Why is the Word Healthy Used So Much in the Epistle to Titus?

   Heath and nutrition are important topics these days.  But have you ever thought of your own spiritual health or receiving proper spiritual nourishment?  The word healthy stuck out to me in chapter 3 of the Life-Study of Titus this week because Witness Lee used it over and over. 

    Awhile ago I highlighted all the places in Titus that the word healthy is used, and  it's used five times in just 2 of the 3 chapters of this book!

... that he may be able both to exhort by the healthy teaching and to convict those who oppose.  Titus 1:9

This testimony is true; for which cause reprove them severely that they may be healthy in the faith,  Titus 1:13

But you, speak the things which are fitting to the healthy teaching.  Titus 2:1

Exhort older men to be temperate, grave, of a sober mind, healthy in faith, in love, in endurance;  Titus 2:2

Concerning all things presenting yourself as a pattern of good works in your teaching showing incorruption, gravity, healthy speech that cannot be condemned,…Titus 2:7-8

   From what I've been learning from reading the Life-Study of Titus is this Epistle was also written like 1 & 2 Timothy during the time of the church's decline before Paul's martyrdom.  A lot of false teachings were creeping into the church at that time, and Paul addresses a lot of them in Colossians.  Later  the aged Apostle John points out in his Epistles the erroneous teachings that were infiltrating and affecting the early church.  

   To safeguard the church during decline, Paul shows us in Titus that it's imperative that the church stay in the healthy teaching of the apostles.  I appreciated this excerpt from page 23 of chapter 3 of the Life-Study of Titus that highlighted why Paul uses the word healthy in this Epistle:

"The word healthy points to that which is hygienic and which can both inoculate others against spiritual poison and also supply them with life.  Our teachings should not merely pass on knowledge to others, but should supply them with life….Healthy teachings do not provoke debates or arguments. If we give adequate attention to feeding on the Lord, we shall not care to argue. A dining table is not a place for debate or argument; it is a place for feasting and nourishment" (Lee, Witness. Life-Study of Titus. Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry  1981, Print).

     Later on in this chapter he shares that the way to be healthy is to come to the Lord and His word every day and pray.  I've heard Witness Lee say that the Bible is the best prayer book, and when we come to it with a prayerful spirit, we eat the heavenly bread the Lord spoke of in John 6.  When I eat more healthy foods, I've found that I lose my taste for excessively sweet foods.  The same thing holds true for our spiritual diet.  This verse in Jeremiah is amazing-- with only part of the Old Testament in his hands Jeremiah saw that it was his spiritual food!  

Your words were found and I ate them, and Your word became to me the gladness and joy of my heart,….   Jeremiah 15:16

You can  also listen to live excerpts from these messages on 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon on The Life-Study of the Bible with Witness Lee.  You will enjoy listening to both  the excerpts  from these spoken messages and the helpful and enlightening commentary of the radio hosts.

List of Other Life-Studies on 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, & Philemon:

What is Paul's First Exhortation in 1 Timothy 2:1?
How Can You Be Nourished With the Words of the Faith in 1 Timothy 4:6?
Looking at the Church's Decline in 2 Timothy
From the Life-Study of 2 Timothy - How Did Paul Inoculate the Church Against Decline?
Why is the Word Healthy Used So Much in the Epistle to Titus?
Why  Should You Avoid Questionings in Titus 3:9?
What Does the Account of Onesimus Show Us in the Book of Philemon?