Titus 1:16 Komentář

In this chapter we have, I. The preface or introduction to the epistle, showing from and to whom it was written, with the apostle's salutation and prayer for Titus, wishing all blessings to him (Tit 1:1-4). II. Entrance into the matter, by signifying the end of Titus's being left at Crete (v. 5). III. And how the same should be pursued in reference both to good and bad ministers (v. 6 to the end).

This chapter contains the inscription of the epistle, the apostle's salutation and preface to it; an account of the qualifications of an eider, or pastor of a church; a description of these teachers; and a charge to Titus to rebuke the Cretians for their errors and immoralities. The inscription and salutation are in Tit 1:1, in which the writer of the epistle is described by his name and office; by the faith and hope he had; and by the ministration of the Gospel, committed to him by the order of Christ: and the person to whom it is written is mentioned by name; and is described by the spiritual relation he stood in to the apostle, and to whom he wishes grace, mercy, and peace: the preface to the epistle is in Tit 1:5 which gives the reason of the apostle's leaving Titus in Crete, which was to set things in order there, and to ordain elders in all the churches; which leads him to point at the necessary qualifications of them for his direction; some of which respect their moral life and conversation, and others their doctrine, and are in Tit 1:6 and on occasion of the latter, and which is a reason why the elders should be sound in the faith, and hold it fast, the apostle takes notice of the false teachers that were in Crete, whom he describes by their noisy, vain, and deceitful talk; by their being pernicious and hurtful to whole families; and by their covetousness and sensuality, which is confirmed by a testimony out of one of the Cretian poets, Tit 1:10 wherefore he charges Titus sharply to rebuke either these false teachers, or those they had corrupted, that they regard sound doctrine, and not Jewish fables, and the commandments of erroneous men, Tit 1:13 and instances in things forbidden in the law of Moses as unclean, which were not now to be attended to by those who were pure in heart, and sound in faith, to whom all things were pure and lawful; and as for others that were impure, whose minds and consciences were defiled, and were unbelieving, nothing was pure to them, Tit 1:15 and who are further described as professors in words of the true knowledge of God, and yet practically were deniers of him; and as abominable in their nature and actions, disobedient to law and Gospel, and unfit for any good work whatever, Tit 1:16.

They profess that they know God,.... That there is a God; that there is but one, only, true, and living God, the God of Israel, as professed by the Jews; and that this God is Father, Son, and Spirit, as believed by the Christians: for the persons the apostle speaks of were judaizing Christians. Yet this knowledge was but notional; it lay in theory and profession only; they had not a spiritual experimental knowledge of God in Christ, which only has eternal life connected with it: but in works they deny him. The Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions read, "in their own works"; they were not professed, but practical atheists; they owned there was a God, and boasted of their knowledge of him; but their lives and conversations showed that they had no true knowledge of him, and that the fear of him was not before their eyes; these gave the lie to their profession; they practically denied that faith they professed to hold, and the power of godliness, of which they had the form. Being abominable; in the sight of God, however esteemed by men; and notwithstanding the vizor and mask of sanctity and religion they put on, which could not screen them from the omniscience of God, who will one day declare he knows them not, and will bid them depart from him, being workers of iniquity. And disobedient; to God; to his law, and Gospel; to his ministers and churches; and even to parents and civil magistrates; for of this cast were the false teachers, and their followers, as maybe learned from many passages. And unto every good work reprobate: or "unaccustomed", unused to them, as the Arabic version renders it; or rather "without judgment", and understanding, concerning them; there was no good in them, nor was it in them to do good; to do good they had no knowledge, nor any inclination; they were unfit for it, and had not a capacity to perform it; they were not good themselves, and therefore could not do good; the tree must first be made good, ere its fruit will be good; they were without Christ, and without his Spirit, and grace, without which no man can do anything that is spiritually good; they had no true faith, and therefore what they did was sinful; they had neither right principles, from which, nor right ends to which they acted, and therefore were not qualified for the performance of good works; which require that men should be good men, created in Christ Jesus, be believers in him, and have principles of truth and love, and views to the glory of God. Next: Titus Chapter 2

So that confession is by all means necessary. For it is in our power. But to make a defence for our faith is not universally necessary. For that does not depend on us. "But he that endureth to the end shall be saved." For who of those who are wise would not choose to reign in God, and even to serve? So some "confess that they know God," according to the apostle; "but in works they deny Him, being abominable and disobedient, and to every good work reprobate." And these, though they confess nothing but this, will have done at the end one good work. Their witness, then, appears to be the cleansing away of sins with glory.

Ver. 16. "They profess that they know God; but in works they deny Him, being abominable, and disobedient, and to every good work reprobate." This then is uncleanness. They are themselves unclean. But be not thou silent on that account. Do thy part, although they may not receive thee. Advise and counsel them, though they may not be persuaded. Here he censures them more severely. For they who are mad imagine that nothing stands still, yet this arises not from the objects that are seen, but from the eyes that see. Because they are unsteady and giddy, they think that the earth turns round with them, which yet turns not, but stands firm. The derangement is of their own state, not from any affection of the element. So it is here, when the soul is unclean, it thinks all things unclean. Therefore scrupulous observances are no mark of purity, but it is the part of purity to be bold in all things. For he that is pure by nature ventures upon all things, they that are defiled, upon nothing. This we may say against Marcion. Seest thou that it is a mark of purity to be superior to all defilement, to touch nothing implies impurity. This holds even with respect to God. That He assumed flesh is a proof of purity; if through fear He had not taken it, there would have been defilement. He who eats not things that seem unclean, is himself unclean and weak, he who eats, is neither. Let us not call such pure, they are the unclean. He is pure, who dares to feed upon all things. All this caution we ought to exercise towards the things that defile the soul. For that is uncleanness, that is defilement. None of these things is so. Those who have a vitiated palate think what is set before them is unclean, but this is the effect of their disorder. It becomes us therefore to understand the nature of things pure, and things unclean.

"They confess to know God, but deny Him with their deeds: abominable and disobedient, and disqualified for every good deed." Those whose mind and conscience are defiled confess to know God, but deny Him with their deeds, according to what is said in Isaiah: This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me (Isaiah 29:13). Therefore, just as someone who honors with their lips but moves far away in heart, so anyone confessing God with their words but denying Him with his deeds is. But he who denies God with his deeds, and with a deceitful confession is rightly accursed and profane, and having no reasonable conviction of truth, he is called disobedient and incredulous. So it happens that he is disqualified for every good work: namely, that even those things which he may have done well, having been overcome by his own natural goodness, are not good, while they are corrupt by his distorted state of mind. Some think that only if someone, when captured by Gentiles during persecution, denies themselves as Christians that they would be denying God. But behold the Apostle asserts that God is denied by all perverse deeds. Christ is wisdom, justice, truth, holiness, and strength. Wisdom is denied through foolishness, justice through iniquity, truth through lies, holiness through depravity, and strength through weakness of the soul. And as often as we are overcome by vices and sins, we deny God. Conversely, as often as we do good, we confess God. And it is not to be judged that only those who denied Christ in martyrdom will be denied by the Son of God on the day of judgment, but in all works, words, and thoughts, Christ, either denied, denies or confessed, confesses. Regarding this confession, He commanded His disciples, saying, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8), so that in all good works and words the mind dedicated to Christ may confess Him. There is also a commendable denial, of which the Apostle himself says: "As we deny impiety and worldly desires, we should live chastely, justly, and piously in the present age, while awaiting the blessed hope and coming of our God and Savior" (Titus 2:12). Whoever denies this denial and wants to follow the Savior speaking these words, "Whoever wishes to come after me, let him deny himself" (Luke 9:23), stripped of his old self with its works, and putting on the new, shall follow his God. But how one is to deny oneself must be considered. The chaste denies the fornicator he once was; the wise, the foolish; the just, the unjust; the brave, the weak. In general, we deny ourselves as often as we, trampling on our former vices, cease to be what we were and begin to be what we were not before.

All the heresies … they all say, “Jesus is Lord.” And he’s not, of course, going to eliminate from the kingdom of heaven those whom he finds to be in the Holy Spirit; and yet he did say, “Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of heaven.” But: “Nobody can say: Jesus is Lord, except in the Holy Spirit"; nobody at all, evidently; but in the sense in which it was meant, that is in deeds.… The same apostle, you see, also says of some people, “They claim to know the Lord but deny it by their deeds.” As it can be denied by deeds, so it can be said by deeds.

Our peace also has its dangers, dearly beloved. In vain do people feel secure as a result of freedom for their faith if they do not resist the desires of vice. By the quality of works is the human heart made known, and outward actions disclose the beauty of souls. There are some, as the apostle says, who “profess to know God but deny him through their deeds.” Truly the guilt of denial is incurred when the ears have heard what is good but the conscience does not hold on to it. The frailty of the human condition easily slides into sin.

For behold, the voice of all proclaims Christ, but the life of all does not proclaim Him. Most follow God with their voices, but flee from Him by their conduct. Hence Paul says: "They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him."

What greatly gladdens is what follows: "Blessed are they who have not seen and have believed." In this saying, we are indeed specially marked out, we who retain in our minds Him whom we have not seen in the flesh. We are marked out—but only if we follow our faith with works. For he truly believes who practices by his deeds what he believes. In contrast to these, concerning those who hold faith in name only, Paul says: "They profess that they know God, but in their deeds they deny Him."

"He who believes and is baptized shall be saved, but he who does not believe shall be condemned." Perhaps each one may say within himself: "I have already believed; I shall be saved." He speaks truly, if he holds faith by works. For true faith is that which does not contradict in conduct what it says in words. Hence it is that Paul says of certain false believers: "They profess to know God, but they deny Him by their deeds."

They confess to know God, but by their works they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient, and unfit for every good work. They confess to know God. This is truly impure, for faith without works is dead. (James 2:26)

Do you see what makes them unclean and abominable? It is that their deeds are wicked and unclean. For truly "faith without works is dead" (James 2:17). And a dead thing inspires disgust and is good for nothing.

Then when he says, they profess that they know God, he explains their faith with a sign. For if a person claims that their words are true and that they believe in one God and confess him, this must be rejected as impossible. First, he shows the good that was in them, namely, they profess outwardly with their lips that they know God: this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me (Isa 29:13); you are near in their mouth and far from their heart (Jer 12:2). Second, he shows their inward failing: first, in regard to things present; second, in regard to things yet to come, at incredulous. In regard to the present, in their works they deny him. For one who sins actually denies him by his actions, because a person cannot confess God without admitting his power, namely, that he should be obeyed. Hence, if they sin, they disobey and deny by their works the very things they profess by their lips. But you say: whoever denies God is an unbeliever; but sinners deny God in their works. Therefore, sinners are unbelievers. I answer that just as a person with general knowledge can err in particular cases, so a person with a general knowledge of the faith fails in a particular action, because his love is corrupted: he has disowned the faith and is worse than an unbeliever (1 Tim 5:8). But can they fail as far as the future is concerned? They can, because they not only deny God but are not inclined to return to him. For there are three things which incline a person to return to God, namely, God's grace: justified by his grace as a gift (Rom 3:24); the second is faith: he cleansed their hearts by faith (Acts 15:9); the third is the performance of a good work: the doers of the law will be justified (Rom 2:13). But these three ways are not open to unbelievers: not the way of grace because they are abominable, i.e., not disposed to grace; not the faith, because they are incredulous, i.e., not suited for believing; you are among believers and destroyers (Ezek 2:6); third, not the performance of good works, because they are reprobate to every good work: refuse silver they are called (Jer 6:30).

The apostle's statement of his character, his hope, and his function, Tit 1:1-3. His address to Titus, and the end for which he left him in Crete, Tit 1:4, Tit 1:5. The qualifications requisite in those who should be appointed elders and bishops in the Church of God, Tit 1:6-9. Of false teachers, Tit 1:10, Tit 1:11. The character of the Cretans, and how they were to be dealt with, Tit 1:12-14. Of the pure, the impure, and false professors of religion, Tit 1:15, Tit 1:16.

They profess that they know God - He still speaks concerning the unbelieving Jews, the seducing teachers, and those who had been seduced by their bad doctrine. None were so full of pretensions to the knowledge of the true God as the Jews. They would not admit that any other people could have this knowledge; nor did they believe that God ever did or ever would reveal himself to any other people; they supposed that to give the law and the prophets to the Gentiles would be a profanation of the words of God. Hence they became both proud, uncharitable, and intolerant; and in this disposition they continue till the present day. But in works they deny him - Their profession and practice were at continual variance. Full of a pretended faith, while utterly destitute of those works by which a genuine faith is accredited and proved. Dio Cassius represents Caesar as saying of his mutinous soldiers: Ονομα Ῥωμαιων εχοντας, εργα δε Κελτων δρωντας. "Having the name of Romans, while they had the manners of the Gauls." How near are those words to the saying of the apostle! Being abominable - Βδελυκτοι. This word sometimes refers to unnatural lusts. And disobedient - Απειθεις· Unpersuadable, unbelieving, and consequently disobedient. Characters remarkably applicable to the Jews through all their generations. Unto every good work reprobate - Αδοκιμοι· Adulterate; like bad coin, deficient both in the weight and goodness of the metal, and without the proper sterling stamp; and consequently not current. If they did a good work, they did not do it in the spirit in which it should be performed. They had the name of God's people; but they were counterfeit. The prophet said; Reprobate silver shall men call them. 1. Though the principal part of this chapter, and indeed of the whole epistle, may be found in nearly the same words in the First Epistle to Timothy, yet there are several circumstances here that are not so particularly noted in the other; and every minister of Christ will do well to make himself master of both; they should be carefully registered in his memory, and engraven on his heart. 2. The truth, which is according to godliness, in reference to eternal life, should be carefully regarded. The substantial knowledge of the truth must have faith for its foundation, godliness for its rule, and eternal life for its object and end. He who does not begin well, is never likely to finish fair. He who does not refer every thing to eternity, is never likely to live either well or happily in time. 3. There is one subject in this chapter not sufficiently attended to by those who have the authority to appoint men to ecclesiastical offices; none should be thus appointed who is not able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convince the gainsayers. The powers necessary for this are partly natural, partly gracious, and partly acquired. 1. If a man have not good natural abilities, nothing but a miracle from heaven can make him a proper preacher of the Gospel; and to make a man a Christian minister, who is unqualified for any function of civil life, is sacrilege before God. 2. If the grace of God do not communicate ministerial qualifications, no natural gifts, however splendid, can be of any avail. To be a successful Christian minister, a man must feel the worth of immortal souls in such a way as God only can show it, in order to spend and be spent in the work. He who has never passed through the travail of the soul in the work of regeneration in his own heart, can never make plain the way of salvation to others. 3. He who is employed in the Christian ministry should cultivate his mind in the most diligent manner; he can neither learn nor know too much. If called of God to be a preacher, (and without such a call he had better be a galley slave), he will be able to bring all his knowledge to the assistance and success of his ministry. If he have human learning, so much the better; if he be accredited, and appointed by those who have authority in the Church, it will be to his advantage; but no human learning, no ecclesiastical appointment, no mode of ordination, whether Popish, Episcopal, Protestant, or Presbyterian, can ever supply the Divine unction, without which he never can convert and build up the souls of men. The piety of the flock must be faint and languishing when it is not animated by the heavenly zeal of the pastor; they must be blind if he be not enlightened; and their faith must be wavering when he can neither encourage nor defend it. 4. In consequence of the appointment of improper persons to the Christian ministry, there has been, not only a decay of piety, but also a corruption of religion. No man is a true Christian minister who has not grace, gifts, and fruit; if he have the grace of God, it will appear in his holy life and godly conversation. If to this he add genuine abilities, he will give full proof of his ministry; and if he give full proof of his ministry, he will have fruit; the souls of sinners will be converted to God through his preaching, and believers will be built up on their most holy faith. How contemptible must that man appear in the eyes of common sense, who boasts of his clerical education, his sacerdotal order, his legitimate authority to preach, administer the Christian sacraments, etc., while no soul is benefited by his ministry! Such a person may have legal authority to take tithes, but as to an appointment from God, he has none; else his word would be with power, and his preaching the means of salvation to his perishing hearers.

ADDRESS: FOR WHAT END TITUS WAS LEFT IN CRETE. QUALIFICATIONS FOR ELDERS: GAINSAYERS IN CRETE NEEDING REPROOF. (Tit. 1:1-16) servant of God--not found elsewhere in the same connection. In Rom 1:1 it is "servant of Jesus Christ" (Gal 1:10; Phi 1:1; compare Act 16:17; Rev 1:1; Rev 15:3). In Rom 1:1, there follows, "called to be an apostle," which corresponds to the general designation of the office first, "servant of GOD," here, followed by the special description, "apostle of Jesus Christ." The full expression of his apostolic office answers, in both Epistles, to the design, and is a comprehensive index to the contents. The peculiar form here would never have proceeded from a forger. according to the faith--rather, "for," "with a view to subserve the faith"; this is the object of my apostleship (compare Tit 1:4, Tit 1:9; Rom 1:5). the elect--for whose sake we ought to endure all things (Ti2 2:10). This election has its ground, not in anything belonging to those thus distinguished, but in the purpose and will of God from everlasting (Ti2 1:9; Rom 8:30-33; compare Luk 18:7; Eph 1:4; Col 3:12). Act 13:48 shows that all faith on the part of the elect, rests on the divine foreordination: they do not become elect by their faith, but receive faith, and so become believers, because they are elect. and the acknowledging of the truth--"and (for promoting) the full knowledge of the truth," that is, the Christian truth (Eph 1:13). after godliness--that is, which belongs to piety: opposed to the knowledge which has not for its object the truth, but error, doctrinal and practical (Tit 1:11, Tit 1:16; Ti1 6:3); or even which has for its object mere earthly truth, not growth in the divine life. "Godliness," or "piety," is a term peculiar to the Pastoral Epistles: a fact explained by the apostle having in them to combat doctrine tending to "ungodliness" (Ti2 2:16; compare Tit 2:11-12).

They profess--that is, make a profession acknowledging God. He does not deny their theoretical knowledge of God, but that they practically know Him. deny him--the opposite of the previous "profess" or "confess" Him (Ti1 5:8; Ti2 2:12; Ti2 3:5). abominable--themselves, though laying so much stress on the contracting of abomination from outward things (compare Lev 11:10-13; Rom 2:22). disobedient--to God (Tit 3:3; Eph 2:2; Eph 5:6). reprobate--rejected as worthless when tested (see on Rom 1:28; Co1 9:27; Ti2 3:8). Next: Titus Chapter 2