Titus 1:10  For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision:
11  Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake.
12  One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.
13  This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith;
14  Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth.
15  Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.
16  They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.

God directed the apostle Paul to continue to lay out the problem in Crete. The “circumcision” spoken of in verse 10 are the Jews. Many of them were unruly and vain talkers and deceivers. During the time of Christ on earth, the Pharisees and their cohorts had been quite forceful in trying to keep people in bondage. The apostle Paul/Saul had been trained as a Pharisee and until his conversion, he was busy trying to stop the truth from being proclaimed. Now that he was saved and trained as an apostle he saw the danger of his past religion. He did not want to see that false religion continue to spread unchecked.
In verse 11 God stated that these false teachers must be stopped. Titus was not to go around with soldiers and arrest and imprison them. He was to preach the truth and that would expose the false teachers. The false teachers were subverting whole houses. They were quite influential. They were teaching things that should never be taught. They were doing it for personal gain. They loved the praise of men and they loved the jingle of money in their pockets.
God hates it when people try to profit off the ignorance and gullibility of others. He wants people to know the truth. He wants people to think and to listen to the work of the Holy Spirit in their hearts. The Holy Spirit will never deceive anyone. Many people today are crediting the Holy Spirit for things that He is not doing. They are deceived and think they are doing right when in fact they are way off base.
In verse 12 Paul referenced a certain prophet of their own who stated that “the Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.” That is certainly not flattering language. We see in verse 13 that this witness was true. This was not an exaggeration. It was a fact that needed to be addressed.
Titus was told to rebuke the Cretians sharply. The word translated as “rebuke” means “to admonish, to expose and shame”. The false teachers needed to realize they were wrong, and those who were following them also needed to know that what they were believing was wrong.
There was no room here to accommodate the false teaching. It needed to be exposed and abandoned. The Biblical exposure of false teaching will give the people further opportunity to turn to the truth and be sound in the faith. That is still greatly needed today. Soundness of faith comes from following the command given earlier in verse 9. We noted there that holding to perversions will never produce sound doctrine or sound faith.
In verse 14 we see that the saints in Crete needed to get away from Jewish fables and commandments of men. It is important to identify the commandments of men and to distinguish them from the commandments of God. The commandments of men are not founded in truth. The commandments of God are truth. They need to be taught and followed. Salvation is not through law keeping. Salvation is through repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Cretians needed to understand that what they were following was turning them from the truth. It was not helping them at all.
In verse 15 we see that the pure have the ability to discern truth. It is not saying that the pure will accept false doctrine. The pure do not entertain false doctrine. They are not interested in it. The pure would never join the ecumenical ventures of our time. They would never be a part of the New Evangelical crowd. When a person chooses rebellion, they choose false religion. They want something that will make them feel good even if they are not good.
Paul wrote that to the defiled and unbelieving; nothing is pure. They lack discernment and they cannot find the good. Their mind and conscience is defiled. The Holy Spirit is still working in their heart and conscience, but they have cluttered up their mind and heart with trash and are pushing away the work of the Holy Spirit in their hearts. They choose lies over truth. Their conscience is seared. It is important to note that they have nothing good to offer.
In verse 16 we see that these people profess to know God, but by their works they deny Him. This is God telling Paul this. This is still true today. There are many who profess to know God, but their works show that they deny the true God. You cannot know God and follow false doctrine. Those who are truly saved are teachable. We all need to be taught. To fight against the truth is not good.
God says those who are such are abominable. Someone that is abominable, is detestable to God. God hates that. Everything these people do is reprobate. It is worthless and unapproved by God.
This is very sobering language. God does not want you or I to be wasting our time chasing after lies. You will never know the truth by comparing yourself with other people. You need to examine what you are following by the Word of God. If you hold to the perversions, you will never know the truth. You will lack the ability to discern if what you are following is true or not. The Holy Spirit cannot bless the words of the perversions.
I realize that many professing Christians want to broaden the narrow road. They know people who are not doing right but they still want to believe they are going to heaven. They are deceived and they are deceiving others. Those who truly love others will heed the words that Paul was told to write in this chapter and book. These words are not unique to this book. This is often taught in God’s Word. God’s Word is truth. Anything that is contrary to that cannot be truth. Again, we are reminded that those who are saved will accept the truth and will throw out the false teaching and replace it with the truth. You cannot fight against the truth and be a lover of the truth.

John 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Those who promote and follow heresy are disobedient. They know better, but they choose to ignore what they know to be true. Some have fought against their conscience for so long that they have seared their conscience. It is still there, but they have developed a way to push the truth away with a measure of success. However, they still know they are wrong.
It is essential for true saints to proclaim the truth and to keep that seared conscience working in the rebel’s heart and life. Some may actually turn and be saved. God’s Word is powerful. It does not guarantee that all who hear it will be saved. It does guarantee that all will be held accountable for what they do with the truth.
A “reprobate” is someone who is “unapproved” and “worthless”. Those who are reprobates are trying so hard to be accepted. That was true of the Pharisees. It is still true today of the many who pursue false religion. It offends them to be questioned or challenged for their unbelief. They separate themselves from the few who will obey God and tell the truth. They do not want to hear the truth. They will still be accountable to God and that will not be a good day for them.
Listen to the truth and follow the truth. You will never be sorry.
Pastor Bartel