DYNAMIS!
A publication of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
Wichita, KS

Titus 1:15-2:10      (12/18)       Epistle for Friday of the Twenty-Eighth Week after Pentecost

 

Exhibit Your Integrity: Titus 1:15-2:10, especially vs. 7: “...in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility....” Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos emphasizes the inseparability of right doctrine from tangible living of the Faith when he says, “We Orthodox attach great importance to preserving the Faith, just because we know that when the Faith is distorted, the cure is automatically distorted.... Theology is the teaching of the Church about spiritual health, but also about the path which the sick must follow in order to be healed.  That is why we Orthodox give great weight to keeping the doctrine intact....”  The careful reader of this present passage will perceive that the Apostle Paul held this same conviction: that there is a direct correlation between right doctrine and right behavior.  It is correct to speak of this unity of belief and action as integrity.

Saint Paul knew that Christians need to integrate belief and action.  He urged Titus to “...speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine...” (vs. 2:1).  How did he phrase it?  “...that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate....older women likewise...reverent in behavior...that they admonish the young women to love their husbands...” (vss. 2:2-4).  The Apostle calls Titus to uphold both sound doctrine and a definite pattern of good works (vss. 7-8).  Observe how Saint Paul’s teaching itself flows from sound doctrine to right behavior, barely distinguishing between them, but always assuming full integrity of belief and behavior.

How may we gain and keep intact Orthodox doctrine that truly teaches the path to health and salvation and guides us on the right path?  Listen again to Metropolitan Hierotheos: “Christ said that the kingdom of heaven is within us, indicating that the Divinity dwells in our hearts.  Dwelling in our hearts, God there teaches and writes His doctrines and His law.  Therefore the heart is the site where God’s commandments are written.”  Saint Paul assumes the same truth: “To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and the conscience are defiled” (vs. 15).

The Apostle assumes that both purity and defilement begin in the nous - the spiritual center of a person’s heart and the seat of the conscience.  The nous is the element of the heart which, when illumined by the Holy Spirit, faithfully guides one in right moral decisions.  If the nous and the conscience are pure, then the person knows God, and his works affirm God (vs. 15).  However, if the heart is defiled, it does not matter if one professes to know God.  He will deny the Lord, “...being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work” (vs. 16).

Integrity of doctrine and works, belief and action, is the Apostle’s aim.  Throughout the communities he formed - in young and old, men and women - he urged sobriety, reverence, temperance, love, and patience, but especially in the older men, knowing that these virtues would flow naturally into the others if they were “...sound in faith...” (vs. 2:2).  Hence, the Apostle’s emphasis on older men in speaking “...the things which are proper for sound doctrine...” (vs. 2:1).

Saint Paul reminds Titus that he will necessarily have to exhibit integrity in his own personal “...pattern of good works...”, carefully matching it to the integrity of his doctrine (vs. 7).  Thus, the Apostle commands Titus to instruct the Faithful who are chattel slaves to be obedient to their masters and “...well pleasing in all things, not answering back, not pilfering, but showing all good fidelity...” (vss. 9,10), and adorning “...the doctrine of God our Savior...” (vs. 10).

What of our integrity?  May we purify our hearts with God’s help, then He Himself will dwell within us, teach us how to hold fast to His laws and exhibit His grace in our living.

Holy Father, deliver us from the sorrow of sin that we may serve Thee in spirit and truth.

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