Titus 1:9-16

“9 He must have a strong belief in the trustworthy message he was taught; then he will be able to encourage others with wholesome teaching and show those who oppose it where they are wrong. 10 For there are many rebellious people who engage in useless talk and deceive others. This is especially true of those who insist on circumcision for salvation. 11 They must be silenced, because they are turning whole families away from the truth by their false teaching. And they do it only for money. 12 Even one of their own men, a prophet from Crete, has said about them, “The people of Crete are all liars, cruel animals, and lazy gluttons.” 13 This is true. So reprimand them sternly to make them strong in the faith. 14 They must stop listening to Jewish myths and the commands of people who have turned away from the truth.15 Everything is pure to those whose hearts are pure. But nothing is pure to those who are corrupt and unbelieving, because their minds and consciences are corrupted. 16 Such people claim they know God, but they deny him by the way they live. They are detestable and disobedient, worthless for doing anything good.”

Paul now reminds us of the responsibility of Elders to refute the rebellious. It’s here that Paul deals with the tough topic of those who claim to be Christians but are actually living carnal lives. Paul reminds us that we have a duty to deal with the disobedient and that we shouldn’t try to skirt or shy away from this tough topic. This is not a fun topic and unfortunately because most churches care more about comfort than conviction they tend to avoid confronting the carnal because it could lead to conflict. Paul wastes no time describing those whom the Elders are to deal with as he reveals how to:

1. Recognize the Rebellious

The word “for” at the beginning of verse 10 links it to verse 9. The reason Elders are to be men of the Word is because there are many who are not. This is a widespread problem today and not just something that was isolated to the island of Crete. Unfortunately many people today are basing and building their life on their wants instead of God’s Word. As we talk about recognizing the rebellious Paul reminds us to pay attention to two things, people’s lives and people’s lips. If you want to recognize the rebellious just look at their life and listen to their lips. Paul reveals several things about their:

1. Life

·       Rebellious – This word refers to those who were literally “uncontrolled,” and unwilling to submit to authority. It’s also translated as “unruly” and “insubordinate.” It’s the same word that is used to describe rebellious children in verse 6. So let me ask you who is the authority in your life, are you submitting to scripture or to self. Is it based on your wants or God’s Will? Instead of giving control to Christ many of us fight to be in charge and call the shots. But I want you to notice that a rebellious life always results in ruin. But it’s not just our lives that are ruined but whole households. Our desire to do what we want to ends up ruining our relationships, we end up running over people and instead of reinforcing truth we end up removing and trash the truth.