How this is to be done is not told us. There may have been a public hear ing for their doctrines in the assem bly of God's people. How necessary that Paul should call the attention of Titus to the nature of the seduc tive work of these false teachers. C hapter S even A lthough P aul ’ s words of warn ing to Titus concerning perni cious teachings were directed toward a specific day on the island of Crete, the message is a real and practical one for this day and age. These he retics refused to submit to any kind of control. They were vain talkers, adept at fluent and appealing speech. Vigorous action was necessary to correct the situation. The effect of their work was absolutely deplor able. Entire families of believers were disturbed and turned spiritu ally “topsy-turvy.” The motivating force behind their vicious work was for filthy lucre’s sake (verse 11). They simply worked for selfish mon etary values. There was no spiritual zeal which comes through the Holy Spirit. Yes, false teachers need to be reproved sharply. While they profess that they know the Lord, by their works they deny Him. Quoting one of the Cretian philosophers, Paul says that they were idle gluttons, evil beasts, and always liars. Paul is sim ply repeating what this man, him self a Cretian, said about his own people. What he said is supported by the evidence of other secular sources. He doesn’t mean that all Cretians were liars. There were notable ex ceptions to this general characteriza tion. These false teachers, who were capitalizing on these things, being themselves natives of Crete, are out standing examples of this weakness. Paul faces the facts, and he deals with them squarely. The apostle cer tainly exhorted the churches relative to these false teachers. Titus is to 34
keep on convicting these people, beat ing down the views of such false teachers. Such is not allowed to get started like a germ or a virus. As in using the surgeon’s scapel, the growth is to be cut out before it ruins the whole body. Paul told Ti tus, “As pastor, it's your business to make sure these false teachers don’t get a footing and ruin the spiritual work.” Have you ever noticed how that today most of the religious cults not believing in Christ reject His blood atonement? Man is born in iniquity, which they will not admit. They don’t believe in the physical resurrection of the Saviour, and most certainly not in His coming again. The Bible isn’t really the inspired Word of God. They proselyte from other churches, rather than going out to evangelize the lost. He says, “To the pure, all things are pure.” This axiom refers not to moral purity, but to ceremo nial or ritualistic purity. The true criterian lies in the nature of the in ner, deeper spiritual life of a man’s heart. There must be a test of their character and conduct. You see, our conduct is not always proof that we really know the Lord. It requires a personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. ment, it’s loaded with spiritual truth. The things we find here are applica ble to many situations we have with us today. In chapter two, beginning with verse two down through verse ten, Paul passes from the subject of church organization and qualified leadership to a consideration of the duties of the various groups compos ing the congregation. Titus is re minded of his duty to instruct the members in the ethical conduct of Christian living. Titus is set in con C hapter E ight A lthough T itus is one of the smaller books of the New Testa
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