Lessons #61 and 62
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual exposition not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GWT = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New English Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
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Be considerate of ruling authorities and unbelievers (Titus 3:1-2).
1 Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, 2 to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men.
Our focus in this passage is with being considerate of ruling authorities and unbelievers. Consequently, we have stated that our first responsibility of this passage is to be considerate to ruling authorities. This is demonstrated through obedience to their commands that are not in conflict with the word of God. The second responsibility is to be considerate to unbelievers. We indicated that before we could examine how to demonstrate this second responsibility that the Holy Spirit through the apostle indicates that there is a state pastors should remind believers to be in if they are going to be considerate of others. This state believers should be in is that of preparedness and willingness to do good work as it is given in the expression of Titus 3:1 to be ready to do whatever is good or literally to be prepared for every good work. We ended our last study with the question: what does it take to get ready or prepared for good works? We promised to give the answer in our present study.
We have in a sense answered the question of how to be ready for good works when we indicated in our last study that a believer should enroll in a local church where the individual would receive instructions from the word of God through a pastor or a gifted teacher. However, for a focused treatment of how a believer goes about getting ready for good works, it is necessary for us to consider in a more detail the directive we gave in our last study. Surely, getting ready for good works requires receiving instruction from the word of God. This, we know, because of the declaration of the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 3:16–17:
16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
These two verses indicate that the Scripture has four functions that when properly executed lead to an important result of doing good work. It is this result that is given in the verbal phrase may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. A fuller translation of the Greek expression is, is [or keeps being] proficient (qualified) having been equipped for all good work. The fuller translation we have given, enables us to perceive three truths. Firstly, a believer who allows the Scripture to function fully with respect to the individual would be in a continuous state of being qualified or proficient to do good work. Secondly, believer’s qualification for doing good work comes from previous and continual teaching, rebuke, correction, and training in righteousness. Here is the point, you are qualified for good works if you have been taught, rebuked, corrected, and trained in righteousness in the past and if you continue to allow these to take place. In short, the apostle is saying that if you would be well qualified to do good works then you must not only rely on the past functions of the Scripture with you but that you must continue to refresh yourself in the teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness that come from the Scripture. It is like the professionals who must refresh their skills and knowledge through continuing education. But for us believers, our continuing education is to continue to be trained in righteousness that comes from continuous instruction of the Scripture. Thirdly, although not directly stated but it is implied that a pastor or a teacher of the word of God equips believers by teaching the word of God. Of course, the ultimate teacher of the word of God that equips believers for good works is the Holy Spirit. That aside, the clause of the NIV of 2 Timothy 3:17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work conveys unequivocally that it is only the believer, who has been trained in righteousness that involved teaching of the Scripture, rebuking and correcting that come from the Scripture that is capable of the true good work. I am saying that if a person is not a believer and not taught the Scripture, that individual cannot do the good work that truly glorifies God. This is not to deny that there are many unbelievers who do good things that benefit the society but that their good deeds do not glorify God because they have no relationship with Him.
It is our assertion that getting ready for good works requires receiving instruction from the word of God. While the teaching of the word of God in general is necessary for good works but there is a targeted aspect of the teaching of the word of God that is necessary for good works. This target and aspect of the teaching of the word of God is given in the phrase training in righteousness of 2 Timothy 3:16. In considering this phrase, it is important to differentiate between “training” and “instruction” although both mean the act of causing someone to acquire knowledge or skill. The Webster dictionary helps to make this distinction. Training stresses instruction and drilling with a specific end in view, whereas instruction applies to the manner of imparting information or skill so that others may learn.” One gets the idea that training involves drilling a person with a specific focus in mind. Now, I think that it is failure to understand this difference that causes trouble to many teachers of the word of God and to many Christians. By this we mean that some of those who teach and those taught fail to distinguish between acquiring information and using the information. This is evident in the fact that there are good Bible teachers who provide great information about what the Scripture teaches but never go the next step of drilling its applications to the mind of believers. Drilling involves repetition of some action, as in military. There are Christians who have adequate information about the Bible but such information does not affect their conduct so they could be described as having been instructed in doctrine but not trained in it. The condition of the latter individuals is similar to what Apostle Paul wrote about the possession of knowledge in 1 Corinthians 8:1-2:
1 Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 2 The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know.
The knowledge that puffs up is that which results only from instruction of doctrine without training that comes from doctrine. In any event, the point we seek to emphasize in our examination of the word “training” is that its focus is the formation of proper habits of behavior. With this difference in mind between “training” and “instruction”, we can understand what the apostle meant in the phase of 2 Timothy 3:16 training in righteousness. He means the Scripture is useful for drilling a person so that the individual would form the habit of doing that which God demands. In other words, the Scripture is useful for drilling the believer in practicing uprightness of behavior and to act fairly and justly. To ensure a believer is trained in righteousness, implies a constant teaching of what God approves and emphasis on application of what is taught. It is only when a believer is repeatedly taught the word of God can the individual know what God requires and so will be in a position to do good works when the Lord provides the opportunity to do so. In any event, the first thing a believer needs to be ready or prepared for good works is to receive proper instruction and training in what God requires as stipulated in the Scripture. Therefore, if you must be ready for good works then you must expose yourself to constant teaching of the word of God and constant application of what you learn.
A second thing that is necessary to ensure a believer is ready or prepared for good works is constant cleansing of self from sin. This action is mentioned in 2 Timothy 2:21:
If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.
This passage associates doing good work with cleansing of some sort. In the context of this epistle of 2 Timothy, it seems that the apostle is concerned with cleansing from the things he mentioned previously in 2 Timothy prior to what he wrote here. We say this because the phrase the latter of the clause If a man cleanses himself from the latter is literally from the Greek these. It is not clear what the apostle had in mind when he penned the Greek word we translated “these.” Although it is not clear what the apostle meant by “these” but it is probably the case he was referring to the negatives he had so far described in the sections preceding this verse of 2 Timothy 2:21. This being the case, the apostle could be referring to false teaching that no doubt is capable of rendering believer ineffective in the spiritual life since the apostle had warned his readers against argumentations that could ruin the soul of a believer, as implied in 2 Timothy 2:14:
Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen.
Regardless of what the apostle had in mind in phrase the latter of the NIV of 2 Timothy 2:21, we can make a general observation with the matter of cleansing in that it implies that something has contaminated the soul to put a believer in a position that the individual is not prepared for good works. Anyway, there is generally one thing that can make a believer unclean in the soul, which is sin. Therefore, we are safe to state that cleansing that the apostle had in mind involves getting rid of sin that has contaminated the soul. As we have indicated previously, false teaching could contaminate the soul in such a way that a person does not function according to God’s truth. When a person fails to function according to God’s truth, the implication is that the individual is sinning since sin is failure to comply with God’s word. Hence, we contend that it is sin that needs to be cleansed for a person to be prepared to do good works. In any event, once a soul is contaminated with sin there is only one way to cleanse it; it is to confess the sin before God as Apostle John writes in 1 John 1:9:
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
When sin is present in the soul, a believer is under Satan’s control but when sin is confessed so that it is cleansed by God then that believer comes under the control of the Holy Spirit. Thus, although we indicated negatively that one way to prepare for doing good works is to cleanse one’s soul from the contamination of sin but we could state positively that the way to be prepared to do good works is to be filled of the Spirit. In effect, we are saying that if you should be prepared to do good works then you should be filled of the Holy Spirit so that the Holy Spirit can produce in you the good works that please God. The point is that it is meaningless to speak of good works of the type that please God and which He will reward an individual in the eternal state without one being controlled by the Holy Spirit. Thus, positively, you should resist temptation to sin so that you will be controlled by the Holy Spirit who will then enable you to apply the truth you have been taught so that it can be said that you are doing good works of the type God approves. Anyway, we have indicated that there are two ways to prepare or to be ready for good works. The first is being taught the word of God by those with the gift of teaching and the second is cleansing of the soul through confession of sins or positively one gets ready for good work by being filled of the Holy Spirit, implying that one resists temptation to sin. With these two facts, we have reminded you of factors that are necessary to be in state in which you can do good works, so we return to consider the second responsibility you have with respect to the passage we are considering, that is, Titus 3:1-2.
A second responsibility you have with respect to the passage before us, as we stated in our last study, is that you should be considerate to unbelievers. How can we show that we are considerate of others – believers or unbelievers? There are at least three ways the Holy Spirit provides in the passage we are considering that we can demonstrate we are considerate of others that Titus and so all pastors should remind those in their congregations. The first way is not to involve in slandering anyone as it in verbal phrase of Titus 3:2 to slander no one. To begin with, we should recognize that the apostle is not saying that a believer should never speak of evil things people do. This is important because some take the view that the apostle’s instruction here conflicts his own practice of speaking out against evil that people do as he did in the first chapter of this epistle, especially in verses 10 to 16. Consider, for example, what is stated in Titus 1:10:
For there are many rebellious people, mere talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision group.
Here the apostle states what is truthful about those he had in mind so that it could not be said that he contradicted himself when he forbids slander. I think that those who suppose the apostle contradicted himself probably do not understand adequately what is meant by slander. Therefore, we need to examine what is meant by slander.
The word “slander” is translated from a Greek word (blasphēmeō) from which we get our English word “blaspheme”; it primarily means “to demean through speech” so it means to speak against someone in such a way as to harm or injure the person’s reputation hence it means “to slander, revile, defame.” When the word is used of God, it is often translated “to blaspheme.” Consequently, it is this meaning that is used regarding the Holy Spirit in Luke 12:10:
And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
It is the same meaning that is reflected when the word is used regarding the name of God, as in Romans 2:24:
As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”
When the word is used with humans it may mean “to slander”, as it is used in 1 Corinthians 4:13:
when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.
Pastors, as we have indicated, are to remind believers not to slander any one. Because it is important to do this, we need to consider the matter of slander in a way to help us understand what it is the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul wants believers to avoid when he used a Greek word that we indicated means “to slander.” Many Christians do not understand what slander is, leading them to ignore their responsibilities towards their fellow believers of helping those who go wrong spiritually for the fear of being accused of slander or meddling in the business of another believer. So, what is slander? This is not the first time we are considering this topic, but I dare say that most of you have forgotten what we taught about slander in the past. Hence, let me begin with what it is not. It does not mean that we could not report something wrong done by an individual that we have observed to be true to the appropriate person who is in a position to do something about it. We base this on the fact that there is nothing in the Scripture that forbids one reporting about another person’s misconduct to one’s superior. Several times in the Bible, Apostle Paul refers to receiving a bad report concerning a given congregation. The apostle speaks of hearing reports of quarrels in the local church in Corinth, in 1 Corinthians 1:11:
My brothers, some from Chloe's household have informed me that there are quarrels among you.
Someone also reported to the apostle concerning the sexual misconduct in the local church in Corinth, according to 1 Corinthians 5:1:
It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his father's wife.
Similarly, someone reported to the apostle concerning the laziness of some people among the Thessalonians, as we read in 2 Thessalonians 3:11:
We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies.
In each of these reports, there is no evidence the apostle rebuked those who gave him the report. If the persons who provided these reports to the apostle did something wrong or were guilty of slander, we would have expected the apostle to rebuke them or at least indicate that it is wrong to bring certain information to the notice of the spiritual leadership of a congregation but he did not. Furthermore, a believer is required to be truthful in all his dealings, as commanded in Eph 4:25:
Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body.
If believers are required to tell the truth, it certainly would be a sin for a believer to see something that would harm another person and remain silent. The person who refuses to say something upon observing certain incidents or conduct that would harm someone would be sinning according to the instruction in James 4:17:
Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.
Nonetheless, we asserted that slander does not mean we could not report something that we have observed to be true to the appropriate person who is in a position to do something about it. Furthermore, slander although related to gossip is not the same thing. That the two are not the same may be deduced from the fact that Apostle Paul used both in the same verse where he denounced sins present in Corinthian church in 2 Corinthians 12:20:
For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder.
Thus, because the apostle listed the two together in vices he mentioned regarding the Corinthian church, we contend that slander is different from gossip. Slander is some form of communication that is usually untrue, designed to harm a person’s reputation and carried out usually in public although private communication is possible. On the other hand, gossip is providing information that is true or untrue, most often incomplete because of lack of knowledge and it is usually done in private. The key factor in gossip is that a person is not usually certain of the information and so it is done in private or in secret. One thing that we can be sure of is that a person who gossips would usually betray someone’s confidence. In other words, a person who gossips easily passes to another some information that has been given to the individual in confidence hence the assertion in Proverbs 11:13:
A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy man keeps a secret.
We have in a sense defined slander as we distinguished it from gossip and so we need to elaborate on the definition we gave so that there can be no doubt in your mind what constitutes slander since it is a form of communication that requires passing on information to someone. Consequently, there are three factors that if present during the process or period of providing information to another about someone else would turn that information to slander. First, there must be some form of hostility or hatred on the part of the informant. Second, the information given must be untrue. Third, the intention of the informant will be to destroy the reputation of another. If all these three are involved in information that one supplies or even any of them then we have the case of slander. You see, believers who love each other and are concerned for the spiritual welfare of their fellow believers could not meet these three elements or any of them that make information to become slander. Because if you love a fellow believer and the individual goes astray, you do not want to make a public display of the person’s failure but you handle your knowledge of it in such a way as to help the person even if that information is passed on to the spiritual leadership of the congregation. I want to be clear that we understand that these three elements or any one of them must be present in the process of passing information to turn it to slander. So, let me illustrate from the Bible where these three elements are clearly involved in slander. Our illustration is taken from instruction on how to deal with a man who impugns his wife’s virginity at the point of marriage, as we read in Deuteronomy 22:13-19:
13 If a man takes a wife and, after lying with her, dislikes her 14 and slanders her and gives her a bad name, saying, "I married this woman, but when I approached her, I did not find proof of her virginity," 15 then the girl's father and mother shall bring proof that she was a virgin to the town elders at the gate. 16 The girl's father will say to the elders, "I gave my daughter in marriage to this man, but he dislikes her. 17 Now he has slandered her and said, 'I did not find your daughter to be a virgin.' But here is the proof of my daughter's virginity." Then her parents shall display the cloth before the elders of the town, 18 and the elders shall take the man and punish him. 19 They shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver and give them to the girl's father, because this man has given an Israelite virgin a bad name. She shall continue to be his wife; he must not divorce her as long as he lives.
The verbal phrase and slanders her of verse 14 is literally and laid against her actions of words. However, this passage indicates that the man dislikes his wife, lies about her with the intention of destroying her reputation. Therefore, the passage describes an example of slander so that the translators of the NIV are correct in rendering the literal Hebrew with the word “slander.” By the way, we should note that there are consequences for slander. For the man who slandered his wife was not only to be fined but also, he could not possibly divorce his wife as long as he lives. Hence, to some husbands this could be considered a lifetime jail sentence with hardship as the wife may now take advantage of this fact and mistreat him.
It is important we recognize that there are consequences for slander. Therefore, before you pass information to the appropriate individual, you must be certain that it is true; for, if you lie because of your hatred for that individual you are indeed asking for trouble. You will be disciplined of the Lord. Hence it is advisable to pay heed to the instruction of Proverbs 30:10:
"Do not slander a servant to his master, or he will curse you, and you will pay for it.
Only a fool after recognizing that there would be consequences to slander would go ahead and slander someone. No wonder a slanderer is described as a fool in Proverbs 10:18:
He who conceals his hatred has lying lips, and whoever spreads slander is a fool.
Thus, it is spiritually beneficial not to become involved in slander. Not only should we not become involved in slander but also, we should seek to avoid the company of those who love slandering others as instructed in 1 Corinthians 5:11:
But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.
If you become a victim of slander, it should not cause you to become bitter towards the person who slanders you but as a believer controlled by the Holy Spirit you should show kindness to such an individual. It is this kind of attitude Apostle Paul says that he and his team had in the passage we cited previously, that is, 1 Corinthians 4:13:
when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.
I trust that we are now clear that slander is any untrue speech directed against someone, which is critical and designed to hurt the reputation of that person because of hatred of the individual. This understanding should clear any misconception that the apostle contradicted himself through the instruction against slander since the things he stated about the rebellious people in the first chapter are true, not to mention that he wrote under the control of the Holy Spirit. That aside, you should show your being considerate of someone by not slandering the individual. By saying this I have reminded you not to slander others.
A second way to show you are considerate of others is by being peaceable and gentle towards them. It is this display that is given in the next verbal phrase of Titus 3:2, to be peaceable and considerate. The Greek does not contain the word “and” used in the NIV but it seems that because the Greek words translated “peaceable” and “considerate” in the NIV are also used in another pastoral epistle that we will cite later that the translators used the word “and” to join the two with the implication that they are related. Furthermore, the two words are governed by one infinitive in the Greek that translates into the English as “to be”, this implies that the two words are related. Nonetheless, there is no word “and” in the Greek as reflected in the NIV.
The word “peaceable” is translated from a Greek adjective (amachos) that describes one who is not disposed to fight hence means “peaceable, not looking for a fight, not quarrelsome.” The word appears twice in the Greek NT both in pastoral epistles of Apostle Paul. In its other usage besides our passage, it is included as part of the qualifications of an overseer of a local church in 1 Timothy 3:3:
not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.
Here the translators of the NIV used the meaning “not quarrelsome” while other English versions used the meaning “peaceable.” That aside, Titus and so all pastors have the responsibility to remind believers to be peaceable. This means that believers are to be instructed to be individuals who love peace so that they are not quick to get into fights with others. You see, there are people who walk around just looking to pick fights with others as that is the way they think they can be happy by making other people’s lives miserable. The believer who is peaceable avoids the impulse to pick up fights with others, verbally or physically. If you are considerate of someone then you will not want to fight with that person instead you will desire a state of harmony with that individual. Hence, it is important that as a believer that you resist the urge to be hostile to others regardless of what their attitude is towards you. You should always be the one that cares about being in harmony with others. You should never initiate quarrel with anyone instead seek peaceful relationship with others. Of course, you should also be aware that despite your effort of wanting to be peaceable with everyone that this may never happen. This is because there are those who do not want to be in harmony with you for whatever reason. The Holy Spirit recognizes this reality that He implies this truth in the instruction of telling believers to live in peace with others as much as it depends on them in Romans 12:18:
If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
Anyway, what is expected of believers is simply to have the mentality of not wanting to pick a fight with anyone as that is in keeping with what it means to be peaceable.
The second word “considerate” in Titus 3:2 is translated from a Greek adjective (epieikēs) that may mean “kind, gentle, tolerant, yielding.” Another suggested meaning of the word is “considerate.” It is this meaning that the translators of the NIV adopted in two other passages, besides our present passage, where our Greek word is used. In describing the wisdom that is from heaven, the translators of the NIV used the meaning “considerate” in James 3:17:
But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.
Other English versions use the word “gentle” instead of “considerate” of the NIV. Similarly, in describing the attitude of believing slaves to their masters our Greek word is translated “considerate” in the NIV of 1 Peter 2:18:
Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh.
The clause those who are good and considerate is translated in many English versions as those who are good and gentle. This notwithstanding, the meaning “gentle” is also used by the translators of the NIV for our word in its other two occurrences. The meaning “gentle” is reflected in its other usage in the pastoral epistle that we reverenced previously, that is, in 1 Timothy 3:3. The meaning of “gentle” is reflected in Philippians 4:5:
Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
Our Greek word is used in the Septuagint in the sense of what is fair, good, or fitting so that it is used in the sense of “good” to describe the Lord in Psalm 86:5:
You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to you.
The Greek adjective is concerned with not insisting on every right of letter of law or custom. Thus, it is an adjective that describes the kind of attitude where one is willing to give and take instead of insisting in one’s right. A person described with our adjective is indeed an individual that is tolerant and accepting different ways others do things so that the individual is not easily irritated. The person described with our adjective will be accommodating to others but that does not mean the individual will accept that which is wrong or sinful. No! Such a person while tolerating others will not compromise that which is absolute. Thus, what it is to be reminded believers is to be careful in insisting that they are always right. Furthermore, they are to be tolerant of others. To be considerate of others requires that one should not always be demanding on the time or resources of others. In any event, pastors are to remind believers to be careful in how they deal with others, especially, in those things that are not absolute. We are saying that when you deal with things that are not clearly stated in the Scripture then you should be flexible as you consider such things but when something is clearly stated in the Scripture then you should not be flexible about it. However, you should maintain your ground with humility so that you do not come across as being arrogant. The point is that the Greek adjective translate “considerate” in the NIV or “gentle” in most of our English versions is concerned with the attitude of not pressing hard on one’s right in order to benefit others. Hence, pastors are to remind believers that one way to show they are considerate of others is to be tolerant of other people’s ways of doing things that are not sinful and also of being willing to give up their rights under certain conditions to benefit others.
A third way to demonstrate that you are considerate of others is by being courteous to them or dealing with them out of humility. It is this that is described in the last verbal phrase of Titus 3:2 and to show true humility toward all men. Believers in their interactions with others should display not only gentleness but their gentleness and humility should be something others would recognize as the word “show” will imply.
The word “show” is translated from a Greek word (endeiknymi) that means “to show, to demonstrate” in the sense of to direct attention to or cause something to become known as it is used in Apostle Paul’s instruction to the Corinthians to cause their love to be known by some spiritual leaders among them, as we read in 2 Corinthians 8:24:
Therefore show these men the proof of your love and the reason for our pride in you, so that the churches can see it.
The word may mean “to show” in the sense of display of a conduct that affects another, especially negatively, as the apostle used it to describe the treatment he received from Alexander, a metal worker, as reported in 2 Timothy 4:14:
Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him for what he has done.
The verbal phrase did me a great deal of harm is literally showed me a great deal of harm. In our passage, the sense of the word is to display. The Greek indicates that the believer is expected to form the habit of displaying what is specified in the context.
The thing a believer is expected to make a habit of displaying to others is courtesy or humility as in the verbal phrase of Titus 3:2 true humility of the NIV. There is no doubt that there is such thing as false humility, but it does not seem to be that the apostle was concerned with it here so that he was not concerned with contrasting true and false humility. Instead, he was concerned about the extent of courtesy or humility in our passage. This is because the Greek word (pas) used that may mean “all” in its usage here has the sense of “complete” or “total” to convey the degree to which either humility or courtesy is to be extend to all persons.
We state that what is to be displayed is either courtesy or humility because of the possible meanings of the Greek word used. The word “humility” of the NIV is translated from the Greek word (prautēs) that refers to the quality of not being overly impressed by a sense of one’s self-importance, hence means “gentleness, humility, courtesy, considerateness, meekness.” The meaning of “meekness” is used to describe Apostle Paul’s attitude as he appealed to the Corinthians regarding being mindful of their spiritual life in 2 Corinthians 10:1:
By the meekness and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you—I, Paul, who am “timid” when face to face with you, but “bold” when away!
It is with the meaning “gentleness” that the word is used to describe one of the facets of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:23:
gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
It is in this sense of “gentleness” that the word is used to describe the attitude Timothy, and so all pastors, should have in teaching, to correct those in error, as stated in 2 Timothy 2:25:
Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth,
The meaning “humility” is applied in describing the attitude required in learning the word of God, as we read in James 1:21:
Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
In our passage, the apostle probably meant “courtesy” instead of “humility” that is to be extend to every person. This is because, it is probably the case that the apostle is concerned for Titus and so all pastors to remind believers to be courteous in their dealing with others so that what he meant here is similar to the instruction of the Holy Spirit through Apostle Peter about showing respect to everyone, as stated in 1 Peter 2:17:
Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.
Anyway, the verbal phrase of Titus 3:2 to show true humility toward all men is concerned with being courteous towards everyone. The word “men” is translated from a Greek word (anthrōpos) that may refer to a male person, that is, man, as in 1 Corinthians 7:1:
Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good for a man not to marry.
But the Greek word may also refer to a person of either sex so means “human being”, as it is used in Romans 2:9:
There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile;
It is in this sense of a human being that the word is used in the passage we are considering. Hence, we contend that every believer is to be reminded to be courteous to all persons regardless of who they are. This, of course, requires every believer to have humility to be able to be courteous to all persons. In any event, the message we have focused is that you should be considerate to ruling authorities and unbelievers in the ways we have considered.
09/08/17