Question 129. What is required of superiors toward inferiors?

 

Question 129. What is required of superiors toward inferiors?

Answer. It is required of superiors, by the authority they have received from God, to love their inferiors, pray for them, bless them, teach them, exhort them, admonish them, encourage, praise, and reward those who do well, correct, rebuke, and punish those who do wrong; to provide and prepare for them all things necessary for their souls and bodies, and to preserve the authority God has given them by their courteous, wise, holy, and exemplary conduct, glorifying God and bringing honor to themselves.

Titus 2:2-5 『That the older men be temperate, reverent, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, in patience; the older women likewise be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; that they train the younger women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be self-controlled, chaste, workers at home, good, and submissive to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be blasphemed.』

The Greek word translated as old man means elder, messenger, or senior, and can be interpreted as a respected male adult. A respected adult is a person who knows moderation. The Greek word translated as moderation, ‘nephaleos’, means not getting drunk. It said to be pious. The Greek word translated as piety, ‘semnos’, means ‘worthy of reverence, holy’. Being holy means living a separate life.

A life of distinction means a life that is destroyed before God. The existence of self disappears, and only existence for God exists. Jesus said to deny oneself. Holiness is not something that is obtained by trying to live a godly life, but a life of self-abandonment. He said to be prudent. The Greek word "sophron", which is translated as "prudent," has the meaning of being prudent or restrained in suppressing one's desires and impulses. The Bible said to be perfect in faith, love, and patience.

The Bible teaches that older men should be self-controlled, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, sound in love, and sound in patience. Such people will be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Now, in terms of spiritual meaning, I explained it by dividing it into men and women. It is not gender discrimination, but to realize the meaning of men and women. Men are connected to Christ. Women symbolize those who have left God. Therefore, men represent those who are united with Christ who died on the cross. The expression "old" in old men means that they are old, but here it is an appearance of losing vitality. It is an appearance of those who do not fully realize the gospel of the cross. Therefore, it is to be perfect.

"Be temperate, godly, self-controlled." This means to be submissive to God. Be perfect in faith, love, and patience. This is related to the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. Being perfect means living a life that is united with the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. It means to die daily.

To become an older woman or a respected adult woman, the Bible recommends that she be holy in conduct, not a slanderer, not a slave to much wine, and a teacher of good things. A respected adult woman must have all the qualifications of a respected adult man, but the following additional requirements are added:

First, it says that conduct must be holy, which, when interpreted in the Greek Bible, means “a woman who is honorable because of her conduct.” “Let them instruct the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be discreet, pure, workers at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands” (verses 4-5).

The second requirement is not to slander. The Greek word translated as “slander” is “diabolos,” which means the devil. If I slander others, it means that I am no longer a child of God, but I have become Satan or the devil, who opposes God.

Thirdly, it says not to become a slave to much wine (wine in the original language), which can be seen as a reference to the older women of Crete at the time who often got drunk and slandered others, but in general, as people get older, their self-control can decline.

Fourth, he exhorted them to become teachers of good things. The Greek word translated as teachers of good things appears only once in the text of the Bible and means ‘good teacher, good teacher.’ Being older means having more life experience than younger people. However, not everyone who has more experience than others becomes a good teacher. Depending on how you live your days, you can become a good teacher who has a good influence on your family and neighbors, or you can become a useless person who has a bad influence. Your authority as an adult will depend on whether you have lived a faithful life.

Looking at it with spiritual eyes, the expression "old" in "old woman" is as above. A woman symbolizes one who has left God. To submit to one's husband is to approach Christ on the cross and become one. An old woman's holiness in this way is to realize the way of the cross of Jesus Christ and become one with Him. They should not speak falsely against the truth as if they were slanderers,

Being a slave to wine means not understanding the law and the gospel well and not saying anything. In other words, teaching the good things of the gospel. Young women represent new believers. In this way, they are to teach the contents armed with the gospel to new believers.

Loving that husband and children is to establish the family as a church. In other words, it is to participate in reviving the dead spirit. This is God's will, and it is good to realize God's will, and it is to obey Christ. The word to love is agape. Agape means reviving the dead spirit through the death of Jesus Christ. Likewise, we are not to practice agape-like devoted love like Jesus did, but to revive the dead spirit by spreading the gospel of Christ's death on the cross.