Titus 3:9 - Meaning and Application

Here is the fifth and last matter in the letter: what Titus should avoid in teaching, how he should deal with a heretic, and some other instructions. Paul wants his meaning to be clear and full, especially because of the situation in Crete and the many Jewish teachers there. So he tells Titus what he must avoid in teaching, in Titus 3:9.

There are questions that should be discussed, because they help us grow in useful knowledge. But pointless and foolish questions, which do nothing for God’s glory or people’s good, must be avoided. Some questions may look wise, but they are empty. That was true of many Jewish teachers, and later of some schoolmen too, who filled their minds with questions that had no value for faith or practice. Titus was to steer clear of these.

Paul also mentions genealogies, meaning family lines. Some think he means the genealogies of the false gods that heathen poets talked so much about. More likely, he means the kind of genealogies that Jews were so eager to study. There were some proper and useful inquiries here, especially to see how Scripture was being fulfilled, and especially in Christ the Messiah’s descent. But anything that served only pride, such as boasting about a long family line, was vain. Even more vain were the kinds of questions Jewish teachers still wanted to raise after Christ had come and after the old division of families and tribes had been set aside.

He also warns against quarrels and arguments about the law. Some wanted the Mosaic rites and ceremonies, the religious laws of Moses, to continue in the church, even though the gospel and Christ’s coming had already set them aside. Titus was to give these views no support, but to avoid and oppose them. Paul says they are unprofitable and empty. This applies to all those foolish questions and genealogies as well as these disputes about the law. Far from teaching godliness and building believers up, they hinder it. They weaken Christian religion and good works, disturb the peace of the church, and slow the spread of the gospel.

Ministers must not only teach what is good and useful. They must also avoid and resist what would corrupt the faith and hinder godliness and good works. People should not crave exciting new opinions. They should love and welcome sound teaching, because that is what best builds them up.

Paul then turns to what Titus should do if heresies, that is, serious false teachings, arise in the church, in Titus 3:10. A person who turns away from the truth as it is in Christ Jesus, spreads false doctrine in important matters, and disturbs the church’s peace, must be rejected after proper attempts to correct him. He should be warned once and again, so that if possible he may be brought back and his brother may be won. But if he remains unchanged, and others might be harmed, he should be removed from church fellowship, and Christians should be warned to avoid him.

Paul says such a person is perverted, meaning turned away from the true foundation, and he sins deeply, being self-condemned. Those who will not be corrected, but stay stubborn in error and sin, are already condemning themselves. They put themselves outside the church and throw off its fellowship, so they are self-condemned.

This shows how serious real heresy is, and it should not be lightly charged against anyone, though everyone must be careful to guard against it. Such a person is “subverted,” or ruined, like a building so damaged that it is hard, if not impossible, to repair. Real heretics have seldom been brought back to the true faith. The problem is often not simply weak judgment, but a stubborn will, driven by pride, ambition, self-will, greed, or similar corruption. So these sins must be watched closely. Be humble, love the truth, and live by it, and you will be kept from destroying error.

Still, people who fall into serious error should be treated with patience. They are not to be given up too quickly. Enough time and proper means should be used to try to recover them. The church’s approach toward heretics should still be persuasive and reasonable. They must be warned, taught, and instructed, which is what Paul’s word implies. If they remain stubborn and refuse correction, the church has both the right and the duty to protect its own purity by removing such a corrupt member. That discipline may, by God’s blessing, correct the offender. If not, it will leave him more clearly guilty in his judgment.

Paul then adds some more directions in Titus 3:12 and Titus 3:13. One personal instruction is that Titus should be ready to come to Paul at Nicopolis, a city in Thrace, near Macedonia, as soon as Artemas or Tychicus was sent to Crete to take Titus’s place and care for the churches there. Paul did not want these young and weak churches to be left without someone able to guide and help them. Titus does not seem to have been their regular, fixed bishop or pastor, but rather an evangelist, since Paul could call him away from the work in Crete. We know little about Artemas, but Tychicus is mentioned often with honor. Paul calls him a beloved brother, a faithful minister, and a fellow servant in the Lord, so he was well suited for this task.

When Paul tells Titus to do his best to come to him at Nicopolis, because he has decided to spend the winter there, it is clear that the letter was not written from Nicopolis. If it had been, Paul would have said he had decided to winter there, not there.

The other personal instruction is that Titus should carefully help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way, and see that they are supplied with what they need. This was not just ordinary kindness, but Christian service, done out of respect for both the men and the work they were doing. They were likely traveling to preach the gospel or serve the churches in some other way. Zenas is called a lawyer, though it is not certain whether that means a Roman or Mosaic law expert, or simply that law had once been his profession. Apollos was a well-known and faithful minister. To escort such men part of the way and support them for their journey was a holy and useful service.

To encourage this, Paul repeats what he had already told Titus to teach, in Titus 3:8: our people should learn to devote themselves to good works for necessary needs, so that they will not be unfruitful.

Let Christians, those who have believed in God, learn to keep doing good works. This should include supporting ministers in their work of preaching and spreading the gospel, so that they become fellow workers for the truth (3 John 1:5-8). They should not be unfruitful. Christianity is not a barren profession. Those who profess it must be filled with the fruit of righteousness, produced through Jesus Christ, and aimed at the glory and praise of God.

It is not enough for believers to do no harm. They must also be useful, doing good as well as avoiding evil. Some take this to mean that Christians should take up honest work and keep at it, so they can provide for themselves and their families and not become useless burdens on the earth. They should not think that Christianity gives them a right to idle away their lives. No, it places on them the duty to seek honest work and a calling, and to remain faithful in it before God.

This brings a good name to the faith and does good to people. They will not be useless members of society, nor a burden or expense to others. Instead, they will be able to help those in need. They should maintain good works for necessary uses. They should not live like drones off the labor of others, but be fruitful for the common good.

The apostle ends with greetings and blessings. Even though he may not have known some of them personally, they all send their love and good wishes to Titus through Paul, showing support for Titus in his work and urging him to keep going. It is a great comfort and encouragement to have the hearts and prayers of other Christians with us and for us.

Greet those who love us in the faith, or because of the faith, our dear fellow Christians. Holiness, or God’s likeness in a person, is what most binds people together and makes every other bond stronger. Grace be with you all. Amen. This closing blessing is not just for Titus, but for all the faithful with him. That shows that although the letter bears Titus’s name, it was meant for the churches there too, and they were on the apostle’s heart as he wrote.

“Grace be with you all” means the love and favor of God, along with the good results that flow from it, according to each person’s need, especially spiritual needs, and the growing awareness of those blessings in their souls. This is the apostle’s prayer and desire for them. It shows both his affection and his wish for their good, and it is also a means of asking God to give them what is needed. Grace is the main thing we should ask for, for ourselves and for others. In a word, it includes all good. Amen closes the prayer with desire and hope, saying, in effect, let it be so, and it will be so.