To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled. (Titus 1:15)

In his work as a pastor and leader on the island of Crete, Titus had to deal with a lot of difficult people. Some of those people were legalistic; they saw life with God mainly as a list of rules to keep more than a relationship of trust and love.

The people with such an emphasis on rules could find something impure in just about everything. To them, anyone who enjoyed their food was a glutton. Anyone who enjoyed sex in marriage was filled with lust. Anyone who rested for a day was lazy. Anyone who did good business was greedy. For them, the religious life was all about what you didn’t do, couldn’t do, and shouldn’t do.

That’s why Paul reminded us, “To the pure, all things are pure.” Those legalists had polluted minds (defiled) and walked by fear more than by faith (unbelieving). They denied that Christians could enjoy the basic, good, and godly pleasures of this world that are not sin.

As a pastor, Timothy had to deal with the same kind of people. Paul warned Timothy about those forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth (1 Timothy 4:3). Paul knew that if a Christian walked in the purity of Jesus, these things were pure to him. But to those of a legalistic mind (those who are defiled and unbelieving), they seemed to believe nothing is pure. The problem was with their defiled and unbelieving minds and consciences, not with the things themselves.

It’s important to not take this in a wrong way. Yes, Paul wrote: “all things are pure.” But of course, Paul did not mean that obviously sinful things (pornography, illicit drugs, and the like) are pure. Paul has in mind those things which are permitted by Scripture but forbidden by legalists in a mistaken attempt to earn favor with God.

So, Paul would say: “Enjoy that meal, and thank God for it.” He would say, “Enjoy your rest, and thank God for it.” That same principle applies to all good and legitimate pleasures God gives us.

I can’t confirm the source, but I heard it once said that Jewish rabbis taught that on the day of judgment, we will have to give account for all the legitimate pleasures God gave to us that we never enjoyed. You won’t find that specific statement in the Bible, but there is some truth to that thought.

This is our Father’s world. He has filled it with many legitimate pleasures. We should receive them and enjoy them with gratitude, and if a legalist tries to make us feel guilty we remember, “To the pure, all things are pure.”

Click here for David’s commentary on Titus 1

For there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers… (Titus 1:10)

In the previous section of Titus, Paul told his associate the kind of men he should look for as he appointed leaders for churches spread out all over Crete (Titus 1:5-8). Then he told Titus what those leaders should do – “hold fast the word of truth” (Titus 1:9). Now in verse 10 Paul tells us one reason why it was important to appoint good leaders.

The reason was because, “there are many insubordinate.” The word Paul used for insubordinate speaks of someone who will not submit to God’s order of authority. Like the English word, the ancient Greek word translated “insubordinate” is the negative form of the word submit– an insubordinate person will not submit.

God has established an order of authority in several different areas of life. There is an order of authority in the home, in the church, in the workplace, and in the community. God wants us to recognize the places where He has place an order of authority in our lives, and He wants us to submit to that authority.

Our submission to God should be absolute—we should do whatever He truly tells us to do. God is perfect and all-wise—but people are not. God never commands absolute submission to any human authority. If an authority tells us to sin, we should refuse and choose to obey God rather than man (Acts 5:29).

But often—even most the time—our submission problem doesn’t have to with being told to sin. We are just asked to do something that we don’t think is a good idea or we don’t want to do. Don’t be insubordinate. If you recognize someone as a leader in your life only until they tell you “no,” then you are almost certainly insubordinate and need to be a better follower.

When someone is in rightful authority over us and we submit to them—when we have a different opinion and it isn’t a matter of sin—we then demonstrate our trust in God more than in the authority. It’s good to respectfully tell the person in authority if you have a different perspective or opinion, but then submit. If they are wrong, then let God deal with them.

Notice one other thing. Paul asked for a high level of character among the leaders who should be submitted to (Titus 1:5-8). This is important. It’s easier to submit to someone when their character is respected. When leaders act in ways that invite less respect, they make their job a lot harder. When leaders are corrupt, it helps ruin the foundation of God’s order of authority.

So, don’t be insubordinate. Show yourself as one who can submit to God and to whatever rightful authority God has placed you under. Follow the leaders God puts in your life. God appoints leaders and orders of authority for a purpose, and part of that purpose is our own Christian growth.

Click here for David’s commentary on Titus 1

“Just, holy, self-controlled…” (Titus 1:8)

We have carefully considered Paul’s list of qualifications to look for in leaders among God’s people. Those who oversee the work of the church are not to be chosen according to charisma, talent, status, or other such qualities. We should look for character, the kind of men who can be described by this list in Titus 1:7-9.

1 Timothy 3 gives a similar list, and we understand that this isn’t a search or demand for perfection, but that we should look for the ones who best meet these measures, and that they should be the values of a leader’s life.

We understand that this list is for more than leaders; every Christian should care about this list because it gives God’s description of what spiritual maturity and godliness look like practically. We may never have the calling to leadership, but every Christian should grow towards the character of a godly leader.

We also appreciate this list because in many ways it gives us a wonderful description of Jesus in His earthly life. He perfectly fulfilled all God’s expectations for leaders.

In this phrase from Titus 1:8 we see that a pastor or leader in the church must be just, holy, and self-controlled.

Another way to say this is that the pastor or leader should be right toward men – loving justice, fairness, and right treatment. He should be just. That is a good and important quality for all believers. God wants us to care about what is right and just.

The pastor or leader should also be holy– that is, right toward God. The idea behind holiness is separation, the one who is separated from the anti-God culture all around us and separated unto the God who is Himself holy. Holiness isn’t something just for leaders; God wants all His people to be holy (1 Peter 1:15-16).

Finally, the pastor or leader should be self-controlled. We can think of this as being right towards one’s self. The self-controlled person is not ruled by their own appetites. They are able to say “no” to the desires of the flesh so they can say “yes” to God and to His plan for their life. The person who does not know self-control will never fulfill their God-given destiny, being hindered by the tyranny of self. Matthew Henry wrote, “How unfit are those to govern a church who cannot govern themselves!” That is true for leaders, and for all followers of Jesus Christ.

The three go together:

– Just: right towards others.
– Holy: right towards God.
– Self-controlled: right towards self.

Remember that only one person ever lived this way perfectly: Jesus Christ. He fills the life of His people so that they have the power to live in that same direction – so look to Him to be just, holy, and self-controlled. We also take comfort in the fact that Jesus died to atone for our sin for every time we are not just, holy, and self-controlled.

Click here for David’s commentary on Titus 1

“A lover of what is good…” (Titus 1:8)

The apostle Paul gave Titus a list of character qualities to look for in potential church leaders. In all, he listed 18 aspects of character. Number 12 of the qualities to look for is what we find in verse 8, that a leader among God’s people must be a lover of what is good.

This ancient Greek word (philagathos) is only used here in the New Testament. Philos is a word for love, and agathos is a word for good or virtue. Put the two together and you have the idea of lover of what is good or “lover of goodness,” or even “promoter of virtue.”

There is a lot of evil and corruption in the world today. I don’t think that is anything new; there has always been a lot of evil and corruption! Yet we, as believers, should never love the evil things of this world. We should be lovers of what is good.

In Micah 3:2 the prophet spoke against those who did the opposite. Micah spoke against You who hate good and love evil. We see a lot of that; those who actually hate what is good and love what is evil. The mixed-up morality of our present age is the cause of so much brokenness and trouble in the world. The godly man or woman will have a sense of moral clarity. They see good and recognize it as good; and they see evil and call it what it actually is.

This sense of moral clarity means not only that we should be lovers of what is good, but that we will also hate evil. Psalm 97:10 says, You who love the LORD, hate evil! It also says in Amos 5:15, Hate evil, love good; establish justice in the gate.

Loving good and hating evil can be difficult for many reasons. It demands courage and moral clarity, which both seem rare in today’s world. They are also often confused with hating evil people. We can hate the evil that people do, and even work against that evil without hating the people themselves. We can commit ourselves to loving them in Jesus’ name and to pray for God’s good in their life, even though they do evil things. And if you think it is impossible to hate the sin while at the same time loving the sinner, remember that we do this with ourselves all time. We love ourselves (Ephesians 5:29), while at the same time hating our sin. We can do this for others as well.

Finally, remember that God is the ultimate good: James 1: 7 says, Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights. Jesus also said in Mark 10:18, No one is good but One, that is, God. God is the source of all true goodness. In fact, God invites us to taste and see that the LORD is good (Psalm 34:8). To be a lover of what is good is to be a lover of God.

Click here for David’s commentary on Titus 1

For a bishop must be… not greedy for money. (Titus 1:7)

Paul listed several qualities that Titus should look for as he appointed leaders in the many young churches on the island of Crete. Here at the end of verse 7, another quality is mentioned. A leader among God’s people must not be greedy for money.

Greed has been the downfall of many Christian leaders. Pastors and other leaders are often warned against the dangers of sexual immorality, pride, and greed. Those three go together for a good reason, and we should never forget the trap of being greedy for money.

It’s not only church leaders who must avoid greed. In 1 Timothy 6:9-10, Paul also wrote this: But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

Paul gave a great warning. Significantly, in 1 Timothy 6:9 Paul warned against the “desire to be rich.” That desire for riches is far more dangerous than the riches themselves – and it isn’t only the poor who desire to be rich, it is also the rich who are greedy for more riches.

It’s good to remember that in the Bible, poor does not mean godly and rich means ungodly; nor is it true the other way around. There were many remarkably godly men in the Bible who were almost unbelievably rich, such as Abraham, David, and Solomon.

But the godly rich have the heart like the Psalmist in Psalm 62:10: “If riches increase, do not set your heart on them.”

Those who run after greed are like what Paul wrote about in 1 Timothy 6:9 – they “fall into temptation and a snare.” This desire for riches tempts our heart away from eternal riches and ensnares us in a trap few can escape – always dreaming of riches, and always setting one’s heart on them.

At the end of it all, the desire to be rich can really only be satisfied in Jesus Christ and fulfilled with spiritual riches rather than material ones. Everything else falls short.

Notice one other warning Paul gave in 1 Timothy 6:10. He wrote “some have strayed from the faith in their greediness.” It’s sad to think about but it is true – there are some people who forsake the faith because of their greed. As Paul wrote, they pierce themselves with many sorrows because that is the fate of those who live for the love of money. They are not satisfied. We sometimes want the opportunity to find out if riches can satisfy, but we should trust the Word of God and the experience of many others.

Instead of being greedy for money it would be better for us to be “greedy” in a good sense for godliness and God’s kingdom. God helping us, that is what we will be in Jesus Christ, and those are the kind of leaders we will look for in God’s family.

Click here for David’s commentary on Titus 1