Titus 2 Woman Bible Study | Part One

Titus 2 Woman Bible Study | Part One

Titus 2 is instruction for believers in how to teach sound grace doctrine to others. It includes both men and women, old and young, teaching doctrine but in a specific order. Titus chapter 1 went into the qualifications of an elder and bishop (today we typically call them preachers; it's in reference to those who preach at a local assembly) and it talks about the false teachers that are out there, whom we ought to avoid. Then, Titus 2 tells us how things should be among believers teaching one another. It starts with, 

1¶But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine:

This is for ALL believers. Men and women. When we speak, we are teaching. We are either speaking/teaching sound doctrine or we are speaking/teaching worldliness. We do also teach via our behavior, lifestyle or via what the KJB calls "our conversation". We are either teaching Christ's love in us by allowing sound grace doctrine to work in and through us or we are teaching worldliness by choosing to walk after the flesh. 

It then says, "That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience." 

Older men and those more spiritually mature in the faith are to be sober (this isn't just referring to abstaining from alcohol, but from not being drunk on vain religion and worldly philosophy etc), grave (as believers we do have a serious work to do. This doesn't mean that they can never laugh or enjoy themselves, but to be very serious in the work of the ministry. Billions of souls are heading for hell and that is no joke), temperate (bring your body into subjection to do the work of the ministry and to take time daily to read and study God's word rightly divided; put off the flesh which doesn't enjoy or want to study the Bible, or preach the gospel, or teach sound grace doctrine), sound in faith (know and understand God's word rightly divided and don't stray from the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery), in charity (the most loving and charitable thing that you can do is to share the gospel with others and to teach sound grace doctrine), in patience (it takes a lot of patience to share the gospel with unbelievers because it might be awhile before they choose to believe it; it also takes a lot of patience to share sound grace doctrine with fellow believers with less understanding as it takes awhile to get established in sound grace doctrine and to mature spiritually through the word; we also need to be patient with ourselves as we mature spiritually through the word as well).

It goes on to say, "The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;"

The older women and those women more spiritually mature in the faith are to follow the same which is why it says LIKEWISE. However, it goes on to say that women also need to be aware of their behavior and that it reflects the sound grace doctrine in our inner man (spirit and soul | mind and heart). Of course men are also to be aware of their conversation as well which is why later in verse 6 it says, "Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded." The word LIKEWISE in these verses is saying basically that all believers need to be living godly. We can only live godly by getting sound grace doctrine in our inner man, believing it and obeying it. After Paul exhorts all believers, he says in verses 11 and 12, "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;". It is GRACE that teaches us godliness, not us trying to keep the law. The more sound grace doctrine you have in your inner man by reading, studying and believing God's word, the more godly you will live. We choose to live godly because it is our true identity in Christ, we want to bring glory to God (he gets all of the credit) and so that unbelievers might be saved and believers will be encouraged and want to learn sound grace doctrine as well. 

Holiness means set apart. We are not to sound like, look like or behave just like the world. Worldly women often use foul language and don't understand God's word rightly divided, they tend to dress immodestly especially in modern times and they can be rude, crude, obnoxious and loud. So we should definitely speak kindly, be encouraging to others, and speak sound doctrine; we should dress modestly and our behavior should be meek, gentle, quiet, kind, caring and charitable or it makes our testimony appear weak to unbelievers. We want people to be saved so we need to consider every little thing- what we say, how we dress, our language and attitude etc. It needs to be aligned with God's word rightly divided and if its not, then we need to spend more time reading, studying and meditating upon God's word rightly divided. By allowing Christ and His word to live in and through us we will be different from the world even in our speech, appearance, attitude and behavior. Of course this doesn't have to be extreme. We can dress modestly, for example, without putting ourselves or others under the law. I discussed modesty in another previous Bible study. If you dress modestly however, because the unbelieving world is only waxing worse, you might appear extreme even if you're not!

We are also not to be false accusers. That means don't be a gossip. The only way to not engage in gossip is to remember that everything you say is teaching either sound grace doctrine that you have built up in your inner man or it is coming from your flesh and teaching worldliness to others. When we gossip it's hurtful to others, to ourselves, grieves the holy spirit and doesn't help the person you are gossiping with to be saved (if they are spiritually lost) or to be edified (if they are a believer). Basically, gossip hurts your ministry. Think of NOT gossiping as part of the work of the ministry. People can get "drunk" on gossip. This is why gossip magazines, soap operas, talk shows, 24/7 political news shows, and Twitter are so popular. Even in Christendom gossip is very prevalent in churches and on social media. The more sound grace doctrine that you have built up in your inner man, the less you will engage in gossip which is why Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 4:11, "And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you;". We cannot stop gossiping through our own fleshly efforts. It has to be Christ and His word working in and through us. It also helps to keep yourself busy with homemaking, raising your children or helping with grandchildren, and even doing arts, crafts or other hobbies that are Christian friendly. This is because when you are busy, you're not as likely to be sitting around watching celebrity gossip on TV, or arguing over political gossip on social media, or calling a friend on the phone just to gossip about others. I personally think that gossip might be a greater temptation for women than it is for men, but men do engage in gossip as well. 

It also says "not given to much wine." I don't drink alcohol at all. However, in scripture, wine doesn't seem to be a sin if it's drunken in small amounts. Drinking alcohol to be drunk is definitely a sin (Eph 5:18, Gal 5:21, Prov 20:1). It's very easy to go even a little bit overboard. The same could be true of many things. Being drunk causes us to behave irrationally. It could cause you to say or do things that are sinful. It is not good for the "work of the ministry". Paul told Timothy to drink a LITTLE wine for his stomachs sake. I think that Timothy had some anxiety about preaching. He might have needed a tiny bit of wine to calm down his nerves. When people get anxious they sometimes get an upset stomach and digestive issues. However, alcohol can also make digestive issues much worse for some people especially anyone with ulcers or gastritis or colitis. If the digestive issues were because of his nerves, it might have had a calming effect. But, who knows. The most important thing is that a little wine is OK but drunkenness is not. If you find that even a little wine is too tempting for you, then just avoid it entirely. I don't drink alcohol or caffeine and I don't smoke tobacco and I'm even careful about how much sugar I eat because it effects my sensitive nervous system. I enjoy being clean, sober and having a clear mind. Being given to MUCH wine also suggests that the woman is known for drinking a lot of wine and alcohol. Worldly women in modern times love to pride themselves in how much they drink alcohol and how often. Alcohol is glorified in TV, movies, commercials, the music industry etc. On social media women take selfies of themselves drinking alcohol and being at bars, clubs, etc. But this is ungodly. You don't want to injure your ministry by being known as a woman who drinks a lot [or as someone who smokes pot, cigarettes, does drugs etc either!].

Finally in this verse it says, "teachers of good things". The best things to teach are sound grace doctrine rightly divided. Women specifically are to teach children as well as other women. The older women and those more spiritually mature in the faith need to teach the younger women and those with less understanding of God's word rightly divided. But teaching your own children should come first. If you have small children in the home, just focus on your family and your own personal Bible study until they are older and then you can teach those outside of your home (you will STILL have duties at home too of course as an older woman, as well as perhaps eventually being a grandmother). If we do these things in order, by the time that we are an aged woman, we will have much understanding of God's word rightly divided as well as personal experience in marriage, raising children and in homemaking. A lot of young women with very small children, and very little understanding of God's word rightly divided have full-time ministries online with blogging and YouTube videos. They are NOT doing things in proper order. If you notice, there are VERY FEW aged women on YouTube and social media teaching Biblical womanhood at all! They are either just speaking to their own peer group or not teaching any kind of sound grace doctrine at all. Sound Grace Doctrine includes teaching all of Gods word rightly divided including teaching specifically on marriage, homemaking and parenting. Even in person at the local assembly or in house churches, how many aged women are teaching Biblical womanhood? Not many. And sadly sometimes the ones who do are very legalistic! So, we have to be careful who we are being mentored by.

As for the younger women, I think it's wonderful to encourage other women in homemaking, but NOT at the expense of neglecting your own family. Keeping a "homemaker blog and YouTube channel" can actually be very time consuming unless kept very simply, and most of these homemaker blogs and channels go all-out even sometimes with courses, books, clothing lines and other products etc. That's not just ministry, or a side-hobby, that is a full-blown career. Some of these homemaking channels make big money. But how much of it is real? It makes you wonder. The love of money can throw you off track! I even saw a video of a very popular Christian homemaker channel who said that she has her sister come in and watch her very small children while she does her videos. And with multiple videos each week? Something just didn't seem right about it! I know that creating and editing videos can be very time consuming and when you have little babies, I just think it should be put aside until they are older. I also noticed some of these women compromising a little bit on their faith. Why? "For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." -1 Timothy 6:10

It's possible to share encouraging posts in other ways that keep it more simple, so you don't have to delete all of your social media accounts, but your family really needs to come first. I deleted most of my social media and when I do post, I keep it simple and only post a few times a week. It's also focused only on my ministry. When I write out a podcast, it's also a bible study for me. I learn a lot in writing out my studies that I share with others. But, my family comes first. I don't have little babies at home anymore (except when my granddaughter occasionally visits!) so I have more time. I take breaks when necessary. I tend to my family and home, do my own personal Bible study, and in my spare time I do things for my online ministry instead of just spending hours scrolling through social media, binging on Netflix or watching the news all day. If I find that I'm getting off track in anyway, I can just get back to the basics and simplify things more if needed. 

In the next study we will discuss some more of the "good things" that the aged women are to teach the younger women. 

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