For there are many and disorderly vain speakers and deceivers of people's minds, specially those of [the] circumcision,
Paul has just described the elder who holds firm to the trustworthy word and can "rebuke those who contradict it." Now he explains why Crete needed such men. The verse counts the opposition, names its three marks, and traces most of it to one source.
One writer ties the elder's grip on the faithful word straight to conditions on Crete.
Here, where dealing with those who contradict is the prominent thought, Paul reminds Titus that the bishop himself should hold fast the faithful word according to the teaching. Then he can both encourage with sound doctrine and convict those who contradict it. This was most needed in Crete; for there were many unruly, vain talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, whose mouths should be stopped.
The trouble was not a fringe. It was already widespread before Paul's service ended, and it grieved him.
We see this even before the apostle's service closed. There were already "many" of these disorderly men... It was a bitter sorrow for the heart of one who was soon to depart and be with Christ. It hurt all the more when he thought of the church, the beloved of Christ, so exposed to the attacks and schemes of the enemy. If grace and truth came by Jesus Christ, there were many now who bore His name whose speech was empty and built no one up. Their aim was their own appetite, not to serve the Lord Jesus. And they did not merely foam out their own shame — they deceived people's minds.
The three words are not equal in weight. Their conduct was out of hand, but the danger lay in what they said.
No doubt the ways of these troublemakers were unruly. But evil teaching is still more damaging, because it habitually dresses itself in thoughts that flatter human nature. Christ is not in it, and He is the life and nourishment of all who are born again.
Paul singles out one group, but the label describes a mindset, not a bloodline. The same spirit reaches far beyond people born Jewish.
The Jewish element made this all the more needed, even for these Gentile minds among the Cretans and elsewhere. It was the constant and fruitful cause of trouble... I do not mean necessarily Jews when I speak of the Jewish element. Sadly, the evil of Judaism infects Gentiles. The spirit of tradition fills some, and legalism soaks deeply into others. These are the people who give special trouble.
There is a sting in calling law-teachers "unruly," and one writer points it out.
Law was their theme, but law degenerated into human commandments. They bound law on other people, yet a fine stroke of irony brands them as unruly themselves.
Commentators differ on where these men stood. One puts them outside the assembly, the gathered church, attacking the truth it held.
Even in that day there were many mere "talkers." They were not subject themselves, and empty in what they had to say, yet they deceived others. Their number has multiplied today, though by no means limited to those professing Judaism... These of course were not in the assembly, but always active in attacking the truth the assembly held, and seeking to deceive souls. Elders therefore were to be always on guard.
Another writer sees them as people who claimed the Christian name.
These Cretan Jews who claimed to have accepted Christianity worked evil in the assembly.
One writer applies the verse inside the church too, as a test for anyone who speaks there.
While this may especially refer to men outside of the Assembly, it gives instruction for within the Church as well. Unruly and vain talkers must have their mouths stopped, especially in God's Assembly. Pride, empty boasting, and self-will may prompt someone to speak. But if there is no power in his words, and souls get no help, we may well ask whether he speaks for the glory of God and the building up of the hearers.
- Reason. The verse opens with "for". Crete needed elders who could correct opponents, because opponents were already there in numbers.
- Unruly. They pressed law on others, yet would not submit themselves. That is the irony.
- Vain. Their speech built nobody up. Test any speaker by one question: does his talk help souls and glorify God?
- Deceivers. Their teaching did more harm than their behaviour. Error flatters human nature and leaves Christ out.
- Circumcision. Legalism and tradition were the special channel then. They belong to no one nation now, so elders stay on guard.
who must have their mouths stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which ought not [to be taught] for the sake of base gain.
Paul has just described the overseer Titus should appoint. Now he says why Crete needed such men: a crowd of talkers was at work there, and Paul's instruction is blunt — silence them, because their teaching was wrecking families and money was the motive.
(These writers use an older translation. It reads "subvert whole houses" and "filthy lucre" where the ESV reads "upsetting whole families" and "shameful gain.")
One writer describes what these talkers were like, and says their kind has only grown since:
Even then there were many who were only "talkers." They were not under authority themselves, and they had nothing real to say, yet they deceived others. This was especially true of those of the circumcision — the ones eager for the merely formal religion of Judaism. Their numbers have multiplied today, though they are by no means limited to people who profess Judaism. Yet it is the same mold: it would drag Christianity down to an earthly level, with legal rules and forms.
Paul singles out "those of the circumcision" — teachers from a Jewish background. Kelly warns against reading this as a charge against one people:
When I speak of the Jewish element, I do not necessarily mean Jews. Sadly, the evil of Judaism infects non-Jews as well. The spirit of tradition fills some; legalism soaks deep into others. These are the people who cause the most trouble — the ones "whose mouths," we are told, "must be stopped."
Silencing them sounds like a job for rank or force. Kelly says it is nothing of the kind, and he points to the damage in Cretan homes:
Paul tells Titus that their mouths must be stopped. Of course, no outward authority could do this. Only the power of the word, used in the Spirit, could… Taking evil lightly may look like grace, but it is grace's shame and utter ruin. Grace holds to the truth and cannot be separated from it. Otherwise it is no longer grace, but a pretence of good that is really evil — and it breaks down morals, corrupts, and destroys. God is dishonoured, and whole houses are ruined as well. That phrase matters morally: "whole houses." The ruin might come through the head of the house, whose faith was undermined and whose ways grew loose. What damage to the family!
One writer names the tool that stops them, and who it protects:
The way to stop the mouths of such men was, of course, the sound teaching of the Word of God. That would keep honest souls safe from their deceptions.
Bad teaching does not spread by looking ugly. Kelly names its appeal and what it lacks:
No doubt these troublemakers behaved in an unruly way. But evil teaching does even more harm, because it usually dresses itself in ideas that flatter human nature. Christ is not in it — and He is the life and food of all who are born again.
One writer traces this religious talk down to its root:
The corruption in the world comes through lust. At the bottom of all this convincing twisting of what God had given, there was a spirit craving what it counted as gain.
Another writer sees the same motive at work today:
Their motive is exposed here too: they were seeking money for themselves. That is far too common a feature of much that passes for Christianity.
The verse aims first at troublemakers outside the church. One writer applies it closer to home:
This may refer mainly to men outside the assembly, but it also gives instruction for inside the church. Unruly, empty talkers must have their mouths stopped, especially in God's assembly. Pride, empty self-display, and self-will may push a person to speak. But if there is no power in his words, and souls gain nothing, we may well ask whether his motive is the glory of God and the building up of the hearers.
- Talk. The trouble starts with men who are not under authority and have nothing real to say, yet still deceive. Their religion is Christianity dragged down to rules and forms.
- Bait. Their teaching spreads because it flatters human nature. Christ is not in it.
- Greed. Under the religious talk sits a spirit that craves gain. That motive still runs through much of what passes for Christianity.
- Wreckage. The damage reaches whole households: undermine the head of a house, and the whole family suffers.
- Silence. The Word, used in the Spirit's power, stops these mouths — not rank or force. Tolerating evil may look like grace, but grace and truth cannot be separated.
One of themselves, a prophet of their own, has said, Cretans are always liars, evil wild beasts, lazy gluttons.
Paul warns Titus about troublemakers in Crete, and he backs the warning with a Cretan poet's harsh verdict on his own people. Two questions follow: why quote a non-Christian writer, and what does that verdict mean for Cretans who had already believed?
Paul calls the source "a prophet of their own." Commentators name him and explain the strange title.
The Cretans had a bad name as a people, as one of their own showed when he called them always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons. The words come from Epimenides, a poet of the sixth century B.C. People quoted his sayings as oracles, which may explain the title "prophet." They needed a sharp rebuke, so that they might be sound in the faith.
The three phrases are not vague abuse. Each names a habit.
Paul had sent Titus to Crete to appoint elders in every city. In Titus 1:12 we find that the Cretans, though they were not believers, had what passed for a prophet of their own. He got stirred up about something and turned blunt. He told the Cretan people a thing or two about themselves… They could not stick to the truth. They rampaged about and injured one another like wild animals. They did not want to work, but they wanted to eat a lot.
Paul adds, "This testimony is true." Quoting a man does not mean approving him.
The apostle here quotes a moral poet, Epimenides of Crete, to press home the known dangers of those concerned. We are not to suppose that he endorses this Gentile author as a prophet of God. So he had to add, "This testimony is true." But it does show how grace stoops to use whatever is true, though the source may be impure. In the same spirit the apostle quoted a famous comic writer to convict the Corinthians more sharply: "Evil communications corrupt good manners."
That last line is 1 Corinthians 15:33 in an older wording. The ESV reads, "Bad company ruins good morals."
The verdict was not only about outsiders on the island.
Conditions in Crete differed from those at Ephesus. Both places faced similar dangers from rebellious people, empty talkers and deceivers. But the natural character of the Cretan people was unusually bad. It was so bad that one of their own prophets, a pagan seer, felt driven to denounce them in strong terms as "always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons." That was the old nature of the Cretans who had believed, and it stayed in them after they believed. Sadly, it was showing itself.
Commentators ask what can be done with people like this.
"What bad material!" a person would say — and it is all too true. The law could do nothing with it. That is one of the main reasons why the apostle speaks so severely in this letter about those who were pushing people back under the law of Moses. But grace has done what the law could not do. The material was utterly bad, yet grace has set the flesh aside for ever.
A bad national character can sound like a ready-made excuse. One writer answers it.
A believer today may try to excuse an outburst of temper or some display of the flesh. He says, "Oh well, that's my make-up; that's the kind of person I am." "No doubt it is," we may well reply, "but have you not been washed and so saved from such things?" Godliness is to mark us. That means displaying the divine nature and not our own deformities.
The danger is real, but so is the cure.
Where watchfulness fails, a fall follows. So the evil nature is a constant danger. When we truly lean on Christ and look to Him, the Holy Spirit gives complete superiority over evil. Here the question is about people who are walking after the flesh. So the apostle applies this humbling testimony with full force. Titus did well to keep it in mind. And no Cretan could easily complain that the apostle was harsh, when a well-known man of their own nation had long ago admitted what their people were like.
- Verdict — Epimenides, a Cretan poet, named three national habits: lying, savagery toward one another, and lazy overeating. People quoted his sayings as oracles, which may explain the title "prophet."
- Verified — Paul does not call him a prophet of God. He adds, "This testimony is true." Grace will use whatever is true, even from an impure source.
- Persisting — that old nature stayed in the Cretans after they believed, and it was showing itself among them.
- No excuse — "that's just how I am" will not stand, because believers have been washed. The divine nature, not our own deformities, is to show.
- Remedy — the law could do nothing with such material, but grace set the flesh aside for ever. When we lean on Christ, the Spirit gives complete superiority over evil. That is why the rebuke was sharp: to make them sound in the faith.
This testimony is true; for which cause rebuke them severely, that they may be sound in the faith,
One of Crete's own prophets had called his people liars, evil beasts and lazy gluttons. Paul does not soften that verdict. He calls it true, and tells Titus to act on it. The command is severe. Yet the goal at the end of the verse is health. So why sharpness, and why is sound faith the cure for bad behaviour?
Becoming believers did not erase what the Cretans were by nature.
Crete and Ephesus both faced similar dangers from rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers. But the natural character of the Cretans was especially bad. It was so bad that one of their own prophets, himself a pagan, was stirred to denounce them in strong terms as "always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons." That was the old nature of the Cretans who believed, and it stayed in them after they believed. Sadly it was showing itself, so in verse 13 Titus is told to rebuke them sharply.
Left unjudged, that old nature gives the enemy something to work on. And no Cretan could call Paul unfair, since one of their own had said the same long before.
But it matters greatly to the enemy. He works skilfully on the old nature when we leave it unjudged, and that dishonours the Lord. Where there is no watchfulness, a fall follows. So the evil nature is a constant danger. When we truly lean on Christ and look to Him, the Holy Spirit gives complete victory over evil. Here Paul is dealing with people who are living by the old nature, so he applies the humbling testimony with all its force. Titus did well to keep it in mind. And no Cretan could easily complain that the apostle was too severe, when a well-known countryman of theirs had admitted their national character long ago.
The word "sound" here means healthy. Getting rid of disease is only half the cure. Something good has to be fed in.
Because of teachings that undermined the faith, and of corrupt influences, Titus was to press the truth home to believers, so that they might be found sound in the faith. True believers today need the good — the positive Truth of God! Being done with the bad — the unsound — is necessary, but it is not enough. Yes, "refuse the evil," but feed on "that which is good."
Paul aims at their faith to reach their lives. That is why he goes on to warn against fables and human commandments.
Wrong conduct constantly flows from something unsound creeping into the spirit. To be unsound in the faith is the high road to unholy ways. Here too we find the twisted nature of Jewish fables. It had appeared even then, and no doubt long before. Religious imagination has done untold harm ever since to those who bear the Lord's name. But there is more than fable to watch against. There are also the "commands of people who turn away from the truth." Never trust the practical advice or the moral ways of those who once professed the truth and then turned aside from it. God's word will never mix with man's commandments. Where people try it, in the long run the human element wins, and the divine becomes a powerless form.
Titus had to rebuke others. Each believer has the same reason to rebuke the bent of his own mind.
So what is left for us to do? We must watch against the particular tendency and habit of our own mind. We must rebuke our nature sharply, so that we may be sound, or morally healthy, in the faith. We should not excuse it because it is our nature. We should suspect it all the more for that very reason, and put it to death for the sake of Him who has given us another nature.
Anyone who obeys this verse should expect others to question his motives.
This witness, says the apostle, is true. Therefore Titus was to rebuke them sharply. What sin and folly it is to brand care for their souls as a lack of love or a love of domination! Let us remember the whole case for our own profit and guidance.
Another writer names the same confusion, and what lies underneath the firmness.
The decisiveness and steadiness of true love are mistaken for harshness and unwillingness to forgive. It is love alone which will not tolerate evil in the one it loves.
- Diagnosis. The prophet's charge was true, and it stayed true after the Cretans believed. The old nature remained, and it was showing itself.
- Prescription. Sharpness here is treatment, not punishment. "Sound" means healthy, so the rebuke aims at restoring health.
- Dosage. Health needs food as well as cleansing: refuse the evil, but feed on the positive truth of God.
- Prognosis. Unsound faith is the high road to unholy ways. That is why fables and human commandments are a moral danger, not just a mental one.
- Application. Turn the sharpness on your own habits of mind first. Expect people to read such firmness as harshness. Love alone refuses to tolerate evil in the one it loves.