When Paul left the island of Crete, he left Titus behind to βordain elders in every cityβ (Titus 1:5). As we read on, Paul explains why the churches in those cities needed spiritual leaders urgently:
βFor there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcisionβ (Titus 1:10).
Creteβs churches needed leaders to deal with some βunrulyβ men. The word unruly means someone who refuses to be ruled. Of course, the only thing you should allow to rule your life spiritually is the Bible. Thatβs why Hebrews 13:7 describes spiritual leaders as βthem which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God.β
But that means that the βunrulyβ men in Crete must have been men who didnβt want to be ruled by Godβs Word. And since they were βspeciallyβ¦of the circumcisionβ (Titus 1:10), they probably didnβt want to be ruled by what Titus taught them from Godβs Word, that βin Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcisionβ (Gal. 6:15), and so refused to βwalk according to this ruleβ (Gal. 6:16). Unruly Jews in those days preferred to be ruled by the Law of Moses instead. They were proud of being βMosesβ disciplesβ (John 9:28), and wouldnβt want to hear that βwe are not under the law, but under graceβ (Rom. 6:15).
Perhaps you are thinking, βHold on, Pastor! The Law was part of the Word of God, and you just said that those unruly men didnβt want to be ruled by the Word!β They didnβt!βthat is, they didnβt want to be ruled by the Word of God for today. They wanted to be ruled by the Law, the Word of God from the previous dispensation. But if youβre not allowing your spiritual life to be ruled by Godβs Word for today, youβre not being ruled by Godβs Word.
So if you donβt want to be an unruly Christian, just do what Paul tells us to do in Philippians 3:16,17:
β¦let us walk by the same ruleβ¦ be followers together of me.β
The only way to avoid being an unruly Christian is to follow Paulβs teachings of grace! The Law of Moses was fine for βthe house of Israelβ (Acts 2:36), but not for βthe house of God, which is the churchβ (I Tim. 3:15). If youβre not walking by Paulβs rules of grace, youβre walking by the wrong house rules! source
