As Nicholas mentioned, we are in Titus chapter
2 today, getting back to our study of Paul's
epistle or letter to Titus. And though our exposition
today is focused on verses 1 through 10 of Titus
chapter 2, I will begin our reading at chapter
1 and verse 16. This is God's holy, inspired,
and inerrant word. They profess to know God.
But by their deeds they deny him, being detestable
and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.
But as for you, speak the things which are fitting
for sound doctrine. Older men are to be temperate,
dignified, sensible, sound in faith, in love
and perseverance. Older women likewise are to
be reverent in their behavior, not malicious
gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what
is good. so that they may encourage the young
women to love their husbands, to love their children,
to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind,
being subject to their own husbands, so that
the word of God will not be dishonored. Likewise,
urge the young men to be sensible. In all things,
show yourself to be an example of good deeds
with purity and doctrine, dignified, sound in
speech which is beyond reproach, so that the
opponent will be put to shame, having nothing
bad to say about us. Urge bond slaves to be subject
to their own masters in everything, to be well
-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering,
but showing all good faith, so that they will
adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every
respect. Let's pray. Gracious Heavenly Father,
we come before you as your people today. thankful
for your word. As we open the scriptures, we
ask you to use them to bring clarity where there
is confusion, conviction where there is sin,
and strength where there is weakness. Shape us
not only to confess the truth, but to live it.
Lord Jesus, our head and our savior, be honored
among us. Conform us to your image and guard
us from hypocrisy. Make us a people whose lives
adorn the doctrine of God and bear witness to
the power of your gospel. Holy Spirit, do the
work of illuminating our minds and softening
our hearts. Produce in us the fruit of sound
doctrine. Train us in godliness. Guide and correct
us when we are confused and out of order. Cause
us to reflect the beauty of the truth we profess.
These things we ask in the mighty name of Jesus.
Amen. You may be seated. I suppose I'll begin
by stating the obvious. We live in a time when
voices are everywhere. There is no shortage of
opinions, and there is no shortage of folks who
love to air their opinions. YouTube, Facebook,
X, formerly Twitter, podcasts, cable news, radio.
People are constantly speaking. You may have
noticed that. People are constantly, to use a
very popular term, influencing. And the reality
is that many of those voices belong to false
teachers. Some of them are quite obvious. They
preach a different gospel and deny essential
truths. Thus, they are exposed by what they say.
But others are far more subtle, and in some ways,
because of their subtlety, they are more dangerous.
Because now there is a growing number of voices
who say many of the right things. They talk about
truth. They talk about order. They love to talk
about family values. You'll even hear them discuss
the ways in which we can save Western culture.
All of those things sound good, do they not?
They talk about morality. They even talk about
God. Some of them claim the name of Jesus Christ.
They claim his name for themselves and mention
their Christianity on a regular basis. However,
their lives tell a different story. Oftentimes,
these same folks have speech that is coarse and
vulgar. Their tone is harsh and combative. Their
relationships are marked by constant conflict.
Some of them seemingly desire to have public
conflict. Some of them almost seem to enjoy constant.
There is little evidence among them of humility
or holiness in their lives. They want to influence
people, but the fruit they produce is poisonous.
It's not the fruit of the Spirit. It's not love,
joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, self -control. Instead, their lives
are marked by the deeds of the flesh. And just
because I think it's so helpful, turn with me
to Galatians 5. We all know Galatians 5, 22 and
23, where Paul gives us the fruit of the Spirit,
which I just mentioned. But oftentimes we forget
about those deeds of the flesh, which Paul mentions,
which precede the fruit of the Spirit. In verse
19, now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which
are. And notice how... Some of these sins, in
our own way of looking at them, seem rather minor,
and others seem quite large. Now, the deeds of
the flesh are evident, which are immorality,
impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities,
strife, jealousy. Those aren't as big a deal,
right? Outbursts of anger. Uh -oh. Disputes,
dissensions, factions, envying. drunkenness,
carousing, and things like these, of which I
forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you,
that those who practice such things will not
inherit the kingdom of God. And then, of course,
Paul, like I said, gives us the fruit of the
Spirit. And, of course, this is all right in
the middle of a whole section on the law. And
he then says, against such things there is no
law, when referring to the fruit of the Spirit.
But for those who practice the deeds of the flesh,
they will not inherit the kingdom of God. We
might be tempted to think that a public scandal
or that people who decide to strive with one
another in public are not committing some form
of sin. But the scripture seems rather evident
here that that is... on par with idolatry and
sorcery and carousing and drunkenness? At some
point, you have to stop asking, what are these
people saying? What you have to start asking
is, what does their life reveal? As we move from
Titus 1 to chapter 2, the Apostle Paul employs
a juxtaposition, a contrast. that serves as a
bridge between these two passages. In verse 16,
he wrote what we just read. They profess to know
God, but by their deeds they deny him. By their
deeds they deny him. They profess to know God,
but by their deeds they deny him. And listen
to the description that he gives of these folks.
being detestable and disobedient and worthless
for any good deed. There's come a point in this
sermon where I'll quote James, and a lot of people
down throughout church history have tried to
create a false argument between Paul, Mr. Justification
by faith, and James, faith without works is dead.
But when you read through the book of Titus,
you can see that there's clear agreement. between
these two apostles here paul is referring to
the false teachers he called out in those previous
verses we're not going to read them again but
if you look back at the very end of verse 9 in
chapter 1 and read all the way through verse
15 and of course even 16 which we just quoted
you'll see that paul has really laid into the
false teachers who were apparently creeping into
the churches in crete who were seeking to make
Issues out of the law that were not beneficial
for these young congregations teaching what was
false. While the false teachers Paul called out
in Titus 1 may have said some of the right things,
on their face, much of what they said about the
law probably seemed right. It probably sounded
good. It probably sounded like they were pious
and holy. And I think that's partly why. Their
teaching was so deceptive. But their lives, their
lives proved something different. Their lives
were inconsistent with their claims. Scripture
reinforces this principle many times over. And
I know that it will cost us a little bit of time.
And Ashley saw how many pages of notes I had
and gave me one of those looks. But I can't resist
the opportunity to do this. Turn to Matthew chapter
7. Of course, you know Matthew 5 through 7. That's
where we see the Sermon on the Mount, right?
Famous passage of Scripture, those three chapters.
And if you go to Matthew chapter 7, most of you
probably are already guessing where I'm headed
here. But in Matthew chapter 7, beginning in
verse 15, Jesus says this. Beware of the false
prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing
that inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know
them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered
from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are
they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but
the bad tree bears bad fruit. fruit. A good tree
cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree
produce good fruit. Every tree that does not
bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the
fire. So then you will know them by their fruits.
Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will
enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does
the will of my Father who is in heaven will enter.
Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord,
did we not prophesy in your name and in your
name cast out demons and in your name perform
many miracles? And then I will declare to them,
I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice
lawlessness. Oh man, can you imagine the heartache,
the terror. Of hearing those words from the Lord
on that final day. In James chapter 2. The brother
of our Lord argues that works must accompany
genuine saving faith. That works must accompany
genuine saving faith. In verse 17 of that chapter
he writes. Even so faith if it has no works is
dead being by itself. Even John. Whom we refer
to as the apostle of love. Talked about this.
He wrote about this. In 1st John. Chapter 2.
Let's turn there. 1st 2nd Peter. 1st 2nd 3rd
John. You guys know where they're at. 1st John
chapter 2. Verses 3 through 6. By this we know
that we have come to know him. If. We keep his
commandments. The one who says, I have come to
know him, and does not keep his commandments
is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever
keeps his word, in him the love of God has truly
been perfected. By this we know that we are in
him. The one who says he abides in him ought
himself to walk in the same manner as he walked.
This is not merely about inconsistency. This
is a matter of denial. Think back to verse 16
there. They profess to know God, but by their
deeds they deny Him. Having the right words with
the wrong life is not sound practice. It is a
denial, a repudiation of sound doctrine. Let
me say that one more time. Having the right words
with the wrong life is not sound doctrine. It
is a denial of sound doctrine. Because what you're
doing is claiming to know God. but denying his
power in your life. In Titus chapter 2 and verse
1, the juxtaposition, the contrast, comes into
view, as Paul says, but as for you, speak the
things which are fitting for sound doctrine.
In other words, don't just produce people, because
of course, obviously, Paul is speaking to Titus
in this pastoral epistle as Titus is ministering
to the churches on the island of Crete, a place
where the gospel certainly shined brightly because
it was such a hellscape, right? So he's giving
him this admonition as a minister of the gospel,
but as for you, speak the things which are fitting
for sound doctrine. Don't just produce people
who say the right things. Let me tell you, let
me tell you. This is an easy trap into which
we can fall. And we can do it very subtly and
not even notice that we've done it. Don't just
produce people who say the right things. Build
a church where the doctrine is visible in people's
lives. That phrase, but as for you, heightens
our awareness of the contrast Paul is making
at the outset of chapter 2. In chapter 1, you
remember it's just been a few weeks ago, so it's
not been terribly long. Hopefully it wasn't that
forgettable. In chapter 1, we saw chaos, false
teachers, and disorder. In chapter 2, we're going
to see order, clarity, and healthy gospel -centered
living. A church whose people are marked by godliness.
This is the core concept of our study, not only
today, and I've mentioned this before, but throughout
the entire letter. Sound doctrine is not merely
correct thinking or proper understanding. These
words carry the idea of health and sincerity
of faith. Sound doctrine produces spiritual health,
moral clarity, godly living. just as Paul wrote
to Timothy in 1 Timothy 1 .5, another of the
pastoral epistles. But the goal of our instruction
is love from a pure heart and a good conscience
and a sincere faith. So here's the primary principle
of our study. Sound doctrine is not proven by
how loudly or passionately it is declared. Rather,
it is proven by how clearly it is displayed in
our lives. Borrowing Paul's words from verse
10, which we'll handle near the end of the message
today, and really using them to entitle the sermon,
borrowing Paul's words there in verse 10, adorn
the doctrine of God. Adorn the doctrine of God,
beautify the doctrine of God, which we claim
to believe. Our good deeds must adorn, they must
beautify the doctrine of God and his gospel of
grace in Christ Jesus. Now to demonstrate this,
Paul structures the church in a very practical
way. It's extremely helpful because we can identify
to it. even these 2 ,000 years later. He moves
through age and gender to show us that godliness
is not an abstract concept. It is not ethereal.
I love that word because it just makes me think
of something that's just floating around. Godliness
is not abstract. It is practical. It is lived
out in every age and every stage of life. And
Paul begins with older men in verse 2. Look there
with me again. Older men are to be temperate,
dignified, sensible, sound in faith, in love,
in perseverance. The pattern of godliness and
good deeds in older men. Older men, this is for
you. I'm not going to count myself in that category
just yet. The pattern of godliness and good deeds
in older men should be marked by character and
stability. I'm just kidding. I probably do fall
into this category. They should be sober -minded,
dignified, self -controlled, doctrinally and
spiritually stable. They should exercise and
exemplify these virtues for the benefit and edification
of the whole church. Older men, do not forget
this. It seems so weird to say this to a group
of men who are all about the same age as me.
You are here for the benefit of the body. You
are meant to bring stability to this body. You
have a purpose to serve. We should exercise and
exemplify these values, these virtues. Paul writes
in 1 Corinthians 16, 13, be on the alert, stand
firm in the faith. Does anybody know the next
line? Act like men. Be strong. There you go.
For everybody who's worried about biblical masculinity,
there you have it. If you're a man, you should
be strong. Right? In 1 Thessalonians 5, 6 we
read, So then let us not sleep as others do,
but let us be alert and sober. Be strong, be
alert, be sober. Older men bear the responsibility
of guiding the church and remaining vigilant
on her behalf. Sound doctrine with which the
older men of the church have become so well acquainted.
produces stability, not volatility. You get on
a hobby horse with a particular doctrine, that's
all well and good. There's certainly nothing
wrong with getting excited about what Scripture
teaches, both in principle and in precept. That
is a wonderful thing. But even if you are right
about your doctrine and you bring it into the
church and you start... destabilizing the church,
you better start questioning your motives. And
it happens. It does happen. This is especially
true in speech and temperament. I say this as
someone who struggles in this particular area.
He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty.
Proverbs 16. The anger of man does not achieve
the righteousness of God, James 1 .20. A lot
of people love to say, but it's righteous indignation
that I have. Zeal for your house, O Lord, right?
Well, when David felt zeal for the house of God,
when Jesus turned over tables and whipped people
and drove them out of the temple, that is righteous
indignation. But being upset about something
that is akin to doctrine or being angry with
someone because they have offended you personally
is not righteous anger. And again, I confess
to you that is an area that I struggle with myself.
To rightly adorn the doctrine of God, older men
should serve as anchors. They should serve as
pillars, as stabilizing forces in the church.
This is a direct contrast to the false teachers
in Titus 1 .11 who must be silenced because they're
doing what? Do you remember that? Because they
are upsetting whole families. The type of man
who runs around upsetting whole families is not
a man who is adorning the doctrine of God. You
are not beautifying the gospel when you upset
families. with your teaching. Similarly, Paul
has directions for older women. That's in verse
3. Older women likewise are to be reverent in
their behavior, not malicious gossips, nor enslaved
to much wine, teaching what is good. Now there's
definitely a direct connection between it and
the following verses. But we're going to stop
with verse 3 for just a moment and deal with
older women. The pattern of godliness and good
deeds in older women should be marked by mentorship
and reverence. They should be reverent, self
-controlled, guarded in speech, and actively
discipling the younger women of the church. Looking
at Ephesians 4 .29, let no unwholesome word proceed
from your mouth, but only such a word as is good
for edification according to the need of the
moment so that it will give grace to those who
hear. Some of these verses were pretty easy to
think up because my mom used to really drive
them into me as a young child and a young man.
When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable.
Where words abound, sin abounds. When there are
many words, transgression is unavoidable. But
he who restrains his lips is wise. Proverbs 10,
19. Godly living requires holy speech. and self
-control. It requires holy speech and self -control.
And don't think I did not feel conviction as
I was writing these words down on this piece
of paper, or typing onto my computer, and then
onto a piece of paper. Godly living requires
holy speech and self -control. Just as the Lord
himself said, the good man out of the good treasure
of his heart brings forth what is good, and the
evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth
what is evil. For his mouth speaks from that
which fills his heart. Luke chapter 6. Older
women, you are not passive participants here.
Your lives should be marked by godliness, not
sitting around telling tales and sipping on wine.
You are essential in the life of the church.
You are essential in the life of the church as
mentors, teachers, and encouragers. Next, Paul
turns his attention to young women, verses 4
and 5, so that they may encourage the young women,
of course referring back to the older women there,
so that they may encourage the young women to
love their husbands, to love their children,
to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind,
being subject to their own husbands, so that
the word of God will not be dishonored. Here,
with young women, we see the application of godliness
in their lives. Notice older women and younger
women, or young women, are linked at the beginning
of verse 4. The older women, as I just mentioned,
should be mentoring, teaching, and encouraging
the young women. This implies that young women,
deities, hear me for a moment. This implies that
young women should be humble and gracious. Enough
to be mentored, to be taught, and to be encouraged.
Too often, young women tend to bristle when someone
offers advice or counsel. Let this never be the
case in young women who seek to adorn the doctrine
of God with their lives. Ladies, humility will
take you much further. than your pride. These
older women have much to say and much experience
upon which they can draw and they can be of a
huge benefit and blessing to you. As you love
your husbands and you love your children, hear
them. Be humble enough to hear them. The pattern
of godliness in young women is demonstrated by
their behavior in the home. Their love is rightly
ordered. Their primary concern is for their husband
and for their children. They are self -controlled,
they are pure, and they are faithful to their
husbands and their children. There's no mention
of their appearance. There's no mention, ladies,
of a beauty regimen. Because they are not merely
concerned with outward beauty, rather they desire
to beautify the gospel with their godliness.
Just as Peter writes, your adornment must not
be merely external, braiding the hair and wearing
gold jewelry or putting on dresses, but let it
be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable
quality of a gentle and quiet spirit which is
precious in the sight of God. For in this way,
in former times, the holy women also, who hoped
in God, used to adorn themselves, being submissive
to their own husbands. Just as Sarah obeyed Abraham,
calling him Lord, and you have become her children
if you do what is right without being frightened
by any fear. 1 Peter 3. Paul writes in Colossians
3 .12, So as those who have been chosen of God,
holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion,
kindness, Humility, gentleness, and patience.
The home is the primary school of godliness.
And young women, you have the immense privilege
and responsibility of being the teacher. Best
of all, when the home is ordered rightly by a
young woman who loves God. her husband and her
children, when she adorns sound doctrine with
godly living in these relationships, the word
of God is esteemed. It is not dishonored, as
it is in the homes and relationships of young
women who refuse to lead godly lives. There is
no shortage. If you'd like to test this out,
I guess you can. I don't know that it would really
be helpful. But there is no shortage of women
online who love to tell you that they don't need
a man, they don't want kids, and they're 38 years
old, never been married, never had a child, playing
with their cats on the side, and just enjoying
their lives. Strong, independent women. And yet,
so often, when you listen to them talk, they
don't sound humble. They don't sound like they're
at peace. They seem embittered. They seem angry.
Next, Paul briefly focuses on young men. And
this is really brief if you separate it from
verses 7 and 8. But look again where Paul focuses
on young men at verse 6 with me. Likewise, urge
the young men to be sensible. It's brief, but
honestly, I think it's the way it is for a reason,
fellas. Young men who seek to adorn the doctrine
of God are sensible. It's not the first time
Paul's used that word here. But it is the only
word he uses when he speaks directly about young
men. Young men who seek to adorn. Are you seeking,
young men? I'm speaking to you guys. Do you seek
to adorn the doctrine of God with your lives?
Because if you do, then you will be sensible.
I was a young man once. Some people know. Thank
God not all of you grew up with me. Sensible
is probably not the word that most people would
use to describe me from the ages of about 15
to 18, maybe 19. Could be 20 or 21. until about
the time Ashley came along. Then there was a
rough couple of years of training, and I became
more sensible by 2032. That word sensible carries
the idea of self -control, sound judgment, and
disciplined thinking. The word sensible carries
the idea of self -control, Sound judgment and
disciplined thinking. Young men, if you hope
to adorn the doctrine of God, your lives must
be marked by increasing discipline and growing
maturity. A right understanding of the gospel
and sound doctrine does not produce arrogance.
It produces steadiness. So many young men in
the world today are the opposite. They are brash.
They are overconfident and they are reactionary.
They lack wisdom to lead their own lives, yet
speak as if they have authority. They're driven
more by impulse, emotion, and cultural noise
than they are by the truth. Scripture gives you
a better pattern to follow. You are not required
to figure this out in isolation on your own,
young men. Don't attempt to do that. You're called
to learn from the older men in the church, to
observe their lives, study their conduct, follow
their example. In doing so, you will grow to
be temperate, dignified. Sensible, sound in faith,
in love, and in perseverance. Young men, many
of you desire good things in life. I guess I'm
going to get a little pastoral here. Young men,
many of you desire good things in life. A wife,
a family, a home. I know some of you long. for
leadership in the church and in your community.
And those are good and right desires. Praise
God that you desire those things. But before
you can lead others, you must learn to govern
yourself. To be sensible, you have to to exercise
self -governance. Don't wait as late in life
as what some of us older men did. Take advantage
of the examples that are in front of you now.
You need to be practical. You need to be reasonable.
You should be guided by truth. Not emotion, not
trends, not the noise of the culture. And I will
grant you, you have a harder time ahead of you
than I did at your age. You have a tougher row
to hoe. Because the noise is everywhere now.
In a very real sense, what I said at the beginning
of the message, in the introduction, applies
directly to you, men. Don't be shaped by the
loudest voices online. Don't do it. Don't fall
into that trap. Just because someone has a following,
it doesn't mean they're worthy of being followed.
You're not lemmings, right? Don't follow the
pattern of men who speak much but live. Follow
the example of godly, faithful men like the ones
you see here, week in and week out. Speaking
of examples, now Paul turns directly to Titus.
The example of excellence, which is found in
Titus himself as a minister of the gospel. Verses
7 and 8. In all things, show yourself to be an
example of good deeds with purity and doctrine,
dignified, sound in speech, which is beyond reproach,
so that the opponent will be put to shame, having
nothing bad to say about us. Titus, the man of
God, is the pattern for the church to follow.
He must have good deeds, pure doctrine, and be
dignified in all things. His speech should be
sound, above reproach, and unassailable. This
is true of all ministers of the gospel who long
to adorn the doctrine of God. In 1 Timothy 4
.12, Paul writes to his true child in the faith,
Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but
rather in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity,
show yourself an example of those who believe.
In Colossians 4 .6 we read, Let your speech always
be with grace, as though seasoned with salt,
so that you will know how you should respond
to each person. The goal is not being right.
but being beyond legitimate criticism so that
the opponent will be put to shame having nothing
bad to say about us, verse 8. This is how the
minister, as an example of excellence in the
church, adorns or beautifies the doctrine of
God. This is why when a minister fails morally,
it is such a big deal. He wants to preserve the
preeminence and beauty of the gospel and sound
doctrine. So he must live his life in a way that
no one can malign due to his failures. To be
clear, this portion is not intended for Titus
only. Paul has in view other ministers of the
gospel who will follow in Titus' footsteps. If
someone claims truth but cannot control their
tongue, or if they speak harshly, coarsely, destructively,
or if they live in constant conflict, God does
not excuse that as personality. That one cuts
deep. It cuts real deep. Because there are a
lot of things, even about myself, that I could
say, it's just my personality. It's just how
I am. God made me this way. I mean, if it weren't
for the way I am, I wouldn't be who I am. You
hear people say things like that all the time,
right? But this is not... An excuse. Quite frankly,
that pattern does not accord with sound doctrine.
There must be no filthiness and silly talk or
coarse jesting named among you. Ephesians 5,
4. My brethren, these things ought not to be
this way, James declares. Finally, Paul brings
this even closer to home. By showing how ordinary
daily conduct serves to adorn the doctrine of
God, by treating everyday life as worship, verses
9 and 10. Urge bond slaves to be subject to their
own masters in everything, to be well -pleasing,
not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing
all good faith so that they will adorn the doctrine
of God our Savior in every respect. Even in ordinary,
lowly roles, like work, authority structures,
daily responsibilities. We should adorn the doctrine
of God with holiness and godly living. Ephesians
6, 5 -8, Slaves, be obedient to those who are
your masters according to the flesh, with fear
and trembling in the sincerity of your heart
as to Christ, not by way of eye service as men
-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ. doing the
will of God from the heart with goodwill, render
service as to the Lord and not to men, knowing
that whatever good thing each one does, this
he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave
or free. Colossians 3, 22 through 25, slaves
in all things obey those who are your masters
on earth, not with external services, those who
merely please men, but with sincerity of heart,
fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, do your work
heartily as for the Lord rather than for men,
knowing that from the Lord you will receive the
reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ
whom you serve. For he who does wrong will receive
the consequences of the wrong which he has done,
and that without partiality. Adorning the doctrine
of God, adorning the gospel, beautifying the
gospel. means that we make it attractive in every
way possible, even in the mundanity of life.
We're not seeking to add to sound doctrine, and
we know we can't contribute anything to our salvation.
Amen? However, our desire is to accompany what
we've received with godliness in our lives that
magnifies and glorifies the doctrine of God.
Otherwise, we nullify the gospel's effectiveness
to us by leading lives that betray the gospel
and prove us to be liars. Imagine a company,
let's say they chose some virtue as the name
of their company. Let's take something like,
how about Integrity? It's on everything, right?
It's on their website, it's on their vehicles,
it's in all their branding. They're built on
integrity. However, in practice, their communication
is harsh, their employees cut corners, their
contracts are a mess, there's conflict everywhere
in the organization, and they don't stand behind
their products or services which they sell. Eventually,
you stop listening to what they say and start
judging them by what they do. That is exactly
what Paul is addressing here. Holy living is
the result. Chapter 1, we saw sound doctrine
defined and defended. In chapter 2, we're seeing
sound doctrine displayed. Sound doctrine produces
proper order and brings about godliness in the
church. Again, we're not doing this to be saved.
We're not earning our salvation by doing these
things. Christ did that work for us apart from
anything we have done. in and of ourselves, quite
frankly, in spite of ourselves. However, we should
live to adorn the doctrine of God because the
grace of God has appeared. Verse 11, verse 12,
instructing us to deny ungodliness. We'll get
into that a little more next week. For now, however,
I do want to leave you with this. And I really
think everybody should contemplate this. We can
love doctrinal precision and still neglect holiness.
I'll never forget hearing of a homeschool mother
who once said her children had gotten into sin
as they grew up and left the home. And she said,
we thought we did everything right. We had reformed
theology. We did family worship. We thought we
did it all right. Well, you can say all of the
right things and still be neglecting holiness
in your life. Amen? This is common among Reformed
people. We can win arguments and still fail to
adorn the doctrine of God. You can be right and
still be wrong. It's not about being right. It's
not about winning debates. So I'll ask two questions.
Does your life make the gospel beautiful? Or,
do you profess to know God, but by your deeds
are you denying Him? Because sound doctrine is
not authenticated by volume or visibility, but
by the godliness it produces in your life.