Titus 1:9

Holding fast. Or, “clinging to.”

Faithful. Or, “trustworthy,” “sure.”

Word. That is, the gospel.

Able. In addition to an unimpeachable moral record, the high calling of the ministry demands intellectual ability of the highest order. The prospective minister must manifest both the ability to understand and the ability to communicate truth, prior to his ordination. A thorough knowledge of the Scriptures, preferably in their original languages, should be the minister’s first goal. Otherwise, he may ignorantly wrest them from their true meaning (see GW 105). God never sends the Holy Spirit to bless ignorance (GW 105, 106). Mental discipline will greatly enlarge any Christian worker’s efficiency. The ministry demands more of those who give themselves to it than would other professions, and the need to continue learning never ceases. Indeed, the ministry is more than a profession, it is a calling — a divine calling. The advancement of the cause of God is too often hindered by men who attempt to witness for Him with shoddy scholarship and undisciplined mental habits.

The operation of the Holy Spirit upon native ability induces a minister to seek self-improvement in every possible way. With a humility born of an honest view of himself the genuine minister realizes his own shortcomings and the immense task before him. Such a man is not overwhelmed, but challenged, by the possibilities confronting him, and he seeks, prayerfully and diligently, to improve the talents lent to him by God. Even amid the pressure of his many duties he will maintain a sense of relative values. He will not allow himself to use these pressing duties as an excuse for neglecting the cultivation of his own mental and spiritual faculties. “Every one should feel that there rests upon him an obligation to reach the height of intellectual greatness” (GW 279). Only an educated minister, truly dedicated to his Lord, can fully honor and glorify Him. Compare 1 Tim. 3:2; 4:16.

Sound Doctrine. Or, “healthy doctrine” (see on 1 Tim. 1:10). Only a minister skilled in God’s Word can speak with the authority of “healthy” doctrine. He uses passages of Scripture within the context of their original meaning, as the Bible writers, guided by the Holy Spirit, intended them.

Convince. Gr. elegcho, “to convict,” with adequate proof (see on John 8:46; 1 Tim. 5:20). Only arguments that are soundly constructed and able to pass the closest scrutiny of the keenest minds will adequately “convince” and silence those who oppose “sound doctrine.”

Gainsayers. That is, those who speak against, contradicters.