2:1–10 · Relationships among believers: Paul indicates that, if the false teachers deny God by their actions (1:16), the faithful teacher must see to the confirming of God’s character in the lives of Christ’s followers—that is what he means by “what is in accord with sound doctrine” (2:1). The antidote for the sickness of soul Paul just diagnosed in Cretan culture and in the false teachers lies in the gospel’s power to reshape human lives. God’s character is visible where Christ creates people marked by “self-control” (2:2, 5–6, 12), where relationships bear these marks of God’s character (2:2–10), and where the story of Christ’s incarnation and redemptive work forms a people “zealous for good works” (2:11–14 NKJV, ESV). Throughout this section Paul has a missionary perspective, as is evi…