Knowing God but Acting Like Not Knowing

The Epistle to Titus is one of the three pastoral epistles (along with 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy) in the New Testament, historically attributed to Paul the Apostle. Titus chapter 1 focuses on the character traits of a church leader, contrasted to the immoral culture on the island of Crete. Paul describes the requirements for being appointed a church leader, such as an elder or pastor. The text then transitions into a description of how to “rebuke” false teachers.

Warning: Some Preachers Are False

In the first chapter of his letter to Titus, Paul warns that some people try to lead believers away from the pure truth. In Crete, some men taught that circumcision was required for Christians, which caused entire families to fall apart in an argument. Titus is commanded to counter these claims strongly—to “rebuke them sharply.” Titus was to lead people to the correct doctrine.

The main message of Paul’s letter urges Titus to appoint worthy elders to positions of responsibility, to preach sound doctrine, and to exemplify in his own life the virtues that are expected of all Christians. It warns against the disruptive influence of “Jewish myths” and teachings put forward by “those of the circumcision.” Christians are to not pay attention to Jewish myths and commandments of men who turn away from the pure truth.

False Teachers Focus on Ritual Minutia

The false teachers reach beyond the Mosaic law and the teachings of the Apostles. Jesus dealt with some of the extra traditions Jewish religious teachers had added to the Torah. For example, some had added special rules regarding hand washing (Matthew 15:20). Paul, in the same way, isn’t speaking against the Torah, but against inaccurate interpretations of it. The religious leaders of Jesus’ day were blind to the emphasis of the prophets. They focused on the ritual minutia. Jesus announced that cleanness and uncleanness are matters of the heart. He did away with the old classification of clean and unclean foods.

Even today, Paul’s guidance is applicable. In modern Christianity, just as in ancient Crete, false teachers (Paul’s word for “teachers” applies to Christian faith leaders) are teaching and preaching church doctrine that does not follow the pure truth, but are false. Although present-day believers are typically not concerned with Jewish ritual observances, the principle is still applicable. We should be more concerned about renewing our mind and focusing it on Jesus than observing a list of rules that have no biblical support.

Today’s false teachers align Jesus’ salvation for us with things like:

  • Once baptized, always baptized and there is to be no second baptism,
  • Baptism is a requirement for salvation,
  • Communion is to be closed and not given to anyone outside of the denomination,
  • Only priests and pastors can administer the rite of communion,
  • Only those who demonstrate the entrenchment of the Holy Spirit are truly saved,
  • Only members of this denomination will be saved,
  • In the End Times, believers will be raptured before the earth goes through the tribulations.

When men add anything other than, or in addition to, the acceptance of Jesus Christ as our savior as the one and only factor for salvation, they add a false teaching.

Legalism

Strict adherence to the “commandments” in God’s Word but according to some men’s interpretation is called “legalism.” False teachers invent their own theories of Christianity. Usually, that theory is some form of legalistic regulations. They will do anything except turn to Christ and what He offers. Adherence to regulations is an indication of spirituality to the legalist. But to the person of grace, it is a different story. In grace, God is the doer and provider. In legalism, the human being is the doer and provider.

Man’s system is to pull himself up by the bootstraps, to rely on what he can do for himself. God’s system rests on what God does and what He provides. Religion and grace are polar opposites. Religion is what man does for God; Christianity is what God does for man. The system of religion and morality greatly attracts people because it depends on what they can do. It strokes the ego. Christianity offers something free, something that comes out of the generous heart of God. Both salvation and the Christian life revolve around grace.

Christians Must Embrace The Pure Truth

Paul is concerned about instructions coming from those who had rejected the truth. Some had embraced the teachings of the false teachers and accepted their words as truth. Paul tells Titus to rebuke these people sharply (Titus 1:13), to stop this problem immediately. Christians were not to follow the commands of people who turn away from the truth. Instead, they were to follow the good news of Jesus, as taught in His word.

False teachers profess to know God, but in works they deny Him. These difficult people that Titus had to deal with were all the more difficult because they talked like Christians. Their profession was all in order, but in works they deny Him. We can’t just go by what a person says. We have to also look at how they live. But be careful, discern but don’t judge.

False teachers act as if the Supreme Being is a mere metaphysical abstraction, out of which comes all moral relation to human life as if He were neither Savior nor Judge.

All Things Are Pure

The introductory words “all things are pure” (Titus 1:15) are not to be taken out of context, as a statement of absolute truth in all areas of life. All things are not pure, even to those whose minds are pure. Yet people have used this verse to justify vile magazines, suggestive movies, and even immorality itself. This verse has absolutely nothing to do with things that are sinful in themselves and are condemned in the Bible.

Considering the context, Paul wasn’t speaking about matters of clear-cut morality, of things that are inherently right or wrong. Rather, he has been discussing matters of moral indifference, things that were ceremonially defiling for a Jew living under the law but that are legitimate for a Christian living under grace.

The obvious example is the eating of pork. It was forbidden to God’s people in the Old Testament, but the Lord Jesus changed all that when He said that nothing entering into a man can defile him (Mark 7:15). In saying this He pronounced all foods clean (Mark 7:19). Paul echoed this truth when he said: “But food does not commend us to God; for neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not eat are we the worse” (1 Corinthians 8:8).

When he says: “To the pure all things are pure,” he means that to the born-again believer all foods are clean. But to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure. It is not what a person eats that defiles him but what comes out of his heart (Mark 7:20-23).

A Pure Heart

A pure heart (as in 2 Titus 2:22) is a heart whose motives are absolutely pure and absolutely unmixed. In the heart of the Christian thinker, there is no desire to show how clever he is, no desire to win a purely debating victory, no desire to show up the ignorance of his opponent. His only desire is to help and to illumine and to lead nearer to God. The Christian thinker is moved only by the love of truth and love for men. (Galatians 5 Commentary – William Barclay’s Daily Study Bible)

Although present-day believers are typically not concerned with Jewish ritual observances, the principle is still applicable. We should be more concerned about renewing our mind and focusing it on Jesus than observing a list of rules that have no biblical support.

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In conclusion, consider what the Daily Bread email message sent on 11/7/2022 says,

Titus 1: 15,16 – To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled. They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed. (NASB)

In the first chapter of his letter to Titus, Paul warns that some people try to lead believers away from the pure truth. In Crete, some men taught that circumcision was required for Christians, which caused entire families to fall apart in argument. Titus is commanded to counter these claims strongly—to “rebuke them sharply.” Titus was to lead people to correct doctrine.

The religious leaders of Jesus’ day were blind to the emphasis of the prophets. They focused on the ritual minutia. Even today, Paul’s guidance is applicable. In modern Christianity, just as in ancient Crete, false teachers (Paul’s word for “teachers” applies to Christian faith leaders) are teaching and preaching church doctrine that does not follow the pure truth, but are false. Although present-day believers are typically not concerned with Jewish ritual observances, the principle is still applicable. We should be more concerned about renewing our mind and focusing it on Jesus than observing a list of rules that have no biblical support.

Today’s false teachers align Jesus’ salvation for us with things like:

  • Once baptized, always baptized and there is to be no second baptism,
  • Baptism is a requirement for salvation,
  • Communion is to be closed and not given to anyone outside of the denomination,
  • Only priests and pastors can administer the rite of communion,
  • Only those who demonstrate the entrenchment of the Holy Spirit are truly saved,
  • Only members of this denomination will be saved,
  • In the End Times believers will be raptured before the earth goes through the tribulations.

When men add anything other than, or in addition to, the acceptance of Jesus Christ as our savior as the one and only factor for salvation, they add a false teaching.

Legalism is an enactment of false teaching. In grace, God is the doer and provider. In legalism, the human being is the doer and provider. Religion is what man does for God; Christianity is what God does for man. Both salvation and the Christian life revolve around grace.

We should be more concerned about renewing our mind and focusing it on Jesus than observing a list of rules that have no biblical support.

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