Homily for Tuesday, November 10, 2026
Titus 2
The word “doctrine” has gotten some flak from the most recent generation of theologians. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that we don’t understand our own language anymore, and that we have gotten pretty bad at recognising the difference between constructive criticism and bullying. Doctrine simply describes living according to a set of beliefs; it is head knowledge worked out in real life. To be “doctrinal” is to attempt to live in a way that is logically self-consistent with what you believe to be true and right.
And so when we hear the words of St Paul to Titus, to “teach what accords with sound doctrine”, he is not telling Titus to just have a set of “thous” and “thou shalt nots” for the sake of it. For he uses the word again later in the passage: that the Church may “adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour” in our manner of living. Doctrine is a set of beliefs worked out in real life.
This means we need to know what we believe, in order to know how to live. We could just drift along and let the culture determine how we live, but that is slavery. Christians have been set free by the blood of Christ to live to God.
The apostle always brings things back to Jesus. Here, he refers to our Lord as “the grace of God” which “has appeared”. That is, Christ is the power of God in the life of a human being to be set free from slavery to sin and walk upright, living lives that are self-controlled and godly. He also recognises that while Christ’s work has begun (or, “appeared”), it is not yet complete, for we wait for another “appearing” of his.
That is to say, the great work of God in our salvation, through Christ’s first coming in humility through to his second coming in glory, informs how we ought to live. This belief is to be worked out in real life. Or, in the apostle’s beautiful turn of phrase, “in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour”.
There is a beauty in the work of God, coming in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, his passion, death, resurrection, ascension, and intercession at the right hand of the Father, and his coming again in glory to judge the living and the dead. This great work of God is something beautiful, something into which even angels long to look (1 Peter 1:12). And now, as his redeemed, God calls us to “adorn” this beautiful thing that he has done.
Christmas is coming, and the Christmas tree is one image that comes to mind. A tree, adorned with decorations. Or if we want to be more biblical, think of a bride adorned with jewellery. The Church is the Bride of Christ, those who wait for the blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ. That doctrine, of our salvation by God our saviour, is to be adorned with the jewellery of our renouncing of ungodliness and worldly passions. When we live self-controlled, upright and godly lives, we adorn the work of Jesus. For this is what he came to do: to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. This is the beauty of Jesus in real life; the doctrine of God adorned by us in our lives.