Titus 3:9-11

Titus 3:9-11

9  But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and strife and disputes about the Law, for they are unprofitable and worthless.  10  Reject a factious man after a first and second warning,  11  knowing that such a man is perverted and is sinning, being self-condemned.

Last Orders

Though Paul will get one last jab in for the believers to continue on in the grace that God has given to the result of living godly lives and doing good deeds, this is the last doctrinal instruction given to Titus in this book.  It is here that Paul finishes off this beautiful letter without which the church would be massively impoverished in information of God's design for His Church.  These last few commands are incredibly important for preserving the unity of the Faith.  There is more to this than it would appear, and things are not always cut and dry, nor are they always easy.  This is a challenge for the believer and a challenge to the Church to live up to the high task that God has given it!

Verse 9

But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and strife and disputes about the Law, for they are unprofitable and worthless.

Avoid

Avoid!  The word is a clear command to stay away from something.  In the Greek it is in the present tense the middle voice and the imperative mood.  The present tense has the sense of “now and continuing” type of action.  The Middle voice is a voice that we don't really have in English.  It indicates reflexive action, or that the subject is to be especially involved in the execution of that action.  In this case it seems to be reflexive.  So what Paul is writing would be equivalent to the extended translation:  “You specifically, right now, be keeping yourself from foolish controversies...”  It is a very intense and specific command that Titus, and we need to be living out by the Spirit's empowerment day by day.

foolish controversies

The Greek word that is here translated “foolish” is the word from where we get our English word “moron.”  So it's not just something that's silly, it's moronic or stupid to engage in this kind of talk and argument.  The word translated “controversies” is translated as “questions” in the KJV.  So we are not to spend our time rolling over stupid controversies in our discussion, furthermore we are not to be fighting over these things!  Our unity and love for one another should be much stronger than this!  There is a point where we need to sharpen one another “as iron sharpens iron,” and there is another point altogether where we are just talking to hear the sound of our own voices.  Examples of this kind of prattle would be “How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?” or “Would Jesus be a Republican or a Democrat?”  Other foolish controversies would be trying to back our political opinions with the Bible.  While this is sometimes appropriate (as in the issues of gay marriage or abortion) it is often inappropriate (i.e. “Is God for or against the War in Iraq” or “Would God prefer us to be activists or pacifists?”).

Genealogies

This is something with a distinctly Jewish flavor and application.  Jesus had a human linage, these are clearly laid out in the gospels of Luke and Matthew.  Until 70 AD when the temple was destroyed one could go to the temple and check the work of Matthew and Luke.  The fact that no one disputed those claims in the early years is a large testament to the accuracy of those genealogies.  However, the Jews of this time would claim to have authority based on their closeness to Christ in their ancestry, and Paul is clear that this is also to be avoided. 

disputes about the Law

This is also a very Jewish issue.  The Jews would have endless squabbles about how far one could go before it was a sin.  How far you could walk from your house on Sunday, or whether or not it was lawful to eat an egg that was laid on the Sabbath (because that chicken really shouldn't have been working on the sabbath!).  And on and on!  Paul is clear that these nit-picky points of the law are no longer profitable for the believer because we are no longer under law (as Galatians and Romans so clearly account for us!)

unprofitable and worthless

So the reasons for this are two.  One is that they are without profit for the believer.  The Christian does not gain anything from the use of these controversies and disputes about the Law.  It is unprofitable because the Law is death to the believer!  But it is not just without any benefit, it is also without use!  This is not mere redundancy.  The believer cannot benefit from these sorts of controversies, nor can he use them to further behold the Lord Jesus, nor to pursue the victorious Christians life that the Lord would have us live!

Verses 10-11

Reject a factious man after a first and second warning,  knowing that such a man is perverted and is sinning, being self-condemned.

Reject

This word for reject is a compound word that has a lot of force.  It has the sense of “throwing to the side.” There is a distinct idea of getting this person out of the way of the body.  The people whom are in our Church bodies trying to make cliques and clubs, especially surrounding wrong or imbalanced teaching need to be rejected after two warnings.  This is, in the Greek, an imperative.  This is not merely a suggestion!

factious man

The word translated “factious” here is where we get our English word “heretic.”  It is a divisive person who is specifically teaching bad or unbalanced doctrine.  This is a person who, after being warned twice will not reform his teaching.  Sometimes these teachers can be very clearly trying to accrue a following for themselves.  At other times they may just be propounding a false doctrine.  In either case if they refuse to change their ways after two warnings they must be put aside.

Perverted and is sinning

Often times we find that people who are teaching blatantly anti-Biblical doctrines, or are argumentative regarding their bad doctrine rather than desiring to come to a clear understanding of what the Bible says it is because they are coving up for some sin in their lives.  Often times bad doctrine is used to cover up some secret sin that the believer desires to continue.  In this respect putting them out of the church is a merciful act because it isolates them and leaves them alone with their sins.  When forced to evaluate it alone the Holy Spirit may have a better chance to convict them of their foolishness.  This word for “perverted” means “turned inside-out” literally.  They are completely backwards and cannot be helped in the Church any longer.

Self-condemned

The Greek here is clear, this person knew the consequences and took it upon themselves.  This is the most merciful thing that can be done by the church, and God's prescribed way to break through.