Titus 3:11 - Printer Friendly

ESV: knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.

NIV: You may be sure that such people are warped and sinful; they are self-condemned.

NASB: knowing that such a person has deviated from what is right and is sinning, being self-condemned.

CSB: For you know that such a person has gone astray and is sinning; he is self-condemned.

NLT: For people like that have turned away from the truth, and their own sins condemn them.

KJV: Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.

NKJV: knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned.

This verse specifies three traits of false teachers. First, false teachers are "warped," from the Greek word exestraptai. This can also be translated as "twisted," or "perverted." Such a person has turned what is good into something evil. Second, false teachers are "sinful." They are not innocently mistaken, but arrogantly, stubbornly, and intentionally promote these incorrect doctrines.

Third is the end result of warped and sinful teaching: the false teacher is self-condemned. It's not necessary for Titus or the local church to proclaim them condemned. They have already condemned themselves. While Titus is to speak against false teachings and false teachers, he does not need to take a false teacher through the process of church discipline (Matthew 18:15–17). The false teacher has condemned himself by promoting teachings which are clearly false, and sinful.

The apostle John mentions an instance similar to this in 3 John 1:9–10. There, he mentions a local leader named Diotrephes, who rejects church authority and disrupts care for missionaries. John's intent is to come to that church, in person, and publicly confront Diotrephes for his errors. False teachers, unlike sincere, but mistaken fellow Christians, are to be directly and publicly rejected.

Titus 3:8–11 affirms that the previous description of God’s grace can be trusted. Paul instructs Titus to insist on these basic principles. On the other hand, Paul lists four activities which should be purposefully avoided. Most of these involve an element of bickering. False teachers, according to this passage, should be warned, then cut off completely.

Paul reminds Titus of seven positive behaviors, and seven contrasting sins, which he is to insist on teaching correctly. False teachers are to be cut off, not given a public platform. Believers are not to waste time bickering, but focus on good works and urgent needs. This passage also explains how salvation is entirely the result of God’s grace, not our own good deeds.

Titus chapter 1 focused on the character traits of a church leader, contrasted to the immoral culture of Crete. Chapter 2 explained the ideal traits of church members, especially in their acts towards each other. Chapter 3 focuses on the relationship between Christians and their surrounding culture. Through goodness and peace, we are to make a positive impact, so people will see Christ in us.

The book of Titus is a letter written by the apostle Paul, to a Christian leader on the island of Crete. This is one of Paul’s three Pastoral Epistles, where he offers instructions to younger believers caring for large groups of others. Paul uses the book of Titus to emphasize the importance of selecting church elders carefully. Many of the topics discussed in Titus are mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament. Though the details of this message are specifically for Titus, and the believers of Crete, they offer insight useful for churches today.