That the aged men. — Not presbyters, or elders, in an official sense, but simply the “old men” in the congregations.
Be sober. — In a more extended sense than the bare literal meaning of the word would give. Let the elder men be “thoughtful,” in contrast with the thoughtlessness of careless youth.
Grave. — And quietly earnest, in contrast with all passion and undue excitability.
Temperate. — Discreet, or self-restrained, would be a better rendering for the Greek word.
Sound in faith, in charity, in patience. — Here Paul the aged sums up for the aged men of Crete in these three words, so well known by all his devoted hearers then, by all the devout students of his theology in subsequent ages, the great principles out of which the true saint life springs — faith, love, patience. In the famous Pauline trilogy of virtues, in this place, “patience” takes the place of hope, because this brave patience, this enduring fortitude, especially becomes the old man waiting for death. In respect to these “three” they must be healthy, sound. The faith must not be adulterated with superstitions — the love must be chivalrous, not sentimental. It must be no partisan feeling, but a tender affection, broad and inclusive, as was St. Paul’s and his Master Christ’s. The patience must be no mere tame acquiescence in what seems to be the inevitable, but must be brave, enduring, suffering — if suffering comes — for the Lord’s sake with a smile on the lips. “Not without reason,” writes Calvin, “does St. Paul include in these three the sum of Christian perfections.” It is with “faith” that we worship God — no prayer, no work of piety, can be severed from “faith.” “Love” spreads its wings over all our duties to our neighbour; and “patience” must ever go hand in hand with both “faith” and “love.” Without “patience” could “faith” hardly endure; and the affronts and unkindnesses of the world would, without this high virtue of patience, soon deaden and even destroy “love.”