False Teachers
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False Teachers
Titus 1:10-16
1. Introduction
False teachers in our world are alive and kicking. I’m not talking about loud and brash false teachers. There are plenty of those. But the danger of false teaching is more subtle. It is mild. It is gentle. Take the current archbishop of Canterbury for example. A seemingly reasonable man. He is the head of the Church of England. in a very current video called Living in love and faith together, he endorses same sex relationships. the video teaches about how LGBTI+ people need to be accepted as Christians. It teaches that the church of England should show radical unity. Now the video is set to very uplifting music, you have all these bishops, rectors – these are senior ministers speaking. They say they have studied the scriptures, tradition and gathered the thoughts of the wider church, they have sought the Spirit and been open and honest with each other. And this 6 year long journey has led to the Church of England creating new prayers and a service for same sex marriages. They want a radical Christian inclusion, unity, as the way forward. It’s dividing the church.
False teachers in our world are alive and kicking. Friends please don’t hear me say that LGBTI+ people are any lesser. Or that they haven’t suffered, perhaps even at the hands of churches. We are all sinners saved by grace. I want to underline that. But I’m talking about the leaders in the church. And make no mistake, false teaching hurts real people. They can shipwreck the faith of genuine brothers and sisters in Christ. In fact, this is not new. Paul says in Crete verse 10 false teachers upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach. They aren’t just making them upset, sad. The word there is ruin. They are ruin lives spiritually.
This is why it’s so important for Titus need to appoint elders that not only teach sound doctrine, but rebuke those who contradict it. This is what we focus on this morning. God rebukes to silence false teachers so that there will be real Gospel change. We need to listen to Titus 1:10-16 very carefully this morning. It’s important.
1. God rebukes to silence the false teacher (1:10-12)
Come to Titus 1 verse 10; God rebukes to silence the false teacher. He is on about the welfare of the Church.
For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party.
Paul wants Titus to appoint elders who hold firmly to the trustworthy word. They cling to the word with their lives. They do not move on with the times. But they hold onto the truth by teaching and rebuking from the Word. This is what we learnt last week in verse 9. Why? There are many in Crete who are false teachers. It’s not surprising. It’s a place full of liars, evil brutes and lazy gluttons. That’s the culture. And what are the false teachers like? You need to know the spot them to silence them. Paul tells us three things. They are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers.
They are insubordinate. The word means rebellious. They do not comply. They do not cooperate. They are unruly. It’s the same word as verse 6, when it talks about children. They are like a rebellious child, just out of control. They don’t listen. And it’s a pattern of sustained disobedience. They fight leadership. They are resistant to leadership.
And they speak with no substance. They are empty talkers. This is an important insight from Titus. False teachers are empty talkers. When you resist God’s Word, your words become less and less useful. It becomes empty. It produces nothing useful. In fact Paul says in 3:9 avoid empty talk like
But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless.
There’s no point to arguing about genealogies or foolish controversies. It’s unfruitful. It’s unproductive. It’s worthless. We know this. Empty words don’t build anyone up in Christ. It’s a bit like you’re in Bible study, and all the words are all light and breezy. It’s all jokes and fun. There’s never any serious talk. It’s not intentional in encouraging teaching or rebuking from the Word of God. It’s just empty talk.
Watch out false teachers who come into church. They are rebellious. They are empty talkers. And they are ‘deceivers.’ They say what is untrue. They try to trick you. Isn’t that what the evil one wants? He is the great deceiver. They lead people astray. Is it because God is confusing? No. Is God unclear? No. False teachers want to rebel against the word of God. They don’t want to sit under the word of God. They want to do their own will. they do what suits their own agenda, and dress it up like they are Bible teachers.
Paul warns about these people who are rebellious, empty talkers and deceivers.
But did you notice there’s a specific group of rebellious empty talkers? They are the circumcision group. Who are they? In the New Testament, specifically in Acts and Galatians, we hear of the circumcision group. They follow Paul around and disrupt churches whenever they are planted. What do they do? They go back to the law. They are legalistic. It’s about following the law. You can imagine how it just confuses all these Gentile Christians in Crete. How? They bring in rules. It’s not just about trusting in Jesus to be saved. You need to be circumcised. You need to follow the law of Moses. It’s Jesus + effort. Jesus + laws. And it’s attractive, at least for a while, in a place where that are full of liars, evil brutes, and lazy gluttons. The circumcision group want to bring in truthful words, watch your speech, live righteously, work hard. It all sounds pretty good.
But that’s not the Gospel. It might sound good, but the circumcision group miss the big thing that God’s Word tells us. It’s that none of us are good enough. We’re not. We can try to keep the law. That’s what God’s people tried. But they failed over and over again. We deserve death from failing to keep the law. That’s the point. We can’t keep the law perfectly. And God is a holy God. So why Jesus came. He fulfilled the law. And he did it all the way to the cross. He took the punishment of sins for us. That was God’s plan. He is the only way that we can be right with God. There’s no point going back to the law and following it religiously. When you go back there, you realise you are a sinner. And the law only points us to the fact that we need Christ to save us. He is the only one who can make us right with God by his death and resurrection. It’s faith in Jesus alone.
But if you think it’s not that important, it’s just doctrine, look at verse 11,
They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach.
They are ruining whole households. This is no joke. And worse, their motive is for dishonest gain. It’s unbelievable. This is for money. This is reputation. This is to look good in the denomination. This is serious here.
Now again, you might just brush this aside. Don’t be a legalist. That’s not the gospel. We hear that all the time. But let me give you an illustration of how this may play out. It’s subtle. That’s false teaching. We want to get our thinking right here. False teaching can creep in very easily. Very innocently even.
Let me give you an illustration. I was teaching Scripture class in Sydney. I was an doing my church apprenticeship. And I asked the class what is a Christian? One kid puts his hand up, ‘somebody who loves Jesus.’ Now you may think, that’s pretty good. You love Jesus. I love Jesus. At the time I thought that’s not bad. That sounds good. But I want to say, I’m not trying to be pedantic, I want to be thoughtful, but I think it’s not helpful. If I say what’s a Christian? And you say it’s someone who loves Jesus. It’s actually quite legalistic. Think about it, when we think or teach that a Christian is someone who loves Jesus, lots of questions come to mind. Who’s Jesus? Why do we love him? What has he done? Where do I find him? How I do I find him? How much should I love him? What if I don’t love him enough? It can make you doubt. It can make you feel guilty actually. And the big issue is, it depends on you.
If we say it’s someone who loves Jesus, what about those who say our love for Jesus is not great. There’s many in the room here like that. We feel guilty. It’s not our love for Jesus. That’s dangerous. Because we’ll never really know. There’s no confidence. We put ourselves and our work first. Can you see?
This is why we want clear teaching. We want clear understanding. We don’t want to slide into false teaching.
I can’t remember what I said to the boy in the class, but I would say now, A Christian is a person who knows God loves them. And the way he loves them, though we don’t love God, he has loved us by sending Jesus to die for our sins, forgive us and make us part of his family forever. We believe in what Jesus has done for us. In other words, we can be secure. It is what God has done for us. Not us trying to do anything for God. That’s performance. No. Jesus has done it all. Jesus has died and risen for our sins. We trust in Him. We are confident in God’s finished work.
It’s so easy for us to look at our performance. What we can do for God. I grew up a migrant kid. My folks came with nothing. No money. They had to work for everything. Their first car. Their first house. It was work work work. It’s ingrained in me. And now to say, hey it’s all by grace. You don’t need to work. Just trust in Jesus. That goes against everything I grew up thinking for so many years. So it’s easy to slip back into legalism. I’ll make it up to God. I’ll won’t do that next time. Isn’t that right? And yet, the wonderful Gospel is all of what Jesus has done for us. Nothing of what we contribute. It’s so amazing. Amazing grace.
Tim Chester, says in his commentary we need to teach ourselves again and again, when we’re faced with a very difficult situation, especially a very strong temptation, the law comes to us and says you shouldn’t don’t do, don’t touch that. But the Gospel says you know you needn’t do that. Remember the Gospel. Jesus has died and risen for all your sins. Trust him. Be thankful to God. Serve because it is a privilege to serve the king of kings, lord of Lords. See the difference? That’s a big implication for today. I hope you get that.
So, what does Titus do with the false teaching? Verse 11, they must be silenced. He doesn’t say kick them out. He says muzzle them. Silence. Take the microphone away. Take the opportunity away. Take their role away. This takes their power away. And after that, put in place the person who is like chapter 1 verses 1-9. Elders who are able and willing to hold firmly to the trustworthy Word. Those who have godly character and convictions. Remove the false teacher’s opportunities and create opportunities for elders who will speak the truth. This will straighten out the church. That’s the work Titus has been given to do.
That doesn’t sound very smooth sailing. It doesn’t sound like the kind of nice Presbyterian elder who is nice to everyone about everything. No, the Apostle Paul says the issues are much too important. We’re talking about lives being ruined. Not just in this world but the next. These are eternal matters.
So he quotes in verse 12 from one of their local writers, a philosopher of the 6thcentury called Epimenides. He was a respected prophet. Paul’s not calling him a prophet literally but he’s saying someone that they regard as a prophet. What does he say? Verses 12
One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”
These are the sorts of people that have come into the church. They are not easy to deal with. They are not compliant and submit to authority.
Yet Paul says verse 13 ‘rebuke them sharply.’ There’s more at stake than just being friendly. There’s more at stake than false peace. False unity. We need the knowledge of the truth. That’s the Gospel. that’s what will save them.
But here’s the thing. And this is what is so interesting about this passage. God does not excommunicate these rebellious folk. Remember they are inside the church. He silences them. But God rebukes because he wants to bring Gospel change. Did you notice? He wants them to get the Gospel right. He speaks firmly, directly, but he is a gracious God. that’s my second point.
2. God rebukes to bring Gospel change (1:13-16)
God rebukes to bring Gospel change. He desires transformation. Come to verse 13
This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith,
Friends, a godly rebuke is not a power struggle. A godly rebuke is not because a leader is in a bad mood. No, God rebukes so that see it in verse 13 they may be sound in the faith. Literally, they have a healthy faith. and it’s so they will be healthy, well, understand God’s word clearly. Get back on track. That’s the purpose.
Because friends, God is not doing something which is painting over rust or papering over cracks. He is not interested in me telling you to work a little harder, play a little longer, row a little faster. God rebukes because he wants real Gospel change. He wants transformation. Hearts changed because of the Gospel. Because the truth really matters. And that’s what we will look at in the last bit of time.
How can they be sound in the faith? What is this transformation? Paul gives us three marks.
The first mark. They are devoted to the word of God.
Come to verse 13 again,
This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth.
The false teacher is interested in human commands. Elsewhere Jesus has rebuked the Pharisees for doing the same. Jesus says Mark chapter 7:6 second half when he quotes Isaiah.
And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,
“ ‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
False teachers believe in of the traditions of men over the Word of God. They have made up all these laws. And they teach them. It suits their agenda. it props them up. it makes them look holy in front of others. But they have turned from the truth. And this truth is found in God’s Word. See the mark of transformation is that they are devoted in the Word of God. That’s what transforms. That’s the point.
Don’t worry about myths. Don’t follow human commands. Paul’s point is to devote yourself to the Word. It’s the Word of God that brings life as you come to know Christ. Sit under His word. Read it humbly. if you don’t know Jesus, read his Word. Come to know Christ, come to know forgiveness of sins. come to know true freedom. Lots of people say the Bible is so hard to read. It’s a big book. It’s hard. and that’s true. But if the desire is there, God will work in you so that you will come to understand his word. God rebukes changes you them to be devoted to the Word of God.
Second mark; not only are they devoted to the word and not human commands, they understand the Word correctly.
To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled.
If you read the Bible thinking it’s a rule book. You will corrupt every passage you read. You will get that passage wrong. Nothing is pure. If that’s the way you approach it. It will muck every Bible study you come to. But if you read the book as it’s all about Jesus. He is the focus. He is the Lord. He is the Saviour. Every passage can point you to Jesus and will be profitable for growing in godliness as a follower of Jesus. It will pure. And you think Christianity is about being good. Then every part of the Christian life will be corrupted. It will be a burden. It won’t be a privilege. You will obey out of fear, hoping to make the grade. Not out of thanks and gratitude to God because he has already made you right with him through the death of Jesus. And to serve him is a privilege.
Friends, God rebukes so that there will be Gospel change. devoted to the Word, reading the Word rightly knowing it’s all about Jesus.
And the third mark of a transformed life. Their life lines up with God’s Word. See Paul marks out a false teacher in the harshest possible way.
They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.
They claim to know God. but they don’t. look at their lives. We’re not talking about a sensitive conscience. Or an occasional lapse. Paul’s talking about a person who says I’m a believer but I run my own life my way. It’s what we call nominalism. It’s what many put on the census. I’m a Christian in name only. My life is opposite to what a true believer. That’s really to be unconverted. That’s a person who is false. They say one thing but do another. And I don’t think Paul could put this any more strongly like than verse 16. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good. It’s very strong language isn’t it? See when God makes a person new because they come to realise their sin and trust in Christ, God makes them new. Everything changes. The Word of God is important. The heart is changed. Truth about Jesus is very important.
Friends God rebukes to silence the false teacher. But he rebukes because he wants real Gospel change. He wants them repent, be devoted to God’s Word – not in myths and human commands. He wants them to understand God’s word correctly, not be legalistic, and he wants a life that lines up with the Gospel, not a liar.
we’ve had lots of implications through today but i wanted to give you two to focus your mind.
3. Implications
3.1 Be discerning
It’s sad that there are so many churches splitting from the Church of England. A new denomination has started. But the Gospel is at stake. It’s eternity at stake. That’s why God wants leaders to hold firm to the trustworthy word. And the Gospel is so important that my Trainer said to me, it’s stuck with me, it only takes 1 generation to lose it. Because when you stop teaching one generation that Jesus is Lord and Saviour, the next generation assumes it, and the generation after that denies it. So we need to keep the Gospel front and centre. Keep preaching it from the Word. So be discerning. Listen carefully to your leaders.
3 questions to test any teaching
1. Is it from the Word or the world? This is why we test what people say against God’s Word. See if what I say is what is said in here.
2. Is the teaching an inward transformation focussed on Jesus and his Gospel or outward and ritual? don’t get me wrong, following Jesus does lead to a godly life. knowledge of the truth leads to godliness. but get the order right. you are saved first. it’s done. then you serve. it’s the inward transformation focussed on Jesus first.
3. Is the result a transformed life by grace or merely formal creed?
Those questions will reveal the heart of a teaching ministry. We want to be discerning. Don’t just accept things at face value.
And friends if you are visiting. We have had quite a few visitors recently. This is what is important. Don’t look just at the vibe. Look at what’s happening in the church. Is God’s Word preached faithfully? Are the people living it out. Above all else, look for this. This is what is most important. The Gospel of the Lord Jesus going out from the Word. There are lots of things we can do better, but look at this above all else.
3.2 Be constantly dwelling on God’s Word
Friends, of course we want to be on the look out for false teaching, but it’s better that we are proactive by dwelling on God’s Word. God’s Word is truth. It is so good. We want to sit under God’s Word. We want to be humbly understand God’s Word and his will. Let’s hold firm to the trustworthy word ourselves. That’s the best strategy to know right from wrong teaching. Be personally dwelling on God’s Word. It teaches us, it helps us to know truth from error. And it shows us how wonderful Jesus is. that he would live die and rise for us. How wonderful the Gospel really is. How wonderful it is that we are saved by grace, not works. How wonderful God’s plan is. How wonderful it is to live godly lives.
Let’s pray.