Iβm sure youβve heard of absent-minded professors, men who are so engrossed in their deep thoughts that they tend to lose track of the little things we must all keep in mind in order to get along in life. Well, in Paulβs letter to Titus, the apostle warned the young man about some false teachers, saying,
ββ¦even their mindβ¦ is defiled. They profess that they know God; but in works they deny Him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobateβ (Titus 1:15,16).
From the context, we know that these defiled-minded professors were the βvain talkersβ¦ of the circumcisionβ (Titus 1:10) who were βteaching things which they ought notβ (Titus 1:11). I think Paul called them βdefiledβ because these unsaved Jews were trying to teach the grace believers in Creteβs churches that they would be defiled if they ate meats prohibited by the law of Moses, for thatβs what the law said of such people (Lev. 11:43).
But it doesnβt say that about those of us who are not under the law, but under grace (Rom. 6:15 cf. I Tim. 4:1-5). Paul just finished saying of us, βunto the pure all things are pureβ (v. 15), speaking of the foods we eat (cf. Rom. 14:20). So Paul turned the tables on those defiled-minded professors, and said that it was βtheir mindβ that was actually βdefiledβ for thinking that way, not the people who ate those meats!
When Paul said that these defiled-minded professors were βabominable,β he is again turning the tables on those legalizers. You see, βabominableβ is another word the law used of those who ate unclean meats (Lev. 11:41-43). So in calling the legalizers βabominable,β Paul is assuring the grace believers in Creteβs churches that they werenβt abominable, their accusers were.
Finally, Paul calls these legalizers βreprobateβ (Titus 1:16). Thatβs a word that the dictionary defines as abandoned, and thatβs how the word is used in Scripture as well. In speaking of the Gentiles who lived before Abraham, God said that He had to give them up and give them over to βa reprobate mindβ (Rom. 1:24,26,28). Thatβs pretty much the definition of abandonment, and thatβs why Paul called those ancient Gentiles reprobate.
But the unsaved Jews in Paulβs day had become just as reprobate! When Paul says that they were reprobate βunto every good work,β that meant they were totally incapable of doing anything that pleased God. No wonder the apostle Paul, in speaking of both Jews and Gentiles, wrote:
βGod hath concluded them all in unbelief, that He might have mercy upon allβ (Romans 11:32).
Today, unsaved Jews are just as defiled-minded as unsaved Gentiles, but God is willing to have mercy on them all. All He asks is that they believe the only reason theyβre worthy of Heaven is that Christ paid for their sins on the cross of Calvary and rose again. If youβre not saved, βBelieve on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be savedβ (Acts 16:31). source
