Qualified Elders and Rebellious Men

Titus 1:10-11

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

In the last post, we looked at the necessity, character, and purpose of elders. Now we turn in the text to a contrast between qualified elders and rebellious men. Paul takes this turn in Titus 1:10.

The Prevalence of Rebellious Men

“For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision…” (Titus 1:10, NASB)

“For there are many…” The reason Titus needs to appoint qualified elders is because there are many men in Crete who are opposite of what an elder should be. If they were to gain authority, they would corrupt and destroy the churches. In the absence of qualified elders, many of the wrong people were gaining influence in the churches. So, the urgency to appoint biblical elders had two reasons.

1. Guarding the church from wicked leadership. There has to be qualifications to ensure the authoritative roles of the church don’t go to corrupt men.
2. Silencing harmful doctrine. As we will see shortly, these rebellious men were upsetting families. In order to refute the errors that are bringing harm to the Body of Christ, it is necessary to have elders who are given the authority to teach truth and oppose error.