ββ¦there are manyβ¦vain talkersβ¦of the circumcision: whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucreβs sakeβ (Titus 1:10,11).
When Paul warned Titus about vain talkers of the circumcision βwho subvert whole housesβ with their teaching, that wordΒ subvertΒ meansΒ to turn something upside down.Β The prefix βsubβ should make you think of the ships that travel under water, and the suffixΒ vertΒ refers to something vertical. SoΒ subvertΒ means to turn something verticalΒ upside down.
Now thatβs an interesting thing for Paul to say about these unsaved Jews, for that was a charge thatΒ theyΒ were levelingΒ at him.Β They were saying that Paul and his helpers had βturnedΒ the worldΒ upside downβ (Acts 17:5,6). Paul wasnβt turningΒ the world in generalΒ upside down, of course, for the world in general was taking little note of him. But when some other unsaved Jews called Paul βa mover of seditionΒ among all the JewsΒ throughout the worldβ (Acts 24:5), it shows that the only world they cared about was the world of the Jews.Β ThatΒ was the world that Paulβs new message of grace was turning upside down!
Now here I should point out thatΒ savedΒ JewsΒ acceptedΒ Paulβs new ministry of grace among the Gentiles (Acts 15:19-29; Gal. 2:9). But unsaved Jews didnβtΒ wantΒ their world turned upside down, and they werenβt going to take it lying down! They fought backΒ by teaching the Law, subverting those Gentiles who are not under the Law (Rom. 6:15), and trying to take the world that Paul had turned upside down with his message of graceΒ andturning it upside down againΒ back to the Law. God calls thatΒ subversion.
Does that remind you of what happened when some Jews first taught the Law to Gentiles? The leaders at the Jerusalem council heard about it and wrote a letter to those new Gentile converts, saying,
ββ¦we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words,Β subverting your souls,Β saying, ye mustβ¦Β keep the law:Β to whom we gave no such commandmentβ (Acts 15:24).
The saved leaders of the Hebrew church said, as it were, βWe didnβt authorize those Jews to teach the Law to you new Gentile converts.β And they said the same thing Paul says here in our text, that teaching the Law to Gentiles was βsubvertingβ themβsubverting their very βsouls.βΒ Beloved, it turns the soul of a Gentile upside down to put him under the Law, for heβs bound to wonder why the Law doesnβt work in his life!
For instance, he is going to wonder why God isnβt blessing him with good health when he obeys God, as God did for the Jews under the Law (Ex. 15:26). He is going to wonder why God isnβt blessing him withΒ wealthΒ when he pays his tithes, as God did for the Jews under the law (Mal. 3:10). It is sad to think of how the souls of men areΒ stillΒ being turned upside down, all because men are still teaching the Law to this day.
When Paul adds that they were teaching the Law βfor filthy lucreβs sake,β that means they knew better than to teach the Law, but didnβt care because it wasΒ profitable.Β Men do some pretty despicable things for money. Human traffickers prostitute womenβand evenΒ childrenβfor money. Evil men scam elderly people out of their life savings for money. But there is nothing lower on the face of the planet than religious men who know the truth and teach errorΒ for filthy lucreβs sake.Β So if your pastor is teaching grace, why not encourage him to continue in the message he received from Paul (I Tim. 3:14)? source
