Titus 1 Purity Part 16

Titus 1: 15-16

“To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and their consciences are corrupted. They claim to know God, but by their actions deny Him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.”

Paul has been talking about false teachers and false doctrine and in today’s text he continues with this topic. The Pharisees and Judaizers were obsessed with purity; they made up all kinds of laws about what was clean and pure and how to avoid becoming unclean. They tried to trap Jesus in Mark 7 by asking Him, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?” (Mark 7:5) They put the ideas and rules, that they made up, above the laws of God. Jesus turns this around and tells them, “You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.” (Mark 7:8) He continues explaining and in Mark 7:15 He says, “Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.” Jesus addresses their insistence on laws that determined which foods were considered clean to eat and is saying that the food you eat cannot make you pure or impure.

Paul takes this one step further and says that those whose doctrine is false are impure. Because they taught an impure doctrine it showed that they were, in their hearts where it matters, impure! This would have resonated with them because of their obsession with purity. They had to be made clean to worship God and Paul is saying that because what is in their minds is impure so, what comes out, their doctrine, is impure. What is in your heart and mind will come out in what you say and do. Paul is once again telling us that the things you value, your priorities, and what you believe in will be made obvious by your actions. 

Through Christ we have been made pure and have been cleansed from all our sins, and so, in thankfulness, we should strive to live up to this: God is not interested in external purity the way the Jews were, but in an inward purity that comes from a right relationship with God. If what is in our hearts and minds is not pure, then no amount of rule-following will purify you. So, fill your mind with what is right and pure. Study God’s word so that you are filled with it and trust His perfect law. If you claim to know God but it is not reflected in your life, then you haven’t absorbed the message. Proverbs 7:1-3 says, “My son, keep my commands and you will live; guard my teaching as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.” So, store up God’s word in your heart and be made pure by the blood of Christ Jesus. Then, by the work of the Holy Spirit, live a life of purity! 

1. What makes a person pure or impure in God’s eyes?

2. Look up Mark 7:1-23. What were the Pharisees accusing the disciples of doing? What does Jesus mean in verses 6-8?

3. Continue looking at Mark 7. What does Jesus say defiles a person?

4. What is Paul teaching us when he says, “They claim to know God but by their actions deny Him.”?

5. How have we been made pure? What can make us impure? See 1 Peter 1:22, 1 John 3:1-10, 1 Corinthians 6:12-20, Ephesians 5:1-20

LORD God and heavenly Father, I come before you as one who is impure and ask that, by Your Holy Spirit, I may rest in the salvation You have given me in Your Son. I thank You for His sacrifice and for the purity imparted to me from Jesus. Help me to recognize what is impure and enable me to be pure so that I may be a light shining in this world for You. Forgive my impurities and my sin, not because I am worthy, but by Your grace in Jesus Christ, Amen.