Titus 3:9-11 9But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and strife and disputes about the Law, for they are useless and worthless. 10Reject a divisive person after a first and second warning, 11because you know that such a person has turned away from what is right and is sinning, being self-condemned.
Paul returns to the earlier theme of dealing with false teachers (1:10-16) who had the opposite qualities of verse 8. There is a time to silence such opposition (1:11) but also a time to reject it altogether. As Titus became involved in dealing with these rebellious people, he needed to be careful that he did not get personally caught up in what he should be cleaning up. Verse 9 lists four vices to be avoided. Foolish controversies are stupid arguments that produce nothing except problems (1 Timothy 4:7). We should focus upon what matters and not get caught up in trivial matters than divert our attention from what God wants us to do. Genealogies are speculation about a person’s family heritage (1 Timothy 1:4). The Jews put great effort into remembering their ancestors and tracing their family history. This could lead to pride and arrogance. Arguments are quarrels that can result especially from useless debates (1 Timothy 6:4). Jews were especially prone to quarrels about the law (1 Timothy 1:7), how to interpret and obey it. Any of these arguments could cause problems in the church.
Titus should reject divisive (hairetikos) people. This word was used later in church history for heretics who depart from the truth and divide the Christian community. The false teachers in Crete had the potential of ruining the church and households by their wrong doctrines. Human ideas often lead to division. God’s ideas, especially as clearly given in Scripture, bring people together. Paul directs Titus to warn them two times. On the third time, they should be rejected because their hearts are hardened, and they will not listen to truth (similar to Matthew 18:15-17). People like this can divide the church and harm its witness in the world. Paul does not want to give up on these people right away, but there comes a point when correction does not work any more and it is time to reject them. This verb (paraitou) can have a strong sense of expel. The purpose for this “excommunication” was to preserve the community and redemptively discipline those who had left the truth (1 Corinthians 5:1-5; 2 Corinthians 2:5-8).
Sadly, the reason to respond rejecting these people is because they have turned their back on the truth and pursued the way of sin. The verb turned away (exestraptai) has the sense of intentional perversion. It is in the perfect tense, suggesting a state of action resulting from a choice made in the past. This is what they have become by distorting the truth. The verb is sinning (hamartanei) is present tense, implying an ongoing lifestyle. Such people only have themselves to blame. Because they refuse to listen, their guilt is on their own heads, and they are self-condemned.
This is a sad place to end up in one’s life. God will speak his truth to us in many ways. At first, we may only make a small compromise or follow the path of opinion. But over time, we become more convinced that our ideas are right. We may then negatively influence others, resulting in rejecting God’s revelation of truth. This may not seem serious at the beginning, but the result will be sin and condemnation. The bottom line is to learn the truth of the gospel, dig deeply into it, and be aware of any compromise of this truth.
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