Chapter 3

Chapter 3 takes up the principle of grace orientation and authority. It is not degrading to recognise authority, it is a part of the principle under which you live as a believer.

Verse 1 — “Put them in mind” is u(pomimnhskw. This is a present active imperative, a command to Titus and by application it is a command to every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. It means to remind someone of something or to remember to think about something. You have to be reminded to think about certain things at certain times. Mimnhskw means to remember, u(po means under the principle of authority. The authority brought in by u(po is doctrine. There is a constant need to remind under authority and this is the principle here — present linear aktionsart, keep on doing it. The active voice: the one who is the pastor-teacher must constantly remind his right congregation of the importance of Bible doctrine and the principles of doctrine, including the principle of authority. This is a grace principle. The imperative mood: it is a command to all pastors just as it was a command to Titus to constantly remind under the principle of authority to communicate these things.

“to be subject” — present middle infinitive of u(potassw which takes us into the field of authority. The word means to be submissive or subordinate to some form of authority. It is the responsibility of the pastor to remind the members of his congregation, those who are believers in Jesus Christ, that authority exists on earth and authority must be recognised.

“to principalities and powers.” The word “principalities” is a)rxh which means those in high command. It is used for the ruler of a state. A)rxon is a commanding general. These words always refer to the highest rank and those who are rulers in a national entity. Notice that just as soon as those local churches are organised in Crete one of the first things they must learn is that they are in a state, a nation, a national entity; and they must have respect for the rulers of that national entity. In addition to that there are certain types of subordinate rulers mentioned under the word “powers.” These are both dative plurals and “power” is the word e)cousia which means authorities. It is a lower category of authority, however, it means those who have rule or jurisdiction in some area. There are many types of authority in a national entity. The Cretians were implacable, they resisted all kinds of authority, and they were doing it as believers. They refused to recognise the authority of doctrine, they refused to recognise the authority of anyone who communicated doctrine, they refused to recognise authority in the land under any circumstance. They lacked patriotism. So we have the command to remind believers to be subject, to be obedient, to be subordinate to the authority of national leadership, to be subordinate to powers, authorities.

“to obey magistrates” — peiqarxew [a)rxew = to rule; peiq = to respond or obey] which means here to obey those in authority, and it refers to authority found in the structure of society, in the political structure of a nation, and so on.

“to be ready” — present active infinitive of e)imi, “to always be.” Present tense: linear aktionsart. Active voice: you as a believer priest. Infinitive: it is God’s purpose for you; “ready” means prepared — e(toimoj.

“to every good work” should be “face to face with every good work.” In other words, a part of your recognition of authority is a part of your production of divine good.

The doctrine of divine good

1. Divine good resolves the angelic conflict — Romans 12:21.

2. GAP is designed for the production of divine good. The only way you will ever be a producer of divine good is through GAP — Colossians 1:9,10; 2 Timothy 2:21; 3:17; Titus 2:7.

3. Phase two was designed for the production of divine good in the believer — Ephesians 2:10.

4. The production of divine good is a sign of both maturity and stability — 2 Thessalonians 2:17.

5. Divine good will be rewarded — 2 Corinthians 5:10.

6. Grace is the basic concept of divine good — 2 Corinthians 9:8.

7. There are three sources for the production of divine good. a) From God the Holy Spirit. The filling of the Spirit produces divine good; b) The human spirit. Doctrine produces divine good when exhaled from the human spirit or when cycled into the right lobe from the human spirit; c) The soul. The ECS produces divine good. Even the believer’s respect for authority under the conditions of the Spirit-filled life, under conditions of application of Bible doctrine, is a producer of divine good.

Verse 2 — grace orientation and our attitude toward people. This does not imply being a doormat. “To speak evil of no man” — “to speak evil” is a present active infinitive of blasfemew which does not mean to blaspheme, it means to malign, to revile, to injure the reputation of someone else because of mental attitude sins toward them. This is a present active infinitive plus the negative which is found in the phrase “no man” — mhdiej which means “not even one” or “no one.”

The doctrine of the sins of the tongue

1. The sins of the tongue, like all categories of personal sin, originate from the old sin nature — Psalm 34:13.

2. The sins of the tongue, however, are generally sponsored by mental attitude sins — Psalm 5:9.

3. Out of the seven worst sins three are sins of the tongue — Proverbs 6:16-19.

4. The sins of the tongue result in triple compound discipline — Matthew 7:1,2; Psalm 64:8.

5. The continuation of the sins of the tongue can produce enough scar tissue to result in maximum discipline (the sin unto death) — Psalm 12:3.

6. God both protects and blesses the believer who is victimised by the sins of the tongue — Job 5:19-21.

7. Avoidance of the sins of the tongue produces longer life and great inner happiness — Psalm 34:12,13.

8. Troublemakers are characterised by sins of the tongue — Psalm 52:2. Believers are commanded to avoid fellowship with troublemakers — Romans 16:17,18.

9. Control of the tongue is a sign of maturity. It is also a sign, therefore, of possession of the ECS — James 2:12,13.

10. Since the sins of the tongue can destroy a congregation of believers it is the duty of the pastor to warn against them — 2 Timothy 2:14-17.

“to be no brawlers” — the word for “brawler” is a)maxoj. It doesn’t just mean avoidance of a fist fight which comes to blows, it really means to be non-contentious, i.e. a believers who refrains from sins of the tongue, who refrains from being a troublemaker. In other words, maligners and slanderers have mental attitude sin hang-ups, reject authority, become jealous, become vindictive and implacable. A contentious person has rejected authority.

“gentle” — e)pieikeij which doesn’t means gentle as such, it means reasonable and fair. It is a grace orientation word. A person becomes reasonable and fair by having a relaxed mental attitude, by being free from mental attitude sins.

“shewing all meekness” — e)ndeikneumi is the word for “showing.” It means to give an outward demonstration of something that is on the inside; the word “meekness” means grace orientation — prauthj, to be completely relaxed toward others.

“unto all men” — proj plus the accusative which is “face to face with all men.”

Translation: “To malign no one, to refrain from trouble making, reasonable, demonstrating [giving outward proof of] grace orientation face to face with all men.”

Verse 3 — “For we ourselves” puts us all in the same boat. We all have a past; “also” — that means cheer up, the person next to you has a past too; “were” — e)imi, the absolute status quo verb but in the imperfect tense, in the past. The imperfect is generally used to indicate something in the past. It may be linear aktionsart in the past or it may be just something that occurred at some point in the past. So how can we tell the difference between the imperfect past that is linear aktionsart in the past and the imperfect tense that only refers to some point of time? Generally there will be a particle or an adverb to help out. In this case we have an enclitic particle, pote. That word is translated in the English “sometimes,” but that isn’t what it really means. It means “at one time” or even “once upon a time.” We are dealing with the past in principle here in terms of at some time. The imperfect tense, “were,” plus the enclitic particle, “at one time,” indicates that we have come somewhere through the grace of God. Now we have a list of things that apply to us.

“foolish” — or stupid. If you are going to see your past in its true perspective you must see your present in its true perspective, and the greatest virtue in the Christian life is knowledge of doctrine, maximum knowledge of Bible doctrine resulting in an ECS, the reflected glory of God. This is accomplished through the daily function of GAP, the erection of the ECS. The worst thing that ever happened in the past was our stupidity, ignorance of Bible doctrine. The word “foolish” doesn’t means foolish at all here. This isn’t talking about your personal past, this is talking about your past in principle — a)nohtoj. The word means stupid or ignorant. There are two categories of past stupidity: a) as an unbeliever — 1 Corinthians 2:14. The unbeliever has no human spirit, therefore has not provision for GAP and is therefore ignorant of spiritual phenomena; b) as a new believer or as a carnal believer. Negative volition toward Bible doctrine means ignorance — Romans 1:13; 1 Corinthians 10:1; 12:1; 2 Corinthians 1:8; 1 Thessalonians 4:13. The greatest virtue in the Christian life is knowledge of doctrine. So the first thing that characterises our past is lack of understanding of doctrine.

“disobedient” — this means disbelieving. It is the noun a)peiqhj. This describes the malfunction of GAP. That means the doctrine did not get to the human spirit where it was usable. Disbelieving is failure to transfer Bible doctrine from the left lobe to the human spirit. If you don’t get Bible doctrine into your human spirit you cannot use it. That is what you call being a hearer of the Word and not a doer. The only way that you can become a doer of the Word is to actually transfer the doctrine down to the human spirit and then up to the right lobe. Ignorance describes negative volition.

“deceived” — present passive participle of planaw and it refers to malfunction which is doctrine not being cycled into the right lobe., “constantly being deceived” or “led astray.” As a result of ignorance you were a servant, a slave. A person who is stupid is always a slave to something. Slavery is built upon stupidity.

“serving” means to serve as a slave — douleuw. It means to be in a service of slavery. And what is the slavery?

“divers lusts” — poikiloj which means various kinds; e)piqumia — “lusts.” What are the various kinds of lusts? In the past because of stupidity, because of ignorance of doctrine, we were slaves to approbation lust, materialism lust, lasciviousness, every kind of lust, and they all come from the same source, the old sin nature.

“pleasure” — pleasure is something that God has designed to be enjoyed but the old sin nature changes pleasure into slavery. This is a dative plural h(donh where we get the English word “hedonism” which means a love of pleasure. Actually, the word means sensual pleasure, gratification. The concept is that there is nothing wrong with pleasure but you have to have capacity. One of the greatest challenges in life is to have the capacity to enjoy any pleasure, a simple pleasure or a more complex one, and that capacity comes from Bible doctrine. It comes from +H, from an ECS.

“living” — now we get into the mental attitude sins; diagw, present active participle. It means to pass the time, living in the sense of spending time. This is the way you spend all capacity for life, believer or unbeliever. Here we are dealing with born again believers, looking at the past failures.

“in” — the preposition e)n plus the locative. The locative means in the sphere of. This is an operational sphere.

“malice” — kakia which often is translated “wickedness.” Actually it refers in this list to mental attitude which comes from jealousy. It is a secondary mental attitude which starts with jealousy. Jealousy leads to malice. It describes a mental attitude antagonism.

“and envy” — fqonoj which refers to jealousy, but it also means spite.

“hateful” — the plural noun stughtoj means “hatreds,” lots of them, but it is a hatred that comes from jealousy and not the same as the next word which is the expression of hatred …

“hatred” — misew, present active participle, means that hatred is perpetuated into a mental attitude which goes from sin to psychosis. This is actually building up to a psychotic condition. Mental attitude sins not only destroy capacity for life, and especially for the believer, but they lead to a psychotic condition.

Translation: “For we were at one time ignorant, disbelieving, being deceived, constantly enslaved to various kinds of lusts and pleasures, passing the time in wickednesses and jealousy, being detested and hating one another of the same kind [believers].”

Mental attitude sins destroy all capacity for life. They destroy the believer’s effectiveness in the angelic conflict. They mean never knowing the happiness designed for you, provided for you through grace. When you have those mental attitude sins where do you have the malfunction? In GAP. It is grace that malfunctions in the life.

Philippians 1:27-30

Philippians 1:27 — orientation to the modus vivendi of being spiritually self-sustaining. “Only” is the adverb monon which expresses Paul’s concentration on his purpose for remaining on earth. He is going to continue to live for one reason: to communicate Bible doctrine so that individual believers will become spiritually self-sustaining. Paul lived to teach doctrine which puts the believer in the Church Age on the offensive in the angelic conflict. Remember that the angelic conflict is an unseen conflict. That means the fallen angels who are our enemies, as well as the enemies of God, are not visible to us. How can we attack that which is invisible? The objective of doctrine is both growth and aggressiveness and the order for the Church Age is to attack. This attack can only occur among those believers who are spiritually self-sustaining. We have to have, therefore, concentration on doctrine so that we are able to fulfil attack.

“let your conversation be” — this is simply a poor attempt to translate a verb, politeuw. This is based upon the Attic Greek word for “city,” polij, and this particular word means to be a citizen of a city in Attica, specifically to be a citizen of Athens. As a citizen of Athens one had certain responsibilities of government for every citizen was in the government. So actually this word means to discharge one’s obligation as a citizen. Here it means to discharge a responsibility. So we should translate, “Only discharge [execute] your responsibility.” This is a present middle imperative, a command that is based upon teaching the Word of God. This is a command that cannot be fulfilled apart from the teaching of the Word of God. It is a present tense which is linear aktionsart, it is middle voice which involves the volition of the individual believer, and the imperative mood is a command. Paul’s concentration is now passed on to every believer through doctrinal inculcation. Every believer has the responsibility of full time Christian service and therefore he has the necessity for growth resulting in an ECS, and from the ECS he becomes spiritually self-sustaining. No one is spiritually self-sustaining, no one is attacking the invisible enemy, apart from the utilisation of the ECS.

“as it becometh” should be “worthy of the gospel of Christ,” which means the gospel is pure grace and it sets the standard for grace in our modus vivendi. Maximum grace operation comes through the erection of the ECS and from the ECS we fulfil the purpose for which we remain in this life.

Then we have some alternatives introduced by the words e)ite e)ite, which is translated in the KJV as “whether, or.” They are used to introduce several alternatives. The word “whether” is e)ite and introduces the first one. Now that Paul is alive he is already making his plans, so his first possibility is to come to see the Philippians personally. He wants to do this. This is a congregation that a pastor can never forget because this is a congregation that responded to doctrine. They were a group of people who loved Bible doctrine and as a result they loved Paul.

“whether I come” — aorist active participle of e)rxomai which means to make a personal appearance. It introduces the possibility of Paul coming to Philippi to teach doctrine.

“and see you” — this also is an aorist active participle of o(raw and it means to take a panoramic view, and it is used here for a public speaker. He is going to stand up and look at them as he teaches face to face. The word blepw is not used. Paul was never a blepw man in the pulpit, that would be a short devotional. Blepw means a glance.

“or be absent” is a second alternative. This indicates the fact that he is going to be alive but not always with them. So the present active participle is in contrast to the aorist active participle. When he comes, aorist tense, he will be there for a while — the time he spends teaching the people in Philippi. But then also, he is going to be away from them, a)peimi which means to be absent. He is going to be absent from them because he is going all the way to Spain. The present active participle of a)peimi indicates that he is going to be absent while he takes his fourth missionary journey which will take him all of the way to the Atlantic Ocean. His objective if he is with the Philippians is to teach them doctrine so that they can erect the ECS, but if he is absent this is what he expects from them …

“that I may hear” — he means that any time the information is brought he expects it to be good information. The present tense of a)kouw here is really dramatic. He expects that because of response to doctrine while he was there, and since then, and because they have a fine pastor in Epaphroditus, to hear any time that a report is made that which is wonderful; “of your affairs, that ye stand fast” — present active indicative of a verb, sthkw. This type of verb came from the old Attic Greek for standing, i(sthmi. Sthkw is rather rare, it means to be completely stabilised, to have a stabiliser for any kind of rough weather, anything that is difficult. It actually connotes here the function of stability. The present tense means that they will continue to be stable and the active voice indicates their positive volition toward doctrine results inevitably in the construction of a stabiliser. What does sthkw refer to specifically? First of all it indicates that they have been exposed to ICE teaching. And they have become spiritually self-sustaining because they have taken in doctrine which has then been transferred to the human spirit and into the right lobe. This is doctrine in action in the human soul. To “stand fast” means that they are stabilised and are spiritually self-sustaining.

In order for them to be stabilised there are two sections of the inner man that must be involved. They are now mentioned.

“in one spirit, in one mind [soul].” “In one spirit” is a prepositional phrase, e)n plus the locative of e(ij, the numeral. The human spirit is the word pneuma. Then we have again the locative e(ij, and this time the word “soul” — “in one soul,” yuxh which refers to the soul, not to the mind [nouj]. Here is the basis for stability and becoming spiritually self-sustaining is Bible doctrine functioning in GAP, coming into the mind, then going to the human spirit, and cycling that doctrine into the right lobe and specifically into the frame of reference. To be spiritually self-sustaining those parts of the soul that are pertinent must be filled with Bible doctrine.

“striving together” — sunaqlew [a)qlew = to compete in the games; sun = to compete as a member of the team]. So striving together means to function as a member of a team. Therefore it means to cooperate vigorously, to be in a contest as a part of a team, and this refers to the team of the ambassadors, the believers in the Lord Jesus Christ; each one becoming spiritually self-sustaining and becoming a vigorous member of the team. This is a present active participle. This means that in one spot when you have believers who are spiritually self-sustaining they all have one thing in common, they function as members of the same team.

“for the faith” — a dative from the word pistij which has a technical use. The word is used for faith in the sense of transferring it in GAP from the mind to the spirit but it is also used for the object of faith which is the whole area of doctrine. So actually pistij becomes categories of doctrine. Translation: “Only discharge your responsibility in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ: with the result that whether I come and see you, or be absent, I may hear concerning your affairs, that you keep on being stabilised in one spirit and in one soul, functioning as a team for the faith of the gospel.”

Verse 28 — “And in nothing terrified.” “In nothing” is a prepositional phrase, e)n plus the locative of mhdeij which means “not anything” or “not one thing.” He is saying, “In the sphere of not one thing be terrified” — present passive participle of pturw. The word was used to describe a horse. All horses are stupid, some a little more than others. A horse has a weakness: terror. He becomes terrified even at shadows. When horses become terrified they are completely uncontrollable. The Greeks called it pturw which means to be frightened. So it has come down to us to mean to be intimidated, to be terrified like a horse running away. It is possible for you as a believer to panic because of ignorance of the angelic conflict.

The adversaries are mentioned next: “by your adversaries.” The word “by” is u(po which means to be over someone, it is a preposition for authority. But here it means dominance; “by your enemies” — a)ntikeimai, a verb which means to be in total opposition to something. Here we should translate it, “In no way be terrified [or panic-stricken] by your enemies.” The enemies are the fallen angels. This is often used for invisible opposition or opposition that cannot be seen.

“which is to them an evident token.” We would say today, “public proof.” The Greek word is e)ndeicij and it means a public demonstration or proof.

“of perdition” — a)pwleia which means to be neutralised or destroyed. In the angelic conflict neutralisation of believers comes through fear, and other mental attitude sins. Obviously then there is a lack of being spiritually self-sustaining, of being stabilised through an ECS, through an optimum amount of doctrine in the right lobe and in the human spirit.

“but” — conjunction of contrast between orientation and disorientation, the difference between victory and defeat; “to you” — the believer priest, the Philippian who is oriented to the plan of God, who has been the recipient of consistent Bible teaching from Paul and Epaphroditus.

“of salvation” — means physical deliverance here, swthria. Paul used this word for his own deliverance, now he uses it for Philippian deliverance. This is a genitive of source.

“of God” — a)po is the preposition of ultimate source.

Translation: “In no way be intimidated by your enemies: which is to them a public proof of your neutralisation, but to all of you deliverance, and this from the ultimate source of God.”

God has provided a way for victory against an unseen foe, from the hostility of Satan, from the hostility of fallen angels, deliverance, therefore from the attacks of demons; all of these things are provided through His grace.

Verse 29 — therefore you are going to receive pressure in the unseen conflict but you are also going to suffer in a very tangible way.

“For” is literally “Because”; “to you” — dative of advantage; “it is given” — aorist passive indicative of xarizomai. The ordinary word for giving is didomi and that is not used here. Xarizomai is the strongest word in the New Testament for giving, it refers to grace giving. It means to give on a grace basis, to give freely, to give graciously, to give without strings of any kind. It means to give something that is completely paid for. Aorist tense: during our phase two experience our experience is gathered up into one entirety. God has provided for the whole thing, the giving actually took place in eternity past.

“in the behalf of Christ” — “on behalf of” is upper which means substitution. We are substitutes for Christ. Christ is in heaven seated at the right hand of the Father, we are on the earth representing Him. So this prepositional phrase makes all believers in full time Christian service. On the basis of it we personally represent the Lord Jesus Christ.

“not only to believe” — the words “not only” introduces the purpose of phase one of the Christian life. The moment you believe, that sets Satan back. The word for believing, piste, is a dramatic present tense here, it is the victory of grace.

“on him” — this is our directional preposition e)ij and it means that faith must have an direction. Simply believing is not it, it must have a direction or an object and the direction or object is the Lord Jesus Christ. Translation: “with reference to him.”

“but also to suffer” — again, the present active infinitive and this time from pasxw. This is a present tense, it means that we are going to have dramatic moments of suffering. This is not linear aktionsart, it doesn’t mean that we are going to suffer every moment. That is an erroneous view of the Christian life. Here we have the concept of undeserved suffering. Suffering is a bona fide part of the angelic conflict. In fact the angelic conflict explains why there is undeserved suffering.

“for his sake” — same prepositional phrase. We are representing Him and therefore there will be a certain amount of undeserved suffering.

Verse 30 — every believer is in the angelic conflict. “Having the same conflict” — we are all in the same battle, some people know it and some people do not. The word for “conflict” is a)gwn from which we get agony. It is one of the strongest words for conflict. It was used originally for athletic contests but ones in which the loser generally died. They used to box using leather straps around the hands with pieces of metal on them. A round was over when someone was either knocked down or thrown down. The fight was not over until you were out or dead. Therefore a)gwn was used for rather a serious bout. The word eventually came to mean combat in which people got hurt.

“which ye saw in me” — they observed that Paul was in the middle of it when he was in Phillipi.

“and now hear to be in me” — Paul is still in it, they still hear about him.

Titus 3:4 — “But” is the adverb o(te which means “at that time.” It is a reference to the incarnation, the most dramatic birth in the history of mankind, the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. However, the objective of this verse is not to discuss the virgin birth but to discuss the incarnation as a part of the plan and provision of God.

“the kindness” — xrhstothj. This is a grace word, sometimes used for generosity, sometimes for kindness, but in modern English neither generosity nor kindness begins to describe the Greek word. It really means “beneficence.” The connotation of the word is technical, it emphasises the character of God in planning the divine decrees in eternity past and in the fulfilment of these decrees at the time of the incarnation. So the word xrhstothj stands for everything that God is, everything that God was, everything that God the Father will always be in connection with His plan for us.

The doctrine of divine essence

1. God is one in essence, essence meaning the characteristics which make up God. The oneness of God and/or the glory of God refers to His essence or His character, as in John 10:30. All the characteristics of divine essence are resident in God; they are not all manifest at one time.

2. Essence must be related to the fact that there are three persons possessing it. We call them the Trinity. The Trinity means that there are three persons with this same essence. 1 Peter 1:2; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Isaiah 48:16.

3. Divine essence is manifest in certain activities of God.

4. The sovereignty of God

a) God is the supreme being of the universe — Deuteronomy 4:39; 1 Samuel 2:6-8; 1 Chronicles 29:11; Acts 17:24a.

b) God is the King of heaven and earth — Psalm 47:2; Matthew 6:13b; Hebrews 8:1; Revelation 4:2,3.

c) God is eternal — Psalm 93:2; Infinite — Psalm 8:1; Hebrews 6:13; self-determining — Job 9:12; Psalm 115:3; Proverbs 21:1; Daniel 4:35. His self-determination is both eternal and infinite and therefor His self-determination or volition is sovereign volition.

d) The expression of divine volition — Ephesians 1:5; results in a plan for humanity — Hebrews 6:17. In other words, the fact that we are in the plan of God right now is because God has volition, His volition is supreme; and since it is supreme He made a sovereign decision to design a plan.

e) 2 Peter 3:9 — His will for the unbeliever is that the unbeliever might become a believer. But He will not use His absolute will against the volition that he gave man — John 7:17; Revelation 22;17.

f) The application of God’s sovereignty to us is found in Acts 13:22; Ephesians 1:4-6; Philippians 2:13.

5. Divine righteousness [+R].

a) God is righteousness or absolute holiness — 1 Samuel 2:2; Psalm 22:3; 111:9; John 17:11; Revelation 3:7.

b) God is absolute good — Psalm 25:8; 34:8; Luke 18:19.

c) God is free from sin — 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 John 1:5.

d) God is perfect in character and in person — Deuteronomy 32:4; Psalm 7:9; 111:3; Jeremiah 23:6; Romans 10:23; 1 John 2:29.

e) God’s righteousness is a righteousness of attitude as well as action — Deuteronomy 32:4; 2 Samuel 22:31; Daniel 9:14; Revelation 19:2.

f) God’s perfect righteousness rejects human standards of righteousness — Isaiah 64:6. That is why salvation cannot be attained through standards of human righteousness — Titus 3:5.

g) The righteousness of God is available to anyone who will believe in Christ — Romans 3:22. This is the imputation of God’s righteousness which occurs at the point of salvation.

6. Justice.

a) God is fair, it is impossible for God to be unfair. Therefore God’s judgments are perfect. Justice administers the penalty which righteousness demands. The wages of sin is death but God is fair even in the administration of the wages of sin — Deuteronomy 32:4; 2 Chronicles 19:7; Job 37:23; Psalm 58:11; Isaiah 45:21; Romans 3:26.

b) Justice in salvation is a perfect illustration of how God stays intact as far as His character is concerned. The Lord Jesus Christ through His death on the cross received the guilt that belongs to us — Romans 5:12; 6:23. This is the only thing that would ever keep God’s justice intact. This was the only way that God could save us and still not compromise His character. In transferring all of that guilt to Jesus Christ God still is just. God is therefore free to justify anyone who believes in Christ — Romans 3:21-28; 4:5. He is also free to condemn those who reject Christ — John 3:18.

7. Love.

a) God is eternal and an unchangeable lover — Jeremiah 31:3.

b) The Father’s love is specifically declared in John 3:16; 1 John 2:15; 3:1.

c) The Son’s love is declared in Romans 8:35.

d) The love of God will not permit separation. Once you come under the love of God in salvation it is impossible to be separated from that love — Romans 8:38,39.

e) God’s love in the ECS is declared in 1 John 2:5.

f) God’s love in the filling of the Spirit is declared in Romans 5:5.

8. Eternal life.

a) God is absolute existence — Exodus 3:14; John 8:58; Psalm 90:2.

b) Jesus Christ is eternal life and always existed with the Father who is eternal life — John 1:1-3.

c) Jesus Christ is eternal life and shares His life with us in salvation — 1 John 5:11,12.

9. Omniscience.

a) God is all knowledge — 1 Samuel 2:3; Job 26:6; 37:16; Psalm 139:1-6; Jeremiah 16:7; Ezekiel 11:5; Hebrews 4:13.

b) God is infinite in wisdom and understanding — 1 Samuel 16:7; Psalm 44:21; Proverbs 5:21; Isaiah 40:13,14; Jeremiah 17:10; 51:15; 1 John 3:20.

c) God knows the end from the beginning — Isaiah 41:6; 42:9; 46:10; Acts 2:23; 15:18; 1 Peter 1:2.

d) The deity of Christ knew all things and all men — Matthew 9:4; John 2:24; 21:7.

10. Omnipresence.

a) God is ever present, is not limited by space or time. There are two technical theological words: He is both imminent and transcendent. Jeremiah 23:24; Acts 17:27.

b) Heaven in His throne; the earth is His footstool — Deuteronomy 4:39.

c) The heavens cannot contain Him — 1 Kings 8:27; Acts 17:24.

11. Omnipotence.

a) God is all-powerful, He is limitless in His ability — Genesis 17:1; Job 26:7; Isaiah 50:2; Jeremiah 27:5; 32:27; Revelation 4:8.

b) God is limitless in His authority — Psalm 33:9; Romans 13:1; Hebrews 1:3.

c) The manifestation of His power — 2 Chronicles 16:9; 25:8; Psalm 74:13.

12. Immutability.

a) He cannot change — Psalm 102:26,27; Hebrews 1:12.

b) He is therefore absolute stability — Isaiah 40:28; James 1:17.

c) His Word and His works are unchanging — Psalm 119:89; Isaiah 40:8.

d) From His immutability comes His faithfulness. God is faithful in His plan — 1 Corinthians 1:9; faithful in His provision — 1 Thessalonians 5:24; faithful with His promises — Hebrews 10:23; faithful with His forgiveness — 1 John 1:9; faithful to keep us saved — 2 Timothy 2:12,13; faithful to deliver us from pressure — 1 Peter 4:19; faithful in the provision of stability for the believer — 2 Thessalonians 3:3. His faithfulness is based upon His immutability.

13. Veracity.

a) He is absolute truth — Deuteronomy 32:4.

b) His veracity is manifest by His modus operandi — Psalm 25:10; Revelation 15:3; by His works — Psalm 33:4; Daniel 4:37; by His Word — 2 Samuel 7:28; Psalm 19:9; 119:142; 2 Corinthians 6:7; Ephesians 1:13.

Xrhstothj means that the whole plan of God depends upon the whole character of God. There is no promise in the Word of God to you as a believer that cannot be broken down and traced to one or more characteristics of the essence box. Every time you claim a promise you a claiming a bit of God’s perfect character.

“love toward man” is one word in the Greek: filanqrwpia [filoj + a)nqrwpoj] which means “benevolence.” This emphasises the love motivation in grace.

“God our saviour” — Jesus Christ; “appeared” — aorist passive indicative of e)pifainw which means to be revealed, to be displayed, to be manifested, to make an appearance. The aorist tense is at the point of the incarnation. The passive voice: Christ received the incarnation as a manifestation of God’s perfect character. The indicative mood is the reality of the incarnation.

Verse 5 — “Not.” O)uk was originally a word of embarrassment in Greek drama. It is one of those words that gets started because it has an onomatopoetic connotation. It is a very strong negative.

“by” is the word e)c, the same as the preposition e)k. The only difference is that when you have a vowel coming up in the next word it is e)c. If it is a consonant at the beginning of the next word it is e)k. It means “out from.” So we have so far, “Not out from the source of,” literally.

“works” — the genitive plural of e)rgon, all kinds of works. The word means production, action, function of human ability, human good, human talent.

“of righteousness” — not what the Greek says which is e)n plus the instrumental case. It should be translated “by means of righteousness” — dikaiosunh in the instrumental is technical here referring to human good.

“which we have done” — aorist active indicative of poiew. Aorist tense: the point of time when human good is accomplished; active voice: human good comes from human beings; indicative mood: the reality of human good in the devil’s world. While human good exists in the devil’s world God says through this passage in the Greek, “O)uk.” No good! “Not our from the source of works by means of righteousness which we have done.”

“but” — that conjunction divides legalism from grace; “according to” — kata, “according to the norm or standard.” Here is the norm or standard by which God deals with us, by which we have a relationship with God.

“his mercy” — what is the difference from “his grace”? Grace is involved here but e)leoj brings out God’s action. The word for grace is xarij, and it is not used here because it is the principle. E)leoj definitely includes work. So e)leoj is a contrast to the word for works, e)rgon, the reason being that God works on our behalf. Mercy is grace in action, but more than that mercy is grace working on our behalf. And it is His grace working, His e)leoj. In grace God acts; in legalism man acts.

“he saved us” — aorist active indicative of swzw. The aorist tense is the point of time of salvation, the point of time in which a person believes. That point is divorced from time and perpetuated forever. Grace acts on our behalf, the work is already accomplished.

The doctrine of human good

1. Human good is identified as dead works — Hebrews 6:1. It is dead works because it is dead to God.

2. Human good is not acceptable to God — Isaiah 64:6.

3. Human good, therefore, has no place in the plan of God — 2 Timothy 1:9.

4. Human good will not save mankind — Titus 3:5.

5. The believer’s human good is revealed and destroyed at the judgment seat of Christ — 1 Corinthians 3:11-16.

6. Human good is also the basis for the unbeliever’s indictment at the last judgment — Revelation 20:12-15.

7. Distinction should be made between morality and human good — Romans 13:4,5. Morality is necessary for the human race during the course of the angelic conflict. While morality is necessary human good is not.

The doctrine of divine good

1. There are three sources of the production of divine good: a) from the Holy Spirit which is the filling of the Spirit. That is the simplest form of divine good; b) from the human spirit. This is the divine good of the adolescent. Doctrine produces divine good as exhale from the human spirit; c) From the soul. This is the mature production of divine good from the ECS.

2. Divine good resolves the angelic conflict — Romans 12:21.

3. GAP is provided for the production of divine good — Colossians 1:9,10; 2 Timothy 2:21;3:17; Titus 2:7.

4. Phase two was designed for the production of divine good in the believer — Ephesians 2:10.

5. The production of divine good is a sign of maturity and stability — 2 Thessalonians 2:17.

6. Divine good will be rewarded — 2 Corinthians 5:10.

7. Grace is the basic principle of divine good — 2 Corinthians 9:8.

God’s plan operates on God’s character and God’s production. There are two illustrations of this in the passage:

a) “by the washing of regeneration” — dia plus the genitive. Regeneration is accomplished by God, it is not something that we accomplish. The word “washing” is always a problem, as in John 3, because water somehow gets identified with baptism.

“Washing”

1. The noun lutron is used in the genitive case. Lutron is used both here and in Ephesians 5:26 where we have the washing of water by the Word. It is used technically for an analogy and the water is the analogy. It is not used in the sense of literal washing.

2. Washing refers to cleansing from sin rather than baptism — the principle of 1 John 1:7.

3. The connotation of lutron as washing is established by Ephesians 5:26. There is a principle of hermeneutics here. The first use of a word in scripture determines the meaning of the use of that word in scripture. Ephesians 5:26 is written chronologically ahead of Titus and it also occurs first in the New Testament canon.

4. The same concept is found in the verb form — John 13:10 where we have louw which means to wash. In that passage it is used for washing the entire body in contrast to another verb, niptw which means to wash the extremities, like the hands and the feet. Louw is used in John 13 for salvation; niptw is used for rebound — one bath; many washings of the hands.

5. The noun connotes salvation. The verb form in John 13 backs this up. The principle: Once bathed, always bathed. If you do not wash your feet (rebound) many times after salvation it means either you are perfect or that you “stinketh.” When you were saved you did not give yourself a bath and that is why baptism never represents salvation. When you are saved God gives you a bath, you don’t lift a finger. The washing of regeneration is an illustration of salvation by grace. God does the work.

“regeneration” — paliggenesia [palin = again; genesia = to be born] means to be born again. This word is a genitive of apposition and it should be translated “through the washing even regeneration.”

“and”is really another case of apposition: “even the renewing of the Holy Spirit.” How do we know that this is all in apposition? Because the word “renewing” is also a genitive of apposition — a)nakainwsij. This word is also a word which means putting into a new species. Kainoj means new in species; a)na means “again.” We translate this “renewal” literally.

Translation: “Not out from the source of works by means of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, through the washing even regeneration, even the renewing of the Holy Spirit.” The Holy Spirit at the point of salvation makes you a new species.

Verse 6 — “Which [Holy Spirit] he [God the Father] shed on us.” All members of the Trinity are found in this verse. But the real subject of verse 6 is God the Holy Spirit since He is the renewer, which means He makes us into a new species.

The doctrine of the salvation ministry of the Holy Spirit

1. The deity of the Holy Spirit.

a) The Holy Spirit is coequal with the Father and the Son — 2 Corinthians 13:14.

b) The Holy Spirit is called kurioj, Lord — 2 Corinthians 3:17; Isaiah 6:8,9 [Jehovah]; Jeremiah 31:31-34.

c) The Holy Spirit is sovereignty — 1 Corinthians 12:11.

d) Omniscience is ascribed to the Holy Spirit — 1 Corinthians 2:10,11.

e) Omnipotence is ascribed to the Holy Spirit in Genesis 1:2.

f) Omnipresence is ascribed to the Holy Spirit — Psalm 139:7.

2. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit occurs at the point of salvation.

a) It was prophesied — John 7:38,39; 14:16,17.

b) It is stated as a fact in 1 Corinthians 6:19,20; Romans 8:9; and used as a point of argumentation for grace in Galatians 3:2 and 4:6.

c) Indwelling must be distinguished from filling. Filling is a command to the Christian; indwelling is a fact regarding the Christian.

d) We must distinguish between the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the indwelling of the person of Christ. The indwelling of Christ is taught in Colossians 1:27; Romans 8:10; John 14:20. The basic distinction: The indwelling of the Spirit is operational; the indwelling of Christ is a category love principle, it is a consummation of the love of Christ for His Church.

e) The purpose of the indwelling of the Spirit — Acts 1:8. It is not simply witnessing but the function of the believer priest. The other function beside operation is the function of GAP — 1 John 2:27.

f) The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is called by other names: the anointing of the Spirit which simply emphasises that every believer indwelt is in full time service. Anointing means a commission — Acts 4:27; 10:38; 2 Corinthians 1:21; 1 John 2:20,27.

3. The sealing ministry at the point of salvation — 2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13; 4:30. This is really an isagogical principle. You have to go back to the purpose of sealing in the ancient world. It was used as the guarantee of a transaction, an identification of ownership, the authentication of invoices, contracts, laws and directives, the protection of tombs, libraries, treasuries, used in the ratification of treaties. So the whole concept of sealing is that we belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit at the point of salvation seals us. The connotation is eternal security.

4. The regeneration ministry of the Spirit — Titus 3:5; John 3:5, and mentioned in Matthew 19:28.

5. The distribution of spiritual gifts as a ministry of the Holy Spirit at the point of salvation — 1 Corinthians 12:11. All believers are given a spiritual gift, we do not earn it or deserve it or work for it.

6. The baptism of the Holy Spirit.

a) It did not occur in the Old Testament or in any previous dispensation, it will not occur in any dispensation after the Church Age. The baptising ministry of the Holy Spirit is for the Church Age only, it is the way that the body of Christ is separated in the devil’s world.

b) It was prophesied in Acts 1:5 just before the ascension.

c) It has mechanics — 1 Corinthians 12:13.

d) It is the basis for the unification of believers during the Church Age — Ephesians 4:5.

e) The implications of the baptism of the Spirit are given in Galatians 3:26-28. We are born equal.

f) The baptism of the Spirit is the basis for retroactive positional truth — Romans 6; Colossians 2:12; 3:4.

g) The baptism of the Spirit is also the basis for current positional truth — Ephesians 3:1-6; Colossians 3:1.

h) Positional truth is related to the victory of the angelic conflict — Hebrews 2:7-15.

i) The baptism of the Spirit was the official historical beginning of the Church Age, it occurred on the day of Pentecost in 30 AD — Acts 11:15-17 cf. 2:3.

“he shed on us abundantly” — e)kxew which means to pour out or to gush out. The aorist tense is referring again to the point of time at salvation. The active voice refers to a ministry of the Holy Spirit. The indicative mood is the reality of the fivefold ministry of the Holy Spirit; plousioj is an adverb which means “richly.”

“through Jesus Christ our saviour” — dia plus the genitive. This explains how Jesus Christ gives us spiritual gifts in Ephesians 4:8,11, and the Holy Spirit gives us spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12:11. The ministry of the Spirit becomes possible through the ministry of Jesus Christ. But “through Jesus Christ” has a greater meaning here, it means that He is the entrance into the plan of God, He is the revelation of God the Father, He is the focal point of the plan of God. Everything depends on Him and without Him we are nothing, we have nothing, we will never be anything.

Verse 7 — “That” is i)na which introduces a purpose clause. The purpose appears to go with justification but in view of the fact that the words “being justified” are an aorist passive participle this word actually goes with the phrase “that we should become heirs.” It is God’s purpose to make us His heirs, and for His heirs He has something for us on earth and something for us in heaven. What He has for us to orient us to the grace of God is found first of all in the aorist passive participle translated “being justified.” The word is dikaiow which really means to vindicate. Here the vindication has to do with eternal salvation as a part of the grace of God — “having become justified by his grace.”

The doctrine of justification

1. Justification is based upon the principle of grace — Romans 3:24; Titus 3:7.

2. Justification occurs at the moment we believe in Jesus Christ — Romans 3:28; 5:1; Galatians 3:24.

3. Justification does not occur through the Mosaic law — Romans 3:20; Galatians 2:16.

4. Justification means vindication.

5. The mechanics of justification in salvation involves the imputation of divine righteousness — Romans 3:22; 4:11b; 9:30-32; 4:4,5.

6. Phase two also has a justification. There is vindication for the production of divine good, and so we have justification by works in the book of James. Abraham was justified by works when he offered Isaac many years after he was saved. James 2:21-25.

7. The principle of justification or vindication by GAP is also found in scripture — Matthew 11:19; Luke 7:35. 8. The principle of justification in salvation is the spiritual death of Jesus Christ on the cross — Romans 5:8,9.

9. The resurrection of Christ occurred because of our justification — Romans 4:25. Our justification had already been accomplished and therefore He could be resurrected. Dia plus the accusative is “because of our justification” not “for our justification.”

Dikiaow — the aorist tense refers to a point of time divorced from time and perpetuated forever. At the point of time when we believe in Christ one of the 36 things that occurs, credited to our account is +R. This +R is credited to our account at the point we believe and it is perpetuated forever. The passive voice: the subject receives the action of the verb, we receive vindication. This is an aorist participle. The action of the aorist participle precedes the action of the main verb, and the main verb is “we should become heirs.”

“by his grace” is the means of vindication. God cannot save us apart from vindication because He has to keep His character intact. God cannot change His character because immutability goes with every characteristic of the essence box. Grace glues all of these things together so that they can never be compromised. Because we have +R God will never be compromised by blessing us even though we may be sheer idiots spiritually in time. Notice the word “his.” This is a pronoun in the genitive case, e)keinoj. It is used with reference to a thing previously mentioned. Grace has been mentioned time and time again. The demonstrative pronoun also emphasises the source of what has been previously mentioned, and it is in the instrumental — “by means of grace.” Not “his” grace because the word “his” is translated like a possessive pronoun. While it is his by possession and while the word is in the genitive case it must be literally translated, “by means of grace of him.” But since it is a genitive of source we could translate this “from him.” All grace is from Him.

The purpose clause i)na must go with the main verb — “That we should become,” aorist passive subjunctive. Ginomai is the verb, it means to become something we are not. We are not +R, we become +R. We are not heirs, we become heirs. The aorist tense means in that point of time when we receive +R we are vindicated, therefore being vindicated by +R we can become an heir. Jesus Christ is the heir of God the Father. We are joint heirs with Jesus Christ, therefore we become something we are not because of +R, because of justification. The subjunctive mood goes with i(na, the purpose clause, and this simply indicates that this is God’s purpose and it is a purpose fulfilled when we are vindicated.

The doctrine of heirship

1. Christ is the heir of all things — Hebrews 1:2.

2. Heirship is based on sonship — John 1:12; Romans 8:16,17; Galatians 3:26.

3. Heirship is based upon the death of another — Romans 5:8; 1 Corinthians 15:3,4.

4. Heirship demands possessing the life of God — Titus 3:7; 1 John 5:11,12.

5. Heirship implies sharing the destiny of Christ — Ephesians 1:11.

6. The concept of heirship is based upon the doctrine of election — Hebrews 9:15.

7. The indwelling Holy Spirit is the down payment on the believer’s inheritance — Ephesians 1:14.

8. The principle of heirship emphasises the doctrine of eternal security — 1 Peter 1:4,5.

“according to hope of eternal life” — the word “hope” is e)lpij and it means confidence: “according to the norm or standard of confidence of eternal life.” You have confidence of eternal life because God credited to your account at the point of salvation +R, and you will never lose what He has provided.

Verse 8 — “This is a faithful saying” is in the Greek, Pistoj o( logoj. It should be translated “Faithful the word” or better yet, “Trustworthy the word.” This is really a title for the rest of the epistle. The epistle is designed to show how to get local churches functioning under the grace plan of God, under biblical principles.

“and these things” — the Greek actually has a preposition, the phrase begins with the word peri and it should be translated “concerning these things.” These things generally refers to some biblical doctrine, some category of doctrine. Here it refers to the inhale of doctrine through GAP and Bible doctrine stored categorically in the human spirit.

“I will” is a present active indicative of boulomai which really means to give an order from a command post. It probably should be translated “I decree.”

“that thou affirm” — the word for “affirm” is diabebaioomai [dia = by or because; bebaiow = to confirm, to establish, to verify or to ratify] means to habitually communicate with dogmatism. The present tense is linear aktionsart. If you can’t teach the Bible with dogmatism don’t teach it. The middle voice is reflexive which means Titus must do it himself. The believer priest must depend upon the communication of the pastor-teacher in order to grow. The infinitive denotes a purpose.

“that” introduces a purpose clause; “they which have believed in God” — pisteuw in the perfect tense denotes not only eternal security, it also indicates there is nothing you can do, there are no works by which you maintain your salvation. It also has a few other concepts such as believers functioning under the faith-rest principle. The object of this participle is o( qeoj, but qeoj is found in the dative case. Ordinarily the dative case is an indirect object, but there are some very rare cases of the dative case which we do not find in English. For example, here we have a dative of possession rather than an indirect object. God belongs to us as of the point we believe. A dative of possession following a participle is an idiom for which there is no English equivalent. This is a dative of possession which is defined as a personal interest particularised to the point of ownership. It indicates that once you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ it is time to take a personal interest in Him. This implies that you love Jesus Christ. Capacity to love Jesus Christ is based upon intake of Bible doctrine. The dative of possession is a personal interest particularised to the point of ownership. Faith in Christ is a two way street. We exercise faith in Christ, we are born into the family of God. The moment we do we belong to God, dative of possession. But what is more important, God belongs to us.

“might be careful” — present active subjunctive. We have a potential situation. Salvation means the potentiality of production of divine good but not necessarily the reality. This is the present active subjunctive of the frontizw. This word does not mean to be careful, it means to think, to be in a state of thoughtful concentration. The verb always connotes using your mind. This might be translated “that you might concentrate.”

“to maintain good works” — proisthmi [pro = in advance of or before; isthmi = to stand] means to preside over, to superintend, to set over with authority. But here it is in the middle voice, the present middle infinitive. It means to undertake something with resolution and diligence. It is another verb for concentration. So we might translate: “might have the concentration to undertake with resolution and diligence.” The subjunctive mood means that this whole thing is potential, and again the potentiality is based upon the intake of Bible doctrine. Ordinarily when we have the word for “good works” we have the word which indicates good of intrinsic value. But here there is a slightly different emphasis on good works. We have the genitive plural of kaloj which means good but it means “honourable” — “honourable production.”

Translation: “Dependable is the word. And concerning these things I decree that you habitually communicate with confidence, that they which have believed the God might have the concentration to undertake with resolution and diligence honourable production.”

“These things” — concentration on doctrine, capacity to love God, honourable production; “are” — present active indicative of e)imi, they are now and they always will be.

“good” — should be honourable. This is the result of Bible doctrine. Divine good is the result of loving Jesus Christ. It is not something that you do deliberately and consciously to make points, it is something that you do automatically in keeping with your capacity to love the Lord Jesus Christ. When you have the capacity to love you have the capacity for honourable production.

“and profitable” — w(felimoj means beneficial. When you have a love for the Lord Jesus Christ it is not only honourable in its expression to Him but it is beneficial as far as other people are concerned. It is going to overflow to others and it is the result of Bible doctrine in your life.

“unto men” — dative of advantage. The word “men” means that the overflow of your love for Jesus Christ will go in all directions.

Verse 9 — a warning. The word “avoid” is a present middle imperative of peristhmi and is even stronger than avoid. It means to totally shun, to keep constantly aloof from because you are concentrating on something. Present linear aktionsart. Active voice: it must come from your free will. You cannot concentrate apart from your free will and you cannot shun and avoid those things that would knock you down in the angelic conflict apart from your free will, and free will is built upon doctrine.

“foolish questions” — the word “foolish” means stupid. It is the Greek word moroj, and the accusative is moron from which we get the English word “moron.” In this case “stupid” is in the accusative feminine plural, and the word that goes with it is the accusative feminine plural noun zhthsij which means questions, it also means concepts that are contrary. Controversies, in other words. It could be translated “controversies” if you understand that zhthsisj is something that is contrary to the absolute norm of doctrine. In other words, liberal concepts used by mankind as panaceas for life — socialism, for example, social action, social gospel, reform instead of regeneration.

“and genealogies” — genealogia which means a catalogue of descent. It is technical here for gnosticism. It is used for the emanations and eons of gnosticism. Therefore any system of philosophy that seeks to infiltrate and neutralise doctrine. It is doctrine neutralised by human viewpoint.

“and contentions and strivings about the law” — the word for contentions means wrangling, e)rij; strivings means battles; about the law is literally, relating to the law: “strife and contention relating to the law.”

“for they are unprofitable” — a)nwfelhj which is “useless.” They are useless to the Christian life.

“and vain” — mataioj is very similar to mataiothj, the same root. The idea is , negative volition builds scar tissue which opens up mataiothj. That neutralises doctrine in the right lobe and triggers the emotional revolt. So it can be translated “purposeless.”

Verses 10-11, avoid the apostate. There are three different passages in the New Testament which emphasise the avoiding of believers who are apostate — in Jude, in Romans, one here, and also there is one that deals with the unbeliever apostate in 2 Peter.

Verse 10 — “A man who is an heretic.” The word man is a)nqrwpoj and it refers to the category of a person. “Heretic” is an adjective, a(iretikoj which means schismatic. It is an adjective for one who creates and fosters factions because he holds false views. It is the person that is false who is the troublemaker, not the person that is true. This is someone who chooses something contrary to doctrine. Therefore this can mean factious. This is a person who chooses his own opinions over Bible doctrine and therefore becomes a troublemaker.

“after the first and second admonition” — means a public warning, nouqesia is a warning that comes through doctrine or through teaching. The pastor has the right to throw these people right out on their ear after a first and second warning.

“reject” — keep on avoiding or rejecting. Paroiteomai means to refuse or reject.

Verse 11 — “Knowing that he that is subverted.” Present active participle of o)ida, doctrine in the right lobe applied. “Subverted” goes with the word “heretic.” It is the perfect passive indicative of e)kstrefw which means to change entirely, to be turned aside from the right path, to be turned aside from truth. It is a word that goes with heretic, a person who chooses his own opinions over Bible doctrine and therefore becomes a troublemaker and a promoter of factions. He is in revolt against the authority of his own local church.

“and sinneth” — his sinning here is a(martanw which means to miss the mark. These people who are in revolt against Bible doctrine miss the mark, the mark being Bible doctrine; “being condemned of himself” is literally, “self-condemned” — a)utokatakritoj [a)uto = self; kata = against; kritoj = critic].

Translation: “Knowing that he that is such a character having been turned aside from the right path, constantly sins, being a critic against himself.”

Verse 12 — some personal changes are necessary. Titus the trouble-shooter is going to handle everything and leave. He is going to be replaced by two people. Artemus is the pastor of the church at Lystra. Tychicus is the other replacement, well-known for his gentle disposition, his even temper. It is going to take two sweet people to replace one hard-nose. “Be diligent” means to hasten.

“I have determined” — krinw which means to judge, to discern, or to decide; “to winter here.”

Translation: “Whenever I shall send Artimus face to face with you, or Tychicus, hasten to come fact to face with me to Nicopolis: for there I have decided to spend the winter.”

Verse 13 — “Bring Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey.” Bring is not bring, it is an aorist active imperative of propempw and it means “send out ahead” or “escort.” Apollos was a pastor at Corinth and he is now visiting Crete for some on-the-job training with Titus.

“nothing be wanting unto them” — In effect he is saying, “Send out ahead Zenas the lawyer and Apollos” as the first missionaries from that island, from the church there.

Verse 14 — “ours “ refers to the believers in Crete; “learn” — manqanw means to learn by practice, to acquire a habit by living. This is an application of doctrine; “to maintain” means to practice diligently; “good” is honourable [production].

“But also ours [Cretians] must learn by experience to practice diligently honourable production because of needful requirements, that they be not unproductive.”

Verse 15 — Personal greetings. “Greet them that love” is a present active participle of filew, the strongest word for love, total soul love. It is followed by pistij with the definite article which refers to doctrine. Not all the people in Crete loved Paul, only those who are in doctrine. “Greet those who love us in the sphere of the doctrine.”

“Grace with all” — grace is God’s plan. Capacity for love comes from doctrine.