Titus 1:16 Hypocritical talk

They are avowing an acquaintance with God, yet by their acts are denying it, being abominable and stubborn, and disqualified for every good act.

A whole range of evil qualities of “the insubordinate” (1:9) has been enumerated. But the last thing Paul says of them here takes the cake. These people prided themselves on knowing about God. But “their acts” they loved to talk about showed just the opposite. Their confession was like a flag on a mud barge. Paul warns in the second letter of Timothy that in “the last days,” this hypocrisy will be characteristic of Christendom as a whole. They will have an appearance of godliness, while denying its power (2 Tim. 3:5).

Paul adds that these people, with all their religiousness, were “abominable and stubborn.” By using the word “abominable” (which is always associated with “abominations” or idols), Paul denounces the religiosity of “the insubordinate.” Their religious zeal is as perverse as idolatry. In addition, they were also not open to correction: they did not allow themselves to be dictated by “the sound teaching”. Thus they disqualified themselves from any good work.

So much for the dark background on Crete. And now the positive contrast…

Delen: