Lessons #79 and 80
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual exposition not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GWT = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New English Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
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What and who to avoid (Titus 3:9-11)
... 10 Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him. 11 You may be sure that such a man is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.
The message of this passage that we introduced in our last study is: You are to avoid both unnecessary argumentations that do not advance your spiritual life and a factious person after a second admonition. We also indicated the message is concerned with what and who to avoid. Consequently, we considered what it is that you should avoid which concerns those unnecessary argumentations of the type that lead nowhere in your spiritual life. So, we proceed to consider the second question of who Titus and so all pastors, and by application all believers, is to avoid.
We ask, who is to be avoided? The answer is a factious person, that is, the individual that is characterized by being divisive and forming dissenting parties and groups. In our context, it refers to the person involved in teaching things mentioned in Titus 3:9 or the one whose conduct leads to division among believers. It is this person that is described in the first instruction of verse 10 Warn a divisive person once. The word “divisive” is translated from a Greek adjective (hairetikos) that appears only here in the Greek NT from which our modern word “heretic” is derived. It pertains to choice or capability of choice, being related to a Greek verb (hairetizō) that appears once in the Greek NT with the meaning “to choose” in Matthew 12:18:
“Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations.
That aside, some take our Greek adjective as a technical term for an “adherent of a heresy” as reflected in the KJV. This is possible and may well be included as an element of what the apostle had in mind if a heretic is not taken as one who holds a different opinion as some use the term but in the sense of propagating any teaching that is in conflict with apostolic doctrines of the church. Nonetheless, the Greek adjective pertains to causing divisions so means “factious, division-making.” It is the meaning “factious” that is intended in our passage. Of course, as we have indicated, a person could be a divisive individual in that he introduces heretical teaching that is not in keeping with apostolic doctrines that is intended to bring division in a local congregation, but the sense of the Greek word here is that of causing division in a general sense. Division, especially in a local church, is often introduced by those who are mal content in one way or another.
The Greek adjective that means “factious, division making” qualifies the word “person” in the NIV since we have the phrase a divisive person that literally reads divisive man as in the NASB. The literal meaning “man” would be appropriate if the Greek word translated “divisive” here refers to a heretic but we have indicated that it is used in a general sense for a division-causing individual, so the word “man” is not appropriate. Anyway, the translation “man” of the NASB or the KJV is translated from a Greek word (anthrōpos) that refers to an adult male hence “a man.” The word may refer to a person of either sex and so means “a human being” as it is used in Romans 2:9:
There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile;
The word may mean “someone, one, person” although in most of the passages that this meaning applies, some of our English versions translate it with the word “man.” A good illustration is the passage where the apostle instructs the Corinthians on what to do to prepare themselves for the celebration of the Lord’s Supper in 1 Corinthians 11:28:
A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.
This is an instruction given to believers that consist of men and women. Therefore, it is not difficult to perceive that although our Greek word is translated “man” in the NIV that the sense of the word is that of a person or of someone as an indefinite pronoun to refer to any member of the congregation in Corinth or any other local church. Thus, the translators of the NET and many other English versions used the meaning “person” in translating this passage of 1 Corinthians. It is in the sense of a person that the word is used in Titus 3:11 to refer to male or female believer.
In any case, there is the question of the extent we should understand the phrase a divisive person. In effect, does the phrase include unbelievers or is it limited to believers. By a strict interpretation, the phrase refers to believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. This interpretation is supported by the two actions the apostle commands Titus to take with respect to the one described as divisive person.
A first action involves admonition of the individual so described. It is this action that is given in the instruction of Titus 3:10 Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. The translators of the NIV translated the Greek instruction to reflect the suggested action expected from Titus since the Greek did not use a verb but a noun. This is evident in the literal translation that reads Divisive person after one and second admonition. The word “admonition” we used in our literal translation is from a Greek noun (nouthesia) that concerns advice about avoidance or cessation of an improper course of conduct. It may mean advice offered to a person concerning the consequences of an action or a happening, hence means “warning, admonition” as it is used to describe the things that happened to people of the OT times that should help to advise us to avoid their failures as the Holy Spirit states through Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:11:
These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.
The word may mean instruction offered regarding correct belief and behavior so means “instruction, teaching” as in the responsibility of fathers towards their children as stipulated in Ephesians 6:4:
Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
In our passage of Titus 3:10, the meaning is “admonition”, that is, a cautionary advice offered to someone about something, especially, as to the danger or other unpleasantness that will result from a given course of action. In effect, the emphasis of the word is on “warning” although the sense of instruction is implied.
The action expected of Titus, and so of all pastors, is not the type that we would expect directed towards unbelievers. It is true that that preaching of the gospel should contain an element of warning to unbelievers of the consequence of rejecting Christ but that is not the situation in the passage we are considering. We do not offer advice to unbelievers as the Greek word that we have considered implies but we give them information regarding what Christ did for them on the cross so that they could believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. Therefore, the admonition or warning in the passage we are considering is not applicable to unbelievers.
It is not only that the kind of action implies that a believer is the target but so does the process to be followed in the action. Titus is to admonish or warn the divisive person a first and then a second time. We do not have anything in the NT that I am aware of that parallels preaching to an unbeliever once and then a second time after which to leave the person alone. The instruction of our Lord to the twelve disciples He sent out on mission field was that they should go into a town to preach but if they are not received then they should register their displeasure in form of dusting off their feet as a testimony against those who reject their message and leave, as we find in Luke 9:5:
If people do not welcome you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave their town, as a testimony against them.”
This same approach of dusting dust off the feet was followed by Apostles Paul and Barnabas while they were in Pisidian Antioch, as reported in Acts 13:51:
So they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium.
When the apostles dusted their feet in protest, it is probably to indicate that they are free of further responsibilities towards a city that refused to repent. This could apply to the instruction of the apostle to Titus, but we have a different situation in that those Paul and Barnabas protested against were clearly those who rejected the gospel. Hence, the situation is not the same as what Apostle Paul had in mind in his instruction to Titus. In fact, the process he instructed is quite similar to that of the teaching of the Lord concerning the process the church should follow in dealing with a believer that wrongs another as described in Matthew 18:15–17:
15 “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. 16 But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
In this passage, the person involved is a believer as implied by the word “brother.” The process involves three times of warning, so to say, but the third one involves the church. Thus, there is a similarity between the instruction of the Lord here to the church and that to Titus as a pastor. This similarity between the two bolster our argument that the divisive person in the passage we are studying is a believer and not an unbeliever who receives the admonition that the apostle instructs Titus, and so all pastors, to implement. In any event, the first action that the apostle instructs Titus to carry out that indicates the divisive person in the passage is a believer is the admonition primarily in the sense of “warning” directed to such a person.
A second action Titus is to take that indicates the divisive person is a believer is refusal of association with such a person after the second warning as indicated in the second clause in Titus 3:10 of the NIV After that, have nothing to do with him. The expression “have nothing to do with” is translated from a Greek word (paraiteomai) that may mean to make a request for oneself or for another. It is in the sense of making request for oneself that the word is used in the request of the Israelites at Mount Sinai that the Lord should not speak directly to them instead to do so through Moses, as reported in Hebrews 12:19:
to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them,
But it is in the sense of interceding for someone that the Greek word is used in the request of the Jews to Pilate to release a prisoner, Barabbas, during the Passover in Mark 15:6:
Now it was the custom at the Feast to release a prisoner whom the people requested.
The word may mean “to excuse” as in the parable of the Great Banquet in which those originally invited declined, offering different excuses, as we read in Luke 14:18:
“But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’
The word may mean “to refuse” as the word is used in the instruction to Timothy concerning widows to be listed among those the church supports in 1 Timothy 5:11:
As for younger widows, do not put them on such a list. For when their sensual desires overcome their dedication to Christ, they want to marry.
The instruction As for younger widows, do not put them on such a list is literally but refuse younger widows. The word may mean “to avoid, reject” as it is used in 1 Timothy 4:7:
Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly.
The instruction Have nothing to do with is literally But reject those. It is in this sense of to avoid that the word is used in Titus 3:10. Therefore, the action of Titus regarding the divisive person after a second warning is to stay clear or to keep away from such an individual. This requirement suggests that the divisive person is a believer. You see, the instruction of avoiding a person given in the NT, usually concerns believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are not instructed to avoid unbelievers as much as we are to avoid fellow believers who do not conduct themselves according the truth. The warning of avoidance of those that bring division Apostle Paul issued to the believers in Rome concerned fellow believers, as indicated in Romans 16:17:
I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.
To the Corinthians, the apostle indicated that those to be avoided in the sense of denial of true fellowship are believers, as we read in 1 Corinthians 5:9–11:
9 I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10 not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. 11 But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.
The same apostle instructs the Thessalonians not to associate with those who reject the apostolic doctrine although they should be warned, according to 2 Thessalonians 3:14–15:
14 If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of him. Do not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed. 15 Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.
Thus, we are confident that the phrase a divisive person refers to believers and not unbelievers. Of course, the believer can apply this instruction to his or her benefit in dealing with unbelievers in that he or she should not want to do much with those unbelievers who are concerned with divisions, those who form groups that are intended to exclude others because of hatred of any kind.
The first and second actions expected of Titus, and so of all pastors, regarding a divisive person are difficult. The first one of admonition or warning requires great care and compassion since a pastor who is to do such a thing should recognize that he is the shepherd of the individual in his congregation. A shepherd must have great compassion for the sheep since the Lord has delegated that responsibility of taking care of the sheep to him. This is in keeping with the instruction of the Lord to Peter after His resurrection in John 21:16:
Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”
Because of the delicate nature of this action of warning a divisive person, it is important that a pastor approach it not with the sense of shaming the individual being warned. This will conform to what Apostle Paul said to the Corinthians of not wanting to shame them through his epistle but to warn them as those who are dear to him in the Lord Jesus Christ, as stated in 1 Corinthians 4:14:
I am not writing this to shame you, but to warn you, as my dear children.
Warning to the divisive person would not have been necessary if the individual had not gone astray spiritually; therefore, it is important that the pastor approach the individual with humility and gentleness to conform to the general requirement stipulated on believers who are to be involved in restoration ministry of other believers who have strayed, as stated in Galatians 6:1:
Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.
This passage indicates that a believer who embarks on restoration ministry should be gentle but that is not all; humility is implied because of the caution to be watchful of oneself. It is not only that a pastor should proceed with gentleness and humility, but his warning should be rooted in the Scripture. We say this because, it is only through the Scripture that any correction to a believer would be applied. In other words, a pastor should refer to the Scripture to show to the divisive person how wrong the individual is since we know that the Scripture is given for such a purpose, as stated in 2 Timothy 3:16:
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
We are saying that the pastor should refer to the Scripture as his authority for warning the believer. He should never use his personal biases or opinions in warning a believer. Everything must be derived from the Scripture. This means that the pastor should from the Scripture inform the divisive person how destructive the individual’s action is, not only to the person but to other believers. He should show to that individual of the example God made of those who sow seed of division, especially, against a spiritual leader. The example God made of Korah would be appropriate to consider while carrying out the warning. I am referring to the example of the Lord killing Korah and the those in his group that rebelled against Moses’ authority, as recorded in Numbers 16:31–34:
31 As soon as he finished saying all this, the ground under them split apart 32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, with their households and all Korah’s men and all their possessions. 33 They went down alive into the grave, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community. 34 At their cries, all the Israelites around them fled, shouting, “The earth is going to swallow us too!”
The pastor should refer to any pertinent Scripture that will help to get the divisive person to recognize how reckless a part the individual is pursing by being divisive. Anyway, the point we are stressing is that the action of warning of a divisive person should be carefully carried out by a pastor in such a way to show gentleness and humility while using the Scripture to convict the divisive person.
The second action of shunning or avoiding the divisive person is one that should be accomplished with trembling or fear on the part of the pastor because of the dangers involved both to the pastor and the individual being warned. The danger to the pastor is the possibility of bitterness or hatred. He should guard against anything that will resemble hatred of the individual. He should not forget that the individual being warned is still a brother or sister in the Lord Jesus Christ, and so he should still love the person but from a distance in the sense that he should continue to pray for the person until it becomes clear that such a person is under God’s punishment, implying that the person is in the class of those described as committing sin that leads to death. The individual involved faces the danger of not being shepherded by the pastor in terms of not only regarding instruction but further advise on spiritual matters on a personal basis. Furthermore, the person would be in danger of God’s discipline. The person would be in the same state as being handed over to Satan Apostle Paul wrote. He instructed the Corinthians to hand over a sinning believer to Satan in 1 Corinthians 5:5:
hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.
The apostle spoke of personally handing over two men to Satan in 1 Timothy 1:20:
Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.
Although we do not know the details involved in what the apostle stated about handing someone over to Satan, but we can be certain that the outcome could not be good, especially, if the purpose is for Satan to teach these individuals a lesson. Satan hates a believer; so, for him to have an opportunity against a believer cannot be good. He will certainly inflict pain on that person as he did with Job when the Lord gave him permission to test Job. It is a terrifying thought that a person can be handed over to Satan. Whatever that means, we contend that it is similar to the state of a pastor having nothing to do with a divisive person since that individual would in sense be taken as an outsider by the pastor with the implication that the person’s presence in a local church is not welcomed. I am personally terrified of doing such a thing as to have nothing to do with a divisive person in the sense of leaving the person to herself or himself. There was an experience that I have had in this local church in which I applied this passage to a person after warning the individual about the reckless path the individual was pursing. I will not go into the details of that at this point, but I can only say to you that the result was not pleasant. It will pain me to apply this instruction to anyone in this congregation, but I will not hesitate to obey this instruction if I warn a person and the individual ignores it. I will leave the person to his or her own way without any further interaction in a meaningful way as was with the case I referenced. This does not mean that I want to be mean to a person but that I will be following God’s instruction. For after all, He instructed this and so to fail to obey it would be foolish on my part.
In any case, there are reasons a pastor should have nothing to do with a divisive person. The concept of reason is not directly given in the passage we are studying, especially, as the translators of the NIV began Titus 3:11 with the sentence You may be sure. Literally, the Greek reads simply knowing since we have a participle of a Greek word (oida) with the basic meaning of “to know” although it has several nuances. The word may mean to know in the sense of “to recall, to recollect” as Apostle Paul used it to reference those he baptized, as stated in 1 Corinthians 1:16:
(Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.)
The sentence I don’t remember is more literally I do not know meaning the apostle does not recollect. The word means “to know” in the sense of possessing information as Apostle Paul used it to reference himself using the third person with respect to his experience of being taken to the third heaven in 2 Corinthians 12:2:
I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows.
The word may mean to know in the sense of to grasp the meaning of something, hence “to understand, to recognize” as the apostle used it in his prayers for the Ephesians to understand the hope to which they were called in Ephesians 1:18:
I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,
The Greek word may mean “to know” in the sense of “to respect, to honor” as it is used to describe the attitude believers should have with respect to their spiritual leadership, as stated in 1 Thessalonians 5:12:
Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you.
The expression to respect those who work hard among you is more literally to know those laboring among you. The literal translation does not make much sense since the believers already know their spiritual leaders, but the sense is for them to respect them. The word may mean “to know” in the sense of being intimately acquainted with or stand in a close relation to someone, as it is used to describe what will happen to those who do not stand in a close relationship with God in 2 Thessalonians 1:8:
He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
The clause those who do not know God refers to those who are not in a personal relationship with God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. In our passage of Titus 3:11, it is in the sense of to understand that the word is used.
The apostle conveyed to Titus that the reason he is to avoid the divisive person is because of what he understands. We say this because the sentence You may be sure of the NIV is literally knowing, as we have stated, or if we use the meaning “to understand” we could translate understanding since we have a Greek participle. However, a Greek participle is subject to different interpretations. But in our passage, the most appropriate meaning is to take the participle as stating the ground or reason for Titus to keep away from the divisive person. Hence, we are correct to say that what follow supply the reasons Titus, and so all pastors, should have nothing to do with a divisive person.
A first reason Titus, and so all pastors, should have nothing to do with a divisive person is that Satan has gotten hold of such individual, dislodged the person from paying attention to the truth of God’s word resulting in the person being turned away from the truth. Thus, this person has become corrupt morally. It is this reason that is given in the clause of Titus 3:11 such a man is warped. This sentence does not contain the word Satan and says nothing about being dislodged from paying attention to the truth, so you may wonder if the reason we gave is in keeping with what the Holy Spirit intended to convey through Apostle Paul. Rest assured that the way we stated this reason is in keeping with the intent of the Holy Spirit as we will demonstrate shortly. But before we do, let me stress an important truth that is implied in the clause we are considering, which is, that no one goes astray spiritually without Satan deceiving the person or dislodging the person from the word of God. It is certainly because of this truth that Apostle Paul was concerned that the Corinthians do not go astray by being deceived by Satan, as we read in 2 Corinthians 11:3:
But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
The serpent here refers to Satan so that the apostle was concerned that Satan does not deceive the Corinthians and lead them astray so that they are not devoted to Christ as they should. If we recognize that Satan is one that would do such a thing, then it would not be difficult to understand the truth we stated that no believer ever goes astray spiritually without Satan working to deceive and dislodge the person from the truth. With this understanding, we will proceed to demonstrate that the reason we gave is in keeping with the clause we are considering such a man is warped.
Satan is not mention in the clause but he is implied. To see this implication, let me provide you a more literally translation of the clause which is the such a person has been perverted. A careful English reader will recognize that the expression is warped of the NIV implies we have a passive voice. Nonetheless, the literal translation that we used reflects not only that the apostle used a passive voice in the Greek but also, he used a perfect tense. Both facts are important in understanding the reason the apostle supplied. A passive voice is a grammatical voice that signifies that the subject is the receiver of the verbal action in a sentence implying that someone acts upon the subject. This being the case, someone must have acted on the divisive person. We contend that that someone is Satan since he is the only one that can act on a person to cause the individual to go astray spiritually. Therefore, we are correct to state that Satan acted on the divisive person to lead to our first reason.
The apostle’s use of the perfect tense in the Greek indicates that the divisive person has been acted upon in the past resulting in his present state. You see, the perfect tense in the Greek is used to describe a completed verbal action that occurred in the past but which produced a state of being or a result that exists in the present. Its use in our passage is to emphasize a present state of the divisive person that results from a past action on the individual. This understanding is reflected using the present tense in the English as is done in the NIV. Hence, the state of the divisive person is due to an action that is brought to bear in the past on such a person.
The present state of the divisive person is described with the word warped of the NIV in the clause such a man is warped. The word “warped” is translated from a Greek word (ekstrephō) that appears only here in the Greek NT, but it is used in the Septuagint with two meanings. A first meaning is “to pervert, to change” as in the Septuagint of Amos 6:12:
Do horses run on the rocky crags? Does one plow there with oxen? But you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness—
The sentence you have turned justice into poison reads in the Septuagint of this passage as you have perverted judgment into wrath. A second meaning is “to dislocate”, as it is used in the Septuagint of Zechariah 11:16:
For I am going to raise up a shepherd over the land who will not care for the lost, or seek the young, or heal the injured, or feed the healthy, but will eat the meat of the choice sheep, tearing off their hoofs.
The expression tearing off their hoofs is translated in the Septuagint using our Greek word so that the expression reads in the Septuagint as he will dislocate their joints. Thus, the word carries a sense of dislodging something so that the idea of Satan dislodging a believer from truth is implied in our passage of Titus 3:11 although the primary meaning in our passage is that of “to turn aside, pervert.” The divisive person has been corrupted by the enemy of truth that the person has turned from what is morally proper as defined in the word of God; hence, such a person has no problem causing confusion in a local congregation because of the influence of Satan. Understanding the explanation, we have given, enables us to recognize that the first reason Titus, and so all pastors, should have nothing to do with divisive person is that Satan has gotten hold of such individual, dislodged the person from paying attention to the truth of God’s word resulting in the person being turned away from the truth.
A second reason Titus, and so all pastors, should have nothing to do with a divisive person is that such an individual has become characterized by a life of sin. This will be in keeping with the first reason since when Satan deceives a person to the point where the state of the individual is such that the person is corrupt or warped then the individual would no longer be bothered by a life of sin that should bother a vibrant spiritual believer. It is this reason that is given in the verbal phrase and sinful that literally reads and sins. The literal verbal phrase although we consider it as a second reason for Titus to avoid the kind of person in view, could also be understood as an explanation of what it means to be perverted or corrupted or warped in the words of the NIV. This is because the conjunction “and” is translated from a Greek conjunction (kai) that may be used as a marker of explanation so that what follows explains what preceded. That aside, the point of the apostle is that a divisive person is characterized by life of sin. The word “sinful” of the NIV is translated from a Greek verb (hamartanō) that pertains to acting contrary to the will and law of God, hence means “to sin, to engage in wrongdoing” as the word is used by Apostle Paul in his appeal to the Corinthians to stop their wrong doing that resulted from a fussy understanding of the doctrine of resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15:34:
Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God—I say this to your shame.
It is the same Greek word that the apostle used to instruct Timothy regarding rebuking those who have sinned in 1 Timothy 5:20:
Those who sin are to be rebuked publicly, so that the others may take warning.
Anyway, the apostle used a present tense in the Greek of the Greek word we mentioned. The sense being that the divisive person habitually sins or that sinning has characterized the person. It makes sense that Titus, and so all pastors, should not have anything to do with a divisive person since that kind of person no longer comes under the control of the Holy Spirit. A believer does not want to be around someone who has no problem with sin since that can affect the believer. Hence, it is important to avoid a divisive person. In any event, it is because a divisive person is characterized by sin that pastors should have nothing to do with such an individual.
A third reason Titus and so all pastors should have nothing to do with the divisive person that has been warned twice is that it is not only that the guilt of such a person is obvious but more importantly that the person has placed himself/herself under God’s judgment and punishment. It is this placing of self under God’s judgment and punishment that is implied in the final sentence of Titus 3:11 he is self-condemned.
The expression “self-condemned” is translated from a Greek word (autokatakritos) that is used only here in the Greek NT that pertains to one who is condemned because of his own actions. The person described by this word is not merely a person whose conscience does not trouble the individual because of the correctness of the person’s action as would be the case of the individual that is not under self-condemnation for acting in belief of the correctness of the person’s action with respect to eating of food of the type described in Romans 14:22:
So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves.
The man who does not condemn himself in this passage is a person who is not troubled by doubts and scruples by what he eats. So, this kind of person is not self-condemned in the sense of the divisive person in Titus 3:11. Neither is the person the kind of individual that is disturbed because of the wrongness of the individual’s action that the person comes to recognize, as for example, in 1 John 3:20:
whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
No! The divisive person is that individual that knows that the course of action the person takes is wrong but stubbornly continues to do it. Therefore, such a person is one that can be described as defiant sinner mentioned in Numbers 15:30–31:
30 “‘But anyone who sins defiantly, whether native-born or alien, blasphemes the Lord, and that person must be cut off from his people. 31 Because he has despised the Lord’s word and broken his commands, that person must surely be cut off; his guilt remains on him.’”
Because such a person falls into the class of defiant sinners then the reason to have nothing to do with that person is that the individual is in a state where God punishes the person. Thus, the individual fits the apostate believer that the only thing left is God’s punishment, as indicated in Hebrews 10:26–27:
26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.
It makes sense that a pastor should have nothing to do with this kind of person since that kind of person can no longer be helped having rejected spiritual guidance. There is only one thing left and that is God’s punishment that He executes in His own way at His own time. A pastor or any believer who is aware of such an individual should not waste time on the person since nothing will help. A person can only be helped if the individual submits to the teaching of God’s word that comes from a teacher of God’s word. But that is not the case with the divisive person in view. A pastor or any believer for that matter is better served by not being around such an individual since that may lead to sharing the individual’s punishment as the family members of those who rebelled against Moses’ leadership experienced. In any event, we should end by reminding you of the message of the passage that we have considered which is: You are to avoid both unnecessary argumentations that do not advance your spiritual life and a factious person after a second admonition.
11/10/17