Titus 3:11 Warped, sinful

Titus 3:11 You may be sure that such people are warped and sinful; they are self-condemned.

In verse 9 of Titus 3 Paul tells Titus to avoid foolish controversies and pointless arguments. This leads him in verse 10 to tell him how to deal with divisive people. In their case, try as you might, there will be divisions and disagreements. They must be warned first and then warned again. if they persist in being divisive then certain conclusions can be fairly drawn, Paul says. This is the point of verse 11. You may be sure says Paul that such people have two obvious characteristics. They are warped and sinful. Such people are perverted. They are twisted. They have been bent from being straight and they fall short of the mark. Such people, he says are self-condemned. It is not clear what Paul means by this unique word. Is he talking about the way the man's own conscience condemns him or is it, and this seems more likely, that in dividing himself off from everyone else he shows that he does not really belong to the church and so in a paradoxical way he reveals the true state of his heart? So be on the look out for the divisive person. He will not listen to warnings, though they must be given. There is something so warped and sinful about him that you cannot work with him in the end and indeed he will not work with you anyway.