“Likewise exhort the young men to be sober-minded, in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you.” Titus 2:6-8.
“Exhort servants to be obedient to their own masters, to be well pleasing in all things, not answering back, not pilfering, but showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things.” Titus 2:9-10.
The opening passage Titus 2:6-8 has been included to maintain context. Titus is to exhort the younger men to be “sober-minded”, which is better rendered self-controlled.
After that the Apostle Paul continues by telling Titus to show himself a pattern of good works and continues by categorizing these good works.
The reason for this is that these young men are not going to follow the teaching of a hypocrite. Those who wish to lead young people to righteousness must lead by word and example.
We now come to servants in the next section Titus 2:9-10.
Slavery no longer exists in the free world, however slaves, or servants today might be better described as employees. These words do apply to all of us who are employed and are accountable to a boss. So, take these verses to heart because they apply to us as well as the slave.
If you are self-employed Jesus is your master or boss. Jesus Christ is in fact and truly master of us all, let us, none of us forget that.
There are a couple of important observations on the first phrase, “Exhort servants to be obedient to their own masters…” since slaves were almost everywhere when this was written during the Roman Empire 27 B.C. to 476 A.D (these dates may vary), Christian slaves were to maintain a godly lifestyle.
Scripture does not advocate that slaves should rebel against their masters because to do so would set Christians against the Roman Empire which would be an act of rebellion, something contrary to our Lord Jesus Christ’s teachings.
Instead, slaves and all men should submit themselves to God’s care and to the powers that be because they are ordained by God.
“Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.” Romans 13:1.
“Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.” Colossians 3:22-24.
The earlier passage in Titus 2:9 also contains another thing to note, “…be obedient to their own masters…”, why not just say obedient to their masters. Why is Scripture so specific as to say slaves must obey their own masters?
Obeying your own master might save you from being accused of participating in some sort of court intrigue, or in today’s language workplace backstabbing.
If you are known for faithfully carrying out your boss/master’s will in everything it is less likely that plotters of rebellion will approach you and drag you down with them.
Another reason to obey your own master is to avoid having another slave owner approach you and say, “I need you to go and pick up ten barrels of wine I have ordered.” Rich folks are arrogant this way.
This isn’t your job my friend. A good reply might be, “I will need to ask my master/boss if it is alright with him.” Hopefully that will be the end of it.
The above are my speculations, perhaps when you consider these things, you may come up with some other good reasons to obey your own masters/boss.
“Exhort servants to be obedient to their own masters, to be well pleasing in all things, not answering back…” Titus 2:9.
The next phrase, “to be well pleasing in all things…” you have all heard the term kiss-up or teacher’s pet and other crude references, this is not it my friends.
The Lord’s desire is for us to serve our masters with the intent “to be well pleasing in all things”, literally to please them well in all things regardless of the difficulty of the task even to the point of going beyond what was assigned to you.
We do these things not only to be a good witness to the master and others but to show our love of God and the Lord Jesus as expressed here in Colossians 3:22, “Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God.”
Men may call you a kiss-up, but there is a difference, the man-pleaser seeks something in return, even if it is only to have the boss appreciate him as his trusted gofer.
When given a job to do, the man-pleaser does only what it takes to make it look good. The man-pleaser is very likely to slander and gossip about his boss. These are some of the red-flags that identify the man-pleaser and separates them from the godly hard working Christian servant.
“… to be well pleasing in all things, not answering back…” Titus 2:9b.
Not only are we “to be well pleasing in all things” but the Christian slave should not be “answering back”. The Greek means “not contradicting”, Christian slaves may become too familiar with their masters and contradict them when they disagree with their commands.
While a good servant might respectfully point out the dangers they see, it is not their place to argue the point but to submit as to the Lord.
“Servants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men…” Ephesians 6:5-7.
“…not pilfering, but showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things.” Titus 2:10.
Christian slaves or employees are not to pilfer from their master/employer. Many folks take stuff because it is easy and they think since they are not paid enough, the company owes it to them or some other such creative reasoning. “Besides, it’s just a little thing.”
There is no excuse for a Christian to steal from their employer no matter how small a thing it is. In fact, “thou shalt not steal” is in the Ten Commandments meaning that the Christian has no business stealing ever.
“…not pilfering but showing all good fidelity”, what is all good fidelity?
Faith or faithfulness is translated fidelity in this passage in both the King James Version and the New King James Version. So, the Christian is to show all good faithfulness to God our Savior. The word good in this verse is not just good, but overwhelming good in our faithfulness to God our Savior.
So, what is the results of doing all these things for God, and showing all good faithfulness?
“…showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things.” Titus 2:10b.
By showing all good faithfulness, the lowliest slave or employee will:
“…adorn [adorn means to honor or dignify] the doctrine [or precepts] of God our Savior in all things.” Titus 2:10b.
Quiet Witness, Part 4 taken from godisrevealed.com posted on 11-30-24 ck.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.