In contrast to the description of the strong character of elders, Paul turns to the rebellious, the false teachers, and instructs Titus on how best to counter them.

Take a look for yourself in Titus 1:10-11:

Paul quickly shifts from describing the qualities of the men that Titus needs to install in positions of church leadership to those who form the opposite character. These rebellious individuals were a primary reason that solid spiritual leaders were needed. Someone needs to silence these men with solid doctrine.

These people are rebellious. This is the same word used in verse 6, translated as “disobedient.” The idea conveyed here is insubordination and an attitude that rebels against God’s Word and its authority. They reject the truth. Their teaching has no value, it is simply meaningless talk, leading nowhere. In fact, these false teachers are doing nothing more than leading people stray and deceiving them. There is no useful purpose to their teachings.

Unlike the two letters to Timothy, where Paul is somewhat vague about just who these false teachers are, even though he names a couple of them, in this letter, he plainly states that these false teachers are members of the “circumcision group.” That means they are of Jewish background. This does not necessarily imply that they were members of the church, or even believers. They may not have been at all. Early historians have placed a sizable Jewish population on the island of Crete.

That said, there are several similarities with the false teachers that Timothy was dealing with in Ephesus: meaningless talk, false doctrines, deceitfulness, and more.

Paul instructs Titus that these false teachers must be stopped. The Greek word used here means to use a muzzle on an animal’s mouth. These false teachers must be shut up. Just how Titus was to do this is not clear, but his instructions concerning elders in verse 9 may be a clue.

The reason that they must be silenced is because they are turning entire families away from the faith. They are causing great harm to the body of Christ in Crete, by teaching things that they have no business teaching, solely for what they can get out of it. The obviously have no care or concern for those whom they are leading astray. In fact, as the next verse clearly states, their teachings are nothing but lies, which Cretans are famous for.

Titus must counteract their teaching in order to strengthen and build the church. It looks to be a difficult task, but the One who calls us equips us. Paul is fully confident that Titus is the man for the job.

Today, we need to carefully evaluate the things that we are taught against the authority of Scripture as well. We live in a society where there are numerous false teachers crying for our attention. They will lead us astray if we are not fully focused on the Word of God. Rest assured that truth lies in those pages alone.

Question: Have you ever been influenced by a false teacher, or know someone who has been? What was the outcome, and how did you stand strong? You can leave a comment by clicking here.