Titus 1 • Godliness Leaves No Room for Rebellion

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Are you annoyed by reports of professing Christians on the public stage (authors, worship singers, and actors) who claim they no longer believe? In appealing to the Christian audience, they used their God-given skills to become rich even though their hearts were far from Him—in rebellion against Him. What should be your response? In the last podcast, we looked at how to be clothed with a godly reputation regarding work and wealth. This is post #10 in the 1 Timothy & Titus blog series. In this post, we will see that godliness leaves no room for rebellion.

Listen to this post as a similar podcast from Adorn Yourself with Godliness Bible Study covering 1 Timothy and Titus in the New Testament. (11 lessons)

The Influence of Rebellious People

Abandoning the faith

We learned in 1 Timothy 4, that some who claim to be Christians will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits instead.

The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. (1 Timothy 4:1)

As a Christian who has an understanding of God’s gospel of grace and all that Christ did on the cross for me to have a relationship with God, I don’t understand why anyone would let that go. Why anyone would intentionally depart from that to follow deceiving spirits. But deceiving spirits deceive. They make whatever they teach sound good. Sound spiritual. Sound like it will make you happy and better.

Dealing with rebellious people

At the end of Titus chapter 1, Paul wrote these words beginning in verse 10,

For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group. They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. (Titus 1:10-11)

Rebellious people incite rebellion. If you read on, you see that they have been exposed to the truth just like those people described in 1 Timothy 4. They were part of the church congregation. Paul said they must be silenced.

One way to silence is to not give them an audience or a platform. Stop listening to their podcasts, reading their blogs, or buying their books. Protect your sphere of influence from them. Be honest with people you know about their destructive teaching. That is how to “silence” rebellious people.

Another way to silence rebellious people is to confront them:

Therefore rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the merely human commands of those who reject the truth. (Titus 1:13-14).

Titus had authority over those in that church fellowship. Some had decided to go rogue and spread teaching to the Cretans that was contrary to the Gospel preached by Paul and other Christians. It was disrupting whole households. They needed to be publicly rebuked. The goal is that they would once again be sound in the faith and would pay no attention to others who reject the truth. The sad thing is that the rebellious looked like religious people.

Recognizing Influential Fakers

Crete’s influential fakers

Those rebellious, religious people were influential fakers. Paul described them this way:

They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good. (Titus 1:16)

The influential fakers were acting religious. They were pretending to be Christians for the sake of dishonest gain. Somehow, they were getting rich as fakers. Gullible Christians were going to their seminars and buying their CDs because the fakers looked good on the outside.

But when you looked at their real lives, you saw the results of their hypocrisy. Their minds were corrupted. Paul recognized that they really did not believe the Gospel. They had not been born again. They were play actors, playing a part to gain influence and power over genuine Christians.

According to the Bible, such influential fakers were and are, “detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.” That is a problem for us today as well.

Modern influential fakers

In this day of instant news, every few weeks there are reports of professing Christians on the public stage (authors, worship singers, and actors) who claim they no longer believe. Only God knows their true natures, whether they were actually believers or not. If they are true Christians, the Holy Spirit will work on their hearts to bring them back to the Lord. If they are not true Christians, they fit the description from Titus chapter 1. Rebellious.

And many of them had claimed to be Christians in order to appeal to the Christian audience, and they used their God-given skills to become rich even though their hearts were far from Him. Rebellious.

I can understand why greedy people would pretend to be Christians to access the Christian media and audiences. The unbeliever is deceived by Satan and blinded to the good news of the gospel. Sin is deceptive. As Paul wrote in 1 Timothy chapter 6, the love of money and the desire to get rich is a trap and leads to destructive behavior.

Legalism Feeds Rebellion

But why do people who have tasted the goodness of the Gospel rebel against it? As I’ve pondered why someone who has tasted the goodness of the Lord would abandon Him, I’ve recognized three different reasons why someone would give up on the Gospel and go their own way.

1) I covered the first one “legalism” in a previous blog. Some abandon the faith because of the influence of legalism. They are turned off by the hypocrisy of legalism and discouraged by the hopelessness of legalism. Both of these lead to abandoning the faith for something else that sounds better.

Read the blog, “1 Timothy 4:1-16 • Legalism Is Not Godliness.”

In this blog, I’ll cover the other two reasons why someone might give up on the Gospel and go their own way—2) disappointment in God’s answer to a specific prayer and 3) hanging on to a favorite sin.

Disappointment in God’s Answer to a Specific Prayer Feeds Rebellion

This is another situation that feeds rebelliousness in those who claim to know God. What this verse says is so true:

For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope. (Romans 15:4)

“Everything that was written in the past” referred to the Old Testament. It still teaches us today and should not be ignored.

Check out these Bible Studies covering the Old Testament with this truth in mind: Old Testament Women, Old Testament Men, 1 & 2 Chronicles, and Ezra through Malachi.

As you read through the Old Testament, it is evident that human nature has not changed one whit over the millennia of recorded history. Nations, jobs, and life experiences have changed. But human responses to authority, hardships, fellow humans, and God have not changed. That is quite evident as you read the book of Jeremiah.

Example from Jeremiah’s life

Babylon had conquered Jerusalem and destroyed it. The poorest people were left in the land along with a few army officers who escaped Jerusalem. They found Jeremiah, a prophet of God, and asked him to pray for direction from God about what to do next. This is their request in chapter 42,

“Pray that the LORD your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do. … Whether it is favorable or unfavorable, we will obey the Lord our God, to whom we are sending you, so that it will go well with us, for we will obey the Lord our God.” (Jeremiah 42:3, 6)

Pretty straight forward. Ask God what we should do. We will be good with His answer and will obey Him. So far, so good. Right? Finally, some people who love God enough to be willing to obey Him. At least, that is what you might think.

God sent His answer ten days later. They had to wait those 10 days for God’s answer. God told them to stay in the land. If they stayed, God would build them up and plant them firmly in it, making them prosper. And God would show compassion to them through the king of Babylon who would help them to restore their land. Sounds like a great answer, doesn’t it? God was basically saying, “Stay here. I’ve got you covered. You are going to flourish.”

But God knew what was really in their hearts. He went on to say that if they went to Egypt to live, they would lose His hand of protection and starve to death or be killed when the king of Babylon conquered Egypt.

Pretty straight forward. They asked for direction. God gave them clear direction with a great promise.

That’s not the answer the people wanted. They wanted to go to Egypt, and they wanted God’s blessing on them to do that. So they headed to Egypt in disobedience to God.

My will be done

People want their own way, and they want God’s blessing on them to do that. When God doesn’t answer a prayer a certain way, they turn their backs on God.

How many people do you know who have turned their backs on God because He didn’t answer a prayer a certain way? Usually, it’s because God didn’t heal someone they loved, and that person died.

We more quickly say, “My will be done” than we say, “Your will be done, O Lord.” So we hold onto expectations of what we want. When God chooses a different answer, we don’t like it. We don’t trust His goodness, and we run away from Him instead, usually in anger. So disappointment in how God answers a specific prayer feeds rebelliousness.

What is the answer? Trust God. Trust His goodness in whatever He chooses to do. It will always turn out better than anything you plan. Don’t let disappointment in God’s answer to a specific prayer feed rebelliousness in you.

Read the blog, “Release Your Expectations of Acceptable Outcomes.”

Hanging On to a Favorite Sin Feeds Rebellion

A third situation that feeds rebellion in those who claim to know God is hanging on to a favorite sin.

Investigate why they are in rebellion

Whenever we read about a professing Christian on today’s public stage who claim they no longer believe in Christ, it’s good to investigate further. When you find out the truth about why they are giving up their faith, often buried in the story is sinful behavior they don’t want to give up. An affair. Addiction. Extreme guilt about something.

We know of a young woman who sang worship songs and wrote about her faith in Christ. Then, she had an affair with her pastor. Pretty soon, she was renouncing her faith. The bottom line was her guilt. Instead of dealing with her sin and letting Christ cleanse her of her guilt, she chose to deny her sin and walk away from Christ. Guilt is a favorite sin of women. And if you have the least tendency towards perfectionism, you can’t forgive yourself for that imperfection, so you wallow in it instead. It’s preferring sin over godliness.

One famous author of Christian books stated publicly that he no longer believed any of that baloney about Christ. It was all fake. What was going on in the background of his life? He was having an affair and divorcing his wife. He was hanging on to his sexual sin and preferred rebellion over godliness.

Example from Jeremiah

Back to Jeremiah, what fed the rebellion of the Jews so that they were so bull-headed about going to Egypt? It turns out that their women were still burning incense to their favorite idol called “the Queen of Heaven” and making cakes with her image on it. They didn’t want to give up their sin. God said to them as they were living in Egypt,

“Do not do this detestable thing that I hate! … Why arouse my anger with what your hands have made, burning incense to other gods in Egypt, where you have come to live?” (Jeremiah 44:4)

Their answer to God was this:

“We will not listen to the message you have spoken to us. … We will certainly do everything we said we would: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and will pour out drink offerings to her.” (Jeremiah 44:16-17)

They would not give up their sin. It gave them pleasure. Hanging on to a favorite sin feeds rebelliousness.

People in rebellion encourage others to do likewise

People who are in rebellion like to hang onto their rebellion against God and encourage others to do the same. Consider those professing Christians on today’s public stage who claim they no longer believe. They are often praised on social media for having the courage to publicly express their doubts and renounce their belief system.

Having honest doubts and questions that you are willing to explore is not sin. Rebellion against God is sin. Those who are in it like to hang onto it. Hanging on to a favorite sin feeds rebelliousness.

Dealing with Recognized Sin

As long as you live in your earthly body, you will be tempted to sin. Sin will happen—whether intentionally or unintentionally. If you are a Christian, let it go. Don’t let yourself hang onto a favorite sin so that it feeds rebelliousness in you.

Here’s how to deal with recognized sin in your life:

First, remember that your identity is child of God.
Then, agree with God that you’ve sinned against Him and mourn your sin.
Then, depend on the Holy Spirit to help you obey God in the future. Ask His help to overcome that sin, to let it go.
Then, trust in Him to help you overcome the consequences of any sinful choices that you’ve made and to do so in a way that brings glory to Him.

That’s living a life that pleases the Lord in every way. That will lead to restored godliness in your life.

Read a more detailed discussion of this process in, “2 Corinthians 6:11-7:16 • Purify Yourself from Contamination.”

Godliness Leaves No Room for Rebellion

Going back to Titus 1:16.

[The rebellious people] claim to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for doing anything good. (Titus 1:16)

I don’t care how gifted you are in art, music, poetry, writing, teaching, science, or any other field, if you are in rebellion against God then you are unfit for doing anything good, even in your brilliance.

In response to those in rebellion against God, the Bible says to stop enabling them (Titus 1:11). Don’t buy their products. Don’t let their words into your homes. Pray for the Holy Spirit to convict them of their sin of rebellion and turn to the God of forgiveness and complete renewal.

Dear reader, don’t let your heart become rebellious against God your Savior who has done so much for you and gives you everything you need for abundant, purposeful life. Stay devoted to God even when you don’t get your way or what you want to happen. He is bigger than any of your plans. Trust Him.

In the next post, we will see that godliness is transferable from woman to woman.

Let Jesus satisfy your heart with such love for God that you will want to live a life that pleases Him.

All of the above information is covered in the Adorn Yourself with Godliness Bible Study covering 1 Timothy and Titus in the New Testament.

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