Class Notes, Chapter 8

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By KATHY HORAN|CONTRIBUTOR

Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. Tit 2:3-5

This chapter starts out by discussing the differences in men and women, and we see Paul’s strategy for equipping the church to teach God’s truth to the next generations. He particularly states that women are to disciple women. We are given principles of discipleship that will give us specific direction how we are to go about this.

  1. The local church provides the leadership necessary for biblical discipleship.
  2. Teaching sound doctrine is essential in order to apply God’s truths to our lives.
  3. The covenant community has the responsibility to care for and teach each other. This is not just to be left to the pastors, but we are to foster our relationships in order to pass the truth on to the next generation.
  4. We are to be transformed by the Gospel. The photo above shows a butterfly who started out as a homely caterpillar, but it is changed into a creature of beauty. Our lives are to be impacted so that we are changed by the influence of the Gospel.
  5. By living out who we are in Christ, we will influence the culture.
  6. Sacrificial living is costly. It takes time to invest in others, there are relational risks. Yet we do this because “… he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.”[1]
  7. We are to think of the common good of our covenant community. Biblical discipleship is more than bible study, prayer, evangelism, or serving in various ministries. Though these are important disciplines in the lives of believers, we are to be transformed in how we think, how we live, all for the glory of Christ. And we are to pass this on to others.

This idea of women discipling women is not just a program. It is a way of life for believers. To quote Susan Hunt “Someone is teaching women principles of womanhood. Is it the church or the world?”[2]

[1] 2 Corinthians 5:15
[2] Women’s Ministry in the Local Church p.128