Speak these things
Sometimes new teachers or preachers wonder what to say to their hearers. There may be any number of reasons for this. The apostle Paul wrote to Titus and told him to speak certain things. It probably had more to do with competing doctrines being proclaimed on the island of Crete.
These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you. Titus 2.15 LSB.
This text was useful not only for Titus but also for the listeners in the congregations. Paul insists with Titus, providing him what to teach, showing him the way to teach and motivating him not to be shy in the face of opposition.
Paul tells Titus to speak. In this text we have the only imperative of the letter. This fact highlights the main activity of the evangelist, which cannot be neglected.
In the original language, the term for “these things” occurs first in the sentence, emphasizing the content: speak these things, and not others. The Legacy Standard Bible and some of the older versions reflect this order.
Speaking has two aspects, one positive, the other negative. “Exhorting” is the positive aspect, the encouragement to obey and live the sound doctrine. “Rebuking” is to refute, to show error, Matthew 18.15. Behind this work is the action of the Holy Spirit, John 16.8, which reveals it as an essential activity.
The word “authority” is not the normal term found in the New Testament; Jesus holds all authority, Matthew 28.18; John 17.2. Here, Paul refers to Titus’s way of teaching, with no ifs, ands, or buts, no uncertain sound, but confidence in speaking and assurance of the truth.
What did Paul mean when he said something similar to Titus as he’d said to Timothy in 1Timothy 4.12, about letting no one disregard him? There it had to do with Timothy’s age. Here, age is not mentioned. It probably refers to people who preferred the false teachings and would try to cancel Titus’s influence. (Cancel culture is not a new thing.) Excuse the phrasing, but Titus was to get in their face with the truth of sound doctrine. He must refuse to let others ignore what he was saying.
Those who speak sound doctrine should not show doubt or leave room for different opinions. Contempt will be shown by people who want to silence sound doctrine, isolate the evangelist or cancel his influence in the congregation. But the man of God must still insist, must continue to speak, must focus on the things that bring salvation to those who hear.
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