Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Titus 1:11
Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake.
11. whose mouths must be stopped ] The verb is so used in classical Greek often; the ‘stopping’ must have reference to the ‘convict’ of Tit 1:9; Tit 1:13. Compare the use of ‘to muzzle’ in the Gospels, e.g. Mar 4:39, ‘Peace, be still,’ and 1Pe 2:15, where the ‘ignorance of foolish men’ is ‘to be muzzled’ by ‘well-doing.’
who subvert whole houses ] As R.V. men who, the compound relative implying the class to which they belong, and so the conduct for which they should be silenced; hence almost, ‘seeing that they.’ Cf. 1Ti 1:4, ‘the which.’ Render subvert whole households. Why should the Revisers give up the Latin word ‘subvert,’ which the A.V. has rendered familiar, and which gives the metaphorical overthrow more clearly?
teaching things which they ought not ] The negative used implies the general class of wrong teachings rather than any definite and specific facts or views. The effect is a less positive statement than if the other negative had been used; and the rendering ‘things which they ought not to teach and which they know they ought not’ is impossible. It should be ‘things of a class which I think improper to be taught.’
for filthy lucre’s sake ] Rather, for the sake of unfair gains, see Tit 1:7. Bp Ellicott quotes a striking passage from Polybius, Hist. vi. 46. 3, with respect to the Cretan character; ‘and generally their character as to unfair gains and covetousness is of this kind they are the only nation in the world among whom no sort of gain is thought unfair.’
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Whose mouths must be stopped – The word here rendered stopped – epistomizein – occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. It means, properly, to check, or curb, as with a bridle; to restrain, or bridle in; and then, to put to silence. It is, of course, implied here that this was to be done in a proper way, and in accordance with the spirit of the gospel. The apostle gives Timothy no civil power to do it, nor does he direct him to call in the aid of the civil arm. All the agency which he specifies as proper for this, is that of argument and exhortation. These are the proper means of silencing the advocates of error; and the history of the church shows that the ministers of religion can be safely entrusted with no other; compare Psa 32:8-9.
Who subvert whole houses – Whole families; compare Mat 23:14; 2Ti 3:6. That is, they turn them aside from the faith.
Teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucres sake – For gain. That is, they inculcate such doctrines as will make themselves popular, and as will give them access to the confidence of the people. They make it their first object to acquire influence as ministers of religion, and then abuse that in order to obtain money from the people. This they would doubtless do under many pretences; such as that it was needful for the support of the gospel, or for the relief of the poor, or perhaps for the assistance of distant Christians in persecution. Religion is the most powerful principle that ever governs the mind; and if a man has the control of that, it is no difficult thing to induce men to give up their worldly possessions. In all ages, there have been impostors who have taken advantage of the powerful principle of religion to obtain money from their deluded followers. No people can be too vigilant in regard to pretended religious teachers; and while it is undoubtedly their duty to contribute liberally for the support of the gospel, and the promotion of every good cause, it is no less their duty to examine with care every proposed object of benevolence, and to watch with an eagle eye those who have the disbursement of the charities of the church. It is very rare that ministers ought to have much to do with disposing of the funds given for benevolent purposes; and when they do, they should in all cases be associated with their lay brethren; see Paleys Horae Paulinae, chap. iv., No. 1, 3, note; compare 1Co 16:3. On the phrase filthy lucre, see the notes at 1Ti 3:3.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 11. Whose mouths must be stopped] Unmask them at once; exhibit them to the people; make manifest their ignorance and hypocrisy; and let them be confounded before the people whom they are endeavouring to seduce.
Subvert whole houses] Turn whole Christian families from the faith, attributing to the broad way what belongs only to the strait gate; ministering to disorderly passions, and promising salvation to their proselytes, though not saved from their sins.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Whose mouths must be stopped; the word is active; such ministers ought to be placed in cities as shall be able and fit to stop such persons mouths, by sound doctrine and arguments fit to convince them: or, thou oughtest to stop their mouths by silencing them; though I do not see how this was practicable in a pagan country, otherwise than by persuading Christians not to hear them.
Who subvert whole houses; who, as to the foundation of faith and its building, overturn whole families of Christians.
Teaching things which they ought not; infusing false doctrine into them.
For filthy lucres sake; and all for filthy gain: and all gain is so, that is got by deceiving and ruining of peoples souls, as to their faith and salvation.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
11. mouths . . . stoppedliterally,”muzzled,” “bridled” as an unruly beast (comparePs 32:9).
whoGreek,“(seeing that they are) such men as”; or “inasmuch asthey” [ELLICOTT].
subvert . . .houses“overthrowing” their “faith” (2Ti2:18). “They are the devil’s levers by which he subverts thehouses of God” [THEOPHYLACT].
for filthy lucre(1Ti 3:3; 1Ti 3:8;1Ti 6:5).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Whose mouths must be stopped,…. Or they be silenced, by reasons and arguments fetched out of the word of God; as were the Sadducees and Pharisees by Christ, so that they durst ask him no more questions; and as the Jews at Damascus were by Saul, who confounded them, proving in the clearest and strongest manner, that Jesus was the very Christ:
who subvert whole houses; into which they creep; that is, whole families, whose principles they corrupt, whose faith they overthrow, and carry them away with their own errors; and therefore, since this was the case not of a single person, or of a few, but of whole families, it was high time to attempt to convince them, and stop their mouths, that they might proceed no further:
teaching things which they ought not; which were not agreeable to the perfections of God, to the Scriptures of truth, to sound doctrine, and which were hurtful and pernicious to the souls of men: and that only
for filthy lucre’s sake; having no regard to the glory of God, the honour and interest of Christ, or the good of immortal souls; only seeking to gain popular applause and honour from men, and to gather and increase worldly substance. Covetousness was a sin which the Cretians were remarkably guilty of l.
l Cornel. Nepos, l. 23. c. 9.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Whose mouths must be stopped ( ). Literally, “whom it is necessary to silence by stopping the mouth.” Present active infinitive , old and common verb (, , mouth), here only in N.T. To stop the mouth either with bridle or muzzle or gag.
Overthrow (). Old and common verb, to turn up, to overturn. In N.T. only here and 2Ti 2:18. In papyri to upset a family by perversion of one member.
Things which they ought not ( ). Note subjective negative with indefinite relative and indicative mode.
For filthy lucre’s sake ( ). The Cretans are given a bad reputation for itinerating prophets for profit by Polybius, Livy, Plutarch. Paul’s warnings in 1Tim 3:3; 1Tim 3:8; 1Tim 6:5 reveal it as “a besetting temptation of the professional teacher” (Parry). See verse 7 above. Disgraceful gain, made in shameful ways.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Whose mouths must be stopped [ ] . Lit. whom it is necessary to silence. Epistomizein, N. T. o. o LXX Originally, to put something into the mouth, as a bit into a horse ‘s mouth. Epistomion is the stop of a water – pipe or of a hydraulic organ. Comp. fimoun 1Ti 5:18.
Who subvert [ ] . The double relative is explanatory of must; in as much as they, etc. For subvert rend. overthrow. See on 2Ti 2:18.
Houses [] . Families.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Whose mouths must be stopped.” (ous dei epistomizein) “Whose mouths it behooves to stop,” or it is proper to shut up. 2Co 11:13-15.
2) “Who subvert whole houses.” (oitines holous oikous) “Who (of the circumcision) trip up, undermine, or subvert entire households or families.” Mat 23:14; These kind are domestic home-breakers who will lead-on captive, silly women, unthinking women for filthy lucre, base monetary gain. 2Ti 3:6.
3) “Teaching things which they ought not.” (didaskontes ha me dei) “Teaching things which behooves not, or which ought not to be taught.” 2Ti 3:7-9.
4) “For filthy lucre’s sake.” (aischrou kerdous charin) “For the sake of base gain, or personal greedy financial profit to themselves.” Peter asserted that such persons would make “merchandise” of God’s children for their own covetous gain. 2Pe 2:2-3.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
11 Whose mouth must be stopped A good pastor ought therefore to be on the watch, so as not to give silent permission to wicked and dangerous doctrines to make gradual progress, or to allow wicked men an opportunity of spreading them. But it may be asked, “How is it possible for a bishop to constrain obstinate and self-willed men to be silent? For such persons, even though they are vanquished in argument, still do not hold their peace; and it frequently happens that, the more manifestly they are refuted and vanquished, they become the more insolent; for not only is their malice strengthened and inflamed, but they give themselves up to indolence.” I reply, when they have been smitten down by the sword of God’s word, and overwhelmed by the force of the truth, the Church may command them to be silent; and if they persevere, they may at least be banished from the society of believers, so that they shall have no opportunity of doing harm. (227) Yet by “shutting the mouth” Paul simply means — “to refute their vain talking,” even though they should not cease to make a noise; for he who is convicted by the word of God, however he may chatter, has nothing to say.
Who overturn whole houses. If the faith of one individual were in danger of being overturned, (for we are speaking of the perdition of a single soul redeemed by the blood of Christ) the pastor should immediately gird himself for the combat; how much less tolerable is it to see whole houses overturned?
Teaching things which they ought not. The manner in which they were overturned is described in these words. Hence we may infer how dangerous it is to make even the smallest departure from sound doctrine; for he does not say that the doctrines, by which they overturned the faith of many, were openly wicked; but we may understand by this designation every kind of corruptions, when there is a turning aside from the desire of edification. Thus it is in reality, that, amidst so great weakness of the flesh, we are exceedingly prone to fall; and hence it arises, that Satan easily and speedily destroys, by his ministers, what godly teachers had reared with great and long-continued toil.
He next points out the source of the evil, a desire of dishonest gain; by which he reminds us how destructive a plague avarice is in teachers; for, as soon as they give themselves up to the pursuit of gain, they must labor to obtain the favor and countenance of men. This is quickly followed by the corruption of pure doctrine.
(227) “If we mark such persons, and point them out with the finger, everybody will avoid them, and thus they will be prevented from doing harm This its what Paul had in his eye. Following his example, when we see people who can do nothing but contrive measures for disturbing and ruining the Church, and who are altogether addicted to evil, it is true that, if we can bring them back in a gentle manner to the right path, we should endeavor to do so. But if they persist, and if we perceive that they are obstinate in their malice, we must not be wiser than the Holy Spirit. They must be known, they must be exposed, and their baseness must be held up to public view, that they may be abhorred, and that others may withdraw from them, as we have formerly seen in other passages. As for those who murmur when we make use of such liberty, they shew plainly that they aim at nothing but confusion in the Church. They do indeed make a show of having some regard to humanity. ‘And must we degrade people, and hold them up to scorn, as if we wished to put them to shame?’ We answer, Must we leave the poor Church of God in the power of wolves and robbers? Must all the flock be scattered, the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ trampled under foot, and souls which he has redeemed at so costly a price go to perdition, and all order be set aside; and must we nevertheless be silent and shut our eyes?”— Fr. Ser.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(11)Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses.The translation should run here, seeing they subvert, &c. There was, indeed, grave cause why these men should be put to silence; the mischief they were doing in Crete to the Christian cause was incalculable. It was no longer individuals that their poisonous teaching affected, but they were undermining the faith of whole families. For an example how Titus and his presbyters were to stop the mouths of these teachers of what was false, compare Mat. 22:34-46, where the Lord, by His wise, powerful, yet gentle words, first put the Sadducees to silence, and then so answered the Pharisees that neither durst any man from that day forth ask Him any more questions.
Teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucres sake.Here St. Paul goes to the root of the evil, when he shows what was the end and aim of these teachers life. It was a mean and sordid ambition, after allmerely base gain. When this is the main object of a religious teachers life, his teaching naturally accommodates itself to mens tastes. He forgets the Divine Giver of his commission, and in his thirst for the popularity which brings with it gold, his true work, as the faithful watchman of the house of Israel, is forgotten and ignored.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
11. Mouths must be stopped Not by physical force, nor usually by pure ecclesiastical authority. Yet, while church authority is less peremptory as to what private members believe, it is rightly exerted over what the minister whom it authorizes shall preach. In the present verse the meaning is, that the gainsayers shall be silenced by the ability of the elder to convince. Tit 1:9. Who not only seduce individuals, but subvert, that is, overthrow, (a Greek word physically expressive of overthrowing a building,) whole houses, or families. St. Paul, doubtless, speaks from memory here, of houses like that of the Philippian jailer, all baptized, (Act 16:33😉 or like that of Stephanas, baptized by himself, (1Co 1:16😉 or like that of Onesiphorus, administering to and sustaining him, (2Ti 1:16😉 but houses unlike those in being subverted and drawn from the Church into the Jewish or Gnostic fold.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Tit 1:11 . ] goes back to the end of Tit 1:9 .
( . .) is from , which denotes both the bridle-bit and the muzzle, and is equivalent either to freno compescere, coercere (synonymous with , Jas 3:3 ), or to os obturare (= , Mat 22:34 ). The latter signification is more usual (see Elsner, p. 332): “put to silence.” Theophylact: , .
(= quippe qui, and giving the reason for ) ] The chief emphasis is laid on : not merely individuals, but also whole families are misled by them into unbelief.
] see 2Ti 2:18 ; “the figure is here used in keeping with ” (Wiesinger).
] “teaching what should not be taught;” this shows the means by which they exercise so destructive an influence; , equivalent to , 1Ti 5:13 .
This refers to , just as does to .
The purpose is briefly set forth by . The disgrace of their gain consists in the means they employ for acquiring it. The apostle adds these words to point out the selfish conduct of the heretics, who work only for their own profit.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
11 Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake.
Ver. 11. Whose mouths must be stopped ] Gr. , muzzled, as bandogs are. Frogs, they say, will leave croaking if but a light be hanged over the lake wherein they are. Let but the truth come clearly in place, and heretics will be soon silenced. But if they will not, another course must be taken with them.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Tit 1:11 . : quos oportet redargui, whose mouths must be stopped by the unanswerable arguments of the orthodox controversialist. This is the result hoped for from the “conviction,” of Tit 1:9 .
: pervert whole families (Alf.); Moulton and Milligan give an apt illustration from a papyrus of second cent. B.C., [ ] [ ] ( Expositor , vii., 1:269). This suggests the rendering upset . The whole family would be upset by the perversion of one member of it.
: Normally, is used in relative sentences with the indicative. Other exceptions will be found in 2Pe 1:9 , 1Jn 4:3 (T.R.). It is possible that the force of here is given by translating, which ( we think ) they ought not . If the teaching had been absolutely indefensible by any one, he would have said, . See Blass, Grammar , p. 254.
: The three reff. on , the only other occurrences in N.T. of this adj., are instances of the phrase . The reference is to the claim to support made by itinerating or vagrant prophets and apostles such as are referred to in the Didache , cc. 11, 12, and alluded to in 2Co 11:9-13 . All such abuses would exist in an aggravated form in Crete, the natives of which had an evil reputation for , according to Polybius, . ( Hist . vi. 46. 3, cited by Ell.). They get a bad character also from Livy (xliv. 45), and Plutarch ( Paul. Aemil . 23). The Cretans, Cappadocians, and Cilicians were .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
mouths . . . stopped. Greek. epistomizo. Only here.
subvert = overthrow. Greek. anatrepo. Only here and 2Ti 2:18.
houses = households. Greek. oikos. Figure of speech Metonymy (of Subject). App-6.
for . . . sake. Greek. churin, as in Tit 1:5.
filthy. Greek. aischros Only here. See Tit 1:7.
lucre’s = gain’s. Only here; Php 1:1, Php 1:21; Php 3:2.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Tit 1:11. ) to stop the mouth; to reduce to silence by the power of the Spirit, as the unruly deserve.- , whole houses) A great loss to Paul. [But in the present day what takes place as regards whole streets? What is done regarding country hamlets and cities?-V. g.]-, they subvert) as deceivers.- , teaching things which they ought not) as vain-talkers.- , for the sake of filthy lucre) Construed with, they subvert. Baseness is seen most of all in (vile) contemptible gain; Eze 13:19. [1Ti 6:5.]
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Tit 1:11
whose mouths must be stopped;-They must either be convinced themselves so as to cease talking or they must be so met and confuted that others will not listen to them. [Vain talkers are the pests of churches and families, sowing the seeds of distrust and turning mens minds against the gospel.]
men who overthrow whole houses,-They not only destroy themselves, but they lead astray whole houses. [The mischief they were doing to the cause of Christ was incalculable. It was no longer individuals that their poisonous teaching affected, but they were undermining the faith of whole families.]
teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucres sake.-They subverted the truth for gain. [It is a significant fact that elders and teachers are to take heed to themselves and then to the church (Act 20:28), and to be ensamples to the flock (1Pe 5:3), show that they are doers of the word, and not hearers only, and that they have already reduced to practice the good lessons they are to teach others (1Ti 4:12). It is a shame and a reproach upon the cause of Christ that some preachers and teachers at the present day seem to have but little sense of common honesty, honorable dealing, integrity, and uprightness; they do not attach sufficient importance to keeping their word and paying their debts.]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
mouths: Tit 1:9, Tit 3:10, Psa 63:11, Psa 107:42, Eze 16:63, Luk 20:40, Rom 3:19, 2Co 11:10
subvert: Mat 23:14, 2Ti 3:6
filthy: Tit 1:7, Isa 56:10, Isa 56:11, Jer 8:10, Eze 13:19, Mic 3:5, Mic 3:11, Joh 10:12, 1Ti 6:5, 2Pe 2:1-3
Reciprocal: Gen 20:9 – ought Num 22:7 – rewards of divination Jdg 18:4 – hired me Job 16:3 – what emboldeneth Pro 6:12 – walketh Pro 12:11 – he that followeth Pro 15:28 – the mouth Pro 18:21 – Death Pro 21:6 – getting Ecc 9:18 – sinner Jer 17:11 – he that Dan 11:34 – cleave Hos 4:8 – set their heart on their iniquity Mat 24:49 – and to Act 15:24 – that certain 2Co 2:17 – which 2Co 4:5 – we 2Co 11:13 – deceitful Gal 1:7 – pervert Eph 5:3 – covetousness Phi 3:19 – whose God Col 2:4 – lest 1Ti 1:7 – to 1Ti 3:3 – filthy 1Ti 5:13 – speaking 1Ti 6:10 – the love 2Ti 2:16 – for Tit 3:11 – is subverted Jam 3:6 – a world 1Pe 5:2 – not for 2Pe 2:3 – through
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Tit 1:11. Mouths must be stopped. Neither the evangelist nor an elder can use force literally to close the mouth of a false teacher. But he can use the means stated in verse 9 to expose him, and thus counteract the evil effects of his mouth. Subvert whole houses denotes that they sometimes mislead whole families with their false teaching. Filthy lucre’s sake. By their perverted use of the law of Moses, they sought to please their hearers, in the hope that it would bring them some money as a sort of “tip” from the dupes for their good feeling.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Tit 1:11. Stopped; literally, muzzled; best done by exposing them as persons who overturn entire houses, i.e. families, through anarchic doctrine subversive of domestic authority: probably lax theories of Christian freedom in reference to wedlock and the duties of children and of slaves. Their motive was base gain (better than filthy lucre) to be won from their perverts.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Silence the False Teachers
Paul continues his description of the nature of the false teachers by quoting a Cretan poet. J. W. Roberts says Epimenides and later Callimachus wrote, “The Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, idle gluttons.” In fact, a Cretism was a lie. Obviously, such men were not interested in spiritual matters. Their one desire was to receive fleshly pleasure. Paul wanted such who were in the church to receive a sharp reprimand. Otherwise, some of the Cretan Christians might have gone back into that lifestyle. Also, Paul hoped such would turn the false teachers back to sound teaching in accord with the truth ( Tit 1:12-13 ). Sound teaching would help the false teachers turn aside the myths of the Jewish teachers ( Tit 1:14 ). It would enable them to ignore the commands of those teachers as well.
The pure see things, such as shoes, clothing, pots, etc., as pure and useful. However, the defiled man sees only defiled things ( Pro 23:7 ). One can tell whether a man is of a pure or impure nature. He has only to look at his works. The false teacher will be found to be contemptible in God’s sight, disobedient and unsuited to any good work ( Tit 1:15-16 ; Mat 7:15-20 ).
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
Verse 11
For filthy lucre’s sake. In what way precisely this pharisaical sanctity was turned to the purposes of gain, is not known. There are frequent allusions, however, to the fact that this was done. (Compare 1 Tim. 6:5. 2 Tim. 3:6, 7.)
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake.
“Unruly” is a good translation of this word, it relates to not being subject to the authority. This could mean to school authority, parental authority, employer authority, legal authority or Spiritual authority.
They are people that will need strong leadership because they don’t naturally want to follow or be under anyone else.
The term translated “vain talkers” speaks to worthless or useless talk. Someone that engages mouth with or without brain being engaged. Someone that verbalizes their rambling thought life. I don’t know that the word carries this thought or not but since it is translated vain talkers, I have to wonder if part of it isn’t the thought of their self-important verbalizations, that they think everyone in the world needs to hear. You may have run into someone like this, they verbalize their every thought for all to hear – they seem to feel that the whole world needs to know of their every thought due to its being very very important.
The “deceiver” is one that plays with another’s mind to bring to deception. Now, that could include some car salesmen I have met over the years. It could relate to the convincing of someone that false doctrine is correct. Anyone that is trying to convince someone of something that is not true.
Well, that most likely includes the lie. We will see this later as “liar” is one of the terms used in a later verse.
Again, we see the need for strong and moral leadership in the churches. New converts that are normally liars and deceivers are going to be coming to the church and they will be an influence upon the other believers. Leaders will have to be on their toes to curtail these people and their activities.
Paul even goes so far as to specify that a particular group is the worst offender and these are – those of the circumcision. He undoubtedly is referring to Jews that were living on Crete. He knew them for what they were – he knew their lifestyle and their way of life, he knew their very character and it was not good.
How disheartening it must have been for Paul, a Jew by birth, a Jew by training to have to say such things about his people, about people he may have worked within his earlier years, people that should have known better – these people were raised to honor the Old Testament, but he knew them to be living as pagans from the sound of his evaluation.
We have an interesting phrase here. The word translated “mouth” and the word translated “be stopped” are the same Greek word. The term has the idea of muzzling an animal that is out of control if you want a great word picture. The use of the term indicates, “you must bridle the mouth of those that have their mouths bridled. As if they can cause trouble even if they are muzzled – people that REALLY MUST BE STOPPED FROM SPEAKING THEIR LIES. The term for “must” is a strong word indicating it really needs to be done.
The next phrase “subvert whole houses” is also very strongly put. The “whole” has the idea of “every whit” or every portion, every little bit of, while the term “houses” can be translated household. These people can “subvert” or destroy complete households if left unchecked.
As the Gospel can completely revolutionize an entire household, so can false doctrine do the same thing. The why of this might be important to consider for a moment.
If a parent is convinced of something, they are obviously going to attempt to turn the entire family to that view point because they know it is true. My wife ran into a woman that didn’t believe in “proselytizing” so I told my wife to tell her that if she really believes that she has the truth, and that those that do not are going to spend eternity in hell, then isn’t it our moral obligation to tell them of what we believe.
It is quite like seeing a house on fire. You know that the people inside are going to die if they aren’t warned, thus it is your moral obligation to yell fire, call the fire department and assist the people in any way possible. To do less would show you as uncaring, inhuman and probably in legal trouble for not assisting, thus if we have the way to heaven and we fail to give that information to others we are spiritually corrupt – in my mind at least.
So, one that is convinced of some false doctrine, will enter into great efforts to convince the entire family of the same.
Now, if that isn’t a basis for a pastor using his pulpit and lectern to warn his people of false teaching and false teachers, and false philosophies, I don’t know what it is. Many pastors don’t want to be negative; they feel that if you give the truth, they will recognize the false when it comes along. This is true, but don’t count on it. Many mainline Christians are now Mormons due to the fact that they didn’t see the lie to be false, but accepted it as truth.
More than one Christian young person has been engulfed in cults due to their lack of teaching/warnings in Sunday school, church and youth group meetings. WE MUST WARN, WE MUST TEACH, AND WE MUST TRY TO PROTECT or we are not doing our people right.
These deceivers are teaching what they ought not; they are talking to people and trying to convince them of the validity of their falsehood.
On the one hand this must be frustrating to the deceiver – to have to try to convince someone that falsehood is truth. It should be much easier to show truth to be truth – well it should be, but it seems in today’s society truth is the negative, and false is the norm. To convince otherwise, you must over come all that society sets forth as good. The false, in America, is becoming “truth” all too quickly. The Democratic Party has been spewing forth falsehood as if it was truth and no one in the media has called them on it. I rather suspect that Republicans have done some of the same, but I have not seen it done with the viciousness and ranker of the Democrats.
Guess that is one reason I am proud to be an independent, I only wish we had a candidate.
Paul says that they “ought not” teach these things. “Ought” is a word that indicates something that must be done, it is right to do it, while the word “not” is the flat out DON’T DO IT – the thought being you absolutely should not do it. Even though they think it a must, they should not be doing it.
We see the motivation for these people – money. They teach their false doctrine for gain. How terrible to deceive to make a living. Yet, many today do just this. This is certainly in the negative, in the area of false teaching, but I think there is strong warning in it for those that are in the business of teaching Godly principles – don’t teach for gain, teach because it is right and proper with no thought to gain. If gain comes along, that is fine, but that should never be the basis for your ministry.
Some suggest that “I have a family to think of.” Okay, think of them, get a job and support them while ministering. If God wants you out of that job then he will provide income from the congregation, but don’t EVER minister for money, minister because you want to serve God. You have the truth directly from God, which should be the only incentive that you need. It is your moral obligation to share truth with those that need it. How dare we put the giving of truth subject to the financial gain we might need or desire.
Most of the modern day cults fit into these verses. They are headed up by men that are in it for the money and the glory. They have little concern for their people which is seen in the immorality, poor feeding, long hours etc. that they subject their followers to.
So, pastor how does your congregation sound now? This is quite a bunch of people and Paul isn’t even done yet. The list just keeps going on.