Saturday, June 19, 2010
Titus 1:10-14 For there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of dishonest gain. One of them, a prophet of their own, said, "Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons." This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, not giving heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn from the truth.
SILENCE FALSEHOOD BY SOUND TEACHING
There was only one thing that could be done: these liars had to be stopped. But this wasn’t to be done by force. The Apostle wasn't suggesting that Titus and his appointed pastors carry weapons or duct tape with them to "shut up" those false teachers. Neither would our God suggest we defy the laws of our land today, which grant the right of free speech to all.
How can their mouths be stopped? We don't need to get into shouting matches or arguments, but simply know and plainly speak the Word of God. The Word of the Almighty will stand as a warning to them, as the thing by which they will be judged. Let the Spirit of God shut their mouths. The one sure way to stop a lie is to disprove it, not with opinion, but with the plain authority of God's Word.
They were not only to stop the mouths of liars, but also to rebuke those who were being deceived. They were to rebuke them sharply! They were to speak plainly, to correct error, to call sin sin.
This was all to be done so that they may be sound in the faith and have a healthy understanding of the true teaching. If those liars were silenced by the Word and those led astray corrected, then their teaching and faith would again be healthy.
We maintain bodily health by watching carefully what we eat, avoiding excess, and exercising regularly. We maintain spiritual health by making sure that our faith is being fed by the living Word of God alone, with no additives or supposed preservatives. We maintain spiritual health by avoiding sinful excess and exercising our faith in service of our God. A healthy, a sound faith is one grounded in the Scripture alone, upon Christ alone.
