Sunday, March 2, 2025 PM

We thank you that you supply all of that through your son Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit. You've given us this word that is accurate and sharper than any two-edged sword, that is so fruitful for your people.

We thank you that we have this promise that Christ washes his bride with the water of.

His word.

We thank you for the success of our Savior in the past and presently and assuredly in our future. We pray all these things in his name.

Amen.

Sound Doctrine, the Church’s Witness, and the Need to Refute Deception

Let's look at Titus chapter 1 beginning in verse 10. For there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not for the sake of dishonest gain.

One of them, a prophet of their own, said, Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy.

Gluttons.

This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, not giving heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn from the truth. To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure, but even their mind and conscience are defiled.

They profess to know God, but in works they deny him, being abominable, disobedient and disqualified for every good work. Seen elsewhere in the pastoral epistles, the church is the pillar and ground of the truth.

How important then it is to defend the truth in each local church. And this task falls preeminently to the elders, though all members are called to be discerning and to guard themselves against deceit.

Now, last time we were looking at this very same passage and we recognized the need to refute tactical deception. There are some people who believe false things and are willing to talk about those, but they're not tactically trying to subvert the truth in the church.

They're not aiming to profit from it. They're not seeking to destabilize faith in Christ and to deconstruct trust in the scriptures. They possibly were taught error from folks that they loved and respected and said, well, I always thought this or I always thought that.

These are not the folks that Paul is primarily concerned about. He's concerned about those who make it their business to try to undo the basic truths of.

The faith.

They want to strategically, tactically deceive. And so we see the need to refute tactical deception. And we looked at that last week. And now we move on to see the need that sometimes tough discipleship is required.

Notice the language that Paul uses that he says to Titus, reprove them severely. Do you see that? Reprove them or rebuke them sharply. That's a tough kind of discipleship. Very often the struggle of sanctification becomes that opening through which false teachers gain the influence and the hearing for their false gospel.

And this is the connection. If you're going to refute tactical deception, there also needs to be proper discipleship and growth in holiness. The opening is often expressed this way. The false teacher will say, well, you're struggling with sin and you're having trouble because you don't know what I know.

There's something more that you're missing. You're missing, you don't have the gospel. You don't, yes, yes, you believe in Christ, but here's something else that you're missing. You need something extra, right?

You can see how someone who's frustrated or discouraged in their walk in the faith is open to this kind of deception. And the false teacher can prey upon that. So Paul comes against that kind of thinking and first, there's the need to address the bad reputation of the Cretans.

Now, Paul quotes a Cretan poet by the name of Epimenides. And this man was very respected and his characterization of Cretans was spot on. He said, basically he says, these people lie as often as they breathe.

They're like wild, deranged animals who possess no conscience and have no compass of morality. They're called, in the text, we have the translation of lazy gluttons. In the Greek, it's more like lazy bellies, lazy bellies.

It's an expression that refers to their insatiable greed. The entirety of the whole of the ancient world looked at a Cretan and said, you're one special kind of scumbag. That was the reputation that the Cretans have.

Now, Paul has sent Titus, he's left Titus there to strengthen the churches that were planted there and to find elders out of material like that? You need elders in a church that are Cretans? This is going to be a tall order.

One of the ancients, Polybius, said, so much in fact, do sordid love of gain and lust for wealth prevail among them that the Cretans are the only people in the world in whose eyes no gain is disgraceful.

That sleazy businessman or that sleazy scumbag lawyer is like, I'll take, I'll do anything to make a dollar, right? That's a Cretan. So much so that a Greek word was invented, you know, how words are regularly invented in the Oxford English Dictionary, we'll nominate the new word of the year as new words come into our language.

Well, that happened with the island of Crete and those who live there. A new word came into vogue to Cretanize, to Cretanize, it means to double deal and to lie all rolled into one. And ancient stories were told in which the Cretans played a special kind of villain.

Stories about political intrigue. Cretans were specifically hired to do the spying and the treason work because they're always willing to do whatever. But always at the end of the story, these very same Cretans double crossed the people paying them and walked away with all the money having not done the work.

And so this kind of warning about Cretans was very widespread. Now Paul has gone to the island of Crete and he has preached the gospel and the gospel of Jesus Christ and the character of Jesus Christ manifesting the goodness of God is in such sharp contrast to what it means to be a Cretan.

Those who are born again by the power of the Holy Spirit and begin to follow Christ as they are washed with the water of his word, they begin to look different and sound different. They act different than those around them.

In this way, they are truly a light which is not under a bushel. They are a city set on a hill. They are the salt of the earth and things on the island of Crete change and they get.

Better.

Nonetheless, there needs to be a continual challenge to the people to not go back to their Cretan ways, to not allow Cretan expectations to inform how they ought to live. Paul does not try to gloss over deep social, ethical, and moral issues present among the Cretans.

He's willing to say to the deepest rooted aspects of a culture, that's wrong, that should go, that should no longer be here. No matter how long it's been there, it doesn't matter if for the last 300 years this is the way that they handle their sexual ethics.

It doesn't matter for the last 300 years that this is how they think of finances. Paul comes in and says, no, Jesus Christ is king, don't do that. And you may say, well, this is our identity, sorry. If you're going to follow Christ, he says, die to the self, crucify the self.

That identity is no longer yours. And so, biblical reproof has to be applied. Paul says that Titus is to reprove these Cretans severely, to expose the sin and to convict them of the sin using the scriptures.

Now, this term severely has the idea that the reproof might be abrupt and it might sound.

Rude.

It might sound rude. The Greek scholar A .T. Robertson says, it is necessary to appear rude sometimes for safety. If the house is on fire and a life is in danger, you might sound a little rude in informing the people who need to know it.

And in this case, Paul is telling Titus to get in their face and divert them from disaster. And so, they have to beware of reversion, going back to false ways. Verse 14, Paul says, not giving heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn from the truth.

Now, notice that this is in contrast to what he says in verse 13. When he says, rebuke them sharply, what's the purpose? That they may be sound in the faith? You know what's the opposite of being sound in the faith?

Giving heed to Jewish fables. That would not be being sound in the faith. You know what's not being sound in the faith? Giving heed to commandments of men who turn from the truth. That would not be sound in the faith.

So, as he's saying, rebuke them regarding lying, regarding being lazy gluttons, not being disciplined, and so on. Even as you would rebuke them for that, also rebuke them against giving heed to fables, to rumors, to these Jewish fables in particular, and the commandments of men.

Do you remember how Jesus rebuked the religious Jews, leaders of Judaism, you teach commandments of men as if these were the commandments of God, but they're not. You teach the doctrines of men as if they are the commandments of God, but they're not the commandments of God.

And there was an idea throughout the New Testament time period, Paul, you'll find in his letters very often addresses the church and tells them to move away from these Jewish fables. He uses a variety of expressions to talk about them, but they all come down to something very similar, in which holiness is achieved by adhering to a box of do nots.

Here's a box of a dozen do nots. Do not taste, do not touch. If you avoid all of these, then that's when you're holy. And Paul says there's an appearance of godliness there, there's the scent of wisdom kind of about that, but it's actually powerless because it's not putting the attention upon Christ.

And so he warns them to turn away from Jewish myths, to turn to Christ. Now, in addition, in verse 15, Paul says you need to recognize, in verse 16, to recognize total defilement, verses 15 and 16. The reason why he brings this up is that if you begin to dabble with these myths and these commandments brought by these Jewish teachers, you're not able actually to take the flesh of the fish and leave the bones, because the whole thing is poison.

So he's saying, don't think that you can pick and choose out of it and find what's good, just leave the whole thing alone. He says in verse 15, to the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, what would they be unbelieving about?

Unbelieving that Jesus is the risen Christ, the son of the living God. They didn't believe that. Those who were oppressing Jewish myths, they didn't believe that Jesus was the Christ, the son of the living God.

They didn't think he was risen from the dead. They didn't think he was the real Messiah. And they were always talking about this defiles you, that defiles you. You couldn't walk close to a cemetery lest your shadow cross over a grave and that would defile you.

You talk about Jewish myths, a lot of superstitions about don't step on a crack and what about a black cat and use the ax to split the storm and all these American superstitions. The Jews had their fables as well, how not to be defiled.

And Paul says to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure. 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.

So think first of all about the defilement of unbelieving persons there in verse 15. This term defiled is a term that means to die with another color or to stain. It's stained and stained all the way through.

So there's nothing profitable that comes out of it, nothing unstained that comes out of.

It.

Their whole system of thought and their moral code are utterly stained so that their hearts and minds are critically impaired. There's two things here. First of all, we have this condition from Adam that those who are not alive in Christ and do not have the Holy Spirit, who have not been born again, the fact of the matter is that God takes a look at the human heart and this is what he sees.

Genesis chapter 6 verse 5, and the Lord saw that the wickedness of men was great upon the earth and that every intent of the thought of his heart was only evil continually. So how can such a man, that every intent of the thought of his heart is only evil continually, how can he get himself clean?

He's got no position to start from. There's no clean corner that he can stand in and begin mopping. There's no unstained portion that he can begin working from to remove the stain. The whole thing is defiled.

So in any kind of man-centered, man-made religion where the focus is always upon man, there's no cleansing. There's no progress. There's just the ever on hamster wheel of no progress and getting wore out.

And there can be variations of this man-centered approach even within Christendom, people using terms of Christ, using scripture verses and so on, and it's always about focusing upon the self, focusing upon the flesh and saying, okay, here's my flesh, how am I doing?

Am I keeping up? Okay, flesh, come on, let's go, let's go, let's go. Pull your flesh up, cleanse your flesh by how well you perform and forgetting Jesus Christ and him crucified, forgetting the righteousness of Jesus Christ, forgetting our positional sanctification out of which we are progressively sanctified.

We need to remember Christ. The false teachers that teach legalism, they teach legalism and teach ascetic legalism and give up this and give up that and flee all these things. It's like, well, there could be some wisdom there.

Yeah, that's a pretty rotten thing to do, so you shouldn't do that, and we can agree about that, but that's not what makes you holy. You avoid those things because you are holy. I'm not interested in going and watching that or doing that or engaging in this because I love Jesus, and my loyalty is to my Lord, so I'm not trying to create my standing with God and find approval.

I'm resting in Christ, and therefore, I don't want to be moving out of that, abiding in.

Christ.

These false teachers rail against eating certain foods, and they forbid the enjoyment of God's blessings. They seek to undermine a life lived in the sure confidence of God's grace. It's the difference between the gospel of works and the gospel of grace.

In the gospel of works, you're always working out of impurity toward purity. That's the gospel of works. Fix you. Come on, fix yourself. Come on, fix yourself. Come on, fix yourself. Jesus was really good.

You'd be good, too. But all you see is what? Impurity, and you remain condemned. But in the gospel of grace, you proceed from the purity of Christ, reconcile to God, and discover what he has for you. It's different.

There's a similar situation in Ephesus concerning which Paul instructed Timothy in 1 Timothy chapter 4, just a few pages back from Titus. In 1 Timothy chapter 4, Paul writes,. Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons.

Now, just so we're clear, Paul is writing to Timothy in his day, 2 ,000 years ago, and this was relevant to him then. And then later down in verse 6, he says, now you instruct the brethren in these things.

So don't read this and think it has nothing to do with Timothy in this situation. It has everything to do with where Timothy was in his day, in his time. So just track with it. This is important to how Timothy was supposed to pastor there in Ephesus.

Now, the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons. Now, what is a doctrine of demon? Man, it's probably something really, really sinister, right?

Let's see what it looks like. Speaking lies in hypocrisy, okay, hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a.

Hot iron.

Oh, okay, verse 3, here come the doctrines of demons. You ready? Forbidding to marry. You see that? Forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.

Now, I don't know if you know any Seventh-day Adventists. A lot of them are nice folks, and there were a lot of splinter groups like that out there in Tennessee where we used to live. But the stuff that they taught and the things that they were most interested in about what foods to avoid at all times, because otherwise you'd be defiled by them, because you'd be displeasing God, right?

Why?

Because what were they doing? They were taking the Old Testament dietary laws, okay? This isn't about what's wise to eat, what's not wise to eat, because I'm sewarding my.

Body.

That's not what they're talking about. They're talking about what's the Old Testament dietary laws, and we're going to push those forward as if they're not satisfyingly fulfilled in Christ, as if Christ isn't glorious, right?

We're going to retain the Old Covenant because Jesus Christ is not satisfying to God. That's a doctrine of demons. Also forbidding marriage. Who forbids marriage these days? If you heard anybody, feel free to speak up.

Who forbids marriage? Roman Catholics forbid marriage to priests, to monks, to nuns, and so forth. That's a doctrine of demons. Oh, it's easy to pick on Roman Catholics, though. Anybody else? How about the same-sex attractive movement within evangelicalism?

If you're same-sex attracted, you should not marry. And it's not a sin that you have lusts for those of the same sex as you, the same gender as you. That's not a sin, but you can't act on it, so just never get married.

Doctrine of demons. All in the name of what? Holiness. So, everything coming out of the Revoice movement that is so celebrated in modern evangelicalism is a doctrine of demons, as far as that's concerned.

Now, that is doctrines of demons. Now, notice that we are to receive the blessings of God, how? With thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is sanctified by the word of God in prayer.

Which brings to mind what Paul says to Titus, that to the pure all things are pure. It's like, thank you, Lord, this is a gift from you, I rejoice in it. It's sanctified by means of the word in prayer.

What a lavish gift you gave me, God. I know what it's for, it's for your glory and for my good, and I thank you for it. You see, it's sanctified and it's good. There are many people who say that if you have something nice, you're sinful because you have something nice.

That's an expensive house, or that's an expensive car, you're a sinner. I'm sorry, is that a gift from God? Did you receive it with thanksgiving and prayer? Do you understand what it's for according to the word of God?

To the pure all things are pure. I was just reminded of this the other day about, it's popular amongst some groups, they will, if you have something nice in your life and that's a sin. Well, that's not what the Bible says.

In this, finally, there is the denial of useless professors there in verse 16. They profess to know God. You see that they profess to know God, but in works, they deny him being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.

Now, Jesus tells us that we will know, we will know them by their fruits. We will know them by their fruits. Not everyone who says Lord, Lord, right? He says that many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord.

He says, well, I depart from me. I never knew you. Do we see how important this is? Verse 16, they profess to know God, but in works, they deny him. Do you see that our works say something? Our works say something.

Now, our works don't save us. Our works are not the fruit or not the root of our salvation. They are the fruit of our salvation. Jesus said, you'll know them by their fruits, not their roots. You'll know them by their fruits.

And so before men, we will be known by our love for one another. But before men, we will be known by our fruits. But those fruits are to come from actual roots, being rooted in Christ, who is the true vine, abiding in him, we will bear fruit.

When somebody says to us that, oh, I know God and I love God. I know Jesus. I love Jesus. I know the Bible. I love the Bible. I, you know, I have a ministry, so on and so forth. When they say that to you, don't check your brain off.

It's like, oh, they're good to go. They said something positive and nice about Jesus. So whatever else they do and say, they're good to go.

Right.

We are just told in the scriptures to not think that way. Many will profess to know God, but perhaps they will deny him through their works. Now, given the examples that we just saw, there certainly are those works of the Cretans, liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.

That would be pretty obvious denial of God by the works. But do you know there are other works are here?

What are those works?

Teaching doctrines of demons would be part of those works.

Right.

Where they're spreading Jewish fables and commandments of men. Those are also works that deny. So somebody who's trying to live as an ascetic hermit and says that no one is holy unless they're miserable.

Okay.

That would also be somebody who, although they profess God, deny him by their works. So it's not just one side or the other. See what Paul says in the context to Titus. It's both sides. There are those who are libertines and those who are legalists, but both of them are denying God by their works.

So it's important for Titus to see the contrast. Now, in the larger sense, as we look through verses 5 through 16, we see a contrast being built between elders for the church and false teachers that need to be defended against, not allowed into the church.

The elder is a house manager. The false teacher is a house wrecker. The elder is blameless. The false teacher has a defiled conscience. The elder is not pursuing dishonest gain. The false teacher works unscrupulous teaching for gain.

The elder is not quick-tempered or intemperate. The false teacher acts like a wild beast. The elder holds fast to sound tradition. The false teacher embraces myths and human commands. The elder is truthful and refutes error.

The false teacher is a liar and deceiver and embraces and teaches error. You see the contrast? So here are elders and here are false teachers, and the profiles are pretty sharply defined. Now, the very last note, and it's just a brief one from chapter 2, verse 1, is just a note that as it pertains as a hinge verse to what comes prior and then what follows, is just to reinforce true doctrine.

In verse 1 of chapter 2, it says,. But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine. So Paul has already laid down some principles of sound doctrine, and then he's going to say, when you teach, teach the things that are in accordance with sound doctrine.

Good doctrine is the basis for good deeds, that these things are connected. The good deeds should be flowing out of the good doctrine. But I'm not going to go into great detail on that because I'm going to leave that for Dylan at some future opportunity.

Closing Doxology

All right, let's close by singing the doxology together.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise him, all creatures here be. Praise him above the sun and toe.

Amen.

We are dismissed.