December 01, 2025

Sermon: Foolish Questions, Heretics, and Winter Plans (Titus 3:8-15)

44 minutes

Foolish Questions, Heretics, and Winter Plans

Sunday, November 30th, 2025

Christ Covenant Church – Centralia, WA

Titus 3:8–15

Prayer

O Father, we thank You for this precious letter, that you inspired the Apostle Paul to write to Titus, and which You have preserved for the church’s benefit, so that we hearing it today, 2,000 years later, might learn from the church in Crete, that we might discern what Your unchangeable will is for your holy people. So please bless now the preaching, the hearing, and the keeping of this Word of faith, for we ask this all in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Introduction

This morning, we come to the happy conclusion of Paul’s letter to Titus. And whenever you get to the end of a book in the Bible, it is often worthwhile to go back and reflect on how that book began and why it was written in the first place.

Recall that Paul is writing a personal letter to his spiritual son Titus, and this letter is all about how to govern and care for the church.

And because this question of church government and discipline is important for the whole church to know about, Paul intends this letter to be read publicly within the many cities and congregations on the Island of Crete.

And so while this letter is addressed to Titus as a spiritual ruler, we see in the final verse of this letter (Titus 3:15), Paul proclaims “Grace be with you all (plural),” referring to all the saints in Crete.

So just in case the Christians in Crete are uncertain about Titus’ authority, preaching, and doctrine, they have this letter from the Apostle’s pen to confirm his ministry among them.

Recall also the reason why Titus was left in Crete in the first place. Paul says in Titus 1:5, For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee.

So now that we have studied this letter in its entirety, we can more fully appreciate everything that was wanting and lacking in Crete.

1. First and foremost, they were lacking a qualified eldership, and so chapter 1 was spent detailing Presbyterian government and what a bishop/pastor must be.

2. Second, was this problem of false teachers, of whom Paul says in Titus 1:11, their mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake.

3. And then after addressing this lack of leadership in the church, he spends the rest of the letter addressing what is wanting amongst the saints. And so in chapters 2-3 he addresses every class of people within the church: older men, older women, younger women, younger men, servants, and then all Christians in their relation to the civil government and the outside world.

And this brings us to Paul’s concluding words and salutations here in verses 8-15, which contains specific instructions for Titus more personally but also has principles that the whole church ought to know and embrace.

So while this section is directed primarily at the pastors and elders in the church, it’s still important for all the saints to know these things and to be aware of them.

Outline of the Text

In verses 8-9, Paul contrasts what is good and profitable with what is unprofitable and vain, and therefore to be avoided.

In verses 10-11, He tells Titus how to deal with heretics who persist in what is unprofitable and vain.

In verses 12-15, He directs Titus to fulfill some of his presbytery duties to assist other ministers.

So we have here: 1) What to avoid, 2) How to deal with heretics, and 3) How to help other ministers.

Verses 8-9 – What should Titus avoid?

8This is a faithful saying and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men. 9But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.

So looking at verse 8, what is this faithful saying that Titus is to affirm constantly? It is nothing less than the doctrine of God’s grace that leads to good works which is what he just explained in the verses prior, and which has been then theme of this whole letter, the marriage between wholesome doctrine and wholesome living, God’s grace that leads to gracious action.

So unlike the Cretans who are “always liars, evil beasts, and lazy gluttons,” Christians are to be submissive to the civil government, hardworking and peaceful citizens, and they are To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men (Titus 3:2).

So Christian conduct should look radically different from the unbelieving world around them. There should be an obvious difference between the light and the dark. However, lest we get too high on our horse as children of the light, Paul also wants us to constantly remember our former state, our former sins and ignorance, and the grace of God shown to us in spite of that ignorance and sin and the eternal damnation we all justly deserve.

And so the faithful saying that Titus must affirm constantly is that salvation is Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; [so] That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a faithful saying…(Titus 3:5-8).

So that’s the content of what Titus and every Christian needs to keep front and center. Last week we said that this is the truth that makes us gentle and meek, patient and kind. And then in sharp contrast to this truth, which is most good and most profitable, there are all kings of falsity, diversions, and distractions that we must learn to avoid.

Here in verse 9 Paul lists 4 things for Titus (and every pastor and parishioner) to avoid:

1. Avoid foolish questions.

So yes, this means that not all questions are good questions. Some questions are bad. In 2 Timothy 2:23 Paul says likewise, But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes.

How do you determine if a question is good or foolish, wise or unlearned?

Well first ask yourself, “Will knowing the answer to this question increase my faith in God, my love for God and my neighbor, and my ability to be a blessing to others?”

If the question and answer does not have any relevance to the duties God has assigned to you, then there’s a pretty good chance it is either a foolish question, or just a question for another time, or for someone else to ask and answer because it is relevant to them. Knowledge is not equally profitable to every mind, a child often needs a very different answer than a grown adult.

And so we must be on guard that our quest for knowledge or new understanding, is not a distraction from the actual duties and clear commands we already know and understand.

A husband can spend his entire life learning to obey and do better at Ephesians 5:25, Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.

And yet many husbands overlook what is most plain and clear and relevant to their own duties before God, and become fixated on doctrinal minutiae and debates, when what would really please God is turning off the TV, putting down the phone or the book, and holding their wife’s hand for a change, looking her in the eyes, and asking how is your soul?

There is a proper order to acquiring real knowledge. Wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord, with obeying the clear commands of God, and only after that do we proceed to other matters.

As David says in Psalm 131, Lord, My heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: Neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me.

So we must be careful to avoid foolish questions, or searching out things too high for us.

2. The second thing Paul says to avoid is genealogies.

Again notice, this is a fixation upon what is less relevant in Scripture at the expense of what is most important. The Jews were known for memorizing lists of names from Abel to Zerubbabel, and yet they neglected and lacked knowledge of why those names mattered.

Jesus points out this same problem in Matthew 23:23, Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

And so because Christ has come as the fulfillment, culmination, and end of the genealogies in Scripture, and because Christ is himself the Last Adam, and the head of a new humanity, debates about “who begat who,” and tracing your own bloodline to this tribe or that one is now irrelevant as far as the kingdom is concerned.

And so while there is a place for honoring and remembering our earthly fathers and mothers, baptism gives us a new identity and a new community in Christ, and that takes precedence and priority over everything else that we may ever discover about ourselves. It does not matter at all whether you have Abraham’s blood running through your veins, what matters is whether you have Abraham’s faith living in your heart.

As Paul says in Galatians 3:26-29, For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

So while carnal men and carnal women entangle themselves with things of the flesh, genealogies, blood and soil, the Christian is to avoid such fixations that distract from faith, that distract from Christ, and which only stir up identity politics, bitterness, and war. If the result of such “study” and “research” is you boasting in the flesh, or vilifying some people group, then it is by definition not of the Spirit. And such things Titus and everyone else should avoid.

3. & 4. The third and fourth thing to avoid are contentions, and strivings about the law.

This especially refers to squabbles over what you can eat and drink, touch or not touch, and which of the Jewish ceremonies were still binding on believers.

We learn from the church council in Acts 15 that this question was already debated and settled, and therefore it would be unprofitable and vain to rehash that same debate over and over again, rather than just obeying the decision that was determined.

Again, remember that the devil loves to distract you from obeying, by calling into question the Word of God. How did the serpent seduce Eve? By sowing doubt in her heart, “Did God really say?”

There is a time and a place to argue, debate, and defend the truth, but only if and when God has called you and equipped you to do that. Titus was a minister, and yet Paul says, avoid these kinds of strivings and contentions about the law, because they are a waste of time and will not profit anyone.

Moreover, the kinds of people who want to argue these things are warped in their mind. And the most loving thing to do for them is not argue, not engage them.

We need wisdom to know how to apply Proverbs 26:4-5, Answer not a fool according to his folly, Lest thou also be like unto him. Answer a fool according to his folly, Lest he be wise in his own conceit.

Debates with fools can easily consume hours of people’s time and attention and that without profit. Especially when what they should be doing is their God-given vocation, exercising dominion, raising their children, and serving others.

So if pastors and elders are to avoid these four things: foolish questions, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law, then how much more the rest of the congregation? If it is not profitable for Titus, it is definitely not profitable for you or me.

This bring us to our second question which is, How should Titus deal with the people who don’t listen, and who persist in what is unprofitable and vain.

Verses 10-11 – How should Titus deal with heretics?

10A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject; 11Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.

So notice that Paul is aiming at a kind of pastoral efficiency for Titus and the elders in Crete. He is insistent that they do not waste time debating with heretics, but rather warn them twice, and after that reject them.

Now here we might ask, what exactly is a heretic in this context?

This word for heretic could also be translated as a divisive man, or a schismatic, they are someone who causes division and usually is trying to gain followers for his own novel views.

Paul gives a similar warning about such people in Romans 16:17-18 he says there, Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.

So a heretic is someone who seeks to divide the church and gain for themselves a following. They are often fixated on some secondary or tertiary doctrine, or have invented some new doctrine contrary to the faith once received (often it’s some weird view of marriage, sex, or eschatology), but of course they do it all in the name of “true Christianity,” or being “more biblical” than the apostles were. Beware of such people.

On the outside, these men are often likeable and persuasive, Paul says it is with good words and fair speeches that they deceive the hearts of the simple. They use Bible verses just like the Devil did. They are smooth talkers, confidence men.

And so the way you find out if someone is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, or just a sheep who has been led astray by a wolf, is by confronting those errors and admonishing that person.

If they are obstinate and not teachable, you give them a second warning. And if they still refuse after that, Paul says mark and avoid them. This might be a public censure from the elders or presbytery, or it might be excommunication, but usually these people end up separating themselves from the body by their own choice, they avoid accountability, and then wander (like a wolf) around the fringes of the church.

So this is the biblical process for church discipline when someone is being divisive. We do not instantly kick them out, but after two warnings, they must be rejected.

Paul adds in verse 11 three common qualities of such divisive people. 1) They are subverted/perverted, meaning they have ruined themselves, they have abandoned the straight and narrow path of Christ. 2) They sinneth, not just any sin, but willfully and knowingly so because they’ve been admonished twice but have refused to repent. And then 3) he says such heretics are self-condemned. By dividing themselves from the “one holy catholic and apostolic church,” they witness to their own destruction. And it says in the WCF, they are now outside the church where “there is no ordinary possibility of salvation” (WCF 25.2)

Now one of the things I really appreciate about you as a congregation, is that you often ask us, me or one of the other elders about whether so and so is a sound teacher or not. And in these days of internet pastors, podcasts, platform builders, and the buffet of heresies that are just one click away (you thought pornography was bad, their soul destroying heretics all over YouTube) you need to be very careful who you follow and listen to.

As a general rule, if a person is not accountable to a real church with a real elder session that actually exercises real church discipline, that is at the very least a red flag.

Secondarily, if that person has a financial motive to generate traffic to their channel, there are now all kinds of perverse incentives to stir up controversy, to be provocative and edgy, just to game the algorithm. Again, that doesn’t automatically make someone a heretic, but it is something to factor in as to what someone’s real motives might be.

And then third, if that person does not meet those 16 qualifications to be a teacher in the church, in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, living above reproach, meek and gentle with all, then there’s a good chance something is off, and they may not be worth subjecting your soul to their instruction.

Summary: Titus and all of us are to avoid foolish questions that are vain and unprofitable. We are also to avoid divisive people (people who murmur and complain like Korah and his company did against Moses, and then were destroyed). Don’t become a divisive person, and don’t follow those who are contentious, or soon you will be divisive and contentious too.

As it says in Proverbs 22:24-25, Make no friendship with an angry man; And with a furious man thou shalt not go: Lest thou learn his ways, And get a snare to thy soul.

This brings us to our third and final section of this chapter, and the end of this letter.

Verses 12-15 – How should Titus help other ministers?

12When I shall send Artemas unto thee, or Tychicus, be diligent to come unto me to Nicopolis: for I have determined there to winter. 13Bring Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey diligently, that nothing be wanting unto them. 14And let ours also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses, that they be not unfruitful. 15All that are with me salute thee. Greet them that love us in the faith. Grace be with you all. Amen.

Here we have an assortment of presbytery duties that are assigned to Titus.

In verse 12 we see that Paul is planning to send Artemas or Tychicus (he’s not sure yet which one) to replace Titus on Crete, so that Titus can then join Paul in Nicopolis for the winter.

This means that Titus’s days are numbered in Crete, and this would be another reason to not waste time on heretics and foolish questions. He has a bunch of elders he has to examine and ordain, false teachers to kick out, and whole lot of work to get done before winter.

In verse 13, Titus is told to speed Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey, meaning pay for their expenses, give them lodging while they visit, replenish any needs they have so they can keep on going as ministers of the gospel.

This is something we try to do as a church when we have guest preachers visit us, or traveling evangelists like Keith Darrell. We want to show them hospitality, assist as we are able, and then send them on their way to keep preaching the truth.

In verse 14, Paul says that the church needs to have a kind of budget for these ministers, especially in a day without phones or email or knowledge of when exactly someone might arrive. In the ancient world there was no Air BnB, no cars or airplanes, and so traveling a was very dangerous and risky venture, especially by ship to an Island like Crete (as Acts 27 records for us).

And so Paul wants the church to maintain good works for necessary uses. Other translations have, And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need.

So are we prepared and budgeted for what God might send our way? Have we made plans and created margin for assisting those doing gospel work?

It says in Proverbs 10:4-5, A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich. He who gathers in summer is a prudent son, but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame. So what kind of son or daughter are you? Are you devoted to good works so that you have something to share with others?

We are likewise encouraged to be generous in Ecclesiastes 11:1-2 which says, Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days. Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.

And then finally in verse 15, Paul gives salutations and the blessing of grace to all those that love us in the faith. And then he seals that blessing with the holy kiss of Amen. Let it be so.

Conclusion

And so as we close this sermon and this series in Titus, I want to ask you some questions that God has confronted us with throughout this small but punchy letter.

1. Does your life adorn your doctrine? Does the way you live harmonize with the truth you profess? Does your conduct make people want to believe the things you believe, Or does it turn them off to Christ and the church by how you present the truth?

Recall that Titus 2:10 told us to, adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.

2. Do you know and are you aware of, what your particular sins and temptations are, and have you declared war on them? Remember how Paul addressed every man, every woman, old and young, servants and pastors, to acquire virtues and avoid vices that are common to our sex, age, and stage in life.

3. Are you being careful to maintain good works? Are you bearing fruit so that if an urgent need arises, you are ready and prepared to meet it?

Recall that Titus 2:14 says, that Christ gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

All of us have many areas in which to grow, in our doctrine, in our zeal, in becoming more gentle and meek to all.

And what Paul wants you to remember and affirm constantly, wherever you are at in this journey, is that this is a journey of grace.

As it says in Psalm 32:10, Many sorrows shall be to the wicked; But he who trusts in the Lord, mercy shall surround him.

The gospel is not that “we are so good and look at how awesome we are,” it is that God is so good, God is so kind, and look at how awesome God is.

Our testimony to the world is that we ourselves were once very lost, we ourselves were not long ago miserable creatures, hating God and hating one another. But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us.

God’s mercy is the only grounds of our boasting. And so may you say with the Apostle, and may you say with Jeremiah, let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord (Jer 9:24).

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

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