Key Truth: Sound doctrine must be lived out in all phases of our lives for the life of the church’s witness for the life of the world.

Introduction:

Q: Which has a bigger impact on what people think of you: what you say or what you do?

“Christianity is primarily, indeed, a doctrine, but only that it may be in the true sense a life; and the two can never be kept apart from each other in the public teaching of the church without imminent peril to both.”

Patrick Fairbairn, A Commentary on 1&2 Timothy and Titus

Sound Doctrine Must Be Lived Out in Community:

Titus 2:1-6

“Respectability in the household is not surrender to secular influence (the modern interpretation); nor is it a clinging to the ordinary in order to protect the church’s existence in a hostile climate. In fact, the household as the center of society was under attack from converging cultural forces. Its central place in life made it the strategic hill to be taken by the gospel if Christianity was going to prove its redemptive capability in the world.”

Philip H. Towner, The Letters to Timothy and Titus

Q: Why does how we live matter?

Sound Doctrine Must Be Lived Out in Ministry:

Titus 2:7-8

“The exhortation of Titus would carry no weight unless backed by the pattern of his life, a principle which has been amply illustrated in the history of the Christian ministry.”

Donald Guthrie, The Pastoral Epistles: An Introduction and Commentary

Q: Whose glory is most tarnished in the eyes of the world when a religious leader’s actions are inconsistent with his words?

Sound Doctrine Must Be Lived Out in Our Vocation:

Titus 2:9-10

“According to the Scriptural perspective, work becomes a waystation of spiritual witness and service, a daily traveled bridge between theology and social ethics. In other words, work for the believer is a sacred stewardship, and in fulfilling his job he will either accredit or violate the Christian witness.”

Carl F. H. Henry, Aspects of Christian Social Ethics

Q: What impact does how you pursue and perform your vocation have on your witness?

Titus 2:1-10 teaches us that:

-how we live out sound doctrine affects our witness and opportunities for discipleship

-the pastor who teaches sound doctrine must live it out for the sake of the glory of God

-our work is a critical vehicle for our witness in the world

“All true believers are expected to have their faith reflected in their conduct and to have their conduct affirm their faith.”

R. Kent Hughes & Bryan Chapell, 1&2 Timothy &Titus: To Guard the Deposit