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TITUS CHAPTER 1 KJV WEB Tit 1,1-4 (12j) Servant >> Bond servant >> Salutations – This was the salutation that Paul gave in virtually all his letters; in 2The 3-17 he said, “I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand, and this is a distinguishing mark in every letter; this is the way I write.” Anybody could write these words in attempt to forge Paul’s letter, but forging a writing style is not as easy. His letters sounded like a song; they had a certain rhythm. People cared about the artistic side of man as we do now, and we still try to be poetic in our writing, but one man’s poetry is different from another, and Paul’s poetic writing was his signature, which was not present in the book of Hebrews, though many people insisted that Paul wrote it. When he prayed for grace and peace to Titus or to whomever he was writing, he meant it; he truly prayed for Titus for grace and peace to be part of his life. Grace is the very essence of the gospel; without the grace of God no one could be saved, and without peace no one could believe in a placid kingdom beyond the stars. Tit 1-1 (41k) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Be like Jesus >> – Of all God’s characteristics that are unique to the divine nature and to our future in eternity, Paul picked godliness as the attribute that defines the true Christian faith. One day we will have resurrected bodies; one day we will be glorified; one day we will never be tempted; we will all have minds that will be able to learn anything we want, yet above all these things, Paul focused on godliness as the foremost trait of both our present and future that seems to best frame God’s truth in us. Godliness is the one facet that has the greatest impact on the world around us. So many of the other aspects of the divine nature we cannot express now, yet godliness is possible, though it conflicts with our sinful nature. For this reason God commands us to ignore our sinful nature and let godliness shine through us in light of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. Paul defines the truth according to godliness, warning that if truth does not lead to godliness our faith is not true. Many people preach their truth that leads to other outcomes; Paul says they are deceivers. It is godliness that differentiates us from cults and deceivers and liars, those who are misled and mislead others, who misunderstand the Scriptures. Godliness leads away from sin, which corrupts mind and body, making the truth harder to accept; godliness leads in the way of truth, so that when we hear it, we believe it. Godliness leads to Jesus as Jesus leads to godliness. They work together to establish one truth, that God is righteous, and we should reflect His righteousness. See also: Suffering and evil; Tit 1-3; 223k (86e) Thy kingdom come >> Belief >> God’s works act as evidence to support our beliefs – Believing in God is natural to those who obey Him, in view of all the evidence of God’s existence surrounding us, which is the basis of our saving faith. Most people confess a belief in God's existence, but the herd thins when we add, “according to godliness.” That is, people want to believe in God on their own terms, not His. (109f) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Revelation of God >> Revelation of God's word is true knowledge (111a) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Spirit and the word >> Spirit sets you apart by the word >> Set apart through repentance (124l) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Love is the action of God’s faith (219c) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> The elect >> Man is a spectator of his own salvation >> God has chosen us – The subject of predestination (“chosen”) is difficult to grasp. There are those who don’t believe there is such a thing, but what they really mean is they don’t understand it, though the subject is marbled throughout the Scriptures. “Predestination,” is not an interpretation of Bible. Paul said that God chose us to believe the truth according to godliness, so what does that mean; unbelievers don’t believe because they were not chosen? That makes believing in God seem very difficult, though it isn’t to those who are chosen, but how difficult is it to believe for those who are not chosen? They make it look impossible! To us who believe it appears they are trying to pound a round peg into a square hole. Faith just doesn't fit in their hearts, and there is nothing they or anyone else can do about it. KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Tit 1-2,3 (215c) Sovereignty >> God controls time >> God’s timing >> Fulfillment of God’s time >> The moment we have all been waiting for – There is a time for everything. This fact will become more evident the closer we get to the second coming of Christ. It is a time the Church has been waiting for since Bible prophecy was written, and when these events don’t happen as expected, people will be surprised. The reason things don’t happen as expected is that the proper time hasn’t come yet. For most people, when the time does arrive, it won’t seem evident to them. The proper time for God has never been a good time for man. Jesus came to the Jews at the proper time, but the Jews rejected Him, so apparently it wasn’t the right time for them. Had He come at a time when Israel would have accepted Him, such as during King David’s reign, His visit would have ended very differently. David certainly would have recognized Jesus as their messiah, and he would have instructed Israel to receive Him as their messiah, and everything would have gone without a hitch, except that the True Lamb of God would not have been sacrificed; therefore, to God it was not the proper time. So, what is it with God, doesn’t He like to be accepted? He does, but only on His terms. God will not be controlled and He doesn’t want to control anyone. He would rather be rejected, than to come at our convenience. It gives Him the heebie-jeebies when His creation hands Him their parameters outlining their willingness to serve Him. This is why He comes when we are unwilling to serve Him, so He works out a deal with us. The first time he came with the deal that either His people accept Him or He will turn to the gentiles. When He comes the second time, His next deal will be that either the Church receives Him or He will judge them for their unbelief and find other worshippers in the Great Endtime Revival. God has always been interested in what man will do under stress. The Bible says that the last days are characterized as a time when man will go astray in his heart and kill one another and destroy the earth. Why doesn’t God stop mankind from doing that? He gives mankind enough rope to hang himself. Man could just as well use that rope for good instead of evil, but that is not man's way. (255c) Trinity >> Holy Spirit’s relationship between Father and Son >> God’s word is Spirit >> Jesus is the word of the Spirit >> Jesus is the manifested word of God Tit 1-2 (64e) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Limits of God >> God cannot lie – Paul said that God cannot lie; he didn’t say God was unwilling to lie. God can do almost anything, but there are a couple things He can’t do, and one of them is lie. He doesn’t know how to be selfish; He has no reason to be selfish. He is the God of all creation; He is the giver of life and the owner of everything; He has all wealth and power. There is nothing anyone has that He needs, so He doesn’t need to lie to get anything from anyone. There will never be a situation when God would be tempted to lie. Even if He were tempted, He still wouldn’t lie. God is above these things. He may not have everyone’s heart, but he would never stoop to lie in order to win the hearts of those who do not believe in Him. If He did, He would lose those who believe in His integrity. He would rather keep His integrity and those who believe in His good character than to sacrifice it in effort to win the hearts of those who don't love Him. (151e) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> New Testament bears witness of the Old >> The Patriarchs >> The Old Testament prophets (244e) Kingdom of God >> The eternal kingdom >> Eternal life of the trinity >> Father is the source of eternal life – There may be more than one hope, but there is only one great hope, and that is the hope of eternal life. Having this journey continue forever, learning about the mysteries of God and His creation, experiencing life and the lives of those around us is the hope of all who believe in Jesus. KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Tit 1,3-9 (4e) Responsibility >> Advocate God’s cause >> Being accountable in your stewardship Tit 1-3 (67n) Authority >> Doing God’s work under His authority >> Ministry of helps >> Help God (223k) Kingdom of God >> The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Miss God >> Missing the train >> Miss the return of Jesus Christ – God’s proper time was when Jesus was conceived in His mother's womb. He could have come another time that would have been perceived as more appropriate to Israel, but then man would not have known the full level of his sin, and this would have made room for boasting. As God would have it, He removes all opportunity for boasting by allowing us to fully carry out our fleshly passions and allow us to completely explore our evil desires for violence and mayhem. By this we fully know our corruption, and we fully know our need of God. We would never have the opportunity to know this if God came at a point other than the proper time. Why is it important to God that man fully carries out his sin? Our God is infinite and eternal. The lessons we learn in the flesh will be the lessons we carry with us into eternity, reminding us that without God we are no better than the demons of hell. That might sound maniacal of God to want us to know how evil we are without Him, but He has a future laid out for us and we don’t know what that future entails, hence we don’t know these lessons are more important than we could possibly imagine. God will create a new race of people after He has made all things new, a people who will not fall into sin as Adam did, for there will be no Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil to tempt them. God will create them to infinitely reproduce throughout all eternity, and they will need teachers to teach them about their creator. If God told them about sin, they would be stuck in the position of Adam and Eve if they sinned, but if God doesn't tell them, they cannot sin. Instead, He has billions of first-hand witness all testifying about the ways of God. He is laying the foundation of an infinite and eternal kingdom, and we are part of that foundation. See also: Suffering and evil; Tit 1-1; 41k (244k) Kingdom of God >> Spirit realm is imposed on the natural realm >> Literal manifestations >> Literal manifestation of God’s word >> Obedience is the manifestation of truth Tit 1,4-9 (11a) Servant >> Standard for a servant >> A changed lifestyle Tit 1-4,5 (72d) Authority >> Transferring authority >> Men delegate authority in their position – One of Titus’ roles was to appoint elders in every city. This indicates he must have had more authority than elders, which back then was another word for pastor. Titus was an associate apostle and head elder of a certain region, having a role similar to Timothy, implying there was order in the Church similar to what exists in the Catholic Church today. Those in the Catholic Church in positions of authority similar to Titus and Timothy are called bishops; they helped govern many churches. (72m) Authority >> Hierarchy of authority >> Authority makes you accountable >> Children are accountable to their parents Tit 1-4 (106d) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Hearing from God >> Attaining the hearing ear >> Knowing the sound of His voice >> God speaks from the Scriptures (130c) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Unity >> Being in one accord >> Having one faith (136a) Temple >> Your spirit is the temple of God >> The body of Christ >> Similarity in the body >> The things we have in common >> Common faith KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Tit 1,5-9 (142d) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Witnesses of Jesus >> Having a good reputation >> A reputation of good works (240b) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Pursuing the knowledge of the kingdom >> Pastor (Shepherd) >> Pastor has a shepherd’s heart – This was the process of the First Century in establishing churches: Paul would preach in a certain city making converts, and then he would give the new converts to his colleagues, and they would train the believers and establish the Church in the faith while Paul went to the next city and preached Jesus to them also. After a while he would call his helpers to catch up with him to begin the training process all over again, as Paul went ahead to the next city. Part of the process of establishing churches was to appoint elders, and when he said “elders” he meant pastors, and deacons. They were called overseers or shepherds. An overseer’s job is just that, to oversee the work of the ministry. An overseer is like a foreman of a company who oversees the work being done; he personally doesn’t have a job that produces anything but oversees the production of those who do. Paul taught in Ephesians that the people themselves are the ministry of the Church, but in today’s churches the pastor is the only minister, and the parishioners have the ministry of standing up and sitting down on queue, paying tithes, singing songs, shaking hands and being part of a head-count. This is not the way it was in the first century; instead, the people in assembly contributed their faith in Jesus to the ministry, but today such behaviors are shunned. There is another big difference between the First Century Church and the contemporary church: people like Titus and Timothy appointed the pastors, and they looked for righteous and holy men who had the spiritual unction to oversee the people. Nowadays, the criterion for choosing a pastor is determining whether he went to seminary (cemetery) school and received a masters degree in theology, which in no way guarantees he is a godly man. See also: Church (Change agent of the world); 1The 1-7,8; 44k Tit 1-5,6 (3n) Responsibility >> Parenting >> How to discipline your children Tit 1-5 (10d) Responsibility >> Keeping order in the Church Tit 1,6-9 (12b) Servant >> Examples of God’s people >> Leaders are examples of the Church – This is the list of traits that a pastor should have, and most can be described in this way. Hardly anyone practices polygamy these days, and very few are drunkards; most are above reproach, have believing children and are hospitable, good, sensible, just, devout and self-controlled, and most are not willful or quick-tempered or fond of sordid gain. Tit 1-6,7 (180j) Works of the devil >> Practicing witchcraft >> Rebellion >> Rebelling against God’s narrow way >> Rebelling against the ways of God Tit 1-6 (3c) Responsibility >> To the Family >> Instruction about marriage (86a) Thy kingdom come >> Belief >> Treating the knowledge of God as fact >> Believe the word by obeying it Tit 1-7 (13e) Servant >> Serve the body >> Promoting its health >> Serve as a covering for others (24l) Sin >> Poverty (Forms of fear) >> Unrighteous anger (56a) Paradox >> Lose by gaining >> Gain your idea of wealth to lose God’s wealth (71l) Authority >> Ordained by God >> We are ordained through obedience (159j) Works of the devil >> Essential characteristics >> Counterfeit >> Counterfeit God >> Counterfeit anointing >> Drunkenness >> The alcoholic (164g) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> The world system >> Satan’s system of authority >> His elementary principles of the world (176j) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> False doctrine >> Extremes >> Truth is never found in your conduct on either extreme of any circumstance -- This verse goes with verses 12&13 (197f) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Man withers when he is in control >> Fruitlessness >> Neutral is unfruitful Tit 1,8-14 (69m) Authority >> Righteous judgment (outcome of discernment) >> Judging Those in the Church Tit 1-8 (78e) Thy kingdom come >> Sincerity >> Taking God to heart >> Having pure motives and desires (89a) Being Sensible (Key verse) (89c) Thy kingdom come >> Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom >> Wisdom never exceeds what is appropriate (100m) Thy kingdom come >> Devotion >> In your ministry to people >> Devoted to ministering to their physical needs – All these things describe our ministry toward people for their betterment and ours, and for the glory of God, who wants each of us to incorporate these qualities, so we learn how to respond in every situation. These traits replace behaviors we once had prior to salvation, instead of outbursts, godliness... instead of acting irrationally, sensible and self-controlled, knowing the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. We use our gift of hospitality and make decisions with wisdom that cradles justice. Judges render judgments that fit the crime, as we find resolutions that fit the circumstances. We don’t trust everybody, and we don’t give preference to our friends, but we defend the innocent. (128a) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Goodness >> Doing good for the sake of your brother (235g) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Invest in the kingdom >> Giving (your inner self) >> Hospitality (providing a temporary home) >> Being a good host KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Tit 1,9-14 (138e) Temple >> Building the temple (with hands) >> Reproof >> Reprove your brother for spreading false doctrine – Paul said not to be quarrelsome. That is, “refute” does not mean to debate or argue. For this reason Paul told Titus to appoint elders in every church who are well versed in the Scriptures and are highly convinced of the truth. In this way he can exhort in sound doctrine and refute those who contradict. Paul never taught to debate the truth with anybody. If the person is in a leadership position and people in the assembly resist the knowledge of the truth, the leader can refute the person with authority, but he should not debate the truth, for the truth is not debatable; it is the truth. Therefore, the elder should resist temptation to argue. These doctrines were personally handed down by Paul and the other apostles; those who contradict get an explanation, but they don’t get to argue about it. (158g) Works of the devil >> Essential characteristics >> Divide and conquer >> Division (Cliques) >> Special interest groups (163a) Works of the devil >> Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >> Bondage >> Being slaves of men >> In bondage to peoples’ expectations of you (180a) Works of the devil >> Practicing witchcraft >> Wolves >> Wolves lead people into a cult >> Leading people for sordid gain – By the time Jesus came along and created a new covenant age, Israel had turned circumcision into a business, where the priests performed the surgery as a paid service and drove money into their coffers. Consequently, when the apostles went around teaching that circumcision was no longer necessary, it was received as blasphemy by the religious zealots of their time; but to those who loved God, the gospel attracted them, and they were saved. The irony of religious zealots is that they thought they loved God, but they persecuted the gospel of Christ without ever stopping to consider that it may be true, merely assuming it was a violation of mosaic law. Those who loved the Lord carefully weighed everything and were able to see through the thin veil of pharisaical religiosity, so when the gospel came, the pure in heart immediately cleaved to it. When they heard that Jesus died for their sins, they immediately believed God would do that for them, but the religious zealots didn’t think in those terms; all they thought was that the gospel contradicted their religion. Actually the new covenant did not contradict the Old Testament; it only contradicted people’s interpretation of it. The only thing that mattered to them was money and the perpetuation of their religion. Does that sound familiar? See also: Denominations (the evolution of religion); Act 23,6-10; 175g (180h) Works of the devil >> Practicing witchcraft >> Rebelling against God’s narrow way >> Rebelling against the word of God Tit 1,9-13 (178e) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Hypocrisy >> Hypocrisy of the Church is rebuked >> The Church is rebuked for rebellion Tit 1,9-11 (7a) Responsibility >> Protecting the Gospel >> Contend earnestly for the faith – Almost everybody knows someone in clergy who has taught strange doctrines. False doctrine is a common thing today in the midst of an age of information expansion. So, why isn’t the Church experiencing any of this expanding knowledge? The fact is, they are; the question mark is not pointed at how much we know or how much information is available to us, but whether any of that knowledge is true (Col 2-2). With Christian people living for their sensations, and copying the world, they are shirking one of the most demanding and important duties given to man—correctly interpreting Scripture—which could have repercussions affecting everyone on the planet. This information is coming to us at ballistic speeds over the Internet, and there is no accountability accompanying it, or integrity. (177c) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> False doctrine >> Distorting Scripture >> Distorting Scripture for personal gain (202f) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Running from God >> Running from the word of God >> Running from the truth (240j) Kingdom of God >> Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >> Hindering the kingdom >> Taking away the key of knowledge >> Suppressing the truth Tit 1-9 (8k) Responsibility >> Responsible to defend God’s cause >> Preparing for the ministry (80c) Thy kingdom come >> Know the word in spiritual warfare >> To fight in the Spirit (102g) Thy kingdom come >> Faithfulness (Loyalty) >> Trustworthy >> Faithfulness (108d) Thy kingdom come >> Faith is the balance between freedom and law – Paul encouraged Timothy to show himself approved to God by dedicating his life to developing great confidence in his understanding of the Scriptures, so he can properly exhort those of faith who want to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ and refute those who contradict. We all have our understanding of the Scriptures that is in some ways unique and in other ways the same. In sameness we can all agree, and in uniqueness we have something to share with our fellow believers: our personal understanding of the Scriptures through an emphasis that God led us to believe. We offer our emphasis that points out certain things, and this adds to the body’s overall understanding of the Scriptures. However, there are those who contradict the Scriptures and teach heresy, saying things that don’t jive with Scripture. On the one hand, we must show balance with the brethren; instead of condemning their ideas, labeling them as false because they don’t think like we do and have come to different conclusions about what is important, we are to be tolerant of their views that correlate with Scripture. On the other hand, we must refute those who contradict. Often we try to reveal the emphasis that God has placed in our heart, what we think is most important about the gospel, and other people dismiss or refute what we say, though it is biblical. They need to become more tolerant and understand there is variation in the body of Christ and each person has something to offer. We need to do away with rejecting people because they disagree with us. Instead, we need to open our mind and listen to the brethren and examine their views and compare them with Scripture and either accept what they say as truth from God or refute them if they contradict the Scriptures. So when Paul says to show ourselves approved and be diligent to study the Bible and become as it were an authority on the subject, when we know what the Bible says and others contradict us, we can’t just let it go. Every rejection of the truth has a conjugate heresy to replace it. If people reject what we are telling them that we know by the authority of Christ, we need to lean into those who contradict. The problem is, many people are very confident in error, and we also know that those who are adamant and abrasive do not usually know the truth, for God’s children have a gentle spirit and avoid conflict whenever possible. Therefore, some of the most adamant people in the Church are the heretics, and for this reason many heresies have been established in the church; but if we want to clean up the teachings and doctrines of the faith, we will need to oppose them. We should develop a plan to reestablish God’s truth in the Church in the teachings and doctrines that we believe, instead of acting like the heretics. (138k) Temple >> Building the temple (with hands) >> Exhortation >> The discipline of exhortation (232h) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Seeking the kingdom >> Embrace (Jesus during the storm) >> Hold to the word of God KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Tit 1,10-16 (19a) Sin >> Twisted thinking >> Evil is good >> Loving darkness (153j) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> God bears witness against the world >> Shame >> Walking in condemnation >> Attacking the body of Christ (172f) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Tares among the wheat >> Hypocrites among the just >> Talkers among the walkers (182e) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Deception >> Three causes of interpreting Scripture falsely >> Because they have no regard for God’s word – Paul is talking about the lying beastly gluttons mentioned in verse 12, who preached a mythical doctrine of circumcision (Gnosticism). The early church had its problems with false doctrine too, but they stamped out most of it by evidence that circumcision is not an issue with us. Had the early Church failed to stamp out this myth, it may have still afflicted us to this day. Here's how false doctrine starts: we find a verse that corresponds with what we want to believe and ignore the rest of the Bible that speaks against our doctrines we've created. This process has repeated many times over the centuries, each generation teaching their own rendition of the Bible to their youth, who grow up believing their parent's gospel. Many of these false doctrines have formed the footing of the Church today, and people refuse to let go of them, and as a result, people are trying to believe in God with a skewed understanding of Him. That would not be so bad, except that every false doctrine pushes the gospel in the direction of the flesh, each retraction representing another step from the narrow way, and before long we are lost in a desert wilderness of people believing lies about God. Yet, many unsaved Christians don’t feel lost but faithfully go to church every Sunday, socialize and make plans for the week with their friends, but serving God is not in their plans. See also: Gnosticism; Jd-3,4; 135m Tit 1,10-14 (158c) Works of the devil >> Essential characteristics >> Divide and conquer >> Strife >> Contentions, especially about words (semantics) (196k) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Spiritual laziness >> Replacing God’s standard of excellence with yours >> Fattened for the day of slaughter Tit 1,10-13 (122l) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Boldness to rebuke the Church for unbelief – Paul was confident that if Titus severely rebuked them, they would become sound in the faith. They would drop their lying tongue, their evil ways, their lazy gluttony, and finally obey the gospel of Christ. In the days of Paul they could rebuke somebody and see them repent, but in today’s godless society if we rebuke somebody, all we get is insults. Proverbs 9-7 says, “He who corrects a scoffer gets dishonor for himself, and he who reproves a wicked man gets insults for himself.” These are times of desperate greed and brazen rebellion. The gospel has been corrupted, and there is no reason to hope that people will turn from their wicked ways. The only question that remains is: what will we do when the global economic system suffers total collapse and people are starving to death? Will we listen then? Some will, but for others no matter what effort we exert to steer them aright, they will not serve the Lord. KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Tit 1-10,11 (75j) Thy kingdom come >> Motives >> Being manipulative >> Controlling people by abusing authority – There are two questions that come to mind when reading this passage: what is the attraction of spiritual bondage and how do people make money at it? The attraction of spiritual bondage is that the cult leader always introduces a tangible activity for our faith. People who don’t actually believe in God are attracted to a "false-faith", making it easier to trust in a tangible event like baptism to get them to heaven, so they seek a visual aid, a landmark experience to help them. Many people don’t really know if they believe, because their faith isn’t concrete enough to trust Christ. Paul taught that we are saved by grace through faith (Eph 2-8,9), meaning there is no tangible event that supplements our faith. It is not faith plus baptism, which is something we do after we believe. If we get the cart before the horse and get baptized to get saved, invariably we will trust in our baptism instead of the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ for the salvation of our souls. See also: Baptism; Heb 10-21,22; 78f (76a) Thy kingdom come >> Hidden motives >> Based on selfish ambition (179d) Works of the devil >> Practicing witchcraft >> Wolves >> Stir up the crowd >> Stir up the crowd through jealousy (190j) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Circumcision >> Circumcision is a sign of obedience >> Symbolism over substance -- These verses go with verse 14. Paul said the troublemakers were from the circumcision crowd, indicating that the Jews were teaching legalism. They assumed circumcision performed some kind of spiritual function to justify a person before God. Paul said that those who taught legalism must be silenced, because they were upsetting the faith of many by adding to the requirement of faith. This was unacceptable to Paul, who instructed Titus to rebuke them severely. Adding requirements to salvation inadvertently subtracts faith from the cross. Something ridiculous always replaces faith in Christ, such as removing the foreskin of the penis, as though such a thing could favor with God. All forms of false religion are forms of witchcraft, and they are spiritual in the sense that they invite demons into the worshiper’s life. Demons follow false doctrine, since they furnish the inspiration for deception; hence, those who spread false doctrine do it for sordid gain as servants of Satan. They were making money from circumcision, perhaps setting up their clinics by gentile churches, claiming that an official Jew must perform the ceremony or it doesn’t count. In truth, the covenant that God made with Abraham was sealed with the sign of circumcision, signifying that he believed. Circumcision did not give Abraham the faith to believe in God; rather, it was given to him after he believed (Rom 4,9-12). Circumcision is no longer a threat to the Church; rather, baptism is its replacement. Jesus was baptized, but it didn’t save Him, any more than it saves us. Baptism is the first act of obedience in a new convert’s life, but if a person wants to interpret this as a “requirement of salvation,” then they have gotten the cart before the horse. (250hh) Priorities >> God’s prerequisites >> Sequence of priorities >> Believe the first message; all subsequent messages are meant to dissuade you Tit 1-10 (1k) Responsibility >> Avoid offending God >> Carrying a false burden >> Weighs you down as you walk according to the law -- This verse goes with verse 14. "Circumcision" is a buzzword of the New Testament that refers to legalism, and those who seek favor with God through the law have a reputation of placing people in bondage to their religion. (84j) Thy kingdom come >> Your words can lead to your own demise >> Lying -- This verse goes with verses 12&13 (171d) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Outward appearance >> Vanity >> Vain experience >> Emptiness is where God isn’t – When the early church first preached the gospel, Israel’s religion was the Law of Moses, and circumcision was its crown-jewel. People circumcised their children hoping to please God; that is, the parents were seeking justification through their children, though none of this was written in their covenant with God, meaning they made justification by circumcision a law through false logic. Circumcision was originally understood as a sign of obedience, though every Israelite male infant was circumcised on the eighth day of life. In the most precise analysis, circumcision was a sign of being Jewish, a membership sign as God’s chosen people. In the days of Moses the question of faith was never raised; what was more at issue was obedience. Of course they believed when they saw Mount Sinai on fire and heard the trumpet blasts and listened to God's voice. All that remained was to obey, which represented their faith, thus belief and obedience are the same. Then, hundreds of years later when God no longer revealed Himself as he did in the days of Moses, believing in God became relevant again, though they never took the lesson of Abraham's faith to heart, instead continued focusing on circumcision, which morphed into a sign of justification in disregard of faith. See also: Israel (Gentiles are spiritual Jews); Mat 18,15-17; 172b KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Tit 1,12-16 (143b) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Witnesses of Jesus >> Having a bad reputation – If these people admitted they were lying beastly gluttons, what were they unwilling to admit? Paul was not trying to exclude them from the faith, but he needed them to repent before their conduct could rise to a standard that was capable of maintaining genuine faith in Jesus Christ. Paul wanted everyone to believe in Jesus; he wasn’t ready to give up on them. Just because they were misled and misleading others didn’t mean they had committed the unpardonable sin. Paul did not counsel Titus to debate with them but to refute their false doctrines with authority that was not open for debate. (202e) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Running from God >> Running to your sinful nature >> Laziness has plenty of ambition to run from God – There is only one advantage to complacency: they were too lazy to corrupt the gospel of Christ. Their laziness didn’t have enough ambition to contradict the truth, though spiritual laziness itself is a contradiction of God's will for the Church. One of them was ambitious enough to be a so-called prophet, so even lazy, winy, gluttons have prophets. Paul was a man who refused to allow sects and factions rise; he wasn’t willing to let the Cretans have their own religion, but told Titus to go after them and rebuke them severely. Titus was a man after Paul’s own heart, and though it may not have been in Titus’s character to rebuke people, the fact that Paul commanded it of him, means that he did it. Paul’s right-hand men, people like Timothy and Titus and many others, didn’t pick and choose what they obeyed of Paul’s commands, but whatever Paul said they did, because they knew what Paul was telling them was of the Lord, and if they did it, blessing would follow. Tit 1-12,13 (63f) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Sarcasm >> Minimize the truth to make a point – The Cretans were upsetting whole families with teachings such as the day of the Lord had already come, referring to the Rapture, implying that believers were left behind (2The 2-1,2). This indicates that issues with the Rapture and the fear of being left behind have been sadly afflicting the Church since the very beginning. Paul instructed Timothy to reprove them severely for spreading false doctrine for the sake of sordid gain. This sort of thing enraged Paul to the point that if he were not a Christian, he would have had them killed. Before Paul’s conversion he defended Judaism; his job was to arrest people associated with sects, such as Christianity that he thought was corrupting their ancient religion, and he used the Law of Moses to justify his actions. Deut 13,1-18 says that if anyone teaches anything contrary to what they have learned from Moses, they should be put to death (compare that with Gal 1-8,9). This is what Paul was doing to Christians, so when he came to the Cretans who were guilty of hindering Christianity, his knee-jerk reaction was to kill them. Therefore, to reprove them severely was to minimize what he really wanted to do to them. Paul was the watchdog of Christianity. He not only was an apostle and prophet of God’s Church, he also stood over them as a shepherd and pounced on anyone who would attempt to dissuade people from believing the truth. Of course 2000 years later the Church has been divided into countless denominations so that no one can agree on anything. This is how Satan has had his way over the centuries, starting with Catholicism only two centuries after the death of Paul. (81i) Thy kingdom come >> Pray without ceasing >> Sinning from a lack of prayer – These Cretans were disobedient to the Lord because of the righteousness they omitted, foremostly prayer, which is the basis of all our righteousness, in that prayer is the highest form of obedience, meaning that if we don’t develop a life of prayer, we will disobey the Lord in our many weaknesses. Some have become like these Cretans, who were liars, evil beasts and lazy gluttons. We are supposed to be Christians! Even sinners have a prayer life if they prayed only once. A lack of prayer disqualifies us from carrying the torch for God's anointing, but a life of prayer would give us the desire and ability to fulfill our ministry. Without prayer we have neither interest nor ability to serve the Lord in the highest form of worship. See also: Righteousness; Gal 3-21; 108d (84j) Thy kingdom come >> Your words can lead to your own demise >> Lying -- These verses go with verse 10 (98a) Thy kingdom come >> Endurance (Thorn in the flesh) >> Rooted deeply >> Standing firm in the faith >> Be strong (124m) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Love is the action of faith >> Love is the motive of faith (155i) Witness >> Validity of the believer >> Witness of the believer >> The Church bears witness of the believer (176j) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> False doctrine >> Extremes >> Truth is never found in your conduct on either extreme of any circumstance -- These verses go with verse 7 (194f) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Turn from sin to God >> Hate evil >> Condemning sin >> Judging evil Tit 1-12 (179h) Works of the devil >> Practicing witchcraft >> Wolves >> False prophets >> Prophesy truth with an evil motive Tit 1-14 (1k) Responsibility >> Avoid offending God >> Carrying a false burden >> Weighs you down as you walk according to the law -- This verse goes with verse 10 (97i) Thy kingdom come >> Attention >> Giving attention to the wrong things (161c) Works of the devil >> Wandering from the character of God >> Wander from the truth (177d) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> False doctrine >> Doctrines of the precepts of men – Cretans believed in various traditions and manmade precepts rather than the word of God. That is, they were steeped in religion, and Paul commanded Titus to rebuke them severely. The Church in our current generation is also steeped in religion, but there is no one to rebuke us, because we have determined by our own authority that prophets don't exist anymore, how convenient. Therefore, if a prophet rebuked them, they would reject them out-a-hand, saying that the dispensation of prophets has ended. Anybody who would challenge the present establishment today will get nothing but insults. There are very few ministries that have escaped the snare of religiosity. This will continue so long as good times continue, but when the global economic collapse occurs, change will finally be possible. (190j) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Circumcision >> Circumcision is a sign of obedience >> Symbolism over substance -- This verse goes with verses 10,11. Circumcision itself could be categorized as a Jewish myth if they assert that it does anything to justify a person before God. Although circumcision is in the Bible, its significance was distorted over the centuries from its original intent. God never told Abraham to get circumcised in order to believe; rather, He told him to get circumcised because he believed. KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Tit 1-15,16 (19k) Sin >> Actions that contradict your words will twist your mind – Jesus said to be careful that the light within you is not darkness, for if the light is darkness, how great is the darkness (Mat 6-23)? Even their good deeds were worthless. Paul was talking about reprobates, but he didn’t treat them as such; he always held out hope for them. He didn’t instruct Titus to view them as reprobates or to give up on them, knowing there were some who were capable of salvation, and Paul wanted every willing soul to be saved. (21a) Sin >> Disobedience >> Demonstrating unbelief in the character of God – Paul said in Rom 14-14, “I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.” What defiles a man is unbelief, which is the flipside of disobedience. There are many unbelievers in the Church who merely pretend to be Christians, who think just because they affirm a set of doctrines gives them a pass to heaven, but they don't have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them. They are defiled and unbelieving and abuse the grace of God as though it were a license to sin. (145e) Filthiness (Key verse) (145f) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself >> Deliverance from demon possession >> Human state >> Filthiness >> Being defiled – Paul rarely judged a person in his letters whether or not he was a Christian, whereas James and John did. In fact, the entire first epistle of John was devoted to providing us with a battery of tests by which we can determine if a person is really a Christian. When we tally up the evidence that stacks against the person in question, the Bible says we have no obligation to believe his words but can be ninety-nine percent sure he is not a brother. We can say the same about the one who lives the Christian walk. All Christians sin, but they don’t live in sin for long. (155d) Witness >> Validity of the believer >> Witness of the believer >> Conscience >> An evil conscience keeps us from believing God >> Knowledge of evil testifies against our deeds – These were not people who misunderstood the Scriptures; Paul said they were defiled and unbelieving with nothing pure about them. Paul taught that a clear conscience was imperative to a sincere faith, but a psychopath has no conscience, which is similar to a reprobate, for neither of them will ever see the kingdom of heaven. Paul insisted on the Church serving their conscience in order to be truly free. If something is bothering our conscience, we need to pay attention to it, for there is nothing irrelevant about it. These people voided their conscience, which is tantamount to trampling on the Son of God and putting Him to open shame (Heb 6-6). When God speaks to our conscience and we ignore Him, this constitutes blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which the Jews did, who were the thorn in Paul’s flesh mentioned in 2Corinthians 12. Paul could hardly judge them, though, since he was just like them before his conversion, a Pharisee of Pharisees who believed exactly what they did, until he literally saw the light. They followed Paul wherever he went, trying to stifle the gospel and disrupt the faith of new converts. They didn’t want Christianity to flourish, for it threatened their traditions. Jesus refuted those who argued with Him, and demonstrated wisdom that no one else had, and the Jews who persecuted Paul rejected Him, and their foolish hearts were darkened (Rom 1-20,21). They lied to themselves about the person they had crucified, for whom their nation waited for centuries. Jesus defined the Jewish race as a people and a nation, and they martyred Him, and after they shredded their conscience, they could not believe in the gospel. See also: God will prove the reprobate's theories correct; 1Jn 4-8; 164h (171a) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Outward appearance >> Vanity >> Vain effort >> Vain religion (173h) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Catholicism >> Unholy sacrifice >> Offering sacrifice without God’s approval >> Sacrifice against the ways of God (179i) Works of the devil >> Practicing witchcraft >> Wolves >> Unworthy servant >> Unworthy because of unfaithfulness (195j) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Idolatry >> Lord, Lord >> Lip service – A person a week before he becomes a Christian is detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good work, but the day he commits his life to Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in him, and everything spiritually changes. Now his sins are forgiven and his righteousness is holy to the Lord. God will lead him to repentance for the purpose of completing the works that God had prepared for him. In contrast, there are those who are not Christians but profess to know Him. Note that Paul used the word “profess” instead of confess. A person can speak a profusion of words about God without ever confessing Him, while their deeds deny Him. (197j) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Man withers when he is in control >> Unfaithfulness >> Unfaithful to your own conscience – The Christian’s conscience is hypersensitive to sin because of the Holy Spirit who dwells in him. Conscience is the area of the mind that knows good from evil, and the Holy Spirit reminds the Christian that his sins are forgiven, bringing balance. The Holy Spirit speaks to our conscience and our conscience speaks to us about sin, while God reveals His calling to us. When a person’s conscience is in turmoil, it is not considered defiled; that is his conscience doing what it was designed to do. The conscience is defiled when the person attempts to derail it by repeatedly ignoring it and suppressing it. Eventually his conscience goes silent, and at that point it is defiled. The person who is not seeking God can defile his conscience and it doesn’t bother him, but the one who is seeking God knows better than to tamper with his conscience that God has put in place to keep him in check, because he has plans to one day surrender to Him. Before he becomes a Christian he senses God's calling on his life and hears the small, still voice in his heart calling him to commit his life to Christ. (199g) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Rejecting Christ >> Throwing God away >> Denying Christ Tit 1-15 (105a) Thy kingdom come >> Pure in heart >> A pure heart is a genuine heart (250d) Priorities >> God’s prerequisites >> Sequence of priorities >> In all things ... >> Be innocent of all evil See next page