Matthew 22:12 And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.

Wait a minute, didn’t you tell me to come just as I am, that I don’t have to get dressed up? Well yes, but that was to hear and receive the Word. Did you expect to remain in those filthy rags when summoned to the wedding feast? The Lord bids us come as we are but has no intention of leaving us in that condition.

Isaiah 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.

Note here that God provided those robs of salvation and righteousness. What if a man were to decide to obtain his own robes of salvation and put them on? Would not that man be confident in his purchase? He would boast, I am saved, see I have the robes of salvation. He would never seek what God had to offer in the way of apparel because that man was only looking to avoid eternal punishment.

This man would come and try to get into the wedding feast and find that he had no wedding garment.

Matthew 22:13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

So how do we put on robes of righteousness if we cannot even dress ourselves in salvation? The answer is the same to both, God provides for those that are in Christ Jesus.

Matthew 7:11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

We should not worry about our robes nearly as much as who is Lord of our lives. That takes surrender, submission, being subject, and being obedient servants. The Father will provide for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Titus 2:2 That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.

Is this behavior only expected of men of a certain age? Aged is vague but that isn’t the only thing that bothers me about lists. The tendency of people who are not included according to their own conscience, hey I’m not old, is to ignore the message as it does not apply to them. Secondly, if a behavior is not listed, then the general assumption is that only those things listed need to be considered.

Read Titus 2 for yourselves and you will find other lists for aged women (not going there), young women and young men. Those lists are not the same, nor are they all inclusive. Are we not all the same to God or are we not? According to Galatians 3:28 we are all one in Christ Jesus.

Titus 2:1 But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine:

Then I remember the becoming. While doctrine is deemed to be a teaching in the strictest terms, if it does not lead the lives of the people hearing it, it is not sound. Paul was writing to Titus of a time and a people who did not have the full advantages of the whole gospels as we do today. Verbal traditions were still very much a part of the early church experience. Teachers were expected to speak to the problems of the day, not as it might apply to us two thousand years later.

We have the advantage of thousands of years of learned men, faithful to study and discuss all that has been laid out for us to build upon. It is not shortsighted of the author to overlook instructions that have not yet been written. Paul and John were still putting words to paper at the instructions of the Holy Spirit. The bible would not be canonized until the fourth century. It is/was a list.

So I withdraw my objection to lists and seek to hear what the spirit has to say about all things.