Titus 3:10

Context

The Epistle to Titus is a pastoral letter that Paul sent to his coworker Titus, who was establishing churches on the island of Crete. In the latter part of chapter 3, Paul urges Titus to "avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law" (3:9). This verse then addresses how to deal with a person who stirs up such disputes. The following verse (3:11) describes such a person as "condemned of himself." The passage also connects with the warning in 1:10–16 about the "deceivers" in the Cretan churches.

Interpretation

The Greek phrase that the Korean Revised Version renders "a person belonging to a heresy" (KJV: "a man that is an heretick") is hairetikos anthrōpos. Its root, hairesis, originally meant "choice," that is, a self-chosen group or "faction." In the New Testament it is used of sects such as the Sadducees and the Pharisees (Acts 5:17; 15:5), and opponents also used it to describe the Way that Paul followed (Acts 24:14).

• Reading it as a divisive person: Many modern commentators appeal to the context of 3:9. They understand the verse to refer not so much to a person holding a particular doctrine as to one who splits the community through pointless controversy. The Korean Revised Version also renders a word from the same family as "heresies" in Galatians 5:20, where it appears in the list of the works of the flesh alongside "strife" and "seditions" (KJV).
• Reading it as doctrinal heresy: Over the course of church history, the word gradually came to denote a person who persists in teaching that departs from the orthodox faith. In this tradition the verse is read as a principle for dealing with heresy.
• Reading it as a disciplinary procedure: This reading focuses on the sequence of admonishing the person "once or twice" (KJV: "after the first and second admonition") before keeping away from him. It takes the verse, together with the step-by-step admonition of Matthew 18, as a basis for church discipline. On this view, the verse means not that the person should be rejected from the outset, but that he should first be given an opportunity to turn back.

Questions Concerning Application

• The meaning of the word rendered "reject" remains an open question. Interpretations differ as to whether it means declining to engage in argument, breaking off fellowship, or formal excommunication.
• The fact that the original word is closer in meaning to "faction" is reflected in some translations, such as the Revised New Korean Standard Version. For this reason, some urge caution about using this verse as a direct basis for the heresy designations that denominations issue today through formal procedures. Conversely, those who hold that the verse also covers dividing the community over doctrinal matters regard such an application as legitimate.
• Others criticize the use of this verse to brand believers with differing views as "heretics" and to exclude them, arguing that such use takes the verse out of context.

In the Korean Church

This verse is frequently cited in sermons and teaching on guarding against heresy. In particular, it is used as a basis for the advice not to argue with or engage in extended conversation with members of heretical groups.

Related Passages

• Titus 3:9
• Galatians 5:20
• Matthew 18:15–17
• Romans 16:17
• 2 Thessalonians 3:14–15