Wrapping Up Titus
North Anderson family,
While we wrapped up our series through the New Testament epistle of Paul to Titus on Sunday, I wanted to take a few moments today to address the last few verses, as we did not get to them.
“Avoid foolish debates, genealogies, quarrels, and disputes about the law, because they are unprofitable and worthless. Reject a divisive person after a first and second warning. For you know that such a person has gone astray and is sinning; he is self-condemned.
When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, make every effort to come to me in Nicopolis, because I have decided to spend the winter there. Diligently help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey, so that they will lack nothing.
Let our people learn to devote themselves to good works for pressing needs, so that they will not be unfruitful. All those who are with me send you greetings. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with all of you.” – Titus 3:9-15
The threat faced by the church in Crete was two-fold.
First of all, they faced the licentiousness of the culture which corrupts the character of those within the church. A healthy portion of this series has dealt with that already, so we won’t spend a lot of time on it here.
The second threat, which the last few verses of Titus three seems to deal with, was the legalism of the circumcision party.
We referenced this group when we preached through the first chapter of Titus and found the Apostle Paul describing this group as people who had rebelled against the Lord, spoke hollow words, and were deceitful in their motives.
The Circumcision party being referenced was made up of Jewish converts to Christianity who refuse to recognize the fullness of Christ’s satisfaction of the law and therefore sought to impose the ceremonial requirements of the Mosaic covenant upon one another and upon gentile converts…in other words, those of the Circumcision Party were adding stipulations to the Gospel.
As we were reminded in Sunday’s sermon, a true understanding of the gospel emphasizes that our salvation is not due to our righteousness or quite literally anything that we have done but only through the great mercy and matchless grace of the Lord.
That great Gospel truth was what the Circumcision Party that had infiltrated the church of Crete was working hard to dilute.
Scripture warns against altering the message of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, especially by mixing in works, laws, or extra requirements, which fundamentally changes the message of grace and undermines Christ's finished work, calling His sufficiency into question.
An understanding of the Gospel of grace must serve as a north star for the church. If the church gets off course here, it will get off course everywhere.
That’s why Paul concludes his letter to Titus with a strong warning regarding how to deal with those who subtly crept in, distorted the Gospel and caused great harm to the church and her mission.
He begins by saying in verse 9 “Avoid foolish debates, genealogies, quarrels, and disputes about the law, because they are unprofitable and worthless”
The word “avoid” (peristemi) means to turn away from and it being a present imperative, Paul is talking about a continual action.
Four things to avoid:
It speaks of a preoccupation with pseudo-intellectual theorizing. It is a picture of one who engages in debates not due to an honest and genuine search for information but for arguing for arguing’s sake.
This exhortation to Titus is very similar to the warning that Timothy received from Paul who spoke of those who were “always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3:7)
Chales Spurgeon commented on this verse: “There are always plenty to argue about, and there are certain professors who spend half their lives doing so about nothing at all. There is no more in their contention than the difference between Tweedledum and Tweedledee; but they will divide a church over it, they will go through the world as if they had found out a great secret,-it really is not of any consequence whatever,-but having made the discovery, they judge everybody by their new-found fad, and so spread a spirit that is contrary to the Spirit of Christ.”
The true purpose of these individuals and their arguments is to sowing doubt and discord.
Paul told Titus to avoid such arguing and we’d do well to follow suit.
Again, Paul had to instruct Timothy about the same thing in 1 Timothy 1:4, telling him to “pay no attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to mere speculation rather than furthering the administration of God which is by faith.”
Please note that Paul is not referring to the genealogies found in Scripture, for these are critical for determining the lineage of the Messiah, as noted in the opening of Matthew 1 and Luke 3.
Here, Paul is referring to the many ridiculous interpretations of such genealogies which would easily degenerate into controversial speculation and strife.
Avoid such needlessly divisive topics.
It really reflects an antagonistic competitiveness that fights to have its own way, regardless of cost to itself or of harm to others. It is produced by a deep desire to prevail over others, to gain prominence, and to receive the highest recognition possible.
A person given over to quarrelling is a person with an oversized ego.
In order to stroke that ego, they must continually stir up arguments that they can “win”.
To accomplish this, they’ll be quick to critique and to nit-pick, as well as relying on provoking debate with open-ended questions and statements that will be sure to get a response.
Paul says to Titus…avoid them.
I think that is what Paul is dealing with here in relation to actions and teaching of the Circumcision Party that were harming the church in Crete.
Their central claim was that circumcision must take place in order for anyone to truly be included in the church but there’s no doubt, that it went even further than that. A quick look at Paul's letters to Timothy or to the Galatian church indicates that there were also stipulations concerning what food Christians would be able to eat and what feast were required for Christians to participate in.
Paul tells Titus: Avoid that nonsense!
At the end of verse 9, Paul calls these debates over genealogies and laws worthless and unprofitable in that they do not offer any benefit.
The only other New Testament usage of the word Paul uses in Titus when he calls these things worthless is in Hebrews 7:18 where the author calls the Old Covenant useless (in the sense that it could not save or bring about internal transformation)
Knowing now what the Christian Church in Crete was facing, we get a glimpse of the pressure would have been mounting in their congregation.
These fruitless quarrels about trivial matters and endless debates about the law both infect and divide the body of Christ and must never be trivialized or excused.
How do we handle such issues as they arise in individuals or groups within the body?
"Reject a divisive person after a first and second warning. For you know that such a person has gone astray and is sinning; he is self-condemned" Titus 3:1-11
The word that Paul uses to describe the problematic people is “divisive”. Interestingly, the word used is actually the Greek word for heretic.
A heretic is in essence, one who refuses to accept true doctrine as it is revealed in the Scriptures, and instead chooses for himself what he/she will believe
Paul, following the pattern that Jesus gives us out Matthew 18, instructs Titus to warn them, but if they refuse correction and continue to insist upon these foolish debates and divisive rhetoric, they are to be rejected, as their continuation in sin gives evidence of an unregenerate heart.
That may seem harsh, but the opposite is true. It would actually be harsh to excuse perpetually sinful behavior and silently allow a heretic or a divisive person to persist in their wickedness as though their souls are not in danger.
The goal of church discipline is repentance and restoration, neither of which happen apart from confronting wayward individuals with the truth of Scripture.
Wrapping up chapter 3, Paul has a few final words concerning his ministry partners and his plans.
“When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, make every effort to come to me in Nicopolis, because I have decided to spend the winter there. Diligently help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey, so that they will lack nothing.
Let our people learn to devote themselves to good works for pressing needs, so that they will not be unfruitful. All those who are with me send you greetings. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with all of you” Titus 3:12-15
Paul’s plan is to send Artemis and Tychicus to serve in the in Crete so that Titus could return to serve with Paul.
Once again, in this we see a sincere care for the church. This young congregation in Crete, faced with so many problems from the outside and within, could not be left alone quite yet, but with proper care it one day would be.
With this letter to Titus, Paul is working toward that goal: The healthy and vibrant church that will make an impact for generations to come. May we all strive to work towards that same goal.
Soli Deo Gloria,
Pastor DK
While we wrapped up our series through the New Testament epistle of Paul to Titus on Sunday, I wanted to take a few moments today to address the last few verses, as we did not get to them.
“Avoid foolish debates, genealogies, quarrels, and disputes about the law, because they are unprofitable and worthless. Reject a divisive person after a first and second warning. For you know that such a person has gone astray and is sinning; he is self-condemned.
When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, make every effort to come to me in Nicopolis, because I have decided to spend the winter there. Diligently help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey, so that they will lack nothing.
Let our people learn to devote themselves to good works for pressing needs, so that they will not be unfruitful. All those who are with me send you greetings. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with all of you.” – Titus 3:9-15
The threat faced by the church in Crete was two-fold.
First of all, they faced the licentiousness of the culture which corrupts the character of those within the church. A healthy portion of this series has dealt with that already, so we won’t spend a lot of time on it here.
The second threat, which the last few verses of Titus three seems to deal with, was the legalism of the circumcision party.
We referenced this group when we preached through the first chapter of Titus and found the Apostle Paul describing this group as people who had rebelled against the Lord, spoke hollow words, and were deceitful in their motives.
The Circumcision party being referenced was made up of Jewish converts to Christianity who refuse to recognize the fullness of Christ’s satisfaction of the law and therefore sought to impose the ceremonial requirements of the Mosaic covenant upon one another and upon gentile converts…in other words, those of the Circumcision Party were adding stipulations to the Gospel.
As we were reminded in Sunday’s sermon, a true understanding of the gospel emphasizes that our salvation is not due to our righteousness or quite literally anything that we have done but only through the great mercy and matchless grace of the Lord.
That great Gospel truth was what the Circumcision Party that had infiltrated the church of Crete was working hard to dilute.
Scripture warns against altering the message of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, especially by mixing in works, laws, or extra requirements, which fundamentally changes the message of grace and undermines Christ's finished work, calling His sufficiency into question.
An understanding of the Gospel of grace must serve as a north star for the church. If the church gets off course here, it will get off course everywhere.
That’s why Paul concludes his letter to Titus with a strong warning regarding how to deal with those who subtly crept in, distorted the Gospel and caused great harm to the church and her mission.
He begins by saying in verse 9 “Avoid foolish debates, genealogies, quarrels, and disputes about the law, because they are unprofitable and worthless”
The word “avoid” (peristemi) means to turn away from and it being a present imperative, Paul is talking about a continual action.
Four things to avoid:
- Foolish Debates
It speaks of a preoccupation with pseudo-intellectual theorizing. It is a picture of one who engages in debates not due to an honest and genuine search for information but for arguing for arguing’s sake.
This exhortation to Titus is very similar to the warning that Timothy received from Paul who spoke of those who were “always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3:7)
Chales Spurgeon commented on this verse: “There are always plenty to argue about, and there are certain professors who spend half their lives doing so about nothing at all. There is no more in their contention than the difference between Tweedledum and Tweedledee; but they will divide a church over it, they will go through the world as if they had found out a great secret,-it really is not of any consequence whatever,-but having made the discovery, they judge everybody by their new-found fad, and so spread a spirit that is contrary to the Spirit of Christ.”
The true purpose of these individuals and their arguments is to sowing doubt and discord.
Paul told Titus to avoid such arguing and we’d do well to follow suit.
- Genealogies
Again, Paul had to instruct Timothy about the same thing in 1 Timothy 1:4, telling him to “pay no attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to mere speculation rather than furthering the administration of God which is by faith.”
Please note that Paul is not referring to the genealogies found in Scripture, for these are critical for determining the lineage of the Messiah, as noted in the opening of Matthew 1 and Luke 3.
Here, Paul is referring to the many ridiculous interpretations of such genealogies which would easily degenerate into controversial speculation and strife.
Avoid such needlessly divisive topics.
- Quarrels
It really reflects an antagonistic competitiveness that fights to have its own way, regardless of cost to itself or of harm to others. It is produced by a deep desire to prevail over others, to gain prominence, and to receive the highest recognition possible.
A person given over to quarrelling is a person with an oversized ego.
In order to stroke that ego, they must continually stir up arguments that they can “win”.
To accomplish this, they’ll be quick to critique and to nit-pick, as well as relying on provoking debate with open-ended questions and statements that will be sure to get a response.
Paul says to Titus…avoid them.
- Disputes About The Law
I think that is what Paul is dealing with here in relation to actions and teaching of the Circumcision Party that were harming the church in Crete.
Their central claim was that circumcision must take place in order for anyone to truly be included in the church but there’s no doubt, that it went even further than that. A quick look at Paul's letters to Timothy or to the Galatian church indicates that there were also stipulations concerning what food Christians would be able to eat and what feast were required for Christians to participate in.
Paul tells Titus: Avoid that nonsense!
At the end of verse 9, Paul calls these debates over genealogies and laws worthless and unprofitable in that they do not offer any benefit.
The only other New Testament usage of the word Paul uses in Titus when he calls these things worthless is in Hebrews 7:18 where the author calls the Old Covenant useless (in the sense that it could not save or bring about internal transformation)
Knowing now what the Christian Church in Crete was facing, we get a glimpse of the pressure would have been mounting in their congregation.
These fruitless quarrels about trivial matters and endless debates about the law both infect and divide the body of Christ and must never be trivialized or excused.
How do we handle such issues as they arise in individuals or groups within the body?
"Reject a divisive person after a first and second warning. For you know that such a person has gone astray and is sinning; he is self-condemned" Titus 3:1-11
The word that Paul uses to describe the problematic people is “divisive”. Interestingly, the word used is actually the Greek word for heretic.
A heretic is in essence, one who refuses to accept true doctrine as it is revealed in the Scriptures, and instead chooses for himself what he/she will believe
Paul, following the pattern that Jesus gives us out Matthew 18, instructs Titus to warn them, but if they refuse correction and continue to insist upon these foolish debates and divisive rhetoric, they are to be rejected, as their continuation in sin gives evidence of an unregenerate heart.
That may seem harsh, but the opposite is true. It would actually be harsh to excuse perpetually sinful behavior and silently allow a heretic or a divisive person to persist in their wickedness as though their souls are not in danger.
The goal of church discipline is repentance and restoration, neither of which happen apart from confronting wayward individuals with the truth of Scripture.
Wrapping up chapter 3, Paul has a few final words concerning his ministry partners and his plans.
“When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, make every effort to come to me in Nicopolis, because I have decided to spend the winter there. Diligently help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey, so that they will lack nothing.
Let our people learn to devote themselves to good works for pressing needs, so that they will not be unfruitful. All those who are with me send you greetings. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with all of you” Titus 3:12-15
Paul’s plan is to send Artemis and Tychicus to serve in the in Crete so that Titus could return to serve with Paul.
Once again, in this we see a sincere care for the church. This young congregation in Crete, faced with so many problems from the outside and within, could not be left alone quite yet, but with proper care it one day would be.
With this letter to Titus, Paul is working toward that goal: The healthy and vibrant church that will make an impact for generations to come. May we all strive to work towards that same goal.
Soli Deo Gloria,
Pastor DK
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