Reject a factious man

Titus 3 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed, ² to malign no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration for all men. ³ For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. ⁴ But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, ⁵ He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, ⁶ whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, ⁷ so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. ⁸ This is a trustworthy statement; and concerning these things I want you to speak confidently, so that those who have believed God will be careful to engage in good deeds. These things are good and profitable for men. ⁹ But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and strife and disputes about the Law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. ¹⁰ Reject a factious man after a first and second warning, ¹¹ knowing that such a man is perverted and is sinning, being self-condemned.

¹² When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, make every effort to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. ¹³ Diligently help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way so that nothing is lacking for them. ¹⁴ Our people must also learn to engage in good deeds to meet pressing needs, so that they will not be unfruitful.

¹⁵ All who are with me greet you. Greet those who love us in the faith.

Grace be with you all.

In today’s text Paul says:  Avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and strife and disputes about the Law, for they are unprofitable and worthless.  Reject a factious man after a first and second warning, knowing that such a man is perverted and is sinning, being self-condemned.  Galatians 5:19-21 says:  Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.  If we were to reject a factious man or woman today, we should begin with those in the news media and many in or on social media. We should reject many in the entertainment industry and many who are sports celebrities. We should reject all those who use their position, notoriety or platform to create:  enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions or envying.  We should reject those who desire by their words to divide us.

This is true for all, but even more so within the church. In John 13:34-35 Jesus says:  “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”   There is so much division, factions, enmities and strife within the church today that the world does not know who the disciples of Christ are. We are divided by denominations. We are divided over doctrine. We are divided over the religious rules and regulations of man. We are divided over worship styles, how we pray and which translation of the Bible we use. Within and among churches there are enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions or envying. The more we focus on the things we view differently, the greater the divide between us. 1 John 4:19-21 says:  We love, because He first loved us. If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.  And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.  In Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus says:  “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’  On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”   Our ability and our capacity to love is based in that God first loved us. It is because of His love for us, demonstrated in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, (Romans 5:8) that we can truly love. First and foremost we love God with all of our heart, soul and mind; then we are to love others as we love ourself. We are to love them in response that for them too, Jesus died. If they are sinners, He still died for them. If they are believers, then regardless of the differences we see, we should understand that the same God who is in us, is in them also. We cannot love Christ in others if we do not love them.

Paul describes how believer should act toward each other and even toward the world. He says:  Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed,  to malign no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration for all men. For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior.   Our society and culture does not promote the idea that we should be obedient to authority. Indeed it is those who are in authority who are maligned the most. I certainly am not blindly defending all who are in authority. Some of them are also factious and divisive. But we should be obedient to their authority. We should remember that both Paul, who wrote this text, and Jesus Himself were obedient to the authority of the oppresive Roman empire. Daniel 2:20-21 says:  “Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, For wisdom and power belong to Him. It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men And knowledge to men of understanding.”  Romans 13:1 says:  Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.  Just as it is with love, if we cannot be obedient to people who we see, how will we be obedient to God who we have not seen? In Matthew 5:44-45 Jesus says:  I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.   On the cross, in Luke 23:34 Jesus said: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”  He said those words, not only for you and I who have believed in Him, but also for the very ones who drove the nails into His hands and feet; for the very ones who mocked Him while He suffered. He prayed for those who persecuted Him. Philippians 2:8 says:  Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.   Jesus obedience to the Father was demonstrated in His obedience to the evil authority of man. We too then, though we appear as people, being filled with the Spirit of God, should be obedient to those who He has place in authority.

The text says:  When the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared,  He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,  whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy statement; and concerning these things I want you to speak confidently, so that those who have believed God will be careful to engage in good deeds. These things are good and profitable for men… Grace be with you all.   Amen.