern to a younger woman, to disciple, to care spiritually, to come alongside, to teach and to show the Christian life. Now, older women who will sacrificially and energetically and prayerfully invest time in this particular way rather than in slander and wine and whatever else, that is a gift to the fellowship.

If you're an older woman, can I ask you prayerfully to consider whether your life in older years, and I won't begin to try a definition in terms of age what counts as an older woman, I'll leave that to your discretion. But can I encourage you to prayerfully consider whether your life is marked by reverence? Can I urge you to pray over the question of which younger woman in the fellowship maybe you could care for, come alongside, encourage, teach from the word of God, model the Christian life? What a gift you could be in this, as I know actually so many older women in our fellowship already are.

Next, the younger women. Younger women need to learn from the older women to be trained, verse 4, to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind and submissive to their own husbands that the word of God may not be reviled.

I think these two verses, verses 4 and 5 of Titus chapter 2, are among the most controversial, probably least politically correct in all the Bible. We only need to scan them, don't we, to see how very far out of step they feel with our times. I remember some years ago I was due to be speaking for a number of days at a seminary in another city, a city actually that has a particular reputation, a world reputation for being forward-looking, maybe a little left-leaning, socially progressive.

A friend who is a pastor of a well-known church in that city heard that I was coming to town and kindly invited me to come and preach for him the Sunday that I was going to be there. I was very happy to accept that. I was thankful for the offer. He mentioned that they were doing a series in Titus, just working through. He asked, you know, would you be happy just to fit in within the series? I said, of course, I'd be glad to do that. He then told me, you know, we're in chapter 2 and he'd like me to speak on these particular verses.

And I realized at that moment how clever he was. I had been painted into a corner. It was of course a stroke of pure genius to get a guest preacher to tackle these verses, to say the uncomfortable things, and then later that afternoon or whatever to get on a plane and leave the country. Even as I say this, I'm feeling a little silly for having booked Pastor Dave to preach next Sunday and not this Sunday.

But we all feel the tension, don't we? We sense the awkwardness here. Paul is setting out a particular vision for godliness for the younger woman, a vision that is distinctly and unashamedly feminine, distinct from what he might say and in fact what he does say to a younger man. And frankly, we read it and we don't immediately know what to do with this.

We hear Paul's words in verses 4 and 5, and they sound as though they come frankly from another universe. If you're new to Christian things, not yet a follower of Jesus, you may well be reading this and hearing this and thinking, these words from the Apostle Paul, they are now my confirmation of what I have suspected all along, that Christianity is out of touch, it is unworkable, it is actually quite wrong, it is frankly harmful. Okay, these are all the priors we bring, right?

But I want us now to slow down and actually listen to what Paul has to say.

Steve Hiller: Well, we are going to slow down and we are going to take a look at those potential questions next time here on Encounter the Truth with Jonathan Griffiths. I do hope you'll make it a point to tune in. If you want to make sure that you don't miss what Jonathan has to say next time, you can obviously be listening to the radio, but you can also listen to each and every broadcast online. Just come to encounterthetruth.org. That's encounterthetruth.org.

We're able to bring you Jonathan's teaching each day on the station because of your generosity. And as you give a gift of any amount this month, we want to send you Jonathan's newest book. It is called "Strangers and Exiles." And in this book, we're taking a look at the life and the story of Abraham. And Jonathan, when I think of Abraham, I think of a guy who experienced plenty of successes, known for his faith. He also had plenty of failures and plenty of sin that the Bible does not gloss over. Why do you think God gave us this story, the story of Abraham, in his word?

Jonathan Griffiths: Well, I think it's the kindness of God that he shows us Abraham in all his faith and imperfections as well. Because it's easy for us to imagine that we're the only disciples and the only pilgrims of faith who struggle with sin and who let God down and who fail. But the Bible is so realistic, and God doesn't hold back from telling us the truth about his saints of old.

And Abraham was a wonderful model of faith. He was someone who trusted in the promises of God and took steps of faith that were costly. But he was also someone who failed in some catastrophic and dramatic ways as well. And what we see is the persevering faithfulness of God and the persevering grace of God in Abraham's life, that he would still stick with him and continue to use him, and to use him in powerful and very significant ways in his salvation plan and story. And I look at that and I listen to that and I think, there's hope for me. If there's hope for Abraham, there's hope for me. Our God is a God of amazing grace.

Steve Hiller: Well, you've written about that in your newest book, "Strangers and Exiles," and we'd love to send you a copy as our way of saying thanks for your financial support this month. You can find out more or give online at encounterthetruth.org or call 833-99-TRUTH. That's 1-833-998-7884. Or again, the website is encounterthetruth.org. You can also write us at Encounter the Truth, 2176 Prince of Wales Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, K2E 0A1. Or in the US, at Encounter the Truth, 215 North Arlington Heights Road, number 102, Arlington Heights, Illinois, 60004. For Jonathan Griffiths, I'm Steve Hiller. Thanks for listening and I hope you'll join us next time.