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to contact this person for reference or referral to this school, email preacher30673@nu-z.net
THE MINISTRY OF CONFRONTATION
Titus 1:10-16
God has called the elders or bishops as ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ to a ministry of reconciliation, but He has also called them to a ministry of rebuke. He has called us to a ministry of comfort, but He has also called us to a ministry of confrontation. As someone has well said pastors are to afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted.
In Titus 1:10-16 the focus is on rebuke and confrontation.
Paul now addresses those who need to be stopped in their tracks and whose mouths need to be muzzled. He describes them as deceptive, defiled and disobedient, and he teaches us we cannot ignore them, we must confront them.
I. WE MUST CONFRONT THE DECEPTIVE (10-11)
These false teachers no doubt are very personable and persuasive, attractive and ambitious. What they teach has just enough truth to deceive.
A. They are deceptive in how they talk (10)
1. "Unruly" - INSUBORDINATE
They refuse submission to authority. They are ungovernable for they refuse to be subject to any control.
2."Vain talkers" – IDLE
They were a lot of show but no substance.
3. "deceivers" – IMPOSTORS
They deliberately cause people to believe something that is not true. They cause others to accept as true or valid what is false or invalid. They are spiritual seducers.
B. They are dangerous in what they think (10)
In the situation at Crete there were Judaizers who offered a Jesus plus theology which is always a minus Jesus theology. If you add to Christ, you subtract from Christ. These men thought that they needed more than Christ and more than grace in order to be saved. They were intellectualists for whom the truth of God was too simple and too good to be true.
C. They are dishonest in why they teach (11)
Paul pulls no punches as he goes on the offensive in the ministry of confrontation.
Confronts them with their motive for ministry: "for filthy lucre’s sake."
They are motivated by money. False teachers love money, crave money, and talk about money. They were prophets for profit.
The whole motivation for their actions is financial profit. Teachers only after the saint's money is a distinct mark of false teachers.
II. WE MUST CONFRONT THE DEFILEMENT (12-14)
Paul’s words are strong and to the point. Paul begins by mentioning what their own had said. A clear method
in confronting error is to quote the authority of the unsound belief.
A. Who they are is clear to outsiders(12)
"Cretians are always liars, evil beasts, slow bellies."
"always liars" - They are liars from the womb. You cannot believe or trust them. They lie to themselves, they will lie to you. They are LIARS. They were FALSE.
"Evil beast" – They are wild animals who are controlled by their appetites and passions. They behaved like wild animals, living solely at the level of their depraved sensual appetites and passions. They are LAWLESS. They were FIERCE.
"slow bellies" – Self-indulgent, over-fed, no self-discipline or control. They lived and feasted at the expense of others. They are LAZY. They were FAT.
B. What they believe must be confronted in obedience(13-14) 1. The WHAT Titus must do
Paul is addressing a church which has been lax and hesitant to deal with this crisis; as a result, Paul is firm in his instructions.
a. "Rebuke"- {bring to light} and do it "sharply" {in a manner which cuts off}.
Titus is told to do it as a surgeon who cuts away diseased and infectious tissue that threatens the health of the body. This toxic teaching must be cut away.
As someone has well said pastors are to afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted.
b. Reject - "Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth."
Paul readily saw the gangrene of Jewish tales (fables) and commandments of men (traditions) that turn from the truth.
1) Fabulous Jewish tales
2) False Jewish tractions
Religious speculations that go either beyond or against Scripture, and rules and regulations that add works to grace must be rejected.
2. The WHY Titus must do This is all done so"that they may be sound in the faith."Who is"they"in context? Although it might at first seem to refer to the false teachers, the intended result ("sound in the faith") would support that Paul is here referring to the audience of the false teachers. Paul tells Titus to CUT to CURE. We operate to liberate those trapped in the error of deception. The rebuke should produce silence for those against the faith, and the rebuke should produce soundness for those in the faith.
III. WE MUST CONFRONT THE DELUDED (15,16)
Belief and behavior go together. False teaching contaminates. It defiles whatever it touches.
Titus must confront those who were deluded. They were manifested by a
A. Lack of purity (15) INNER LIFE
For a person who lacks purity on the inside, just about everything in life can be turned into something filthy and dirty. When a person has exposed their mind to pornography, it begins to color how they look at everything in life. Everything becomes "impure." There is no longer any way of looking at a person of the opposite sex without putting something perverse into the picture.
B. Lie in profession (16) OUTWARD LIFE
They profess one thing but practice another thing.
1.They are repulsive – abominable – objects of disgust
2. They are rebellious – reject God’s will, Word, and way
3. They are reprobates – frauds, worthless, rejected for any good work. They are fakes, counterfeits, not the real and genuine article after all. Conclusion:
The ministry of confrontation is not easy, but it is essential. Truth is not incidental but fundamental.
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