“For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party. They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach. One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, ‘Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.’ This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth. To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled. They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.” (Titus 1:10-16 ESV)
Today my husband and I went out to a restaurant for lunch. While I was eating my salad, suddenly a bug of some sort was inside my salad bowl crawling up toward me, and I am not used to that sort of thing. Now this bug was the size of a gnat (or a flea) but it was in the shape of a grasshopper and it had a transparent appearance (no color). And so I called the management, and someone came and took away the food. But now I had lost my appetite and so I did not want a replacement salad.
A Parable
Now sometimes the Lord uses real life situations in my life like parables to teach spiritual truths, and I believe this is one of these. For a bug can be an error or an infection or a virus (disease, contamination, corruption), and this was in my food. And, in the Bible, food is often used as a symbol for the Word of God, which is our spiritual food, which is the gospel of Christ. And today we have many of these contaminations and corruptions of the Scriptures being taught (served to the people) in the churches.
Now this bug had a transparent appearance, and transparent is obvious, and it was very obvious to me that there was a bug crawling around in my food coming straight toward me. For it was out in the open where I could see it and it was no longer hidden. For I had been eating away at the food and that seems to have been what drew the bug out. And when I feed on the Word of God, which is my spiritual food, then these “bugs” in these presentations of “the gospel,” which so many are spewing forth, become obvious to me, too.
Now this bug was in the shape of a grasshopper. And the Scriptures use the term “grass” to describe human flesh, i.e. “all men are like grass..” And a hopper is someone who goes from this to that to another, for it means not to remain in one place, like to pass quickly from one place to another. So these are contaminations of the Scriptures, of the flesh of man, which do not stay true to the Scriptures but which often remove Scriptures from their context in order to twist them into saying what they do not say if taught in context.
So if I lose my appetite for this kind of food it means that I reject these tainted and bug-infested presentations of the Word of God, and so I ask for them to be removed from my presence, for I do not want them! And I don’t want a replacement for the untainted Word of the Lord, either. I want the pure Word of God without these contaminations. So, in essence, I “rebuked” this bug (corruption) in the spiritual Word (food) of God and I refused any kind of replacement food (that replaces the truth of God’s word with lies).
Oh, and one more thing. Both my husband and I were feeling as though I was not being believed by the management. I had so wished that I had had the sense to take a picture of the bug with my phone to prove what I was saying was the truth. And this relates to the teachings of the Scriptures, too. For even though God has called me to “rebuke” and to call out these “bugs” inside the teachings of the Scriptures by what seems to be the majority, it appears that not many believe me and take these warnings seriously.
Application
And this is exactly what this passage of Scripture is talking about here. For there are indeed many who are insubordinate (defiant, disobedient, rebellious and undisciplined) who are teaching lies disguised as the true gospel message, but which are just “bugs” in the food which are intended to contaminate the truth of the gospel and to alter it to say what it does not say, and for the purpose to attract human flesh and the ungodly to “church” gatherings, and so as to not offend them with the truth of the gospel.
And they must be silenced! They must be rebuked! For they have gained such popularity among the people that it appears that the majority of those professing faith in Christ, at least here in America, are following after this bug-infested spiritual food rather than them following after the pure word of God and his gospel message, as Jesus taught, and as his NT apostles taught. And so many people are eating these “bug-infested” meals (spiritual food) without even being aware of the bug (or bugs) contained within.
And so we cannot just teach the pure Word of God anymore, but we have to expose the fruitless deeds of darkness and these bugs (corruptions) that are being taught (served up) as truth so that, hopefully, others will reject these corrupted gospel messages, and that they will discard them, and that they will refuse all replacements for the pure word of God. And then hopefully they will get into the pure word of God and read it for themselves, IN CONTEXT, so that they know what the Word is teaching us, in reality.
For so many people profess to know the Lord, but they deny him by their works (actions, behaviors). And Jesus said that not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING the will of God the Father (Matthew 7:21-23). And John said that if we profess to be in fellowship with God, but while we make sin our practice (walk in sin), we are liars. And if we claim to know God, but we do not obey his commandments (New Covenant), in practice, we are liars (1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10).
And Jesus said that if anyone would come after him, he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if for Jesus’ sake we deny self, die daily to sin, and follow Jesus in obedience, then we have the hope of eternal life with God. For if we deny Jesus by our actions, when he returns, he will disown us. So please take this seriously, repent, and obey the Lord (Luke 9:23-26; Romans 6:1-23).
Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer
Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897
Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897
Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.
Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,
Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,
Seeking the wandering sinner to find.
O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,
Holy and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing to suffer others to save.
O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;
Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit me for life and Heaven above.
Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg
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