Titus 3:8-11 The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.
INTRODUCTION
This morning we get to hear Paul’s last words of pastoral and apostolic encouragement before his closing, practical remarks to Titus. They are both assuring and challenging. They are assuring in that they remind us of God’s love for His people in providing us with trustworthy, excellent, and profitable words of life. And they are assuring in that they remind us of the goodness and effectiveness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. But they are also challenging. They are challenging in that they remind us of the continual presence of sin and the war it’s constantly waging against the kingdom and people of God. And they are challenging in that call us to seriousness and intensity and uncomfortablity when confronted with sin (inside us and outside of us).
The simple message of this passage is this: look to Jesus and encourage others to look to Jesus, and be quick to avoid people who would seek to distract from or destroy the gospel. In other words, Paul commands Titus to insist that those who claim the name of Jesus take both the gospel and its effects and those who oppose it and their effects seriously.
With that, then, let’s pray. Father, please overcome our desire for worldly comfort and ease. Crush our sinful tendency to trust in ourselves and our sensibilities rather than you and yours. Make us earnest in our desire for his name to be duly honored among his people. God, thank you that the gospel is certain in its effects. We’re grateful that your Word is the path of righteousness and eternal joy. Make it so that within us without ceasing to live is Christ and to die is gain.
THE TRUSTWORTHY SAYING
Our passage for this morning begins with the words, “The saying is trustworthy…”. The obvious question is, “What saying?”. The general consensus is that Paul is referring to 3:4-7. This was evidently something that Christians had put to memory to remember the gospel.
Titus 3:4-7 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
We’ve already spent quite a few weeks on this passage so I’m not going to go back over everything in it, but I do want to plead with you one more time to fight to see the glory here (because that’s why I think Paul says what he says here—”this is a trustworthy saying”).
Though we were sinners, dead in our sin, hopeless and helpless, deserving only condemnation, God’s goodness and loving kindness and mercy came in the flesh, in the God-man Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Spirit, to rescue us, to regenerate us, to wash us, to justify us, to save us, to redeem us, to restore us, and to make us his children and heirs.
This world is filled with things calling us to trust in them (insurance and retirement accounts and health care systems and government and friends and advertisers), but, inevitably, all of them are incapable of delivering the security we need most. None of them can rescue and preserve our souls.
History is filled with examples of people and nations who seemed untouchable in their power and wealth, with people and nations who trusted in their power and wealth and called others to join them in doing so, only to be brought to nothing.
But this saying is different, Grace. This saying truly is trustworthy. This saying is the Word of God, describing the promises of God, flowing from the work of God, and rooted in the omniscient, omnipotent, benevolent, unchanging nature of God. These are the words of salvation. We can trust in them. We can place our hope in them. We can bank our eternal lives on them, along with the eternal lives of our kids and neighbors and nations on them.
If you are going to attach your hope to something, Paul says, attach it to these words and the victory, the gospel (good news) they describe. They are—in the truest sense possible—worthy of your trust.
Titus 3:4-7 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
THE THINGS WORTHY OF INSISTING ON
Because of the truthfulness of the events and effects described in the saying—that is, because of the gospel—certain things necessarily follow. Paul’s letter to Titus is filled with descriptions of things that necessarily follow from the gospel. That is, Titus contains a description of the gospel’s effects.
Do you remember the gospel Big Mac structure of Titus? Effects of the gospel, gospel, effects of the gospel, gospel, effects of the gospel. The effects of the gospel are the things that Paul commands Titus to insist on in v.8 (…and I want you to insist on these things…). I want to draw your attention to four things about “these things”.
First, these things, these gospel effects, include appointing elders (1:5) who are truly qualified (1:6-9), silencing and sharply rebuking false teachers (1:10-16), teaching sound doctrine and the actions that flow from it, both in ways that are general to all Christians and in the specific ways that apply uniquely to every age and gender and class and occupation (2:1-10), and explaining how Christians are to act in relation to those outside of the church—to rulers and authorities and non-believers in general (3:1-2).
These aren’t, of course, all the effects of the gospel, but they are the ones that Titus’s church especially needed to be taught or reminded of. Marvel at them, Grace. Marvel at the glory of the gospel. Don’t be OK with your soul being numb or indifferent to these things.
Second, Titus is to insist on these things. I’ve also given an entire sermon on Paul’s use of this type of uncompromising command. Paul commands Titus that he “must silence” the false teachers in 1:11. He commands Titus to “rebuke them sharply” in 1:13. He commanded Titus to “declare these things exhort and rebuke with all authority” and to “let no one disregard you” in 2:15. And in just a bit we’ll see Paul command Titus to warn divisive people twice and then “have nothing more to do with [them]” in 3:10. The point here is that the things of God—particularly the things of the gospel of God—are serious business.
The more mature I get in my faith, the more I see the inappropriateness (and in many cases, outright sinfulness) of the flippant nature with which most of us approach our Christian lives and the Christ of our Christian lives. Paul has just reminded Titus of the gospel and its implications and then commanded him repeatedly to insist that those who claim the name of Jesus live accordingly; for the health of the church, the purity of the gospel, and the honor of Jesus are at stake. May we learn holy reverence from Paul’s strong words.
We’re meant to ask ourselves here whether or not we take the gospel seriously enough for this to make sense. Most people would think of this type of language as religious fanaticism or ungodly intolerance. Your understanding of God (particularly the holiness of God) and his calling on your life determines your answer.
Third, Titus is to insist on these things for Christians. That’s what he means by “those who have believed in God.” His letter is not addressed to non-believers. We do not expect non-Christians to “devote themselves to good works” or any of the other effects of the gospel when the gospel hasn’t had its effect on them. God’s Word certainly calls non-Christians to repent, to turn from their sins and to God, but that is not the point here. Here Paul is speaking to Titus about how he is to speak to the children of God.
And fourth, Paul gives two specific reasons that Titus is to insist on these things. The first reason is (v.8) “so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works.” For Paul and the rest of the NT authors, there is no such thing as non-works-producing faith. For Paul you simply cannot claim to be a Christian and not be increasingly characterized by doing good works and completely characterized by fighting to do good works.
God has given several “tests of authentic faith”. One of those tests is our actions. As we consider whether or not we are truly saved, we are meant to ask ourselves, “Do my works look like the works of Jesus?”. If so, thank God for this evidence of grace in your life. If not, repent. Believe in the gospel and turn from your lack of devotion to the good works of the gospel. As you do, know that God is faithful and just to forgive your sins and cleanse you of all unrighteousness.
Titus is to insist on these things first, so that Christians would know what good works they are to give themselves to (we’re not allowed to make up the good works we’re to do; we must be 100% informed by God’s Word) and so that they would be reminded of the need to constantly devote themselves to them.
The second reason Paul gives for this (that Titus insist that those in his church give themselves to lives consistent with the gospel) is that “these things” (or the gospel’s effects) are excellent and profitable.
How many people have rejected Christianity because they believed that it meant turning from enjoyable and satisfying things to dull and boring things; from the things they want to do to the things that they ought to do? That’s how virtually everyone I knew growing up saw Christianity. Have fun, be cool, enjoy life, get ahead in the world or do what God wants. There are 1,000,000 things wrong with this perspective, but one in particular is that it completely misses the fact that God’s Word is (as we already saw) uniquely worthy of all of our trust and (as we see here) uniquely excellent and profitable. This flip turns the wisdom of the world upside down.
Do you want something that can really and eternally bear the weight of your trust—that will never let you down? That’s the gospel. Do you want to give your life to something that is really excellent and truly satisfying? That’s the gospel. Do you want to invest yourself in something that gives maximum and eternal rewards—something that is completely and perfectly and unwaveringly profitable? That’s the gospel.
Titus is to insist on these things because they remind Christians of the necessary relationship between saving faith and doing good works, and because they are trustworthy, excellent, and profitable.
Grace, because of the gospel we too are to give ourselves to these things, and as elders we too are to insist on these things; not because God spun a wheel in the sky and it happened to land on them, but because these are the things that bring God glory, because these are the things that lead to joy and life, and because these are the things that give light to the nations.
At the beginning of this sermon I mentioned that the simple message of this passage is that we must look to Jesus and encourage others to look to Jesus. The things we’ve seen so far are what it means to look to Jesus and they are the things that we are meant to draw the attention of others to concerning Jesus.
I also said, though, that there’s another important part of the message: that we must be quick to avoid people who would seek to distract from or destroy the gospel. That’s where we turn now.
THE THINGS WORTHY OF BEING STOPPED
While God’s people are to give themselves to knowing and loving and living in and spreading the gospel, there are people who will not; indeed, there are people who will even actively oppose others who do. Therefore, just as Paul warns Titus to make sure that the believers give themselves to the gospel, he also warns him to make sure to stop those who won’t. In vs.9-11 we see Paul’s instructions concerning how Christians are to handle adversaries of the gospel both inside and outside of the church.
Concerning those outside of the church Paul writes, “But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless” (Titus 3:9).
Here Paul returns to the group of people he referred to in 1:10-16. They were like leaches attaching themselves to the church, but were not genuine believers. They were false teachers—people who believed themselves to be saved and believed themselves to be representatives of Jesus, but were instead enemies of God who distorted the gospel.
Titus 1:10-16 For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party. They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach. … 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. … They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.
The most dangerous and prevalent type of these false teachers were known as Judaizers, men and women who were of the “circumcision party” and wanted to add “Jewish myths” and “quarrels about the law” to the gospel. Paul says they were particularly dangerous because they turned people “away from the truth”.
In 3:9, Paul mentions four specific errors that these false teachers dangled in front of the church in the name of Jesus: 1) They stirred up foolish (literally, moronic or stupid) controversies. That is, they loved to argue about things not worth arguing about. 2) They distracted others from the gospel by arguing about genealogies. They wrongly emphasized family lines and wrongly imagined hidden spiritual meaning in them. 3) They stirred up dissensions (or strife). They were trouble makers. The fruit of their presence wasn’t joy and peace and freedom in the gospel, it was bickering and fighting. And 4) These false teachers fought about matters of the law. Because the promises of God came through the Jews, because Jesus himself was a Jew and claimed to be the Jewish messiah, and because the gospel was being proclaimed to Jews, it should not surprise us that there were legitimate questions about the relationship between the Jewish law and the gospel of Jesus. However, where the apostles had settled the matter (see Acts 12 and 15), these false teachers sought to continually stir up quarrels about them.
Again, the main problem was the strife this was causing in the church. Paul’s solution was to command Titus and the Christians in Titus’s church to “avoid” (or turn away from) these things. That is, Christians were to give no attention to these things. They were not to even listen to them.
This is not to say that fighting for truth doesn’t matter. It does. Much of Paul’s writing and ministry was given to do just that. The kind of fighting he wants the church to avoid is the kind which is initiated and perpetuated by non-Christians claiming to be Christians, and is done not for the sake of coming to know truth, but to profit from the controversy. These types of arguments are worthless and unprofitable and not worthy of Christian’s time.
It’s a striking comparison between Paul’s evaluation of a life given to the things of the gospel in v.8 and a life given to a false gospel in v.9. Instead of profitable they are unprofitable; and instead of excellent they are worthless.
Having instructed Titus on how Christians ought to handle the false teachers—those outside of the church—Paul widens his scope to include instructions on how Titus is to handle another, more general, problem caused by those outside and inside the church: the problem of divisiveness among Christians. Of this he writes, “As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, 11 knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned” (Titus 3:10-11).
What do we do when we find people stirring division among God’s people? Warn them. If they don’t repent, we graciously warn them again. If they still don’t repent, we are to have nothing more to do with them.
John MacArthur writes, “The factious person will not submit to the Word or to godly leaders in the church. He is a law to himself and has no concern for spiritual truth or unity” (MNTCT, 164). This included but goes beyond the false teachers of 3:9 and into anyone who possesses this attitude—Christian or non. This type of bickering and disunity-producing is no small matter even if the matter they are contending for is small.
I can’t help but to wonder how many countless hours have been wasted—hours that could have been spent praising God or proclaiming the gospel—in useless arguing about inconsequential matters (or even consequential matters).
The real question here is not will there be disagreements among God’s people, but how will God’s people handle their disagreements. Will we do so mutually submitted to the Word of God, in love, and for the glory of God? Or will we do so according to our own wisdom, in anger, and for the sake of winning an argument? Those who give themselves to the former are pleasing to God and helpful to the church. Those who give themselves to the latter, are cancer and the church is to “have nothing more to do with them.”
Failing to put an immediate and decisive end to disunity in the church keeps a kind of unity, but it is a counterfeit unity that is not worth keeping. Putting an immediate and decisive end to disunity will bring another kind of disunity, but it is the kind that Christ himself pursued in distancing himself from the Pharisees and Sadducees. Real unity isn’t can’t-everyone-just-get-along unity. Rather, real unity, the kind we’re commanded to pursue in scripture, is based on a mutual commitment to the truthfulness of the Word of God and the love it calls us to have for God, one another, and the lost world. Pursuing that kind of unity can look harsh and judgmental and unkind and even unloving, but it is unity in substance not appearance that Paul calls upon Titus to demand.
Why should we not have anything more to do with them? Because (v.11) they are warped, sinful, and self-condemned and those kinds of people bring dishonor to Jesus (they do not bear his fruit while claiming to bear his name) and harm to the church (causing people to wander and doubt and be disunified and waste time).
CONCLUSION
Grace, we must give ourselves to the gospel and devote ourselves to the good works that flow from it. We cannot tolerate anything else. We are not meant to be bludgeoners of others, constantly hammering them with their sins and shortcomings, but to be heralders of the superiority of the gospel over every alternative. Those of us who love God and his gospel are to give ourselves to reminding one another of the fact that God and his gospel are the way to everlasting joy, even when our sinful flesh tells us otherwise.
What’s more, we are not to tolerate people who would get in the way of our heralding. We are to warn and then warn and then ignore and shun them if they continue in their divisive ways. We are not to waste our time bickering with them when their aim is their own greedy gain rather than truth and goodness and love.
Again, Grace, all of this is the gospel in effect. All of this came bursting forth from Calvary. Praise God for this, Grace. Live in this. Love this. Insist on this for the glory of God and the good of the nations. Amen.