December 4, 2024

Titus 1.10, 16 (NIV)

There are many rebellious people, mere talkers and deceivers. . . . They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.

Whenever a person's talk and walk conflict it is usually his walk rather than his talk that reveals what he really is.*

I have often wondered if all false prophets know that they are false prophets. How many of them begin their career with the express purpose of leading people astray? In that regard, Paul seems to be giving this group the benefit of the doubt – he doesn’t dispute their claim to know God; but the evidence of their actions speaks against them. Rebellious is more than disobedient, and whether their rebellion has its roots in vanity or ignorance, Paul says, “They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach.” (Titus 1.11)

Paul is addressing a specific set of circumstances in his letter to Titus but the application is not limited to the Cretans or to that place and time. The mess that Titus was charged with cleaning up is alive and well in our churches today. How can we prevent and combat this virus in our own congregations? The short answer: “You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine.” (Titus 2.1)  For the long answer, read the entire letter to Titus. Paul gives practical instructions, from appointing elders to the proper behavior of slaves, in “leading the true believers into righteous thinking and living."*

Of all bad men religious bad men are the worst.*