Instructions for various groups (Titus 2)

Paul gives instructions for Titus to pass on to his congregation.  The common theme among all of them is self-control, temperance, honesty, respect, and the like.

The older men are to be examples for the younger men while the older women are to be examples to the younger women.

He also mentions slaves.  In similar instruction elsewhere, they are to not only obey their masters, but be polite.  (v. 9-10).  He specifically mentions slaves should not steal from their masters, calling to mind the situation of Philemon and Onesimus.  (v. 10; Philemon: 18)

The rationale is to make the Gospel attractive to their masters.  This is an interesting aspect that we have encountered before in Paul's discussions about slavery.  Here, it seems the slaves will be missionaries to their own masters, which presumes that the masters are not Christian.  This contrasts other situations where Paul had instructions for slave owners, which presumes that there were Christian slave owners.  For instance, in 1 Timothy 6:2, Paul addresses situations where both the slave and master are Christian.

One way to apply this is to carefully consider how good of an example each of us are.  Am I a good example to younger people, both inside and outside of church?  I am getting better.

1 Timothy 6

Slavery (v. 1-2)
Paul again instructs slaves to obey their masters.  In fact, if the master is also a believer, then the slave should not show less respect to the master.

Looking back at the Old Testament, where Jewish slavery is more of an indentured servitude, we can infer that this is the model of slavery that Paul has in mind.  But I am not entirely convinced of that.  Paul writes to Timothy, who is in charge of a Gentile church in the Roman empire.  So, if we look at the standards of slavery in that context, this is disturbing.

But again, the greater context of 1 Timothy is to avoid major social discord.


Greed (v. 3-10)
Paul discusses money, in particular, the love of money.  Money itself is not bad, but the love of it is.  In other words, Paul addresses greed.

Paul's advice is to be content.  Contentment with godliness is "great gain".

I think this section has greater application to not just money.  It is easy to see the phenomenon with money, but it really addresses making idols of necessities in life.  There are things that are good in and of themselves (money, health, relationships, job, etc...), but the love of them could lead us to a bad spiritual place.  Paul's advice is to be content.

This section on money comes right after the discussion on slavery.  We can presume the slave-owners are wealthy people, or at least wealthier than the slaves that they own.  Putting these together, here is a command for the slave owners to not their love of money impact them.  I think this would have been read as a command to be nice to their slaves, particularly those that are Christian.

If we look back Jesus' statement that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God, this explains why - the love of money.

Final instructions to Timothy (v. 11-21)
As 1 Timothy winds down, Paul advises Timothy to "fight the good fight of faith".  He also states to advise those who are wealthy to put their trust in God.  Incidentally, this shows that wealth itself is not bad.

Introductory Remarks (1 Timothy 1)

Here we find that Paul writes to Timothy.  Timothy assisted Paul and traveled with him for a significant portion of Paul's missions.

In the letter, Paul refers to telling Timothy to stay behind in Ephesus.  This could be the situation of the letter.   It seems that Timothy, as Paul's right hand man, leads the church of Ephesus.  We are not sure when Paul writes.

Another thing that stands out to me is that "slave traders" is mentioned in the laundry list of bad people.  (v. 10).  It stands out to me because it makes an interesting counter-weight to where Paul tells slaves to "obey their masters".  (Colossians 3:22)  That verse is interesting because Colossians was likely hand-delivered by the escaped slave Philemon.

What is Paul's view on slavery?  I am not sure.  Returning to Colossians 4, a few verses down from "slaves, obey your masters", slave owners are told to not mistreat slaves.  (v. 1).  Here in 1 Timothy, Paul goes even further and says that slave traders are unrighteous.

From what I know about Roman history, slaves frequently fought and died in the gladiator combat games.

In fairness and balancing the contexts, we could reasonably infer that slave traders probably mistreated their slaves or had no qualms about selling slaves to owners who would mistreat them.

Christian duties in Colossians (chapter 3-4:1)

Colossians 2 focused on grace and freedom within church.  He even said that the written law (i.e., Mosaic code) was nailed to the cross.  Paul does not leave it there, but in chapter 3, he lays down the lifestyle responsibilities of the Christian.  They include the main list of things we see elsewhere in other epistles (do not lie, cheat, steal; avoid lust, greed, anger, sexual immorality, etc...)

Interestingly, he puts a greater emphasis on the rules of the household, which parlays into slavery/employment.

What is the duty of parents?

This is an interesting question and I don't think it is addressed a lot specifically in the Bible.  Paul touches on it here.

The household should have mutual respect and love.  Children must obey their parents (3:20), which made it into the original 10 commandments.  But likewise, fathers must not embitter their children (3:21).  

On one hand, this juxtaposition of the mutual responsibilities between children and parents feels new.  For instance, children are told to honor their parents in Commandment 5, but the 10 Commandments are silent about what parents must do for their children in addition to obeying the rest of the Commandments. 

 If parents set an example of lying and cheating in the household, then they would be breaking some of the Commandments, but they would not necessarily violate a duty to raise their children well.  

That said, there are places throughout the Bible where parents are given child-rearing advice.  They just do not tend to appear alongside a requirement for children to obey their parents.  For instance, Proverbs 22:6 advises a parent to train a child in the way he should go.

Likewise, there are instances where the sins of parents impact their children.  The Old Testament speaks of generational blessings and curses, but we could also consider all the times in the kings of Israel where God invited a king for a dynasty, but the king's failure to follow God destroyed or limited the dynasty.  This happened with Saul (I Samuel 13:13) and Jeroboam (I Kings 11:38).

Slaves and Masters

Paul tells slaves to obey their masters (3:22).  Paul says that they must work as if they are working for the lord (3:23).  I have heard people cite this latter verse in the modern employment context, which I think is fair.

Paul balances this directive with a requirement that masters must treat their slaves fairly because they have a Master in heaven (4:1).

On one hand, here is a new testament verse implying that slavery is a proper social relationship among Christians.  If we honestly look at the text, it does seem to suggest that.  But it is also must be balanced with fairness, otherwise it loses its legitimacy.

We can also point to the Jewish slavery custom as an analogy.  There, it is more like what we would call indentured servanthood where the "slave" is released after a certain amount of time.  Likewise, there is no generational slavery in that being born to a slave parent does not make the child a slave.

A slight problem with using the Jewish slave analogy is that Paul already said that the Mosaic law is cancelled.  This would include the requirement to release one's slaves after a certain time.