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Titus 1:9-16 - “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. For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision: Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake. One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies. This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith; Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth. Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled. They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.”

One of the qualifications for the pastor is that he be able to exhort and to convince the gainsayers, referring to false teachers who would devour the flock. These are the wolves in sheeps’ clothing that Jesus warned about (Mt. 7:15-20). They are the wolves that Paul described in Acts 20:29-30, who will come from outside as well as rise up from within the church.

The false teachers described (Tit. 1:10-16)

- They are “gainsayers” (Tit. 1:9). This is the Greek antilego, meaning “to dispute, refuse, answer again, contradict, deny” (Strong). It is used to describe the Jews’ opposition to Paul. They spoke against his teaching (Ac. 28:19) and “contradicted” him (Ac. 13:45). False teachers reject the truth and then speak against it and resist it.

- They are “unruly” (Tit. 1:10). This is the Greek anupotaktos, which means “unsubdued, insubordinate.” It is also translated “disobedient” (1 Ti. 1:9) and “not put under” (Heb. 2:8). It is used to describe unruly children (Tit. 1:6). The false teachers refuse to submit to sound apostolic doctrine. They refuse to submit to God-ordained church leaders. Their goal is to undermine the work of such men. Compare Ga. 5:7-8, 12.

- They are “vain talkers” (Tit. 1:10). Their doctrine is vain. This means empty, profitless. Their doctrine is not spiritually profitable; it does not produce settled faith and godly living.

- They are “deceivers” (Tit. 1:10). They are not what they pretend to be. They are wolves in sheep’s clothing. They use “good words and fair speeches” to deceive (Ro. 16:17-18). They are men of “cunning craftiness” who “lie in wait to deceive” (Eph. 4:14).

- They are “of the circumcision” (Tit. 1:10). This means they were Jews who trusted in their human genealogy and birthright and religious rituals and their own self-righteousness. Compare Ro. 9:31-32; 10:3. The Jewish false teachers held two errors pertaining to the law of Moses. First, they taught that believers are under the law. This was the error that was dealt with at the Jerusalem council (Ac. 15:1-2, 5). This was also the error that prevailed in Ephesus and which Timothy had to deal with (1 Ti. 1:5-7). Second, they taught that believers are under no law. It appears that this was the error that was prominent in Crete, and this is therefore the reason Paul emphasized godly living in his epistle to Titus (Tit. 2:1, 11-12; 3:8).

- They “subvert whole houses” (Tit. 1:11). This is the Greek anatrepo, which is also translated “overthrow” (2 Ti. 2:18). Their goal is to upset the faith of professing believers and to upset the churches by causing confusion and by drawing away disciples. When false teaching is accepted by one member of a family, the entire household is in great danger.

- They are motivated by “filthy lucre” (Tit. 1:11). “Filthy” is aischros, meaning shameful. “Lucre” is kerdos, meaning gain. Shameful gain is to use the ministry for selfish and evil purposes. It is to be motivated by lucre rather than by the glory of God and the welfare of the saints. Four times the Bible warns that church leaders and deacons must not be motivated by filthy lucre (1 Ti. 3:3, 8; Tit. 1:7; 1 Pe. 5:2). Yet multitudes of Christian leaders have been so motivated. Paul exemplified the preacher who serves God of a ready mind rather than for filthy lucre. He did not enrich himself by the ministry. He was willing, rather, to be abased, hungry, and to endure lack (Php. 4:12).

- They teach “fables” (Tit. 1:14). The Greek is muthos, a myth or fiction. In the context, a fable is anything that is put forth as Christian doctrine but which is untrue and unscriptural. The Bible does not tell us exactly what the particular fables were at Crete, because we are to apply these warnings to all situations and to all false doctrines. The Jews had countless fables in the Talmud, which contains the writings of the rabbis. The following examples are from John McClintock & James Strong’s Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature, 1895: Adam and Eve were of a gigantic stature; God gave Adam a jewel which could cure all diseases; the soul of Adam passed into the body of Noah and David and it would eventually pass into the Messiah; the souls of men pass into women, beasts, birds, even into rocks and plants, depending on whether they are good or bad in their earthly lives; if God wanted to punish a man, He would cause the man’s soul to pass into a woman or a beast; if a woman was good, her soul would become a man. The Roman Catholic Church is founded upon countless fables, such as Peter as the first pope, Mary as the immaculate, ever-virgin Queen of Heaven, purgatory, visitations of Mary, transubstantiation, prayers to the dead, intercession of the saints, and the veneration of relics.

- They teach “commandments of men, that turn from the truth” (Tit. 1:14). This is the definition of false doctrine in a nutshell. It is any doctrine that is not derived from the Bible rightly divided but from human invention and that turns men away from the truth.

- Their “mind and conscience is defiled” (Tit. 1:15). The conscience is defiled by not believing the Scriptures and true doctrine derived from the Scriptures (“defiled and unbelieving”). The conscience is defiled by willful rejection of the truth. Jesus said that the Jewish leaders of that day would not believe (Lu. 22:67). Their unbelief was willful. Men will be divinely deluded in the last days because they refuse to believe the truth (2 Th. 2:9-12; 2 Pe. 3:3-5). The conscience is defiled by deception (Tit. 1:10). The conscience is defiled by being hardened against the Spirit’s conviction and becoming seared (1 Ti. 4:2). The Spirit of God brings conviction to every man (Joh. 1:9; 16:8), but that conviction can be ignored. 2 Ti. 3:8 describes “men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.” Titus 3:11 says they are “subverted.”

- They “profess that they know God; but in works they deny him” (Tit. 1:16). A profession of faith must be evidenced by a changed life. Compare 2 Ti. 2:19; Jas. 2:17-20; 1 Jo. 2:3-4. We see that false professions began in the earliest days of the churches. A true and permanently changed life comes through the new birth (“to the pure all things are pure”). “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Co. 5:17). God purifies the sinner’s conscience and life when he repents and gives up faith in himself and his own works and places his faith assuredly in the blood of Jesus Christ (Heb. 9:14; 10:22). There is positional purification, followed by purification by means of Christian growth. God gives the true believer a new heart that loves God’s Word and receives it and obeys it (Joh. 8:47). The true believer hears Christ’s voice and follows Him (Joh. 10:27). The true believer will receive sound apostolic teaching (1 Jo. 4:6). This shows the importance of churches being very cautious and wise about receiving members. They must guard the door, not accepting professions only, but looking for clear evidence. The unsaved hasn’t experienced the new birth, regardless of what he professes, and therefore he remains in his impurity. He hasn’t been changed. He is defiled. He doesn’t heed God’s Word. The Word doesn’t speak to him, doesn’t change him. He argues against the truth. He is disobedient. God’s people must rightly understand the condition and character of opposers of the truth and not be deceived by their professions and by their apparent sincerity. “unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure.” Nothing. They can’t be trusted. They will prevaricate. They will lead people astray. They must be rejected and separated from.

The false teachers stopped (Tit. 1:9-14)

- This passage describes the battle for truth and for pure churches that will continue throughout the church age and will increase in intensity (2 Ti. 3:13).

- Their “mouths must be stopped.” It is essential that false teachers not be allowed to influence the churches. A major function of every pastor is to protect the flock from doctrinal, spiritual, and moral dangers. This is not an optional part of the ministry. It is not a secondary thing or a minor thing. Those who neglect the ministry of defending the faith and fighting error for any reason are rebellious stewards (Tit.1:7).

- The battle for truth and for pure churches requires confidence in the Bible as “the faithful word.” This term emphasizes the infallibility of Scripture. Paul elsewhere taught that “all scripture is given by inspiration of God” (2 Ti. 3:16). The apostolic high view of the divine inspiration of Scripture echoes that of Christ Himself, who said, “The scripture cannot be broken” (Joh. 10:35), and, “Til heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled” (Mt. 5:18). The preacher must have complete confidence in the absolute authority and power of the Bible. And the church itself must have the same confidence. To give up anything in regard to the infallible, inerrant, plenary inspiration of Scripture is to lose the battle for the truth. To give up a literal interpretation of Genesis 1-2 (the six-day creation) or Genesis 6-9 (the global flood), for example, is to deny Jesus’ view of Scripture and always results in shipwreck and apostasy. The issue of the infallible inspiration of Scripture has rightly been called “the watershed” issue. This watershed was crossed in American evangelicalism in the 1960s. In the first year of that decade, Frank Gaebelein warned that “there is a strong current among some evangelicals, a subtle erosion of the doctrine of the infallibility of the Scripture” (Christianity Today, May 9, 1960). By 1976, Carl Henry said, “A growing vanguard of young graduates of evangelical colleges ... now question or disown inerrancy” (“Conflict over Biblical Inerrancy,” Christianity Today, May 7, 1976), and Richard Quebedeaux said there was “widespread acceptance of the principles of historical and literary criticism” (“the Evangelicals: New Trends,” Christianity and Crisis, Sept. 20, 1976). In 1976 and 1979, Harold Lindsell documented the downgrade of biblical inspiration among “evangelicals” in The Battle for the Bible and The Bible in the Balance. By 1985, Herman Hanko said, “[I]t is almost impossible to find an evangelical professor in the theological schools of our land and abroad who still holds uncompromisingly to the doctrine of the infallible inspiration of the Scriptures” (Hanko, The Battle for the Bible, pp. 2-3; this is a different book than the one by Lindsell). The downgrade of the doctrine of biblical inspiration was the product of the renunciation of “separatism” by the “New Evangelicals” and the resultant association with unsound teachers. (For more about this see New Evangelicalism: Its History, Characteristics, and Fruit, under the free eBook section of www.wayoflife.org.)

- The battle for truth and for pure churches requires the right leaders. This is the major theme of Titus 1. First, they must be qualified in their moral and marital lives as described in Titus 1:6-8. Second, they must be well trained in God’s Word (“as he hath been taught,” Tit. 1:9). Third, they must be taught in such a way and to such an extent that they can effectually feed the flock and protect the flock, they can disciple and discipline. Fourth, they must be men who “hold fast the faithful word.” They understand sound doctrine, capture it, and hold on to it. This implies that there are great pressures upon the preacher to let go of sound doctrine. Multitudes have turned aside to error. Truth is not preserved without a struggle, without the application of energy and zeal. Every preacher must fight the good fight of faith (1 Ti. 6:12; 2 Ti. 4:7). Fifth, they must “be able” to do the work of the ministry (Tit. 1:9). The qualified church leader is not only a godly man and a biblically studious man, he is a capable man. He is able to teach, able to deal with error, able to exhort, able to rebuke, able to discipline. The battle for truth in the churches is won or lost with the leaders. If the preachers are improperly trained, unqualified, incapable, or unwilling to do all of the work that needs to be done, the church is finished; it is only a matter of time.

- The battle for truth and for pure churches requires convincing the gainsayers (Tit. 1:9). “Convince” is the Greek elegcho, which is translated “reprove” (Eph. 5:11), “rebuke” (1 Ti. 5:20; Tit. 1:13; 2:15), and “tell a fault” (Mt. 18:15). It doesn’t mean that the Bible preacher will be able to convince the false teacher of the truth in the sense of converting him to the truth; it means that he will be able to show him the truth and refute his error, whether he agrees or not. It means that he will be able to deal with error effectively so as to protect the church. Again, this requires highly capable leaders who are well informed and continually educated for this work.

- The battle for truth and for pure churches requires that the believers be sound in the faith (Tit. 1:13-14). False teachers’ mouths are stopped when the churches are well trained in the truth and exercise a biblical testing mindset so that they are not susceptible to error. This shows how essential it is that every church be a serious Bible training institution in which all of the believers are trained to be Bible students who are skillful in the Word of righteousness and have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil (Heb. 5:12-14). Note that “sharp rebuke” is sometimes necessary (Tit. 1:13). It is the Lord’s people who are to be rebuked, as well as the false teachers themselves. Paul says, “Rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith.” That refers to the church members. Obviously the false teachers won’t be sound in the faith. The godly church leader does not rebuke people to hurt them but to help them and to keep the church pure for the glory of Jesus Christ. He rebukes them “to edification, and not to destruction” (2 Co. 13:10). He doesn’t rebuke in selfish anger but in God’s love. “Sharply” is the Greek apotomos, meaning “abruptly, curtly, lit. in a manner that cuts, hence sharply, severely” (Vine). The Lord Jesus Christ practiced sharp rebuke when the occasion required it (Mt. 5:22; 21:12-13; 23:13-33). Paul rebuked the saints at Corinth because of their many sins and errors, and he threatened to “use sharpness” (2 Co. 13:10) if they did not repent. Paul rebuked the churches in Galatia sharply for listening to the Judaizers (Ga. 1:6-9; 3:1-3). Though all men are sinners and are children of Adam, there are character differences between various groups of men. The Cretians’ poor character was renowned even in the idolatrous, wicked Roman Empire. The Cretians were “ALWAYS LIARS,” referring to their propensity to deceit and duplicity. “Always” emphasizes this. It is aei, which means continually, incessantly. Lying was a way of life. It was ingrained in their character and culture. They lied even when they didn’t need to lie. The Cretians were “EVIL BEASTS,” referring to propensity to turn on you like a wild animal. “Evil” here doesn’t mean evil as sinful, it means evil as harmful, dangerous. The Greek kakos is also translated “harm” (Ac. 16:28; 28:5). Evil beast refers to a wild, dangerous animal, not a harmless pet. It means the Cretians couldn’t be trusted. They engaged in backstabbing. The tiger tends to attack when you turn your back to him. Even when “tamed,” the lion is still apt to turn on his master. The Cretians were “SLOW BELLIES,” referring to a propensity to laziness. “Slow” is argos, which means not working, working only when necessary, inactive, `loving to do nothing. It is translated "standing idle" (Mt. 20:3, 6) and “idle words” (Mt. 12:36). Church leaders must deal with believers according to their character and spiritual condition. If they are carnal like the Corinthians or untruthful and lazy and slow to obey like the Cretians, they must be dealt with sharply. Parents must deal with their children in this same manner. Children born into the same family are different and must be dealt with according to their individual character. If a man is unable to exercise sharp rebuke when it is needed, he is not qualified to be a pastor. We also see in Titus 1:13 that Christian growth and perfection is a process rather than a one-time event. The believer is perfect in Christ in position (2 Co. 5:17), but not in practice. Believers must add virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity (2 Pe. 1:3-9).

The previous is excerpted from the Way of Life Bible Commentary Series - Pastoral Epistles, www.wayoflife.org -

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