“To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled. They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.” Titus 1:15–16
Clean vs. unclean heart
When Paul wrote this letter to Titus, religious groups in Crete were probably the forerunners to Gnosticism and were teaching the Cretans to not engage in material things. They didn’t eat certain foods, drink alcohol, or have sex. Culture in Crete was the opposite. They were a lazy, violent, gluttonous people. When the Gnostics brought them a counter intuitive religion that focused on spiritual things, there was a lot of controversy.
From a casual glance, what the false teachers were saying might have seemed like what the Cretans needed. But Paul contrasts their view by telling Titus that to the pure, all things are pure. There’s no category of clean and unclean. Jesus taught that it’s not what goes in that makes a person unclean, it’s the heart (Mark 7). The heart is the source of idolatry and wickedness. What comes out of the mouth emanates from the heart.
Have you ever said something and then followed it up with, “I can’t believe I said that. I didn’t mean that.” You did mean that, because the Bible teaches whatever comes out of your mouth is resonant in your heart. If you say something hateful, it’s because you have hate in your heart.
The only way to change the heart is through faith in Jesus, not through external religion. Religion is loosely defined as our efforts to make our relationship right with God in our own strength. Religious rules and external behaviors will never fix a defiled mind. What the false teachers are doing, although it may gain cultural acceptance and external change, won’t do anything to solve the problem of the soul being alienated from God.
Working from the inside out
False teachers profess to know Jesus but deny him, not by their words, but by their works. The actions of their life indicate they don’t belong to God. Paul told Timothy to watch his life and doctrine closely so people could see his faith in Christ and his progressive sanctification (1 Timothy 4:16). It’s important to think, feel, speak, and act more like Jesus the longer you know him.
The Christian life doesn’t work backwards. You can’t change your works and think somehow you’ll change your heart. God always works from the inside out. The neat thing about Christianity is it’s always uniquely a religion of the heart. We need a new heart for it to take root. If our heart is alienated from God, then he doesn’t simply reform our heart, he replaces it. We have a brand new identity in Jesus. From that place of a new heart come new desires, new motives, new Lord, and then our lives change progressively. Religion can’t penetrate the heart. We don’t have the power in and of ourselves to change our hearts. Only God can do that through Jesus.
This is Pastor Dave’s fourth post on Titus. Read parts one, two, and three.
