He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.
Titus 1:9 NIV
Paul had left Titus in Crete to, among other things, appoint elders in each town. And Paul gave Titus some criteria to use in this selection. And that included the doctrinal integrity of potential leaders within the church. They should hold firmly to what they have been taught so that they could faithfully pass it on to others. As well as to refute those who were teaching contrary to sound doctrine.
So just what is sound doctrine? Doctrine is a word that means teaching. For the church of Paul’s day, sound doctrine was teaching that conformed to what Jesus and his apostles had taught them as well as the Scriptures they had. It is no different for us today except that the teachings of Jesus and the apostles have been written down and collected together in our New Testament.
Sound Doctrine
While this was directed toward potential elders, I believe it applies to all believers. We all need to know what the Scripture teaches, spending time reading and meditating on it. Then we can hold firmly to sound doctrine, teachings that are firmly grounded in the Scripture. This gives us a firm foundation for our faith and practice. It enables us to pass on our faith to the next generation of believers. And it enables us to recognize false teaching and be able to refute it.
