Summary of Titus, Chapter 2

Paul urges Titus to give sound teaching, saying that the elders should be temperate, worthy of respect, prudent, sound in faith, in love, in patience. Similarly, older women should live the kind of life proper for those dedicated to God, should not be slanderers or given to drink, but teaching good to others, so they may prudently encourage the younger women to love their husbands and their children, to be prudent, chaste, taking good care of their homes, kind, submissive to their husbands, so the word of God may not be ill-spoken of. He should encourage the young men to be self-controlled.

Titus should make himself a model of good works, in his teaching he should show integrity, seriousness, speaking soundly and such that any enemy may be ashamed of not having anything to reproach him with.

He should exhort the slaves to obey their masters in all things, being well-pleasing, not contradicting, not stealing, but displaying real fidelity, so that they may be a credit to the teaching of our Savior God.

For the grace of God our Savior has appeared to all, teaching them that they should avoid infidelity and worldly desires, and live lives of self control, righteously and piously in this world, as they wait for the blessed hope, the appearance of the glory of our Great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, so He might redeem us from all sin and cleanse for Himself a people of His own, one zealous for good works. Titus should speak these things with all authority, and should not let anyone look down on him.

Comments on Chapter 2

The elder men in verse 2 are not priests/presbyters, as the context shows. He had already spoken of them in chapter 1. (The Greek word used here is presbytes, whereas in 1:5 it was presbyteros -- slightly different forms of the same root). Similarly the elder women are not widows officially accepted as such. They are merely older women inclined to be especially devout. The comments on slaves are much like what he has given in First Timothy.

It is interesting that in verse 13 he speaks of Jesus as God. Ordinarily Paul uses the title Lord, which means the same. And we note the title of Savior -- true of course in view of the redemption. There may be also an implied comment on civil rulers who liked to have the title Savior.