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Proper Conduct for Christians

Chapter 2

Teach What Is Consistent with Sound Doctrine.[a] As for you, teach what is consistent with sound doctrine. Exhort the older men to be temperate, dignified, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love, and in perseverance.

Similarly, exhort the older women to be reverent in their behavior, not to be slanderous or slaves of drink, and eager to teach what is good. They can then instruct the younger women to love their husbands and their children, to be self-controlled and chaste, to be diligent homemakers, to be agreeable, and to respect the authority of their husbands so that the word of God may not be derided.

Likewise, exhort the younger men to exercise self-control. Show yourself to them in all respects as a model of good works, while in your teaching exhibit integrity and dignity and a soundness of speech that cannot be criticized. Then any opponent will be put to shame when he can find nothing evil to say about us.

Exhort slaves to be submissive to their masters and to give them satisfaction in every respect. They are not to talk back to them, 10 nor are they to steal from them. Rather, they should show themselves to be completely trustworthy so that in every way they may add luster to the doctrine of God our Savior.

11 The Grace of God Has Appeared.[b] For the grace of God has appeared bringing salvation to the entire human race. 12 It teaches us to reject godless ways and worldly desires, and in the present age to lead lives that are temperate, just, and godly, 13 while we await our blessed hope, the appearance of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.[c] 14 He gave himself for us in order to deliver us from all iniquity and to purify for himself a people as his own who are eager to do good.

15 The Goodness of God Our Savior.[d] These are the things you should expound. Exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you.

Footnotes

  1. Titus 2:1 The moral rules set forth here could also have been voiced by a Stoic philosopher of the time. The author does not criticize the social climate of his day, but he wants the Christian communities to be models of honesty and dignity. He describes a new spirit: charity. Christians of all ages and all conditions who form the Church must show by their most ordinary actions that they live for God. On these matters, see Eph 5:21—6:9; Col 3:18-21.
  2. Titus 2:11 Here, at the center of the Letter, is a beautiful passage for Christmastime. The manifestation (or epiphany) of God must change our way of knowing and living. Christians are on the way to an event; they are hastening toward the final manifestation of Christ in glory. Hence, this text is also a valuable testimony to the faith of the early Christians in the divinity of Christ (v. 14).
  3. Titus 2:13 Of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ: this is a clear statement of the divinity of Christ (see also Rom 9:5). Some, however, offer another translation that does not possess that same clarity: “of the great God and of our Savior Jesus Christ.”
  4. Titus 2:15 The fact that someone’s life is no longer ruled by passion, egoism, and wickedness is always surprising. It is the sign that such a person is marked by the idea of God’s goodness. With these practical recommendations, the author knows how to evoke in a few words the major aspects of the Christian mystery: love of God; salvation through grace; Baptism; the gift of the Spirit; and the expectation of fulfillment in the end time.