Titus 1:9 (YLT)

Passage

holding--according to the teaching--to the stedfast word, that he may be able also to exhort in the sound teaching, and the gainsayers to convict;

Nearby Context

Titus 1:7 for it behoveth the overseer to be blameless, as God's steward, not self-pleased, nor irascible, not given to wine, not a striker, not given to filthy lucre;

Titus 1:8 but a lover of strangers, a lover of good men, sober-minded, righteous, kind, self-controlled,

Titus 1:9 holding--according to the teaching--to the stedfast word, that he may be able also to exhort in the sound teaching, and the gainsayers to convict;

Titus 1:10 for there are many both insubordinate, vain-talkers, and mind-deceivers--especially they of the circumcision--

Titus 1:11 whose mouth it behoveth to stop, who whole households do overturn, teaching what things it behoveth not, for filthy lucre's sake.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "holding--according", "teaching--to", "stedfast", "word", "able", "exhort", and "sound". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "holding--according" and "teaching--to", 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 strangers a lover..." into verse 10's "for there are many both insubordinate vain-talkers...", so "holding--according" and "teaching--to" 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 "holding--according" and "teaching--to" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.