Titus 1:9 (KJV)

Passage

Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.

Nearby Context

Titus 1:7 For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;

Titus 1:8 But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate;

Titus 1:9 Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.

Titus 1:10 For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision:

Titus 1:11 Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "faith", "holding", "fast", "faithful", "word", "hath", "been", and "taught". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "faith" and "holding", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 8's "But a lover of hospitality a lover..." into verse 10's "For there are many unruly and vain...", so "faith" and "holding" belong inside that flow. In Titus context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "faith" and "holding" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.