Scripture Reading: Titus 1:10-16
According to 1:10-16, at the time Titus was in Crete two isms were quite prevailing: Judaism and Gnosticism. In this message we shall consider from these verses how Titus was instructed to deal with the influence of Judaism and Gnosticism.
In verses 10 and 11, Paul says, “For there are many unruly men, vain talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped, who overthrow whole households, teaching things which they ought not for the sake of base gain.” Both Paul’s word about “those of the circumcision” in verse 10 and his reference to “Jewish myths” in verse 14 point to the influence of Judaism. Those of the circumcision were Jewish believers who were seducers within the church. Paul says that such ones must be stopped. The way to stop them is by severe reproof (v. 13) with the faithful word according to the apostles’ teaching (v. 9). These vain talkers and deceivers overthrow whole households, “teaching things which they ought not for the sake of base gain.” What they did was similar to what was done by the reprobate prophet, Balaam (2 Pet. 2:15-16; Jude 1:11).
I would call your attention to the little word “for,” at the beginning of verse 10, indicating that this verse is related to the foregoing verse. In verse 9 Paul says that an overseer must hold to “the faithful word which is according to the teaching that he may be able both to exhort by the healthy teaching and to convict those who contradict.” Then Paul goes on to explain that there are many unruly men, especially of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped. These verses indicate that Paul’s charge to Titus concerning the establishment of the eldership is related to the disturbances caused by the influence of Judaism. There was the urgent need for the eldership to be set in order so that those who taught differently could be dealt with. Certain Jewish believers brought their Judaism into the church life and this, with its different teachings, caused a disturbance. Here we have a basic principle related to the eldership: every elder must be a watchman who is on the alert lest some teaching different from that of the apostles’ ministry is brought into the church.
In verses 12 and 13 Paul declares, “One of them, a prophet of their own, said, Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons. This testimony is true.” One of them refers to one of the Cretans. All those mentioned in verses 9b and 10 were such Cretans. The prophet of their own was a heathen prophet, probably Epimenides, a native of Crete who lived about 600 B.C., according to legend.
In verse 13 Paul charges Titus to “reprove them severely, that they may be healthy in the faith.” The Greek word rendered reprove here is the same word translated convict in verse 9. It means to disclose the true character of anything so as to convict and hence reprove by exposing one’s fault. The Greek word rendered severely may also be rendered sharply. The purpose of such severe reproof was that those receiving it might be healthy in the faith. The gainsayers (v. 9) and vain talkers (v. 10) were infected with doctrinal diseases and became unhealthy in the faith. They needed the inoculation of the healthy teaching and the healthy word (1 Tim. 1:10; 6:3), which the elders should provide for their healing.
As in 1 Timothy 1:19 and 3:9, the faith here is objective. It refers to the things in which we believe. This is to be distinguished from the subjective meaning of faith, which refers to the act of believing.
Verse 14 says, “Not paying attention to Jewish myths.” The Greek word for myths is rendered myths here and in 1 Timothy 1:4, tales in 1 Timothy 4:7, and fables in 2 Timothy 4:4. It refers to words, speeches, and conversations concerning such things as rumors, reports, stories, and fictions. It may include Jewish stories of miracles or rabbinical fabrications. These myths were the profane and old-womanish tales. The Jewish myths mentioned here may have been the seed of the Gnostic mythologies.
In verse 14 Paul also mentions “commandments of men who turn away from the truth.” According to the following verse, these commandments of the heretics must have been precepts concerning abstinence from meats and other things ordained by God for man’s use (see 1 Tim. 4:3; Col. 2:20-22). These were the commandments of the earlier Gnostics, not the ascetics, who adopted their theosophy from Jewish sources, probably some derivation from the Mosaic law.
The men Paul refers to in this verse are probably those of the circumcision (v. 10). These men turn away from the truth. The truth here and the faith in the preceding verse prove that those who were dealt with here were not unbelievers. There were some in the church who had turned away from the truth concerning God’s economy. Most of them might have been Jewish Christians who still held their Jewish myths and traditions and thereby became a great disturbance to the church. They had to be stopped by the word of the truth according to the faith so that the order of the church might be maintained under the established eldership.
In verse 15 Paul continues, “All things are pure to the pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience have been defiled.” The statement, “All things are pure to the pure,” must have been a Christian maxim. The apostle quoted it to refute the commandments of men (v. 14), that is, the precepts of abstinence, which forbade certain actions and the eating of certain foods (1 Tim. 4:3-5; Rom. 14:20).
Paul says that to those who are defiled, or polluted, and unbelieving nothing is pure, but both their mind and conscience are defiled. The mind is the leading part of the soul, and the conscience is the main part of our spirit. If our mind is polluted, our soul is spontaneously polluted; and if our conscience is defiled, our spirit is unavoidably defiled. This is all due to unbelief. Our faith purifies us (Acts 15:9).
In verse 16 Paul goes on to say, “They profess to know God, but by their works they deny Him, being abominable and disobedient, and as to every good work disapproved.” The Greek word rendered disapproved can also be translated reprobate, worthless, disqualified. It means unable to stand the test.
Paul’s charge to Titus is simply not to pay attention to Jewish myths and commandments of men (v. 14).
Just as the elders in the churches in Crete were to watch out for the influence of Judaism and Gnosticism and not permit different teachings to creep into the church life, we also need to watch out for isms today, such as Catholicism and denominationalism. We should also be watchful concerning the hypocrisy and the superficial and superstitious tales circulated among many Christians. If these things are brought into the Lord’s recovery, they will cause trouble. The pure church life is built only upon the healthy teaching of the apostles. This is the reason Paul says that elders must hold to the faithful word which is according to the teaching, so that they may be able to exhort by healthy teaching. The teaching in verse 9 refers to that of the apostles (Acts 2:42), which eventually became the New Testament. The apostles’ teaching was the healthy teaching. The churches were established according to the apostles’ teaching and followed their teaching. Furthermore, the order of the church was maintained by the faithful word given according to this teaching. At the beginning of the church life, when the believers spoke about the teaching, everyone realized that this meant the teaching of the apostles. In Jerusalem those who received the Lord Jesus and were added to the church continued in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles.
In 1:9 Paul does not say “sound teaching” or even “pure teaching”; he speaks of “healthy teaching.” Certain teachings may be sound or pure without being healthy. Healthy teaching is always related to life and is able either to nourish us or to heal us. Only something living can be healthy. For example, we do not speak of a table or chair as being healthy. The teachings of the apostles were not only sound and pure, but were healthy, full of life.
The crucial point of the healthy teaching of the apostolic ministry concerns the Triune God processed to dispense Himself as the all-inclusive Spirit into His chosen ones so that they may be brought into an organic union to receive the divine transfusion and thereby become sons of God and members of Christ. As a result, they can be the Body to express Christ, the One in whom the fullness of God dwells. Almost all of this is neglected by Christians today. Even those teachings which are truly sound are for the most part superficial.
Some believers are told nothing more than that if they receive the Lord, they will be saved by grace. They do not even receive an adequate explanation concerning what it is this grace saves them from. According to Ephesians 2:8, a verse often quoted in pointing out that salvation is by grace, to be saved does not mean to be saved from hell. According to the context, to be saved is to be saved from death, or from a deadening situation, that we may be raised up and seated in the heavens in a living way. Furthermore, contrary to the common, superficial understanding, grace in Ephesians 2:8 is not simply unmerited favor. It is the Triune God as everything to us for our enjoyment. Christians who emphasize the preaching of the gospel often quote Ephesians 2:8. However, because they understand this verse very superficially, rarely does anyone touch the reality of it.
In the foregoing message we pointed out that Paul was an apostle according to the command of God, the promise of eternal life, the faith of God’s chosen ones, and the full knowledge of the truth. Can the majority of Christian teachers honestly say that they have the full knowledge of the truth? Certainly not. They may be familiar with particular doctrines and consider this doctrinal knowledge the full knowledge of the truth. Some may know all about the seven dispensations and yet not possess the full knowledge of the truth. The Lord Jesus once declared, “I am the truth” (John 14:6). If, as is the practice of many Christians, we interpret truth to mean doctrine, then the Lord Jesus would have been saying, “I am the doctrine.” How ridiculous! Many Christians, even Bible teachers, do not know the meaning of truth in the New Testament. Eventually, superficiality can lead to hypocrisy, and hypocrisy, to superstition.
There is a doctrine commonly held among Christians that as long as a person believes in the Lord Jesus, he is saved and he will have no problems at the time of the Lord’s coming. According to this view, when the believers are raptured, they will not have any problems with the Lord, and all will reign with Him in the kingdom. There is even a bumper sticker which makes light of the rapture by saying: “Warning — in case of rapture, this car will be unmanned.” Many Christians mistakenly believe that simply because they are saved they have a “ticket” which will admit them into the kingdom of the heavens. But as D. M. Panton has pointed out, many will be surprised to realize that this ticket is false and will not admit them into the heavenly kingdom. A great many of today’s Christians may have the shocking realization that the ticket which some minister told them would guarantee an entrance into the kingdom will not be accepted at the time of the Lord’s coming. Because such superficial and even superstitious teachings are prevalent today, we need to fight against them, just as Paul fought against the hypocrisies of Judaism and Gnosticism.
Another teaching we must oppose is the saying that as long as two or three meet in the name of the Lord, they are the church. According to this erroneous teaching, there can be many different churches in a locality. What falsehood! Two or three believers may meet in the name of the Lord, but that does not necessarily mean that they are the church in that locality.
Although we need to fight against superficial and superstitious teachings, this definitely does not mean that we deliberately cause trouble to our family, relatives, friends, or neighbors. Yes, we must fight for the truth of God. We must be the light of the world and the salt of the earth. However, it is absolutely necessary that we maintain the best relationship with others. The young people must honor their parents, and we all need to have a proper relationship with our family, relatives, and neighbors. We in the Lord’s recovery should be the best neighbors and the most peaceable of people. It is an evil rumor and slander to say that we are not human. We aspire to be the most human of people, those who are Jesusly human, divinely human. In all our contact with others, we need to display the highest humanity and the best conduct and behavior. We are not fighting against persons — we are fighting against isms.
Our burden is not simply to oppose superficiality, hypocrisy, and superstition. It is to minister Christ and the church for the fulfillment of God’s economy. God our Father certainly has an eternal purpose to fulfill. But Satan has come in with many distractions and falsehoods. Our burden must be to minister the all-inclusive Christ and the church as the Body of Christ to those who love God and seek Christ. We need to help all those who pursue the Lord to come to the full knowledge of the truth. We need to sound the trumpet that those who seek the Lord Jesus may come together as a living Body of Christ to fulfill God’s purpose and to hasten the coming of the Lord. Concerning this, we all must be desperate and give ourselves to prayer. On the one hand, we like to maintain a peaceful situation with others. On the other hand, for the sake of God’s purpose, we must stand firm for the full knowledge of God’s truth and fight the good fight against the evil powers of darkness.
