Chapter 2

Outline of the chapter

Verses 1-10, doctrine for all categories.

Verses 11-15, the importance of the communication of doctrine.

Verse 1 — the verse begins with a conjunction. It is not the usual conjunction but a particle used for a conjunction — de. This means that there is a vivid and sudden and striking contrast from the previous section. In the previous verse we had false teachers, now we have the communication of true Bible doctrine.

“speak thou” is the present active imperative of the verb lalew which means to communicate. In this case we are referring to the pastoral function of GAP. The active voice means only the pastor-teacher who is prepared to do it, because the present tense is linear aktionsart, you have to keep on doing it. The imperative mood: it is an order. The word “thou” is a proleptic pronoun that places emphasis on the ministry of Titus. Titus has the gift of pastor-teacher, he is a trouble-shooter, and “you and only you” crank it out Titus.

“the things” is a reference to the full content of doctrine; “which become” — present active indicative of an impersonal verb, prepei, which means simply “proper, suitable, fitting.”

“sound doctrine” — the word “sound” is a present active participle used as an adjective, which gives it great strength. The verb is u(giainw and it is a favourite of Paul’s at this time. It means to be healthy, to be sound, correct, accurate. And “doctrine” is the noun didaskalia which means the content of the message. The verb didaskw refers to the one who cranks it out.

The importance of Bible doctrine

1. Bible doctrine is the only way to know and love Jesus Christ. You cannot love Jesus Christ apart from the daily intake of Bible doctrine. This is the way you get to know Him, you don’t start loving Him. You have to get to know Him to love Him. There is no such thing as love at first sight in category #1 love. Category #1 love depends upon the intake of Bible doctrine under GAP — 1 Corinthians 2:16 cf. Philippians 3:10.

2. Bible doctrine (doctrine in the right lobe) leads to occupation with Christ — Hebrews 12:2,3. How much capacity you have to love Jesus Christ is dependent upon your knowledge of doctrine.

3. Bible doctrine perceived under GAP produces confidence in phase two — 2 Corinthians 5:6-8; Job 5:24-27. 4. Bible doctrine is the source of divine viewpoint in the right lobe — 2 Corinthians 10:5; Isaiah 55:7-9.

5. Bible doctrine is the basis for orientation to God’s plan in time — Romans 8:28 cf. Isaiah 26:3,4.

6. Bible doctrine produces both sanity and stability of mind — James 1:8.

7. Bible doctrine is the basis for divine guidance as well as orientation to grace — Romans 12:2,3.

8. Without Bible doctrine Satan corrupts the minds of believers. There is no such thing as demon possession for the believer but he can corrupt your mind, your soul — 2 Corinthians 11:3.

Verse 2 — “That” introduces a purpose clause but there is no word “that,” it is simply picked up from the infinitive coming up.

“the aged men” — we have had a word before, presbuteroj, which is translated “old man” but means “authority.” An “old man” can be a very young man, he just has the highest rank. We have other words also, like presbuthj, and that is the word we have now. Presbuthj has a feminine suffix but it refers to the man. It means old in years and it refers here to believers who are men and old in years. In verse 3 we have presbutij which is an active feminine gender whereas the man when he gets old has a tendency to get a little too passive.

“be” is the present active infinitive of e)imi, the absolute status quo verb. The infinitive is where we get the “that.” This is a purpose. There is a purpose for old people in Christianity. Principle: Society rejects old age; God has a plan for old age.

“sober” — the plural noun nhfalioj which means temperance in the use of alcoholic beverage, it also means to be alert, it means to be attentive and especially attentive to circumstances of consequences. The plural here connotes the concept of self-discipline in old age. It doesn’t forbid wine but it does indicate that in old age you can have learned so much and be so vigilant and be so helpful that you will be a stabiliser. Nhfalioj simply indicates that you can’t do this while you’re “stoned.” But the real strength of this noun is in vigilance.

“grave” — semnoj in the plural. The word means “honourable, regarded with admiration.” Youth and vitality often hide the defects of the soul. Often young people will be bitter, vindictive, or implacable, but it doesn’t show because they have the radiance of youth and it is well hidden. While you are on your way to old age you must have and develop a relaxed mental attitude, freedom from mental attitude sins, because in old age they show. Old age brings out the worst of the soul kinks of scar tissue of the soul and mental attitude sins and does not have youth as a cloak to hide it. The meaning of semnoj in the plural is the fact that by the time that you are old physically you should have had so much Bible doctrine that you have the most beautiful soul in the world. Old age strips the body of its glamour in order to emphasise the beauty of the soul. That is why the greatest beauty belongs to old age.

“temperate” — also in the plural, the noun swfrwn [swj = stabilised or sound; frhn = mind] means stabilised mentality. In other words, the older you get the clearer your mind should become.

“sound” — again, the present active participle of u(giainw which means to be healthy, sound, correct, accurate; “in faith” is an instrumental — “by means of faith.” It refers to Bible doctrine being transferred from the left lobe to the human spirit [by means of] “charity” — instrumental for the relaxed mental attitude, part of the ECS; “in patience” is “by means of patience” which is the extension of the faith-rest technique into old age. Verse 2 actually says the emphasis is on the soul, the ECS which fulfils the soul and gives it the reflective glory of God. In effect, the greatest time in your life should be old age. Old age comes last because it is best! That’s God’s plan. Old age is only worse when people reverse the plan of God.

Verse 3 — presbutij is for an old woman.

Aged women

1. Definition of presbutij — “elderly ladies.”

2. This is a reference to those women whose desires regarding the details of life have changed in compatibility with their advancing years and body responses.

3. An elderly lady cannot and does not compete with the physical beauty of youth.

4. Often her right man is dead or she never found her right man.

5. But the frustrations of missing her right man are going to diminish slightly and her perspective of life is going to change. But the ECS offsets the frustration of the woman who has not known this experience of a right man.

6. Romance, sex, and beauty are not her primary emphasis.

7. Often her body has become wrinkled and ugly, too fat or too thin by beauty standards. She looks at her body and she reacts — her soul does not dominate her body, her body dominates her soul. If a young woman can have a breakthrough and recognise that her soul is more important than her face and her body, then she is in for a marvellous old age. The lady who is young and attractive who can get on GAP and stay with GAP as the beauty of the body fades, as the beauty of the face is destroyed by age, the beauty of the soul more than supersedes.

8. Her hair has turned grey, her face has lost that taughtness of flesh which reveals bone structure, her complexion is bad, wrinkled, skin has lost its smoothness — all these things describe presbutij — but with a Christian elderly lady her soul is now prepared to reveal all the beauty of the ECS, provided that during the intervening years she has functioned daily under GAP. This verses is set up with one purpose in mind: to warn elderly ladies of the pitfalls. There is a fantastic inner beauty that belongs to them.

The problems of old age

1. Lack of mental sharpness if the mind has been neglected or if Bible doctrine has been neglected.

2. Disorientation to life from the standpoint of success standards. By that, you have not realised your dreams of success. You take a look at your life and regard it in the light of failure. You had certain goals and concepts and you have not met those in old age. This is the danger of disillusion.

3. Old age brings on an increase of mental attitude sins with great emphasis on vindictiveness.

4. Old age has lack of security.

5. Old age has a problem of inability to concentrate.

6. Too much time for complaining because of lack of motive in life, lack of right bank activity, lack of employment — something significant to do.

7. Old age takes a long time to decide anything — the decider goes bad. For example, planning and executing a trip to town!

8. Old age often finds itself out of phase with the younger generation of children, grandchildren, and so on. Therefore, old age has a dangerous trend toward hyper-criticism.

“likewise” — an adverb , w(sautoj, means “in the same manner.” The problems of old age apply to both male and female but there are three primary problems for older women now stated in this passage. One in the field of behaviour, another in the field of the sins of the tongue, plus alcoholism.

“in behaviour” — e)n plus the locative of katasthma [kata = norm or standard; sthma = to stand, to take a position] which is behaviour based on norms and standards. The word means “behaviour, deportment, or demeanour.”

“as becometh holiness” — this word means “befitting sanctification.” Sanctification here is phase two sanctification or the erection of the ECS. In old age that ECS is vitally important. The implication of this is that the older women have a tendency to go wild in their behaviour pattern in old age. Their reactions and their responses are wider in their intensity. An older woman with an ECS, of course, operates so beautifully under her priesthood and manifests so much beauty of soul that she becomes a dynamic impact in the angelic conflict.

“not false accusers” — sins of the tongue. We have the negative mh plus the noun diaboloj from which we also get the word “devil.” Diaboloj means a slanderer, a maligner, or a gossiper. Old women have a predilection for gossip. The sins of the tongue reflect their mental attitude sins and their disorientation to God’s grace.

The doctrine of the sins of the tongue

1. The sins of the tongue emanate from the old sin nature — Psalm 34:13.

2. The sins of the tongue are sponsored by mental attitude sins. An old woman with a dirty soul will have a slanderous mouth. Psalm 5:9.

3. Of the seven worst sins — Proverbs 6:16-19 — three are sins of the tongue.

4. The sins of the tongue cause triple compound divine discipline — Matthew 7:1,2; Psalm 64:8.

5. Perpetuation of the sins of the tongue can produce enough scar tissue resulting in the sin unto death — Psalm 12:3.

6. God protects and blesses the believer who is victimised by the sins of the tongue — Job 5:19,21.

7. The believer can lengthen his life and find greater inner happiness by avoiding the sins of the tongue — Psalm 34:12,13.

8. Troublemakers are characterised by sins of the tongue — Psalm 52:2. Believers are specifically commanded to avoid troublemakers — Romans 16:17,18.

9. Control of the tongue is the sign of maturity, the sign of the erection of the ECS — James 2:2-13.

10. Since the sins of the tongue can destroy a congregation of believers it is the duty and responsibility of the pastor-teacher to warn and to exhort against this area of sin — 2 Timothy 2:14-17.

“not given to much wine” — the word “not given” is doulow [the word to give is not here at all] and it means to be a slave: “not enslaved.” The perfect tense means enslavement. The passive voice: the subject receives the action of the verb, and old women react to their frustrations, to their disappointments, and to their general state of unhappiness by becoming lushes. This doesn’t mean all of them do but this is an occupational hazard for old age. The participle indicates that this law is pertinent to whoever is addressed here — old women. And “much wine” indicates the difference between drunkenness and temperance; “not enslaved by much wine.” The Bible must be interpreted in the time in which it was written, and in the time in which it was written wine was a general beverage. However, it was not generally guzzled. In fact, the only people in the ancient world who did not drink wine were the Romans in the first 400 years of the republic. They drank water and milk. It was the influence of the Greeks that brought the introduction of wine.

There is a positive side in this verse: “teachers of good things” — all one word, kalodidaskaloj. Didaskaloj means communication of doctrine; kalw means honourable — “teaching honourable things.” These are women teaching women. They have been faithful in learning these things in their youth and now in their old age they have the opportunity of communicating these things to the young women. One of the purposes for the older women, beside prayer taught in Timothy, is to be a communicator to the young women. Often a generation of young women will become great in youth because older women have this ECS. The ECS is not only a stabiliser but in old age it is a communicator. The principles which one generation can hand down to another — didaskaloj in Bible doctrine — are brought out right here, but you cannot communicate these without an ECS and if you do not have an ECS then there are three pitfalls. The first, the wide behaviour pattern; second, the mental attitude sins producing sins of the tongue; and third is the alcoholics, the escapism.

Age can be the greatest part of your life. Therefore it is just simply a matter of one simple thing: the daily function of GAP, the intake of Bible doctrine, the development of your priesthood, the development of your ECS to the point where you personally as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ are not only prepared for old age but delight in it.

Verse 4 — “That” introduces a purpose clause; “they may teach” — we do not have the word didaskw or poimainw or khrussw or some of the verbs which are connected with the responsibility of the pastor-teacher. Instead we have the verb which we will see, along with the noun, several times in this passage — swfronizw [swfron = to think; the izw means in a specific field]. The verb connotes sanity of mind. This is a present tense. The woman who has an ECS, a mature believer, who has known the right man, right woman experience, the woman who has had the doctrine and the experience and is now past forty and has her sanity is a jewel. This woman can communicate the most valuable information to other women. She has swfronizw, she has the ability to keep on communicating this information. This is an active voice: the older women themselves have to do this. The subjunctive mood says this is potential, depending on whether these women can be found or not.

“the young women” — the word “young” means a fresh or a new female; “to be” — present active infinitive of e)imi, absolute status quo.

“sober” — swfron, which means to teach the young ladies to be, first of all, stable of mentality. The older ladies get the opportunity of teaching the younger ladies to be not sober but to be of sound mind. It is amazing how a little bit of information can stabilise the mentality, and that is the concept here. The sound mind means Bible doctrine taken in to the perceptive lobe, cycled into the human spirit, cycled up into the right lobe, and the sound mind comes from doctrine in the frame of reference plus the norms and standards based on doctrine or the divine viewpoint of life. The construction of the ECS stabilises the soul completely. A sound mind is a stabilised mentality — and you have to teach it. Swfronizw also means to train the mind, to restore someone to right thinking. The noun has the same concept; you are restored to right thinking. Here is one place where older people really shine, an older person with Bible doctrine, having an ECS, communicating information, first of all teaching the young ladies to be stabilised in their mentality. It takes doctrine and training to get a teenage girl into her twenties with her sanity.

“to love their own husbands” — this is not an infinitive, it is one noun, filandroj which is a compound noun [androj = hero; filew = means the strongest soul love] which means total soul love for her hero. Therefore it really doesn’t mean to love your husband at all, it means they must be taught to love their hero — right man. This really comes to mean that a woman when she is in her teens must have someone who is sensible, who has Bible doctrine, who can communicate information, to teach her how to respond; what to look for in a man with regard to the soul.

“to love their children” — everyone loves a baby, then there is a period when no one loves a child! There is always a period when the most wonderful child in the world is obnoxious. Some people do not realise their children are obnoxious because they pay no attention to them. Why is it so important to learn to love children? Because you cannot help but become deeply in love with your children. You become emotionally involved but your emotion but your emotion must never destroy your judgment in rearing them. You are responsible for their rearing and training and for their education, and all of the instructions that go with orienting to life. Some parents become so emotionally involved that they fail to use good judgment with regard to training and they fail to train their children. And the smarter you are the more difficult it is for you to love children, for this reason: you suddenly realise that you are doing all these wonderful things for a child and then someone comes along and gives him something and the kid loves them for life. In other words, children are very fickle. Parents some times get into the rat race of trying to bribe children with love instead of training their children. Therefore, especially with the women, they have to be taught to love their children. If you train and teach your child, discipline your child when necessary, if you are fair, if you teach the principles of life, the decorum, respect for privacy and all of the principles of volition, there are times when your children will despise you but they will grow to love you in maturity. So we have here the word filoteknoj, total soul love for your children, recognising that they know nothing and must learn everything.

Verse 5 is to all young women and really prior to marriage. The list continues. “To be discreet” — the noun is swfron again. It means to think in a stabilised manner. So again it is the idea of sanity, and sanity from doctrine. We are dealing with Christians and therefore we are dealing with Bible doctrine in the right lobe — norms and standards placed there, parents have a great opportunity to instil norms and standards into the conscience which line up with the Word of God. So the word means sanity of mind. Sanity cannot coexist with mental attitude sins, it cannot coexist with dope addiction, it cannot coexist with a person who is an alcoholic. Sanity has to be taught.

“chaste” — a)gnaj means to be pure in thought and act, to refrain from sexual relationship. It means really to avoid premarital sex. To the young teenage girl is the reminder that God has a right man for her and she is to wait for that right man.

The doctrine of adultery

1. Adultery is prohibited by the Word of God — Exodus 20:14; Deuteronomy 5:18.

2. Mental adultery is condemned as a sin (mental attitude sin) — Matthew 5:27,28.

3. Adultery causes scar tissue of the soul — Proverbs 6:32; Ephesians 4:19.

4. The Greek noun pleonecia describes the frustration and the punishment to the one practising adultery. It is found in Ephesians 4:19; 5:3. The noun means both frustration and a frantic search for happiness. The more frantic the search the greater the frustration, so what you are looking for you are getting further away from it. This means that promiscuous activity to compensate sexual frustration is definitely out. You are programmed for one person. There is an effect upon the male and the female body, the principle is taught in 1 Corinthians 6:13-18.

5. Adultery is a bona fide basis for divorce — Matthew 5:32; 19:9; Luke 16:18. What is the reason? Because adultery destroys the compatibility between the husband and wife, both in the soul and in the body. It also results in jealousy which destroys relationship between right man and right woman.

6. Adultery or fornication is often used in the Bible to describe apostasy or repudiation of Bible doctrine — Jeremiah 3:8-10; Ezekiel 16:23-43; 23:24-28.

7. Marriage is the sanctification and framework for category #2 love — 1 Thessalonians 4:3,4; Hebrew 13:4.

8. The glory of category #2 love is declared in the analogy to doctrine — 1 Corinthians 11:7. As the believer with doctrine is the glory of God so the woman is the glory of the right man, the hero. Cf. Ephesians 5:25-31.

9. Application of category #2 love to the single person.

a) The right man and right woman were designed by God in eternity past. Therefore you must assume that you have an opposite number by divine design — Song of Solomon 8:6,7.

b) The exception is the rare gift of celibacy or the law of supreme sacrifice — 1 Corinthians 9:5. In such cases Bible doctrine takes the place of the right man or the right woman.

c) Every believer will eventually meet his opposite number. God often brings the right woman to the right man, as He brought the woman to Adam. In each case God’s timing is perfect — Genesis 2:18,22.

d) There is no benefit from meeting your opposite number apart from having a capacity for love based on GAP.

e) Fornication or adultery is accepting a cheap substitute not designed by God.

f) A strong norm-standard lobe recognises when it is libido and when it is not and you flee fornication, as per 1 Corinthians 6:18.

g) Fornication is not only sin but it builds scar tissue on to the soul which neutralises capacity for love. Therefore, when you meet right man or right woman it may not work out because you’ve been messing around too much prior to then — Ephesians 5:3.

h) Maximum benefit from category #2 love is derived from doctrine in the right lobe and the construction of an ECS.

i) Application: The framework for expressing category #2 love is marriage.

“keepers at home” — one word, o)ikourgoj [o)ikoj = home; e)rgon = worker] means a worker at home, domestic. There’s nothing glamorous about keeping a house. What does it take to really enter into housekeeping with joy and rejoicing? It takes the right man keeping you satisfied constantly and doing the job as unto the Lord.

“good” — a)gaqoj, divine good.

“obedient to their own husbands” — present middle participle u(potassw, “obedient, to submit from your own free will.” The middle voice indicates that the woman desires to do this. The middle voice is reflexive and it means that she acts upon herself to do these things. So obedience here means a mental, volitional, soulish submission. What isn’t freely given isn’t worth having. The woman must have free will to be obedient to the right man.

“that the word of God be not blasphemed [maligned]” — the house is a testimony. Blasfemew means to malign — present passive subjunctive. The present tense means it always must not be maligned. The passive voice: maligning is something that is received here. The subjunctive mood: maligning is potential. A woman who has her right man is going to be so responsive to him that there is absolutely no problem at all.

Verse 6 — “Young men exhort [admonish] to be sane,” present active imperative. Then we have swfronew — “sanity.” Sanity is the whole composition of a young man. When he reaches the time of manhood he has the norms and standards, the doctrine, and hasn’t been pushed into a mould, he is a real man all the way. That is the ideal condition.

Verse 7 — “In all things” is literally, “Concerning all things.”

“showing thyself” — present middle participle parexw. Parexw doesn’t really mean to show [par = preposition of immediate source; e)xw = to have], it means to have something from the immediate source and therefore to hold something. It means to be an inspiration, to be an occasion. In other words, the idea is leadership’ “Showing thyself” doesn’t mean to exhibit, it means to lead. There are two ways to lead: a) By brains and principle; b) By character. The emphasis here is on both. “Concerning all things asserting your leadership.”

How do you assert leadership? First of all, by good works.

“a pattern of good works” — the word “good” here is not the usual word. We have kaloj e)rgon. Kaloj means noble or honourable, good in quality; e)rgon means production. “Pattern” is tupoj and means a model. So, “a model of honourable production.” Kaloj is too wide a word for the Greeks, it is used in too many ways. Kaloj can be used for noble, good of quality, honourable, profitable. To show the true meaning of honourable here it is defined by the words that follow. What is exerting leadership under the model of honourable production? There are four principles which define honourable production.

a) “in doctrine” — the preposition e)n plus the instrumental of didaskalia which means to teach by principle or to teach by categories. It refers to doctrine taught in categorical form. In other words, sooner or later all doctrine under the reception of GAP must be in categorical form. It is “by means of [categorical] doctrine.” E)pignwisij is always stored categorically.

b) “uncorruptness” — a)fqoria means incapability of decay. This emphasises integrity, especially integrity of content. It means that a pastor must be objective in the communication of Bible doctrine. He must be relaxed about what he teaches. If a pastor is subjective, if he has hang-ups, he will never make it. This passage really means integrity and objectivity of communication and being relaxed about it.

c) “gravity” — this applies more to the person whereas “uncorruptness” applies to the message. Semnothj is the Greek word. The first thing that this word does not exclude is a sense of humour. What is does men is “majestic.” It is a word for ruling with a flare. The word “majestic” means that there is just one king. It also means poise and probity, but poise means to have such a strong grace pattern in your life that you are not surprised or shaken by the idiotic things that people can do within the framework of a congregation. So it means a person who keeps his cool under all conditions.

There word “sincerity” is not found in the original.

Verse 8 — we have our fourth word: d) “sound speech” — two words here, logoj which is used for the actual communication here, and u(gihj from which we get our English word hygiene, and it means “healthy, clear or lucid.” The word “sound” here means that the content of the message, however it is communicated in words, must be accurate in exegesis, in categorical approach, and in isagogics.

“that cannot be condemned” — the noun a)katagnwstoj means “non-condemnable.” This sentence introduces the principle of divine versus human good.

Translation of verse 7 — “Concerning all things yourself, constantly being leadership of a model of honourable production: by means of doctrine, accuracy [integrity] of communication, majestic in rulership, correct [accurate] exegesis, non-censorable.”

“that” introduces a purpose clause; “he that is of the contrary” — there is no verb here, it is a noun. It is “the one from the opposition” — o( e)x e(nantiaj. This is a recognition that a pastor will have opposition. What is the basis for opposition to a pastor who is following the biblical line? There are all kinds of things. People are “sincere” in thinking that the pastor is all mixed up and that their lifetime job before the Lord is to straighten him out. Then there is the type of person who is suffering from one of the lust patterns, like approbation lust, and can’t stand that anyone else get any attention. And it is aggravating. Therefore this type of person likes to play king of the mountains. He looks for your weakness, compares it with his own strength, and then talks about it. This is called maligning, judging. There is also the problem of power lust. There are some people who come into an organisation and can’t help trying to get pushy. So the lust pattern can play a part.

Connected with the lust pattern but in a separate category: mental attitude sins. This is where they are related, for example, to pride or jealousy, vindictiveness, hostility, antagonism, or hatred. So certain mental attitude sins arouse opposition.

There are also people who assume that they know all in the area of doctrine and they assume that the pastor is out of line in some way, that the pastor must be thrown out or corrected.

Then there are the people who simply do not understand. They are totally ignorant of what is required of a pastor, and they expect attention. So ignorance of what is expected of a pastor is another problem.

Another cause is negative volition toward doctrine. If the pastor is on the ball he is going to communicate doctrine. Yet another is programism.

Then there is another category of opposition which would have to be classified as Satanic. Unbelievers demon possessed, believers under demon influence. Very closely related are psychos.

Now opposition which is honest, objective, and bona fide in the biblical sense will always recognise the authority of the Word. Therefore, by teaching the Word “they might be put to shame” — e)ntrepw, aorist passive subjunctive. There is nothing wrong with bona fide objections, opposition. Opposition performs a very good function when it is honest opposition, when it is above board, when it is free from politicking and sneakiness. Objectivity in opposition out in the open is simply an objection to a policy or a principle. Objectivity in opposition means you are willing to hear the other side. “They might be put to shame” is in the sense of reversing their position. This is a reference to subjective opposition, it is the opposing for other than bona fide reasons. If they are going to stay it is doctrine that will have to straighten them out. The passive voice: they receive from doctrine information that puts them to shame. The subjunctive mood indicates that doctrine may or may not do it. If they are negative toward doctrine they will continue in their opposition until they either drive out the pastor or are removed from the congregation.

“Having no evil thing to say concerning you” — “having” is the present active participle of e)xw and it means to keep on having. This is simply a recognition of the pastor’s authority; “no” is literally “not one”; “evil” here is fauloj and it means “vile” or underhanded.”

Translation: “ … that the one from the opposition may be put to shame, not having one underhanded thing to say concerning you.”

Verses 9,10 — the category of slaves.

Verse 9 — the word “exhort” does not occur. “Servants” — douloj in the plural means “slaves.”

Servants

1. Douloj means slaves.

2. The Bible must be interpreted in the time in which it was written.

3. This word originally applied to slaves in the Roman empire. Christian slaves lived throughout the empire.

4. While slavery was a great evil Paul did not side-track himself by condemning it.

5. Instead Paul declared the greater issue of the gospel to unsaved slaves and Bible doctrine to born again slaves.

6. Under conditions of slavery believers could have maximum happiness from the ECS.

7. But this depended upon the daily function of GAP.

8. However, the application of this passage to our day extends beyond slavery to believers who are categorised as labour.

9. Therefore believers employed by someone else, believers under supervision, under authority.

10. The information provided in these two verses recognises the fact that every believer is in full time Christian service.

11. Believers who work under the supervision of management must regard their job as their area of full time service.

12. Therefore such believers must do their job as unto the Lord.

13. The first responsibility of such believers is to recognise the authority of management.

“to be obedient” — present middle infinitive of u(potassw, a verb for authority. It means to be subordinated, to be submissive to authority. This same verb is used for wives in submission to their husbands. It is from the free will. The infinitive is purpose. It is God’s purpose for the believer to function in this way.

“unto their own masters” — despothj is used here for management.

The doctrine of authority

1. There are two Greek words for authority: u(pakouw and u(potassw. U(pakouw is found in Matthew 8:27; Luke 8:25; Romans 6:16; Ephesians 6:1; Colossians 3:20,22; 1 Peter 3:6. U(potassw is even stronger — Ephesians 5:22; Colossians 3:18; James 4:17; 1 Peter 5:5; 1 Corinthians 14:32; Romans 8:20. Both words have the concept of voluntarily recognising some principle of authority.

2. Areas of authority:

a) As believers there is God’s authority — Bible doctrine.

b) There is the authority in the local church — the principle of the pastor-bishop.

c) There is authority in life — the divine institutions.

d) The academic field — the school administration and the teacher.

e) Athletics — the coach or the manager.

f) Military — the superior officer has the authority.

g) Business — the executive, the president, the boss, the supervisor.

3. God has a set of commands for the believer to obey — Deuteronomy 11:27; 1 Samuel 15:22; Jeremiah 7:23; 11:4,7; Zechariah 6:15. Obedience to God is only possible through the function of GAP.

4. Nature obeys God — Matthew 8:27; Mark 4:41; Luke 8:25.

5. Just as nature obeys God children should obey their parents. Parental authority is designed to overcome the temper tantrums, the mental attitude sins, the disobedience of children. So parental authority is established by Ephesians 6:1; Colossians 3:20.

6. By the same token authority must exist in business — Colossians 3:22; Ephesians 6:5.

7. Authority must exist in the local church. Therefore the authority of the pastor as the final ruler is declared in Hebrews 13:7,17; 1 Thessalonians 5:12; 1 Corinthians 15:15,16.

8. The authority of the right man is established by Ephesians 5:22; Colossians 3:18.

9. Angels are subjected to divine authority — Mark 1:27; 1 Peter 3:22.

“to please them well” — i.e. to be acceptable or well-pleasing . The present active infinitive of e)imi. Present tense, linear aktionsart. Active voice: as unto the Lord do it. The infinitive expresses the purpose.

“not answering [back]” — a)ntilegw, to be insubordinate in answer.

Translation: “Labour to be obedient to their own management in all things, and to give satisfaction, not answering back.”

Verse 10 — “Not purloining” is the present middle participle plus the negative nosfizw. It means “Stop stealing.” The Cretians were stealing from their employers.

“but shewing all good fidelity” — honesty on the job.

“that” — purpose clause; “they may adorn the doctrine of God” — the believer wears the beautiful clothes of Bible doctrine when you do your job as unto the Lord. “That they may adorn” is kosmew which means to wear clothes that match up., to beautify, to make attractive. You make doctrine attractive when you do your job as unto the Lord.

“our Saviour in all things” — in all activity on the business, on the job.

Verse 11 — “For the grace of God,” h( xarij tou qeou — “the grace of the God.”

“that bringeth salvation” — the adjective swthrioj means “imparting salvation.” “The grace of God imparting salvation.” Salvation really means that the essence of God has found a way to love us forever, to give us eternal life, to provide for us forever, without compromising one characteristic of that essence. You have eternal life and God is not compromised. That’s the cross.

“hath appeared” — aorist passive indicative of e)pifainw. This is a manifestation of grace. E)pifainw means to make a clear manifestation. The aorist tense: it means throughout all time, in any point of time when the gospel is declared. The passive voice: this salvation is received. The indicative mood is the reality of this appearance.

“to all men” — all human race. The grace of God imparts salvation to all men without exception, no matter how bad they are, no matter how good, no matter what category of degeneracy, no matter what they have done.

“hath appeared to all men” — remember that imparting salvation was an adjective. God’s grace imparts salvation and sets the pattern. It is the most relaxing thing in the world to recognise that God loves us forever and ever, that He not only loves us but He has perfect capacity to do so. “Hath appeared” is an aorist passive indicative of e)pifainw. It means to manifest and to reveal to those who are special to the subject. The subject is God. “All men” refers to the human race. We are sinners in God’s sight, we are spiritually dead in God’s sight, our righteousnesses are as filthy rags, we have every tag on us that makes us unlovely, and yet He does not leave us in the dark. He appeals to our volition through His revelation to all men. But this particular phrase has another connotation. What about those who have never heard?

The doctrine of heathenism

1. The problem stated: What about the people who have never heard or apparently never heard the gospel?

2. Historical evidence. We have enough historical evidence to tell us that our problem is ignorance of history. Because of this we fail to realise that there never was a generation which did not hear the gospel.

3. Biblical evidence: four passages which tell us in principle that always in every generation the gospel will go to everyone. Acts 17:6; Colossians 1:6; 1 Timothy 3:16; Titus 2:11.

4. The application of the doctrine of divine essence. In essence God has certain characteristics: sovereignty, absolute righteousness, justice, love, eternal life, omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, immutability, veracity. Because God is +R He cannot be unfair to any member of the human race. Therefore there never has been in the history of the human race a person who has had an unfair deal from God, regardless of the time in which any person lives, or any problems of geographical isolation, communication, and so on. So the essence of God has to be considered in this connection. Since God is perfect righteousness it is impossible for Him to be unfair or unjust to any member of the human race at any time.

5. Unlimited atonement is a doctrine found in many passages of scripture. 2 Corinthians 5 has three verses dealing with unlimited atonement — verses 14, 15, and 19. Also 1 Timothy 2:6; 4:10; Titus 2:11; Hebrews 2:9; 2 Peter 2:1; 1 John 2:2. Since Christ died for all members of the human race it is His purpose to save all members of the human race. However, God cannot coerce human volition and therefore any unsaved person in the history of the human race must take the responsibility for his own decision — John 3:18,36.

6. The application of God’s sovereignty — 2 Peter 3:9. It is God’s decision and God’s plan for all members of the human race to be saved. He is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to a change of attitude toward Christ. Only negative volition at either God-consciousness or gospel hearing hinders salvation. Under the sovereignty of God it is God’s will that all members of the human race be saved. Since it is obvious that all members of the human race are not saved then it becomes quite obvious that man’s free will is the basis for his unsaved status.

7. The application of the principle of God-consciousness. There are two areas where man is tested. The first is God-consciousness, the point of responsibility. Secondly, gospel-hearing. God-consciousness is where man becomes aware of the existence of God (no gospel involved). Gospel hearing is where mankind receives gospel information. At the point of God-consciousness you either say [+V] “I would like to know God,” or [-V], “I don’t care to know Him at all.” Gospel hearing which follows in sequence: +V toward the gospel — faith in Christ; -V toward the gospel — rejection of Christ.

The principle: If any member of the human race, regardless of geographical isolation or linguistic barrier, desires relationship with God after reaching God-consciousness then God will provide gospel information by which that person can be saved — Jeremiah 23:13; John 17:17; Acts 17:27.

This is often called accountability. People who do not reach God-consciousness are automatically saved at the point of death.

8. The principle of accountability. Man has the ability to arrive at God-consciousness through the activity of his own mind — Romans 1:20,21. When a member of the human race has reached the point of God-consciousness he becomes accountable. The age of accountability varies with culture, circumstances, and environment. Accountability is not fixed because there are too many circumstances to vary it.

9. Five mechanics of God-consciousness.

a) The religious approach. God must exist because people everywhere believe in God, in His existence. Creatures do not and cannot crave for what does not exist. God must exist because of man’s universal belief in His existence. Men do seek after God — Psalm 42:1,2; Acts 17:27.

b) The moral or anthropological approach. To a greater or lesser degree man is everywhere possessed with a conscience in his soul. This conscience has an urge to choose right over wrong — at times. The structure of society is based on human recognition of virtue and truth. This is a phenomenon which has no explanation apart from the existence and the influence of a supreme being. This supreme being is absolutely righteous. A material, ungoverned universe could know nothing of moral values or moral distinctions.

c) The ontological approach. Since the human mind possesses an ideal of a perfect and absolute being such a being must exist. Apart from the religious and moral tendencies just considered the existence of God is a necessary ideal tendency of the human mind. Beyond the relative which man measures there is the absolute. The absolute gives the character of value to the relative.

d) The teleological approach. Under this approach the structure of the universe demands a designer. This is empiricism. Romans 1:20. Whether you are looking into a telescope or into a microscope both reveal order, design, and arrangement. They reveal purpose and adaptation. This indicates a designer. Whether you are looking at the structure of an atom or the design of galaxies they can be no more accidental than the shuffling of 26 letters of the alphabet into a beautiful poem.

e) The cosmological approach. This is the intuitive law of cause and effect demands the existence of God. For every cause there has to be something behind it. In no sense can the universe be its own cause. Order and arrangement in the universe demand a creator and a preserver both. If God is left out design, arrangement, order, function, operation of the universe becomes an unsolvable problem of infinite proportions, or become subject to some of the most ludicrous ideas.

10. The explanation of heathenism. Heathen are heathen not because they have never heard the gospel but because they have heard and rejected the gospel — Romans 1:18-32.

11. Missionary emphasis. Where should missionaries go at any particular time? Missionary emphasis should be based on positive volition. This means that successful missionary function in every generation is based on following the will of God, not the emotional aspects of the past. Following the will of God means going where the fields are “white unto the harvest” or where positive volition exists. This varies from generation to generation.

12. Historical quotations from the Greek fathers indicate that in their generation various areas of the world were evangelised.

Justin Martyr — 103-165 AD. “There is no people, Greek or barbarian or any other race, but whatsoever appellation or manner they may be distinguished, however ignorant of art or agriculture, whether they dwell in tents or wander about in covered wagons, among whom prayers and thanksgiving are not offered in the name of the crucified Jesus to the Father.”

Tertullian — 160-240 AD. Addressing the Romans. “We are but yesterday and yet we already fill your cities, your islands, your camps, your palace, your senate, your forum. We have left you only your empty temples.”

Origen in the same generation wrote: “In all Greece and in all barbarous races within our world there are tens of thousands who have left their national laws and customary gods for the Word of Jesus Christ, though to adhere to this is to incur the hatred of idolatry and to have embraced the Word is to incur the risk of death as well. And considering how in a few years and with no great store of teachers, and in spite of the attacks which have cost us life and property, the preaching of the Word has found its way into every part of the world.”

Eusebius — “There flourished at that time many successors to the apostles who reared the edifice on the foundations which they laid, continuing the work of preaching the gospel and scattering abundantly over the whole earth the wholesome seed of the heavenly kingdom. For a very large number of disciples carried away by fervent love of doctrine which the divine Word had revealed to them fulfilled the command of our saviour, leaving their country, they fulfilled the office of evangelist to carry the gospel to those who had not heard the word of faith.”

Verse 12 — emphasis on phase two. “Teaching” — this is not the ordinary word for “teaching.” The ordinary word for teaching is didaskw, where the believer learns the easy way. The word here is paideuw, used for learning the hard way. Pai refers to children. Children have to learn by being spanked, by being disciplined. This word means to instruct by discipline. It means to teach with authority and discipline, to drill, to inculcate. Some things are learned the hard way, by being hurt, and that is exactly the idea here. This word paideuw is a present active participle and it means learning everything the hard way.

“us that” — purpose clause; “denying” — literally, “renouncing” or “disowning” or “refusing.”

“ungodliness” — a reference to legalism or any system of spirituality by works; “worldly lusts” — being motivated by approbation lust, power lust, materialism lust, or whatever lust may exist. “we should live” — zaw emphasises the function of life. The aorist tense gathers into one entirety every time the believer is filled with the Spirit and functioning under GAP. It actually refers to the operation of GAP in the life. The active voice: the believer is on positive volition. The subjunctive mood: this function of life is potential, depending on whether this person is filled with the Spirit or not and whether he is positive or negative toward the Word.

“soberly” — swfronoj means stability of mind. This means doctrine in the norm and standard lobe, doctrine in the frame of reference, doctrine in the right lobe; “righteously” refers to the production of divine good through doctrine: “godly” refers to the filling of the Spirit. These three adverbs give three aspects of phase two.

“in this present world” is literally, “in this now age.” It is a reference to the Church Age, the intensified stage of the angelic conflict, the day in which every believer is in full time Christian service.

Verse 13 — “Looking” is a present middle participle of prosdexomai. Proj is a preposition. When the object of the preposition is in the accusative it means face to face with. If the preposition takes the genitive case it means ”from.” If it takes the dative case it means “for the benefit of.” Here is a combination of for the benefit of and face to face with. Dexomai means to receive, to receive and embrace, to receive a gift, to receive something that is beneficial. When you put proj together with the verb [prosdexomai] it means to receive for the benefit of something, to wait for something with keen anticipation, to anticipate something that you know is going to make you happy. It has often been used as a retort in vindictiveness or in bitterness or in a lovers’ quarrel, “every dog has his day” — meaning I’m down now but I have something just around the corner. That is the use of this verb prosdexomai. It means that eventually there is going to be happiness. For every believer who experiences something negative as far as happiness is concerned, it won’t always be that way and there is a time coming when every believer in the Church Age will be happy, and all at the same time. There is a big Church party coming in which all members of the Church Age will be involved and all will be simultaneously happy. The present tense here is linear aktionsart. The middle voice means we act upon ourselves in this, we know what it is all about and therefore we anticipate it. The participle means that nothing can ever change this.

“for that blessed hope.” The word “blessed” is not blessed at all, it is the accusative of makarioj which means “happiness.” The word “hope” is e)lpij, a word of confidence, a word of guarantee and confidence. So we would translate” “Waiting with keen anticipation for that happy guarantee [confidence].”

“the glorious appearance” should be “the appearance of glory,” there is no adjective here. The noun “appearance” is e)pifaneia and it refers to the Rapture of the Church. With it is the genitive of doca which means “glory,” and with e)pofaneia it means “the appearance of glory.” But with the compound it means “the magnificent appearance of glory.” That is the happy event. Then we have the person about whom we gather…

“of the great God” is a reference to Jesus Christ with emphasis on His deity; “our Saviour” emphasises His humanity. “Jesus emphasises His humanity, “Christ” emphasises His appointment, and this phrase emphasises the hypostatic union, and it tells us that at the Rapture of the Church Jesus Christ is still God, He is still Man, and He is the God-Man forever and ever.

The doctrine of the Rapture

1. The function of GAP causes confidence regarding death for both the Rapture and the second advent. The second advent in GAP is taught in Job 19:25,27 — “I know my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand in the latter day upon the earth.” That is the second advent and it is related to GAP. The Rapture and GAP are found in Titus 2:13. In verse we have teaching, so we are functioning under GAP. Then in verse 13 we have keen anticipation — “looking.” Teaching precedes looking. The second advent, of course, has to do with Israel, the Rapture has to do with the Church.

2. The Rapture causes Jesus Christ to keep His promise — John 14:1-3. Jesus Christ keeps His promise to the Jews at the second advent, He keeps His promise to the Church at the Rapture. There must be a distinction between the two.

3. The Rapture gives every believer of the Church Age a resurrection body — Philippians 3:20,21; 1 Corinthians 15:51-53; 1 John 3:1,2.

4. The Rapture, therefore, takes the sting out of death — 1 Corinthians 15:54-56.

5. The Rapture gives stability to phase two — 1 Corinthians 15:58.

6. The Rapture removes hysteria and the hopelessness of bereavement — 1 Thessalonians 4:13-15.

7. The Rapture is the rendezvous for both the living and the dead of the Church Age — 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17.

8. Confidence of the Rapture is based on the resurrection of Christ. He is our guarantee and our confidence — 1 Thessalonians 4:18. The principle of Christ the firstfruits — 1 Corinthians 15:20-23.

9. The Rapture is a source of comfort to all believers in bereavement — 1 Thessalonians 4:18.

10. The word “hope” is a technical designation for the Rapture in at least three passages — 1 Peter 1:3, the living hope; Titus 2:13, the blessed hope; 1 John 3:3, the purifying hope.

Verse 14 — “Who” is a relative pronoun referring to the Lord Jesus Christ.

“gave himself” — aorist active indicative of didomi, referring to a point of time. The aorist tense refers to the cross where He provided eternal salvation. The active voice: it was from His own volition. The indicative mood is the reality of the fact that Christ gave Himself. The reflexive pronoun “himself” — e(autoj indicates that Christ provided Himself and refers to His death on the cross bearing our sins.

“for us” is a prepositional phrase of substitution — u(per. It refers to the spiritual death of Christ when He was bearing our sins and taking our place. It should be translated, “Who gave himself on behalf of us.”

“that” introduces a purpose clause; “he might redeem us” — lutrow means to release for a ransom, to deliver or free by paying a ransom, to set free on the basis of payment. The aorist tense is the point of time when we believe in Christ. Redemption is one of the 36 things we receive. The middle voice is reflexive as a rule but here it is beneficial, for our benefit. The subjunctive mood is potential depending on whether the person believes in Jesus Christ or not.

The doctrine of redemption

1. The principle of redemption is found in John 8:31-36 — being released from the slave market of sin.

2. Christ paid the ransom of sin on the cross [He purchased redemption] — Galatians 3:13; 1 Peter 1:18,19; Psalm 34:22.

3. Redemption is a doctrine which the believer can apply in time of pressure or catastrophe and as a result fond blessing and happiness in that catastrophe — Job 19:25,26.

4. Redemption results in the biblical doctrine of adoption — Galatians 4:4-6. We are adopted as adult sons at the point of salvation.

5. Redemption provides the basis for the believer’s eternal inheritance — Hebrews 9:15.

6. The ransom money or the purchase price of redemption is the blood of Christ used to depict the spiritual death of Christ on the cross — Ephesians 1:7; 1 John 1:7; 1 Peter 1:18,19.

7. Redemption provides the basis for justification — Romans 3:24.

“from iniquity” — the preposition of ultimate source a)po. We are redeemed from the ultimate source of iniquity. The Greek word for “iniquity” is o)nomia which means lawlessness. The ultimate source of lawlessness from which we are redeemed is spiritual death, the old sin nature.

“and purify unto himself a peculiar people.” The word “purify” is kaqarizw. It is an aorist active subjunctive and it means ceremonial purification, religious purification, moral purification. It also meant healing from a disease such as leprosy, a hopeless disease. Here it refers to phase one cleansing which is salvation, and phase two cleansing which has to do with any time the believer uses the rebound technique. Out of fellowship we are said to have temporal death, not spiritual death; “unto himself” — God is referring to our relationship with Him; “a peculiar people” — the adjective periousioj [peri = around; ousioj = the participle of the verb to be] which means “being around,” literally. But being around what? God has put a wall of fire around the believer as of the moment of salvation. That is the way he exists in this world. We might call this a special protected possession. That is what “peculiar” really means — “a special possession people.”

The next word is determined by the amount of Bible doctrine that you take in: “zealous” — zhlwthj, which doesn’t really mean zealous at all, it means a fanatic. The believer should be fanatical for honourable works.

“of good works” — “good” is kaloj meaning honourable, “honourable production.” This is achieved through the constant intake of Bible doctrine. So, “fanatical for honourable production.”

Verse 15 — the continuation of verse one; end parenthesis. “These things” refers to the doctrines of the Word; “speak” — present active imperative of lalew which means to communicate. “These things keep on communicating.” That is an order.

“exhort” — parakalew. This is a strange word because it has two antithetical meanings. It means to comfort and it also means to admonish. Whenever parakalew is followed by the next word, “rebuke [e)klegxw],” it means to admonish.

“rebuke” — e)klegxw is one of the strongest chew-’em-out, brace ’em words we have.

Lalew, the first present active imperative simply means to communicate it in an objective positive way. The second word, parakalew, means to sugar coat it on the one hand or a mild admonishing on the other. The third means to get out the big stick and whack ‘em.

Next is a prepositional phrase, “with all authority.” All three systems must be handled with authority. We have meta, a preposition of association. You should communicate in all three ways and associate it with authority; “all authority” — paj means no matter whether it is administration or whether it is spiritual life, or whatever a church might be divided into categorically the final authority is the pastor, the communicator, the one who does lalew, parakalew and e)legxw.

“Let no man despise thee” — this is all the women too, the word is mhdeij [mh = not; eij = one] and means “not anyone” [in the congregation]. The real problem is with the word “despise.” There is no way that a pastor can control the volition of a congregation. The objective of the communication of the Word is to allow the Word to influence the volition of the congregation. The verb is preifronew [peri = around; fronew = to think, or something that goes around in the mind], and with the negative mh plus the present active imperative it means to disregard, letting the mind work around what is said, therefore disregarding it. “Do not let anyone disregard what you say” or “Don’t let anyone reject what you teach.” You have to teach with authority.