Commentary - Titus 3:9-11

Bird's-eye view

In this brief but potent section, Paul concludes his instructions to Titus on how to establish good order in the Cretan churches. Having just laid out the glorious doctrines of salvation by grace, regeneration, and renewal by the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:4-7), he now turns to the practical matter of protecting the church from the kind of internal decay that renders such glorious truths inert. The contrast is stark. We have just ascended the heights of soteriology, and now we are told to avoid rabbit trails and dead ends. This is not an afterthought; it is a crucial application. A church that is sound in the faith must not only affirm the truth but must also refuse to be distracted by controversies that drain its energy and divert its mission. Paul identifies certain types of disputes as utterly worthless and commands a firm, decisive approach to dealing with the kind of men who thrive on such division. The health of the church depends on its ability to distinguish between fruitful theological labor and fruitless, contentious wrangling.

The flow of the argument is straightforward. First, Paul lists the kinds of debates that are to be shunned (v. 9). These are not substantive theological inquiries but rather foolish, speculative, and law-focused arguments that produce nothing of value. Second, he provides a clear, two-step disciplinary process for dealing with a person who persists in creating factions (v. 10). This is not about intellectual disagreement but about a character issue, a man who is bent on division. Third, he gives the rationale for this decisive action (v. 11). Such a man is not merely mistaken; he is warped, sinful, and has, by his own actions, passed judgment on himself. The church's action in rejecting him is simply a formal recognition of a spiritual reality he has already created.

Outline

Context In Titus

This passage serves as a crucial hinge in the letter. Paul has spent the first part of the letter outlining the qualifications for elders and the necessity of sound doctrine to combat false teachers (Chapter 1). He then detailed how sound doctrine should shape the lives of every demographic within the church (Chapter 2), grounding this ethical instruction in the grace of God revealed in Christ (2:11-14). Chapter 3 begins with instructions for submission to civil authorities and then pivots to a magnificent summary of the gospel of grace (3:3-7). Our text, 3:9-11, immediately follows this gospel summary. The placement is intentional. The glorious truth of our salvation is the foundation for the church's peace and unity. Therefore, anything that undermines that peace with pointless squabbles is an attack on the practical outworking of the gospel. Paul is telling Titus, "Now that I've reminded you of the bedrock of your unity in Christ, here is how you must guard that unity from those who would fracture it from within." It is a command to keep the main thing the main thing.

Clause-by-Clause Commentary

v. 9 But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and strife and conflicts about the Law, for they are unprofitable and worthless.

But avoid foolish controversies... The "but" here provides the contrast. We are to affirm the faithful saying about our salvation (v. 8), BUT we are to turn away from something else. The word for "avoid" means to stand aloof from, to shun. This is not a suggestion to win the argument, but a command to refuse to get in the ring. The controversies are described as "foolish." This is not a comment on the IQ of the participants, but a moral and spiritual assessment. In Scripture, folly is the opposite of godly wisdom. These are debates that are not aimed at truth, but at showcasing intellectual vanity. They are untethered from the gospel reality Paul has just described.

and genealogies... This was a particular problem in churches with a heavy Jewish influence, as seen also in 1 Timothy 1:4. This likely refers to speculative tracing of lineages, perhaps in an attempt to establish spiritual superiority or to spin Gnostic-like myths about emanations from God. Whatever the specific content, the point is that these discussions were detached from the person and work of Jesus Christ, in whom all the promises of God find their fulfillment. Our spiritual genealogy is what matters, and that is found in being united to Christ by faith.

and strife and conflicts about the Law... Here Paul lumps together the attitude (strife) and the subject matter (conflicts about the Law). The problem was not studying the Law of Moses. Paul himself quoted it and revered it as holy, just, and good. The problem was making it a ground for conflict, turning it into a tool for partisan wrangling. These were likely Judaizers who were trying to impose aspects of the ceremonial law on Gentile believers, creating divisions and factions. They were fighting about the law, not learning from the law how to live in light of the gospel. They had missed the point that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness.

for they are unprofitable and worthless. Paul gives the pragmatic, pastoral reason for shunning these things. They don't produce anything of value. They are "unprofitable", they yield no spiritual dividend. They do not build up the saints in their faith, hope, and love. They are "worthless," or vain. They are empty calories. A church that feeds on this kind of thing will be spiritually malnourished. It is the pastor's job to keep the flock in green pastures, and that means fencing off the patches of noxious weeds.

v. 10 Reject a factious man after a first and second warning,

Reject a factious man... The focus now shifts from the toxic subjects to the toxic person. The "factious man" is a heretical man, one who creates divisions and parties within the church. He is a partisan, a schismatic. He is not someone who is simply mistaken, but someone who insists on making his error a point of contention and a banner for others to rally around. The command is to "reject" him. This is a strong word, meaning to refuse or to have nothing more to do with. It points to formal church discipline, to excommunication. A church that refuses to discipline cannot maintain its health. It is like a body that has no immune system.

after a first and second warning... God's justice is always patient and restorative in its aims. The process is not summary execution. The man is to be admonished, warned. He is given two chances to repent. This demonstrates the church's love and its desire for his restoration. The warnings must be clear and direct, explaining the sin and calling for repentance. But the patience is not infinite. If the warnings are unheeded, the church has a duty to act decisively. The goal is the purity and peace of the whole body of Christ. We are to divide from the divisive.

v. 11 knowing that such a man is perverted and is sinning, being self-condemned.

knowing that such a man is perverted... Paul now gives the reason for this drastic action. The church's rejection of him is based on a clear-eyed understanding of his spiritual state. He is "perverted," or warped. The Greek word here means to be turned inside out or twisted. His whole way of thinking is distorted. He is not operating from a position of honest error; his spiritual compass is broken. He has turned away from the straight path of truth and is now on a crooked road of his own making.

and is sinning, being self-condemned. His factiousness is not just an intellectual quirk; it is active, ongoing sin. He "is sinning." And the final diagnosis is the most sobering: he is "self-condemned." By his own actions, by rejecting the patient warnings of the church, he has passed sentence upon himself. The church, in excommunicating him, is not doing something to him so much as it is formally recognizing and declaring what he has already done to himself. He has chosen his faction over the fellowship of the saints. He has loved his controversy more than Christ's body. He has, in effect, excommunicated himself from the peaceable fellowship of the gospel, and the church is simply called to ratify his decision. This is a solemn duty, but a necessary one for the preservation of the flock.

Application

The modern church is often terrified of conflict, and as a result, it is often plagued by it. We have a tendency to think that unity is preserved by tolerating everything. Paul teaches the opposite. True unity is preserved by being intolerant of the things that destroy unity. We are not to be contentious people, but we must be willing to contend for the peace of the church.

This means pastors and elders have a duty to police the boundaries of discourse in the church. We must cultivate robust theological discussion, but we must also have the wisdom to identify when a discussion has turned from a profitable inquiry into a "foolish controversy." We must teach our people to love the solid food of the gospel and to lose their appetite for the junk food of speculative strife. A healthy church is a focused church.

Furthermore, we must recover a biblical understanding of church discipline. When a man shows himself to be committed to division, he is a threat to the health of the entire body. To ignore him is not kindness; it is pastoral malpractice. Following the clear, patient process Paul lays out here, two warnings, then rejection, is the most loving thing we can do, both for the flock and for the divisive man himself. It is the loving application of a surgeon's knife, intended to cut out the cancer so that the body might live. The goal is always repentance, but the duty is faithfulness.