Christ's Law

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● Titus 2:3b . .The aged women likewise, that they be not addicted to much wine.

A moderate amount of wine isn't discouraged. I think what we're talking about here
are the characteristics of a lush, i.e. intemperance. Those folks don't control the bottle,
rather, the bottle controls them.

* One of the problems associated with booze is it's negative effect upon the heavy
drinker's judgment, and also the way that alcohol sometimes influences their mind's
interpretation of reality. (Back in the day, that was called pink elephants)
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● Titus 2:3c-5 . .The aged women likewise. . teaching what is good, 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, that
the word of God may not be dishonored.

Far from teaching younger women to respect their husbands, feminism encourages
them to stand up to their husbands; and rather than be keepers at home, feminism
has them out seeking means to compete with men and break the so-called glass
ceiling; and rather than love their children, feminism has them dominating their
offspring in a domestic society structured on divisions of labor, command and
control, tyranny, and regimentation. Those behaviors certainly can never be
categorized as honoring the word of God.

At the heart of women's hostility towards men is the drive to resist male
supremacy. Yet the very lord and master of Christianity, the supreme male in the
universe; demands death to a woman's self interests, and her subordination to His
monarchy.

"If you want to be my follower you must love me more than your own father and
mother, wife and children brothers and sisters-- yes, more than your own life. And
you cannot be my disciple if you do take up your own cross and follow me." (Luke
14:26)

In The Lord's era, crosses were for executions. So when he told his disciples to
"take up their own cross" it meant stifling their own way; viz: it was a call to
abandon self interests, and comply with their Master's wishes.

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as
living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-- this is your spiritual act of worship. Do
not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is
-- His good, pleasing and perfect will." (Rom 12:1-2)

Those requirements runs 180° counter to modern feminism's self-aggrandizing
attitude that homemaking is oppressive and demeaning to women, and that respect
for one's husband is somehow abusive; which is obviously an attitude that vilifies
the word of God instead of honoring it.

Christian marriage and motherhood are not for militant females; no, marriage and
motherhood are for grown-up, mature, emotionally stable women; and I'm not
talking about years of life; no, even some 35 and 40 year-old women often fall
short of being grown-up. Their association with men is on no higher a level now
than when they were the 17 year-old, self-absorbed insolent brats they were in
high school.
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● Titus 2:6 . . Encourage the young men to be sensible.

Paul urged Titus to "encourage" the young men in his church to be sensible; which
is quite a bit different than hounding them or getting on their backs.

Relentless criticism and ridicule, unreasonable expectations, zero sympathy, and
disapproving everything they think, say, or do are the surest ways I know to ruin a
young man's attitude.
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● Titus 2:7-8 . . In all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with
purity in doctrine, dignified, sound in speech which is beyond reproach, in order
that those who oppose us may be put to shame, having nothing bad to say.

Young men today desperately need morally sound, grown-up male role models
because you can't just disapprove their life-style and not show them an alternative;
and the best way to do that is by your own example; viz: instead of preaching to
youngsters with words; preach to them with your lifestyle.

NOTE: It's very important for church officers to practice what they preach because
impious conduct is not only a bad influence but it's also unbecoming and reflects on
Christ. (cf. 2Sam 12:14)
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● Titus 2:9-10a . . Bond slaves are to be subject to their own masters in everything,
to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering;

A bond slave is someone who has sold themselves into slavery for any number of
reasons. But the one aspect I would like to dwell on is pilfering because this is a
serious problem for employers here in the USA.

The Greek word translated "pilfering" basically means to squirrel something aside
for one's self, viz: embezzle; which Webster's defines as: to appropriate (as
property entrusted to one's care) fraudulently to one's own use.

Embezzling isn't limited to strictly stealing money; no, it's also the misuse of an
employer's property such as company cars, office materials and office equipment,
and/or shop materials and shop equipment; including water and electricity.

My last job before retiring was as a civilian employee with the US Army Corps of
Engineers in the Portland Oregon district. It was a violation of Federal law for us to
even take anything out of a dumpster, or use a battery charger to jump-start our
cars, or even to so much as pump up a low tire on our cars with the air produced
by a government air compressor. We were definitely not supposed to use the
government's computers for surfing the web or composing personal e-mails.

Everything on the facility where I worked was US Government property, including
the trash, and could not be used in an unofficial capacity without first obtaining
special permission. Violators were subject to prosecution for Fraud, Waste, and
Abuse.

Unofficial use of office computers alone is costing employers multiplied thousands of
hours of wages and benefits paid to employees who are online during working
hours for personal reasons. The most outrageous case I heard of at work was a
lady downtown in the district office who was caught conducting her Mary Kay
cosmetics business via a US Government computer; and on official time no less.
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● Titus 2:10b . . but showing all good faith that they may adorn the doctrine of God
our savior in every respect.

When women buy a pretty new dress, they usually get things to go with it; things
we call accessories; like a purse, shoes, stockings, necklace, earrings, and/or a
watch and a bracelet. In the old days, women usually bought some gloves to go
with their new dress too-- thus they create an "ensemble" which gives them a
complete look rather than an unfinished look as if they just threw the dress on to
work around the house or run down to a nearby convenience store.

Well, a Christian who's merely a pew warmer is like a pretty dress without accessories.
In point of fact, they are quite basic: just a house-dressChristian. In other words
religion without piety is like leaving the house for work in the morning half dressed.

NOTE: This touches on the very thing that hampered Cain's association with God.
Cain had religion, that much is evident (Gen 4:3) but he didn't have piety. That
much is evident too (Gen 4:7). In other words: Cain had a faith, but his wasn't an
"all good faith" like Abel's.
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● Titus 2:15 . . These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority.
Let no one disregard you.

I'm pretty sure this doesn't mean that pastors should speak with a bullying,
imperialistic, intimidating tone of voice. Pastors, after all, are supposed to be
shepherds rather than a bull o' the woods bossing a logging crew; so to speak.

The Greek word for "disregard" basically means to depreciate; viz: to marginalize.
i.e. to consider superfluous, expendable, and/or nonessential.

Once a minister has been made to feel that he's weak and ineffective and/or that in
the grand scheme of things he doesn't really matter; then for sure he'll lose heart
in his vocation and likely won't give it his best effort. The ministers with whom I've
been in contact over the years all agree that one of their most difficult personal
obstacles to overcome is discouragement.
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● Titus 3:1 . . Remind your people to submit to the government and its officials.
They should be obedient, always ready to do what is good.

A popular form of anarchy here in the USA is something called civil disobedience--
defined as the active, professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws of the
state, and/or demands, orders, and commands of a government, or of an occupying
international power; i.e. non compliance with constituted law and order. In other
words: civil disobedience is criminal.

Henry David Thoreau insisted that individuals should not permit governments to
overrule or atrophy their consciences, and that they have a duty to avoid allowing
such acquiescence to enable the government to make them the agents of injustice.

That sounds very sensible but Thoreau was a transcendentalist which is a
philosophical/spiritual/literary movement that believes people are inherently good.
However; the Bible teaches that people are inherently evil.

Self-rule in accord with one's conscience got its start in the garden of Eden.

"Then the Lord God said: Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good
and evil." Gen 3:22)

Unfortunately the conscience that Adam obtained via tasting the forbidden fruit
transformed himself into a tin God guided by his intuition instead taking directions
from his maker.

Self-rule was the primary form of government during the Judges' era of spiritual
decadence in the land of Israel.

"In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right
in his own eyes." (Judg 17:6)
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