Series: Renewal
Titus 1:15 ESV
Titus 1:4 AMP
2 Corinthians 2:13 ESV
2 Corinthians 8:23 ESV
2 Corinthians 12:18 ESV
Titus 1:5-6a AMP
Titus 1:10-16 The Message
I Corinthians 7:18-19 The Message
I like to think I’m an open-minded sort of person, but when I get right down to the truth of the matter I have to admit I’m no different from anybody else.
I have opinions.
I have a lifetime of experiences that formed and developed those opinions.
I suppose that’s why when I read Titus 1:15 I thought it sounded pretty ‘cut and dried’.
Titus 1:15 says, “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.”
Sounds easy, right?
That’s what made me suspicious. I’ve learned that taking one verse at face value in scripture just doesn’t make good sense.
When I go on a ‘dig’ I start from scratch. This time it’s by reading the Koine Greek.
In this case the translation from Greek to English is pretty straight forward.
Now we need to know the who, what, when, why, or where and we need to know the motivation (or the story) behind the story.
Titus 1:4 tells us the ‘who’. We learn that Paul wrote the letter to “Titus, my true child in a common faith.” Paul was writing to someone he really trusted.
So…who was Titus?
We learn from 2 Corinthians 2:13 that Paul considered Titus to be a “brother”. In 2 Corinthians 8:23 Titus was called a “partner and fellow worker”. In 2 Corinthians 12:18 he was a man who was in the “same spirit”.
Now to answer the what and why.
That is found in Titus 1:5-6a where Paul reminded Titus, “I left you behind in Crete, so that you would set right what remains unfinished, and appoint elders in every city as I directed you, namely, a man of unquestionable integrity”.
Now we know there was unfinished business in Crete and while Paul doesn’t actually say things were awful, he does say there were things that needed to be set right. Paul trusted Titus to be able to be the one who could accomplish the job.
Now to formulate the big picture.
Titus 1:10-16 tells us, “For there are a lot of rebels out there, full of loose, confusing, and deceiving talk. Those who were brought up religious and ought to know better are the worst. They’ve got to be shut up. They’re disrupting entire families with their teaching, and all for the sake of a fast buck. One of their own prophets said it best: The Cretans are liars from the womb, barking dogs, lazy bellies. He certainly spoke the truth. Get on them right away. Stop that diseased talk of Jewish make-believe and made-up rules so they can recover a robust faith. Everything is clean to the clean-minded; nothing is clean to dirty-minded unbelievers. They leave their dirty fingerprints on every thought and act. They say they know God, but their actions speak louder than their words. They’re real creeps, disobedient good-for-nothings.”
First what and who are the rebels and what are they rebelling against? We have to determine what they are rebelling against or for…
We have to know first if issues we consider to be important today are completely different from issues they faced in the 1st Century. At that time circumcision was a deal. In this case Jewish (Hebrew born) believers were brought up in Temple and they were taught that every male believer had to be circumcised. In addition to that, they considered those who were circumcised to be more religious that the non Jewish believers who were not circumcised.
Think of it this way. You go to church with someone who was raised in church but their church practiced circumcision as a sign that they were a true believer.
That person now goes to church with Gentiles (non Jews) who were not taught that circumcision was a sign of a true believer.
In the 1st Century this was a deal.
Remember Paul was a Hebrew of Hebrews, he was a Pharisee prior to his conversion experience on the Road to Damascus. Paul was circumcised, Yet, Paul made it perfectly clear that circumcision was not a requirement of salvation. In I Corinthians 7:18-19 we learn, “Were you Jewish at the time God called you? Don’t try to remove the evidence. Were you non-Jewish at the time of your call? Don’t become a Jew. Being Jewish isn’t the point. The really important thing is obeying God’s call, following his commands.”
That's what Titus was left to do. He needed to teach and remind them it's not about following rules and getting everything "right". It's about turning to Jesus and receiving His love.
The real point is that Jesus changed everything so hang on to Jesus and remember we are saved by Grace.
Spiritual Practice: Remember Grace
Let go of thinking like the world thinks. You do not have to be perfect. If you fail, Jesus will pick you up and hug you. Receive Grace.
In God, Deborah
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