Called To Be God’s Woman:
A Titus 2
Woman
KEY VERSE: Titus 2:3-5 Lesson
5 – The Aged Women:
Behavior that becometh
Holiness
Lesson
based on Titus 2:3a
Tonight we begin with our
key verses.
[B] Read Titus 2:1-5. From having
studied
verses one and two, we are reminded Titus has been charged to teach
believers
in the godless Cretan society, things that are sound doctrine. And, in doing
so, many
will be affected and benefit. Last
week we saw the effects Titus’ preaching
would have
on aged men. Tonight, we begin with
the demeanor that is acceptable
to God of
aged women.
1. Who would you say the aged woman
is?
Everyone is older than someone
else. To the young mother in her
30s and
40s, the
hoary head is the aged woman. To
the young bride in her 20s, the 30 to 40
yr.
old is an
older woman. To a teenager, the 25
yr. old and older are the aged women.
And so it
goes on down the line. Everyone is
the aged woman to someone else, if you think about it. It bears considering this aspect as we
continue in the study that follows.
In this passage, we are concentrating on the hoary head as the aged
woman.
2. Giving verse references, what three
areas is addressed concerning the aged
woman?
Titus 2:3, teaches the aged women were to have a holy ‘behavior’
Titus 2:4, says the aged women were to teach young women priorities as
wives
and mothers.
Titus 2:5 says the aged women were to teach the younger women to be
Homemakers.
We will be concentrating in this lesson on the first area
concerning aged women:
“behavior as
becometh holiness”, Verse 3a
Behavior is an interesting word. Behavior speaks of our conduct,
it speaks
of our
manners, it reveals who we are by what we say with words and as
well as our
deportment
(conduct). Our behavior may be a
result of society’s trends and standards
or it may
be the manifestation of a deeper spiritual conviction. We will probe into God’s
word to
see what God has to say about how a Christian woman should behave.
Holiness is not an attainment, that is, a completed skill,
but a process; a
lifelong,
persevering, growing process.
We cannot mentally or emotionally decide:
‘we are
going to be holy!’ This is not one
of those ‘instant’ choices with ‘instant’ results.
It is part of the Christian’s lifetime walk that will come to fruition as God continues to conform
us to the
image of His Son, Jesus.
3.
How do you think a holy woman
should behave?
What pictures come to mind when you think of women being holy?
Women
with
scrunched up faces and pursed lips that seem to have been sucking on lemons?
Women with
knitted eyebrows and very somber expressions? Do you think of
them
as being
women who have so little care about
their appearance that they appear
either
drab or hard; women whose ‘style’ evokes no soft or graceful femininity?
Is this
what God meant for His Bride? No,
this is not it. Although our
outward
appearance
should be pleasant and be a good testimony, bringing glory to God, it
should not
overshadow God’s intent for us.
Let’s look at both sides of this issue…what a holy behavior is and what
it is not.
But, first
let’s see how you answered question
#4.
4.
a.
What definition did you find in your
dictionary for ‘holiness’?
[holiness – a sacred attitude; sanctity;
godliness; saintliness.]
After we have completed tonight’s
probing, you might want to look back
on your
definition and see how it compares to your initial concept of what it is to
be
holy.
Godly men have had this to say about
holiness:
(*)
Jerry Bridges has said “To be holy is to be morally
blameless.”
(*) Charles Hodge has said it
is an “inward conformity to the Divine
Image.”
(*) A.W. Pink said,
“Holiness…consists of that internal change or
renovation
of our
souls, whereby our minds, affections and wills are brought into
harmony
with
God.”
Ryrie says, to be holy is to be “set apart from sin”.
(*) Respectively: The Pursuit of Holiness; Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans; The
Doctrine of
Sanctification.
We know that
God looks on the heart.
I Samuel 16:7, says, “But the LORD
said unto
Samuel, Look not on his countenance …for the LORD seeth not as man
seeth, for
man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the
heart.”
b. Let us examine what the following verses say concerning
‘holiness’?
[B] Leviticus
an
option. God has commanded our
behavior to be in line with Who He is.
He has
called us, He has
saved us, we are called by His name, and we are to behave as
one
that resembles Him.
[B] I Peter
1:14-16 – Again
God commands us to be holy in our behavior
(conversation) our conduct. Our attitude is to be one of obedience to
God’s
command
and then to take some action... “not fashioning ourselves” to the
ignorance
we once had toward God and His standard, but to now pursue HIS
standard
of holiness.
We have explored some of what Scripture says regarding our need to
be
Holy before a Holy
God. He has commanded us to this
higher plane and it is
one that
pleases Him. Thus, we know
WHAT it is God expects.
5.
HOW do we begin to meet God’s
standard?
We have already established: holiness is a process. As we are
obedient
and grow
in the faith, the Holy Spirit will consistently reveal to us each new area
of our
lives that has not yet been sanctified, that is, set apart from
the world, to
the Lord. God has not left us to fend on our own;
we have God, the Holy
Spirit
as our power
source within us to help us with the
spiritual surgery ahead,
when
once we have
made up our minds to obey God and “be holy”
in every area of
our
lives. So we see: obedience
is a key to lifelong
process.
[B] Philippians 2:12b,
13 – We are to
work out our own salvation with
fear and
trembling. “The fear of the Lord is
the beginning of wisdom”.
The Lord
is not asking us to work out OUR idea of what holiness is,
but for us to
obey
Him and live up to His Holiness
given to us at salvation through Jesus
Christ.
[B] I Timothy 4:7 says we have to train ourselves to be disciplined
and
have this as our spiritual goal. Jerry Bridges (Pursuit of Holiness, pg. 105),
says “the
necessary ingredient of discipline is perseverance.” Holiness is
not
an instant
success. We will be met with the
Enemy’s stumbling blocks and obstacles.
We may
falter…but perseverance is the
key.
The training instruction book?
The Bible, [B] 2 Timothy
process is
not one that is hard to conceive.
The Spirit of God wrote the Holy
Scriptures, we read and learn the Scriptures. The Spirit brings God’s Word
to our
minds and hearts and we obey. As we
obey and apply God’s doctrine
to our
lives, we grow by His grace and have taken a step in becoming conformed
to the
image of God’s Son. This
is the cycle: we read and learn, we listen and
obey.
[B] Romans 12:2 tells us to “not be
conformed to this world: but…
transformed by the
renewing of our minds…” Obeying this action is
acceptable
to a holy
God. We make up our minds to
obey. It is as simple as that. We
determine to
obey. Will we be perfect in this
determination? No, we will not
be
perfect. But, each step
toward holiness is more than not taking any steps at
all.
One of the areas the Bible speaks of for women in being not conformed
to
this
world is the area of our appearance.
[B] Deuteronomy 22:5a – Our clothing should not “pertain” to a man.
A little
research on this verse uncovered
this:
“The
interchange of dress, on the part of the men and women, and anything which
could
confound the natural difference between the sexes, was sacredly prohibited
because of
its unnaturalness, and it’s certain tendency toward
vice.”
A.B Simpson, The Christ in the Bible Commentary, Vol. 1,
pg. 346
“In that society male and female dress
were similar, making distinctive styles for
the sexes
especially important to help prevent transvestism and
homosexuality.”
Ryrie’s notes on
this verse.
***The adoption of
clothing of the opposite sex was forbidden because it obscured the distinction
of the sexes and thus violated an essential part of the created order of life
(Genesis
1:27). It was also perhaps
associated with or promoted homosexuality.
The
same
Hebrew word translated ‘detests’ = “abomination” is used to describe God’s
view of
homosexuality (Lev.
transvestism may have been connected with the worship of pagan
deities. Since this
law was
related to the divine order of Creation and since God detests anyone who
does this,
believers today also ought to heed this
command.
The Bible Knowledge Commentary, pg. 301
“The
woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man…” ‘keli’, ‘
geber’, the
instruments or arms of a man.
As the word ‘geber’ is here used, which properly
signifies
a strong man or man of war, it is very probable that armour is here
intended; especially as we know that in the worship of Venus, … the women were
accustomed
to appear in armour before her. It certainly cannot mean a simple
change in
dress, whereby the men might pass for women, and vice versa.
This would
have been impossible in those countries where the dress of the sexes
had
but little to distinguish it, and where
every man wore a long beard. It is,
however,
a very
good general precept understood literally, and applies particularly to those
countries
where the dress alone distinguishes between the male and the female. The
close-shaven gentlemen may at any time appear like a woman in the female
dress,
and the
woman appear as a man in the males’ attire. Were this to be tolerated in
society,
it would produce the greatest
confusion.”
Clarke’s Commentary, Vol. I, page
794
We see we have some
similar views on this verse with some variations.
The bottom
line is women should be distinguishable from men, a safeguard
against
their being a
crossing over of the sexes against the nature for which they were
created by
God.
It is this perversion which is an abomination to the
Lord.
Continuing in our understanding of
‘not being conformed to this
world…’
[B] Matthew 6:28-30, encourages us to not be anxious over
clothing; what will
we wear?? Will we have what we need? God says, he will provide our needs,
vs. 30.
[B] I Timothy 2:9-10, speaks of modesty in our appearance. The picture
is
one of
meekness, being demure, reserved.
This verse is not saying a woman is not to adorn herself with gold,
pearls or
not braid
her hair. In context, we see Paul
is exhorting instruction concerning
worship. [B] I
Timothy 2:1-4; 8. The exhortation concerns praying and
thanksgiving for all men; praying for those in authority. Prayer is the focus
here.
In the very next verse, verse
9,
the women are addressed.
Paul has been
talking
about spiritual things in the preceding verses and his intent for the women is
the same:
a spiritual focus. The women’s
worship and mindset should concern
itself
with spiritual
things. Their appearance, especially
during the worship service should
be one
that reflects a proper inner life.
Paul describes that inner life:
‘shamefacedness’that is to say, modesty, and to be sober in spirit.
The world’s focus is ostentation.
A drawing of attention to self.
Outlandish
appearances either in their choice of garments, their hair styles or lack
of them, the
extravagance of wearing renown ‘labels’; an appearance that dazzles
whether in
a pleasant
or unpleasant manner…it doesn’t really matter. For good or bad, it
is
still not
the Lord’s standard. How
distracting it would be to other worshippers to
have such
a distraction. It would not be
conducive to worship or prayer.
Instead, verse 10 says, a godly woman’s adornment is to be good works.
THIS is their
ornament. This is what will bring
beauty to them.
God says this plainly as He restates this in [B] I Peter 3:3-4.
Ryrie’s
note on this verse: Elaborate braiding or
all jewelry was not prohibited.
It is the
condemning ostentation and welcomes modesty and meekness
instead.
[B] 2 Timothy 3:16, 17, a very familiar verse, we are reminded of the
purpose
of God’s
inspired word for us. We see it
what we need in order for God to teach us,
rebuke us
correct us in righteousness. God’s
Word equips us to do good works.
Having the
‘instruction book’ is all-important.
Meeting with the ‘Instructor’ and
reading
His Book is vital in accomplishing a behavior that becomes
holiness.
APPLICATION – Are we
struggling with this? The first
thing to do is a
‘temperature check’. Do some
self-inventory and ask yourself: “how is
your
quiet
time?” Very often this is the real
problem. God allows us to reap what
we’ve
sown. This is not difficult to
remedy. Confession and repentance
and begin
once again
to obey.
I Corinthians 9:24-27 tells us we must be temperate in all things. We need
to make
“an appointment” a “date” to meet with God. It may vary for each of
us
depending
on our schedules and lives. The
point is to make the date and keep it.
God is
waiting for us each day to meet with Him.
So we meet with the Lord…what does that
mean?
Do we just read the
daily
Proverb for the day and feel we have met with the Lord? Do we add to this
some
little devotion book: read the top one liner verse and the writer’s
commentary
and feel
we have met with the Lord? Do we do
the questions from this lesson and
think we
have met with the Lord? We cannot
pick from a menu of column A or
column B
and think we have a comprehensive program in our goal to be
holy.
God’s first commandment to us is to
love the Lord with all our heart,
soul,
mind,
strength. Let’s look into what God
has to say in His Word about the
working
out of
this commandment in our lives.
6.
To begin, we need to be in a place where we will hear the Word of
God.
That
means, coming to hear God’s Word preached each time the doors of our
meeting house is
open, unless the Lord intervenes and prevents us. Jeremiah 3:15
tells us
God has given us pastors to feed us “with knowledge and
understanding.”
[B] Joshua 1:8, We need to read and
meditate on God’s Word; having
it
ready on our lips
and this will produce spiritual prosperity. [B] Psalm 1:1-3 tells us
the man that delights in God’s Word will not only be
blessed (vs. 1), but this man
will
flourish, will prosper in everything that he does. We could say the key to
success in
the Lord is here in these verses.
Notice too, it is day and night that this
man meditates and
delights in God’s Word.
Psalm 119:97 confirms this
again.
What is it to meditate? It is the
process of thinking and churning of God’s
Word over
and over again in our minds throughout a day and then making it come
alive in
our own life situation. We apply
it. Applying God’s Word to our
lives
is
evidence of our obedience to God.
We lay aside a sin habit when we
obey.
[B] Proverbs 2:1-5 - Studying plays a part in all of this as well. Coming to
this study
is one way to do this, but you should also have a study time of your own
doing.
Proverbs 2:1 encourages us to
“hide” God’s commands in our hearts.
It is
our
‘treasure’; a treasure that is hidden.
If we have done this, the Holy Spirit is
able then
to draw out from our ‘treasure’ chest the things we need at the
appointed
time. What is the quality of these
“gems”? Wisdom and understanding
which are
God-given
but under certain conditions.
When? When we “incline our
ear” and
“apply our heart”
(vs. 2).
Proverbs 2:4 says we are to seek God’s Word the way someone would search
for hidden treasure. And the result of all this we find in verse 5: “Then shalt thou understand
the fear of the
LORD, and find the knowledge of God.”
To all of this we add memorization.
Why memorize Scripture?
[B] Psalm
119:11 offers us this answer.
No where in any of this do we find that God says, going to church alone
or coming to a Bible study alone, or reading His Word daily, or meditating alone, or memorizing
Scripture
alone is the way to know God’s Word.
We are in a race
Paul has
said, and if we are to finish the race successfully, we need to
implement
all of
God’s word, not pick and choose that which agrees with how we
‘feel’.
7. Having looked up these verses, how would
you define ‘discipline’ according to
God’s Word?
Discipline is God’s way of molding us to be holy. It corrects us and is
accomplished by obedience to God’s
Word.
We have to train ourselves to be
obedient to God’s Word. We
train
ourselves
by renewing our minds to meet His standard of holiness in our
appearance,
and making
sure to not attention to ourselves, but instead to put on a meek and
quiet
spirit. Spend time in His Word, meditate on
His Word, keep journals to remember
things the
Spirit revealed to you and answered prayer; memorize His Word to keep it
as ready
ammunition against the attacks to our souls; pray always and without
ceasing;
study God’s Word so that we will not be ashamed.
Tonight we have explored a little of what God’s word has to say about
Holiness
and the path we need to take in becoming Holy.
The aged women in Titus
2:3 were called to be holy. We will
continue
exploring
other areas where holiness needs to be applied to our lives next week.