4 and so train the young women to love their husbands and children,5 to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.
Titus 2:4-5
As we have seen in previous weeks, Titus 2 includes specific instructions to the believers of Crete as to how they are conduct themselves as followers of Jesus. Because they have come to know the truth of the Gospel and have become worshipers of Jesus, the manner in which they live should reflect these realities. Paul therefore gives specific instructions to the older and younger believers of Crete in order that they might live as those who have been called out of the world and unto the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul concludes his exhortations to the older women of the church by instructing them to ‘teach what is good’ in order to train the younger women. The word translated ‘encourage’ or ‘train’ (sōphronizō) implies bringing someone back to their senses. Because of cultural changes that had taken place in terms of how the roles of women had come to be viewed in the Roman world, the apostle uses this strong terminology in order the emphasize the importance of the older women calling the younger women back to the truth of Scripture. The younger women must be reminded of the biblical priorities of life, that they are to first love the Lord their God, and then to love their husbands and children. These instructions address a woman’s attitude towards those of her household with the implication that she will act properly in accordance with them.
Paul then transitions to address the specific conduct of younger women. They must be self-controlled, being temperate in regards to substances and restrained in terms of their passions. They are also exhorted to be pure, showing that the apostle seems to have in mind the control of sexual desire in order that a woman might remain faithful to the Lord and her husband. Because of the tendency in that day for women to turn away from their responsibilities at home in order to pursue their own desires, Paul exhorts the young women to be workers at home. This certainly does not preclude work done outside the home (see the example of the Proverbs 31 woman) but it does mean that work should be done for the ultimate good of the home. In their work for the home, they were also to be kind, working for the good of others who will benefit from their hospitality. Finally, the young women are encouraged to submit to their own husbands, recognizing that God is the ultimate authority who has ordered their lives for their good, caring for them through lesser authorities, in this case their husbands.
All of the apostle’s instructions are for the purpose of guarding the integrity of the Word of God. God’s daughters should be those who embody the truths of Scripture, having been affected by them in terms of how they live. For them to reject the biblical priorities of life in order to pursue their own passions and desires would be denial of the truth of God’s Word. It would lead unbelievers to speak ill of Jesus’ people and therefore the Lord Himself. Paul makes this clear by employing the term blasphēmeō. For God’s daughters to reject His Word and live lives of self-indulgence, His Word is blasphemed both in their behavior itself and by unbelievers who seem them living this way and speak ill of the Lord.
As God’s daughters, they are to recognize that their Heavenly Father is with them and loves them. He has also entrusted to them the responsibility of loving and serving their husbands and children. They must see the Lord Jesus as the one who loves them and has freed them from their sin. He is in the place of all rule and authority, having had all things made subject to Him. He has also made them new in Him and given them the Holy Spirit in order that they might live faithfully as His followers, renouncing their ungodly desires, taking up their cross, and following Him. Although this seems like death, it is truly living. By reckoning themselves dead to sin and alive to the Lord, young women can live faithfully in this difficult season of life, finding true joy in the Lord Jesus, the one who truly meets the deepest desires of their hearts.
Join us this Sunday as we come together to worship Jesus, the Head of the body, the Church!
Soli Deo Gloria.
-Thomas