So that

Titus 2 is the meat of Paul's letter to Titus, a man he referred to as both a brother and a son, whom he has appointed to oversee this church in Crete. In this portion of his letter, Paul encourages Titus to speak, exhort, and rebuke with all authority.

Paul begins by telling Titus what he ought to speak and why. He tells him to "speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine... that the Word of God may not be blasphemed." Essentially, the unsound behavior of a believer could potentially cause a skewed perception of the sacredness of the Word of God and potentially even cause dishonor towards it. How shameful would it be to cause someone to speak lightly of or profanely about the Word of God, the Bread of Life?

We see that older men, older women, and young women may understand doctrine best by hearing it, whereas bondservants (if you have those [just picking!]) and young men may learn best by exhortation and example. By the way, a modern-day bondservant might be someone you have "adopted," someone who looks out for you and you look out for them, someone who may as well be family, who has something you desire and you give them what they need too.

Here's a nugget: Paul tells Titus to show himself to be a "pattern of good works." A pattern is steady, predictable, orderly, and not without thought, planning, or purpose. See the verses leading up to 2 Timothy 2:21 and 3:17 to learn more about what Paul believes it takes to be prepared and thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Moving on, Paul exhorts Titus to "[deny] ungodliness and worldly lusts" so that "our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us... might redeem us from every lawless deed..."

So, could the goal be to replace lawlessness with good works that occur like a steady-flowing pattern?

• redeem: to release by paying a ransom

• deny: to refuse to affirm; to contradict

Paul is just trying to give Titus a handbook, if you will, for navigating the waters of church leadership and eldership. I am grateful to be a butterfly on the wall that is his letters to those he cherished the most, including Titus.

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I have not explained the title "so that" you may read this chapter for yourself. In this 15-verse chapter, I found eight reasons for the instructions Paul gave. Below is a glimpse of my annotations, but I encourage you to read along here: Titus 2.