COMMENTARY ON TITUS
LESSON NUMBER 8
“ Tit 1:10 For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision: 11 Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake. 12 One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.” (Titus 1:10-12)
THOSE WHOSE MOUTHS MUST BE STOPPED
INTRODUCTION
Paul has left Titus in Crete to “straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town” NIV (1:5). This was in order to the spiritual maturity and stability of the saints, a most critical matter on the revealed Divine agenda. Throughout his prodigious ministry, even until the time he was offered to God in martyrdom (2 Tim 4:6), Paul maintained a prevailing interest in the churches. All of his epistles were written to them, as well as a conmsiderable portion of his time. For example, for “a whole year” he remained with Barnabas, assembling with the church in Antioch (Acts 11:26). He remained with the church in Corinth for “a year and six months” (Acts 18:11). He was with the church in Ephesus for “three years” (Acts 20:31). He and Barnabas remained with the church in Antioch for “a long time,” possibly as long as 5-8 years (Acts 14:28). That accounts for about 12-15 years of His ministry. Additionally, Paul and Barnabas spent some time “confirming the souls of the disciples” in Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch (Acts 14:22). Paul and Silas spent considerable time “confirming the churches” in Syria and Cilicia (Acts 15:41). After adding Timothy to his entourage, Paul spent some time establishing the churches “in the faith” (Acts 16:5). Taking initial disciples in Ephesus to the “school of Tyrannus,” he remained for two years “reasoning daily” NKJV in that school (Acts 18:10). During two different imprisonments (2 years in Judea, Acts 24:26 and an estimated 3 years in Rome, 2 years of which was spent in his own hired house, Acts 28:30), Paul wrote extensively to the churches (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, and possibly Second Timothy). Add to this the “daily” concern Paul had for the “churches” (2 Cor 11:26), and the thrust of Paul’s ministry is clear. This prevailing interest in the churches is confirmed in Paul’s letter to Titus. It deals solely with the building up of the saints, and the establishment of an order that guaranteed their protection and edification.
UNRULY AND VAIN TALKERS AND DECEIVERS
Titus 1:10 “ For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision.”
Paul has reminded Titus that those who care for and feed the flock of God must be able to “exhort and convince the gainsayer” – overturning their arguments against the truth, and showing the error of their teaching. This can only be done by those who are “holding fast the faithful word as they have been taught” by apostolic doctrine(1:9). Among the redeemed, there must be zero-tolerance for doctrinal error – for such error inevitably leads one astray. God does not sanctify and build up His people through error and erroneous views, no matter how cherished they may appear. This may seem rather stern – and, indeed, it is, for we are dealing with the souls of men and their apprehension of the truth that sanctified (John 17:17,19).
Now Paul launches into a description of these “gainsayers” – men who resist and speak against “sound doctrine.” He will speak of them from a spiritual perspective, identifying them according to the effects they produce, rather than their appearance. The fact that they were not readily detected by some indicates that they were not outwardly offensive–at least not to the novice and the immature. This is why Paul speaks so candidly about them, describing how they are to be seen. Jesus did this same thing when he referred to false prophets as “ravening wolves” (Matt 7:15), and the scribes and Pharisees as “serpents” and a “generation of vipers” (Matt 23:33). He also referred to Herod as a “fox” (Lk 13:32). Paul referred to false teachers as having “turned aside to vain jangling,” and not understanding what they affirmed (1 Tim 1:7). Jude described false teachers as “clouds without water,” trees with withering fruit,”raging waves of the sea,” “wandering stars,” “murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts,” and those who spoke “great swelling words” (Jude 1:12-13,16). These are not personal vilifications, but spiritual assessments that reflect the adverse impact of the teaching of these men.
UNRULY. Other versions read “insubordinate,” NKJV “rebellious,” NASB “not ruled by law,” BBE “disorderly,” DARBY “unsubmissive,” MRD and “disorderly and unruly.” AMPLIFIED The word “unruly” comes from a word meaning “cannot be subjected or controlled.” THAYER In English the word means “not readily ruled or managed.” WEBSTER English synonyms are ungovernable, recalcitrant, and headstrong. This is not speaking of mere subordination to religious authority, or the professed leaders of the church. These men rather refuse to subject themselves to the laws and commandments of God, the directives of Christ, and apostolic doctrine. Sound teaching says not to seek one’s own interest – but they do. They are to feed the flock of God – but they do not. They are to speak in words that the Holy Spirit teaches – but they do not. They are crucify the flesh – but they refuse to do so. They are not to love the world – but they do. They refuse to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Christ. In a display of obstinance, they decline to seek the things that are above, choosing rather to settle down in this world. This is why their teaching is corrupt – it is because they are anchored to a corrupt realm, and refuse to leave it.
VAIN TALKERS. Other versions read “idle talkers,” NKJV “empty talkers,” NASB “mere talkers,” NIV “vain speakers,” DARBY “speak nonsense,” GWN and “idle (vain, empty) and misleading talkers.” AMPLIFIED Their words are not invested with power (1 Cor 4:20). They do not build up and fortify the people of God (2 Cor 13:10). They do not clarify the mysteries of the Kingdom (Eph 3:9). Their emphasis is not that of God. Their doctrine is not that of the apostles. They are of the world, and therefore they speak of the world, and the world hears them (1 John 4:5). They appeal to the lusts and covetousness of men, not to faith (2 Pet 2:3). In light of the coming of the Lord, the day of judgment, and eternity, their words have neither relevance nor weight.
DECEIVERS. Other versions read, “seducers,” DOUAY “deceivers of minds,” GENEVA “mislead the minds,” MRD and “self-deceivers and deceivers of others.” AMPLIFIED That is, they lead people to think incorrectly, and to arrive at the wrong conclusions. Perhaps it is that sin is not as serious as God says, or that God is tolerant of deviate behavior, or that a person cannot possibly depart from the faith (1 Tim 4:1), or fall from grace (Gal 5:4). Perhaps those who hear them conclude that God wants men to have the best of this world, even if it involves forfeiting their soul. Maybe it is that a believer does not really have to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus (2 Pet 3:18), or come out from among those who are unclean (2 Cor 6:17). If those who listen to these men and embrace what they say arrive at such conclusions, it is because they have been deceived by these deceivers. Their emphasis was nothing more than a deception.
ESPECIALLY THEY OF THE CIRCUMCISION. The worst of all deceivers are religious people! The circumcision refers to the Jews – particularly Jewish teachers. They sought to enforce circumcision, because they could not believe it was no longer required (Acts 15:1). They sought to bind the distinctions of foods upon people (Rom 14:17; 1 Tim 4:13; Heb 13:9), and the observance of Jewish days ( Col 2:16). Such teachers subverted the Galatians (Gal 3:1-2), intruded into Colossae (Col 2:16-20), and confused those to whom the epistle of Hebrews was written. This class of people has been enlarged to include Christian sectarians.
THEIR MOUTHS MUST BE STOPPED
“ 1:11 Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake.”
It is essential that we remember Paul is writing concerning the work of elders – those who feed and care for the flock of God (1 Tim 3:5; 1 Pet 5:2). They are to see to it that the people are not led astray by false prophets – whether they be by means of personal exposure, literature, or communication media. In our time, the problem of vain talkers and deceivers has been exacerbated by literature and electronic media. Leaders in the body of Christ must not bury their heads in the sand of complacency, allowing opportunists to lead those astray who are under their care. This kind of attention is part of “taking the oversight” (1 Pet 5:2).
WHOSE MOUTHS MUST BE STOPPED. Other versions read, “who must be silenced,” NASB “must be reproved,” DOUAY and “it is imperative to silence them.” NAB If this is something that “must” be done, then it is important to consider how it is to be done. This is not to be done by fleshly means – physical force or outbursts of carnal anger. Men are not to resort to civil means, or the courts of the land, to stop the mouths of these men. That is a methodology the Jews used against both Christ and Paul, pursing civil means to stop their influence.
Paul has already affirmed the means to be employed in this necessity: “by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers” (Titus 1:9). They bring a cessation to the proclamation of erroneous dogma like Jesus did, so answering them that they have nothing more to say (Lk 20:40); or as Stephen did then his opponents were not able to resist the wisdom with which he spoke (Acts 6:10). This is what is involved in pulling down strongholds, casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God (2 Cor 10:4-5).
Spiritual leaders must not back away from this kind of work, for it is necessary to the proper care of the flock. The flock must not only be fed, but cared for – and caring for them involves not allowing poison to be fed to them, and forbidding the entrance and dignifying of teachers who “have no understanding either of the words and terms they use or of the subjects about which they make [such] dogmatic assertions” AMPLIFIED (1 Tim 1:7).
Do not doubt for a moment that the mouths of “vain talkers and deceivers” must be stopped! Do not imagine that everyone is smart enough to figure out the falsity of their dogma, and the erroneous nature of their emphasis. Those who are not equal to this challenge cannot be elders, or caretakers of the flock, or house, of God.
SUBVERT WHOLE HOUSES. Underscoring the impact of these unlearned and opportunistic teachers, Paul reminds Titus that they “subvert whole houses” with their teaching. Other versions read, “upsetting whole families,” NASB “ruining whole households,” NIV and “mentally distressing and subverting whole families.” AMPLIFIED The word “houses” refers to where the people congregate. While it can refer to a family dwelling, it is not confined to that. There were people who had a “church” in their house (Rom 16:5; Col 4:15). “House” is also used for the gathering of believers: “the house of God” (1 Tim 3:15). The point here is that whole bodies of people have been infected by the teaching of such men, and thus have defected from Christ.
The mouths of those who are subverting the people “must be stopped.” Such mouths were not “stopped” in Corinth and, as a result, some embraced “another Jesus,” “another gospel,” and “another Spirit” (2 Cor 11:4). They were not stopped in Galatia, and a considerable number of people were “bewitched,” ceased to obey the truth, and fell from grace (Gal 3:1; 5:4). They were not “stopped” among many Hebrew believers, bringing them to a condition where, “for the time,” they ought to have been teachers, yet remained spiritual toddlers who needed to again be taught the “first principles” (Heb 5:12).
The reason for this circumstance is that the words of such men “eat as a canker,” “spread like cancer,” NKJV or “spread like gangrene” NASB ( 2 Tim 2:17). That is, they continue to work destructively in the individual long after they have been heard. I have heard destructive teaching during my lifetime that poisoned my thinking infinitely more than I imagined. Such patterns of erroneous thinking can be expelled only by extraordinary effort. They are related to those demons that can only be discharged by prayer and fasting (Matt 17:21).
TEACHING FOR FILTHY LUCRE’S SAKE. The term “filthy lucre” means unlawful gain. Thus, other versions read, “dishonest gain,” NKJV “sordid gain,” NASB “base gain,” RSV and “for the purpose of getting base advantage and disreputable gain.” AMPLIFIED This is not limited to financial matters, but includes gaining prominence, positions of leadership, and the likes. There are men, in our da – far more than we dare to imagine – that have obtained wealth and prominence by means of the perpetration of erroneous dogma. Some have gained it by exploiting the weak people in the church, marketing their self-conceived programs and plans. Others have built financial empires with their religion, while failing to stem the tide of iniquity or producing mature believers. These, as Jude would say, are “spots” in the religious activities of men (Jude 1:12).
SOME GROUP CHARACTERISTICS
1:12 “One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.”
Paul does not limit himself to the corrupt Jewish teachers, as ordinarily perceived. He includes those from an especially evil environment – one that was readily recognized as such, even by those who had no identity with God or Jesus Christ. Such an environment is the epitome of wickedness, with no hiding veil or obscuring culture.
ONE OF THEMSELVES. “One of themselves” means one who was himself a Cretian. The statement made was made by Epimenides, purported to be one of the seven wise men from Greece, and born in Crete in B.C. 659. Paul refers to him as a “prophet,” not because he was a holy prophet of God, but because he spoke a truth about the Cretians nearly 700 years before Paul wrote this letter to Titus – precisely describing the nature of the Cretian people. He was, in this case, an unwitting prophet like Caiaphas (John 11:49-51). The Cretians bore the traits that he mentioned when he wrote, and they retained them for over seven centuries.
ALWAY LIARS. Other versions read, “are ever false,” BBE “are always mendacious,” MRD “never anything but liars,” NJB and “are all liars.” NLT There are environments that are noted for particular sins. The Cretians were noted for lying. The Corinthians were noted for a licentious life. Gambling is identified with Las Vegas, and athletic enthusiasm with Chicago. There is such a thing as a “lying spirit” (1 Kgs 22:22), and wicked powers that appear to be over regions – like “principalities” (Eph 6:12), who were over Persia and Greece (Dan 10:20).
It appears that some spiritual power that promoted lying was over the region of Crete. Like the devil himself, he influenced men to withdraw from the truth and give themselves to speaking lies, misrepresentation, exaggerations, and the likes. Although the flesh has this propensity to lie, even from a very young age, it can be accented and propelled into prominence by the powers of darkness. When Jesus was crucified, so far as men were concerned, it was through a lying accusation (Matt 26:61; Lk 23:2; John 19:7).
We might also look at this as declaring Crete to be a citadel of the devil himself – a place in which he was dominate in an unusual way. It is said of Satan, he “abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it” (John 8:44).
Now, Paul warns Titus to take care in the appointment of elders. He is in an area noted for its misrepresentation. He cannot go by what people say, but how they live their lives, and whether or not they have a grasp upon the truth.
EVIL BEASTS. Other versions read, “evil brutes,” NIV “vicious brutes,” NRSV and “hurtful beasts.” AMPLIFIED Here is a picture of people whose passions carried them about like a wild and uncontrollable horse. They had no restraint, and did what they pleased, even when it was hurtful to others. Jesus referred to teachers who were “ravenous wolves” NKJV (Matt 7:15). In revealing the destiny of worldly kingdoms, the Lord depicted kingdoms as devouring beasts: a ravenous bear (Dan 7:5), a swift and ruthless leopard (Dan 7:6), and an exceeding strong and terrible beast (Dan 7:7). In all of this, there is a reference to destructiveness, tearing down, and senseless devastation. This can take place in a violent society (like that of the flood, Gen 6:11-13), ruthless nations (like the Amalekites, Ex 17:8; Deut 25:17), or spiritual destruction (as when the foundations are destroyed, Psa 11:3). Some have said that “evil beasts” implies “brutality, stupidity, unreasonableness, and mischief.” PULPIT COMMENTARY
SLOW BELLIES. Other versions read, “lazy gluttons,” NKJV “hating work,” BBE “idle gluttons.” ERV These are people who love to eat, but hate to work. These are people “whose god is their belly . . . who mind earthly things” (Phil 3:19). This was a sin like that which was committed by Eli’s sons. They perverted the office of the priesthood, which allowed for the priest to have a portion of a man’s sacrifice. Not content with this, they forcibly took the meat while it was yet raw, refusing to have it offered to God (1 Sam 2:13-16). They were “slow bellies,” feeding their own appetites while offering nothing of substance to the Lord. The scribes and Pharisees fell into this category because they made it a practice to “devour widows houses,” taking from them for their own provision, while apparently abstaining from work (Matt 23:14). Ponder the religious leaders of our time who have taken the resources of the people to feed their own carnal appetites and desires. They are “slow bellies.”
WHEN RELIGIOUS MEN ADOPT THE CULTURE OF THE TIMES. Paul was not suggesting that Titus would be tempted to appoint elders from the heathenistic society of Crete. His reason for mentioning this is that some professing Christians might have adopted the heathen culture about them, while maintaining a “form of godliness” (2 Tim 3:1-5). This practice continues to our day, and is especially prevalent in our society. The professed church is becoming more and more like the world in both appearance and expression, in perspective and in reasoning. It’s leaders must not be garnered from this group.