Titus 3:10 Divisive Persons

Titus 3:10 Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him.
In Titus 3:10 Paul advises Titus on how to deal with troublemakers. He says that he should  Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. If After that, there is no change then have nothing to do with him. So we begin with warnings. The once .... a second time guide is not to happen on one day or in a week. It is a general rule. One warning is not enough, there must be time for repentance. If eventually, however, there is no change then that person must come under formal church discipline. Paul says nothing about congregational decisions here but that is no doubt assumed. In the end, if there is no repentance, then ostracism is necessary. This may seem harsh but it is because, as Paul puts it, in verse 11, You may be sure that such a man is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned. Some people are simply divisive by nature. Nothing will change them. This is a sobering fact and is evidence of the realism of the New Testament and its rejection of Utopianism. It is a little like Paul's seemingly pessimistic How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife? (1 Corinthians 7:16). Do not miss the hope here, though. There are those who are able, by God's grace, to change. Good pastors seek change but recognise that it does not always happen.

Titus 3:1, 2 Some Reminders

Titus 3:1, 2 Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men.

The final chapter of Titus, as we call it, begins with Paul calling on Titus to remind the people of a number of things. In verses 1 and 2 there are some five altogether. They are submission to the powers that be and obedience, readiness to do good, avoidance of slander, being peaceable and considerate and humility. So the people are to be reminded, firstly, to be subject to rulers and authorities and to be obedient something the New Testament urges in more than one place (see 2 Timothy 2, etc). More generally, they are to be reminded to do whatever is good. This exhortation appears in several other places in this letter (2:14 and verses 8 and 14 of this chapter - to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good ... I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good ... Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good). The third thing is that they should slander no one, again something often spoken of in the New Testament (Ephesians 4:31, Colossians 3:8). The last two things the people are to be reminded of are to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men (see Colossians 3:12, 13, etc).

Titus 2:15 Authoritative Teacher

Titus 2:15 These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.

What we call Chapter 2 of Titus ends with three brief exhortations. The first of these says that these ... are the things Titus must teach. This takes us back to the opening verse of the chapter - You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine. The content of the chapter includes teaching for older men (2), older women (3, 4), younger women by implication (5), younger men (6) and slaves (9, 10) along with exhortations about how to teach (7, 8) and the nature of the gospel (11-14). The next sums up the need to Encourage and rebuke with all authority. This echoes the statement in Chapter 1 that an elder (verse 9) must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it. Encouraging and rebuking or opposing that is the work. The call here to do this with all authority leads into the third and final general exhortation - Do not let anyone despise you. This is reminiscent of 1 Timothy 4:12a Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young.  A minister must not be proud but he must have a confidence that refuses to be despised.

Titus 2:7, 8 Exemplary Teacher

In Titus 2:1-8 Paul tells Titus what he is to teach to various groups in the church - Women old and young, men old and young. He rounds it off by calling on Titus to do two things and these in some ways sum up the calling of the minister. First, he is to be an example - In everything set them an example by doing what is good. Titus and every minister who seeks to follow in his footsteps must always remember that in all he does he is setting an example that the people should be encouraged to follow. The second thing is to teach. Paul syas In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us. Integrity, seriousness and soundness are to be the hallmarks of his teaching. There will be oppostion but the opposers will not be able to withstand his teaching if it has these three characteritics. They will speak against him but their words will sound hollow. So here is a broad plan of action for the minister - give them a good example and teach with integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech.

Titus 1:16 All Talk

Titus 1:16

Paul makes a telling comment on false teachers in Titus 1:16. He says first that They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. There are so many people who do not even claim to know God, indeed who say that it is not possible to know God, that it is often refreshing to hear someone claiming to know him. This puts us off our guard. We warm to such people and are willing to listen to them. Actions, of course, speak louder than words, however, and if the lives of such people contradict the profession they make then there is serious reason to doubt what they claim. Actions speak louder than words and as Jesus tells us, it is by their frutis that you know whether a tree is good or bad. Rounding off what he has been saying about false teachers, Paul adds three statements about these false people. He says They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good. What makes them detestable or abominable is the disparity between their lofty claims and the lives they live. DIsobedient is more literally unpersuaded. They are not realy of our persuasion and will reject us and the truth in the end. Paul says they are unfit for doing anything good because of the basic inconsistency that hampers their every move. It is all talk. There is no reality about it. They claim one thing but live ina way that clean contradicts that claim. What good is a knife that looks like a pillow?

Statistics

The pastorals consist of three letters written by Paul, two to Timothy and one to Titus.

They contain altogether some 13 chapters, 252 verses and 3488 words [4806 in the KJV]  (ie 1 Timothy - 6 chapters, 123 verses, 1591 [2224] words; 2 Timothy - 4 chapters, 83 verses, 1238 [1666] words, Titus - 3 chapters, 46 verses, 659 [896] words).

Of the 902 unique words in the pastorals 54 are proper names. Of the 848 words that remain from the original total, 306 words do not occur elsewhere in Paul's letters (36%).

For 1 Timothy  the figure is 173 out of 529  words that appear elsewhere in Paul's letters (33%).

2 Timothy has 114 out of 413 words that appear elsewhere in Paul's letters (25%)

Titus 81 of 293 words found elsewhere in Paul's letters (28%).

Of the 306 words not in Paul's letters, 175 are hapax legomena (only found once in the NT).

Of the 175 hapax legomena, 1 Timothy has 96, 2 Timothy 60 and Titus 43.

Some 75 occur only in 1 Timothy, 48 only in 2 Timothy and 30 only in Titus (Total 153).

Relatively few hapax legomena occur in more than one book: 9 in 1 and 2 Timothy, 10 in 1 Timothy and Titus, 1 in 2 Timothy and Titus. Only two appear in all three.

The pastoral letters contain 131 words found in other New Testament books but not Paul's other letters (77 in 1 Timothy, 54 in 2 Timothy, 38 in Titus).

To read through in 30 days one needs to average just under half a chapter, 8.4 verses or 116.3 [160.2] words a day.

 

Greek

Book	Chaps	Verses						verses	words
1 Tim	6	20	15	16	16	25	21	113	1591
2 Tim	4	18	26	17	22	.		83	1238
Titus	3	16	15	15	.			46	659

KJV

	1 Timothy	6 Chaps	113 vv	2244 words
	2 Timothy	4 Chaps	83 vv	1666 words
	Titus	3 Chaps	46 vv	896 words

2 Timothy 2:24 Humble Servant

2 Timothy 2:24 And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.

Perhaps one more role can be found in 2 Timothy 2 to place alongside soldier, athlete, farmer, workman, if we focus on verse 24 where Timothy is reminded that he is the Lord's servant. This is a little different, as with the others we have been saying the minister should be like this or like that but as the word minister means servant we say something more like - the minister must remember that he is a servant, he is the Lord's servant. The negative conclusion drawn from this is that a minister must not quarrel. The point seems to be that as the minister is acting on behalf of his Lord then he must avoid strife and commit himself to the Lord. With this negative come three positives. Firstly, he must be kind to everyone regardless of how they treat him. The ability to teach is mentioned elsewhere. It means to be able to learn and to teach. Such a man will know that quarrelling gets you nowhere in either of those directions. The third positive has a negative frame - ministers must not be resentful. He must be patient even when things are said against him or when there is opposition - like a good servant, indeed.

2 Timothy 2:15 Unashamed Workman

2 Timothy 2:15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

A little further on in 2 Timothy 2, in verse 15, Paul gives Timothy another picture that helps describe the nature of the work of the pastor. This time Paul thinks of a workman and one who does not need to be ashamed of his work because he does it conscientiously. In particular he is a man who correctly handles the word of truth. The word Paul uses is only found here and was used to refer to cutting something straight. Workmen are often required to make a straight cut. Think of a carpenter sawing a piece of wood or a carpet layer cutting a piece of carpet. If the line is crooked there will be a problem. In a similar way, when a preacher seeks to explain the Word he has to do it accurately or he is going to lead people astray. The concern of the minister will not be simply to get it right, he will be doing his best to present himself to God as one approved. He wants the approval not so much of men but of the Master craftsman who taught him all he knows.

2 Timothy 2:6 Hardworking Farmer

2 Timothy 2:6 The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops.

The third picture Paul draws on to remind Timothy of what his attitude to ministry should be is drawn from the world of agriculture. The thing about farmers that he highlights is their need to be hardworking. Even city folk have some idea of the proverbially hardworking farmer - up early, long days, no holidays, etc. Farmers also have a reputation for being rather miserable but here Paul draws our attention to the harvest and to the farmer sitting down to enjoy its firstfruits with his family and there is nothing to beat that. What great joy. Here is a reminder then that the minister will receive his reward in due time. Meanwhile, he must be hard working, willing to make sacrifices that the work may go on and never sbe lacking for a moment. It does not mean that he will not not have a day off or holidays or even a lie in on some mornings but the bent of his life will be to the hard work of preparing men and women for heaven.

2 Timothy 2:5 Fairplay Athlete

2 Timothy 2:5 Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor’s crown unless he competes according to the rules.

Paul's second picture is the athlete. It could be a runner or some other sort of athlete. As with soldiering, Paul draws on athletics more than once for illustration purposes in his letters. Here his focus is on the way an athlete must compete according to the rules in order to win the prize. It so happens that today a lot of attention is focused on the cyclist Lance Armstrong. It seems pretty clear by this stage that he cheated. He did not compete according to the rules. For this reason he has been stripped of his titles. He is not considered worthy to keep the victor's crown he was given. Of course, there are other ways of cheating and missing out on the prize - cheating yourself and not putting in the training required for example - and Paul may have that in mind. The point is that for the minister there is a prize to be won, as it were, a victor's crown. It can only be won by fairplay. To attempt to cheat is to court disaster. God the great umpire knows whether you are competing fairly or not. If you think you can know victory without prayer or without sacrifice, without hard work on those sermons and faithfulness as a pastor then you have an unpleasant surprise coming.

2 Timothy 2:3, 4 Enduring Soldier

2 Timothy 2:3, 4

Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs - he wants to please his commanding officer.

In a series of pictures Paul tells Timothy first that he must be like a soldier. The particular aspect of soldiering that Paul has in mind is enduring hardship. If you are a soldier you go where you are sent and you put up with what has to be put up with, however inconvenient. In a struggle for victory there is inevitably some sacrifice to be made and soldiers are expected to make such sacrifices. For ministers in stable and comfortable settings it is easy to forget this aspect of ministry and so when hardship has to be endured it is tempting to try and circumvent it. A true minister will not always be able to deal with things in that way if he intends to remain faithful. There will be hardships somewhere along the line. We are not expected to enjoy them but they must be endured for the sake of Christ and his people. In verse 4 Paul expands on this by saying that the soldier cannot get involved in civilian affairs - popping to the shops, a celebratory night out, a day trip to Longleat. His one aim in life is to please his commanding officer. it is not that the minister cannot do some of those very ordinary things that a soldier cannot - washing the car, shopping for clothes, watching a film - but he must do them in a detached way. His one concern is to serve God and he is ready to drop anything to do the Lord's bidding.

1 Timothy 5:1, 2 Church Family

1 Timothy 5:1, 2 Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.
The opening verses of 1 Timothy 5 set out general rules for how Timothy, and any pastor like him, is to relate to various members of the congregation. It is noteworthy that Paul uses the family setting as the analogy that lays down the parameters for behaviour in the church. Paul begins with older men - Do not rebuke an older man harshly, he says, negatively, but exhort him (positively) as if he were your father. So it is not, never rebuke an older man but make sure you are not harsh in such a situation. Speak to him as you might speak to your father. As for younger men Treat them as brothers. Rebuke them where you think necessary but as brother to brother. Similarly, older women must be treated as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity. In the latter case the danger of sexual impropriety is raised. Women of a certain age will not present a problem in most cases but women under that age may do so. Either you will be tempted to act improperly towards them or they may be tempted to act improperly towards you. Most teaching of younger women will be done by the older women (see Titus 2) but on those occasions when a minister comes into contact with younger women, he must maintain absolute purity. A church where the pastor treats the older men like servants, flirts with the younger women and cannot relate to others appropriately is a church that is in big trouble indeed.

1 Timothy 4:16 Teaching, Practice

1 Timothy 4:16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.

In 1 Timothy 4:16 Paul urges Timothy to watch, that is to keep a close eye on, two things. The first of these is his life and the second is his doctrine or his teaching. It is important for ministers to keep a close eye on how they live and on what they believe. The two are intertwined, of course, but they can be thought of separately, and sometimes do not match up. A mismatch is one of the things to be looking out for. Paul also urges Timothy to persevere in both. In other words, don't give up living a godly life and don't stop believing and teaching the truth. It is easy to give up on one or the other or on both. A preacher can go on preaching orthodox teaching but fail to practice it. He can live a godly enough life but not be very good at teaching the truth accurately and clearly. If he is a complete disaster he will fail in both areas. The incentive for working at both areas is that, firstly the man who does this will save himself but also he will save others too, those who listen to his preaching and follow his example. Surely that is incentive enough to be diligent in these areas.

1 Timothy 4:8 Getting exercise

1 Timothy 4:8 For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.

1 Timothy 4:8 speaks of two sorts of training. On the one hand, there is physical training and Paul does not despise it but notes that it is of some value. On the other hand, there is godliness or piety. This has value for all things. The reason that godliness is superior is that whereas physical  training will help you only in this life, godliness holds promise for both the present life and the life to come. This teaching shows that no Christian should unnecessarily neglect his body and must exercise it to some extent as best he can. On the other hand, it cannot be the be all and end all for him. The verse also gives us an insight into godliness and the fact that it makes the same sorts of demands on our souls that physical exercise will make on our bodies. Things like regularity, a schedule, exertion, self-denial, etc, must come into it. Godliness is obviously useful for the life to come because that will be the thing that dominates there when physical health will not be an issue. It is also useful for this life because the pursuit of bodily pleasure inevitably fails to satisfy completely and is not the thing that God is most looking for in us. As a minister, especially, Timothy needs to understand this and teach it to others.

1 Timothy 3:1 Noble Task

1 Timothy 3:1 Here is a trustworthy saying. If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task.

In 1 Timothy 3:1-7 the qualifications for eldership are listed. Before he comes to that, Paul gives the second of the five faithful or trustworthy sayings that are found in the pastoral letters. (For the others, see 1 Timothy 1:15 and 4:9, 2 Timothy 2:11 and Titus 3:8). Here is a trustworthy saying, he says. He wants to underline for all who read it that If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task. Prior to any talk of qualifications, he wants to assert first that it is a good thing to want to be an elder or overseer. This is the sort of ambition that should be cultivated in young Christian people. Not all will be qualified, of course. Some are women; some, perhaps, have had complicated love lives or are excluded for other reasons. To want to be a leader and teacher of God's people is a noble thing, however. The following verses reveal that to want that is to want to be holy, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, sober, gentle, calm, not covetous, a good husband and father, mature, of good repute. Such things should surely be desired by all Christians, whether they become elders or overseers or not. Those who are overseers should also remember that it is a noble task and a desirable one indeed.

1 Timothy 3:16 Godliness Mystery

1 Timothy 3:16 Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.

There is something about the combination 3:16 in the New Testament. There are a number of texts worth learning with that address. 1 Timothy 3:16 refers to Christ and says Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory. Some take it to be chronological - incarnation, miracles and resurrection, ascension, preaching of the gospel from Pentecost on, worldwide acceptance, Second Coming (in terms of his ascension). Several others deal with the six by splitting them into two sets of three. The first three refer to the life of the historical incarnate Jesus (appeared in a body; vindicated by the Spirit; seen by angels) the second three to his life once exalted (preached among the nations; believed on in the world; taken up in glory). Perhaps the best way to take them is to take them spacially and see them as being a series of three sets of contrasting pairs: Body/the Spirit Angels/nations The world/glory. Further, Hendriksen points out that the development is chiastic and cumulative. We move from the lower realm (He appeared in a body to the higher (was vindicated by the Spirit), from the higher was seen by angels to the lower was preached among the nations, from the lower was believed on in the world back up to was taken up in glory. Even where the lower element is involved there is throughout the six lines much glorifying of Christ. He appeared in a body yes, but that itself suggests a veiling of his glory; was preached among the nations – heralded, declared with gladness; believed on in the world with joy unto salvation. These are fundamental truths that must often be preached.

1 Timothy 2:1 Praying churches

1 Timothy 2:1 I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people -

In the opening line of 1 Timothy 2, Paul says I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people. He is pleading for prayer to be a priority in the church and he wants it to be for everyone, that is for all sorts of people - not just for ministers but for the people, not just for men but for women, not just for insiders but for outsiders, not just for the poor but also for the rich, not just for ordinary people but for rulers and those who have power too. There is little distinction to be made among requests, prayers and the rarer intercession save that the middle word is the least specific one. Clearly Paul is including all sorts of prayer, however, and whenever we pray, there ought to be thankfulness and praise as well as intercession. The context suggests that it is not only individual Christians who should be resolved on intercession but that ministers should give it a high priority not only in their personal lives but also in the corporate life of the church too. It is particularly corporate prayer that Paul has in mind. Too often the prayer meeting can be neglected or given low priority in churches. Who can tell what a difference a broader and more earnest prayer life might make in a church?