After instructing Titus on what he should be focusing on, the message of the gospel, Paul reverts back for a final description of the false teachers on Crete. This description shows Titus just what he is to avoid.

You can see it for yourself in Titus 3:9-11:

Paul’s final description of the false teachers on Crete shows the corrupting influence that they had, and Paul tells Titus to avoid it at all costs. He lists several different items that Titus should steer clear of.

Foolish Controversies

This, paired with the next item in the list, were listed in 1 Timothy 1:4, indicating that Titus was experiencing the same sorts of thing on Crete as Timothy in Ephesus. Some of the false teachings permeating the church were widespread indeed. These were arguments concerning specific, obscure points of Judaism, and were not worth Titus’ time.

Genealogies

Again, this was probably based upon some of the Jewish beliefs about their history, and quite probably were in conflict with the scriptural account of history. Some of these genealogies were expanded and fanciful, and many attempted to teach that there were hidden truths in these lists.

Arguments

This word literally means “strife,” and denotes contentions between people who held different views.

Quarrels about the Law

An example of this would be the Pharisees spending hours discussing what could or could not be done on the Sabbath, and missing the point of the Sabbath entirely. Paul states that this, along with the rest of this list, is foolish and useless. There is no profit to be gained from engaging in such discussions.

After describing the types of thing that Titus was to avoid, he shifts to explain how he was to respond to the teachers themselves. They are divisive, and Titus is to give them one warning, and then another. After the second one, he is to have nothing to do with them. These first warnings provide opportunity for the divisive person to repent. If that does not work, Titus and the church on Crete is to shut down the relationship with them. The Greek word used here literally means to reject them.

His reasons behind this are simple. Such a person is warped and sinful, and have actually condemned themselves by their own divisive actions. To be warped indicates that they have gotten off track and remain off track. And to be sinful here is to be continually sinful. The Greek is in the present tense, indicating a continuing action.

Such people are self-condemned. By their own actions, they have rejected the truth and the church. As a result, they have placed themselves on the outside, providing the basis for their own rejection.

I’m not certain that we follow Paul’s instructions well in the twenty-first century church. Too often, when someone is divisive, we ignore them, hoping that the problem will soon go away, or we put up with their divisiveness to the detriment of the entire church body.

Paul’s teachings here are simple: If someone promotes such things, action is to be swift and certain. There is to be an opportunity given for repentance, and certainly, if repentance should occur later, than a welcoming back into the church would be in order.

But division has no place in the body of Christ. We need to take this seriously.

Question: How does your church handle division, if it does at all? How do you respond to division? You can leave a comment by clicking here.