Introduction.

Like us, believers in Crete rubbed shoulders with unbelievers in the neighbourhood, at work and in the market place. And like us they would have discussed politics, economics, religion and the weather. Idle-talkers and deceivers often hear false teachings from friends and work-colleagues and then repeat them to their brothers and sisters in the congregation. It is interesting to note that the false teachings plaguing the church came from Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn from the truth. Because of the cultural influence of lying, deceiving, sensuality and financial greed the Cretans were naturally intrigued by new, novel and unusual things and would try anything to see if it worked. Jewish myths relating to weird and wonderful things that their ancestors did were often used to introduce false teachings. Jewish myths and the commandments of men were dressed up in pious and biblical language. Those who embraced the false teachings were promised that they would enjoy a higher, deeper and greater degree of spirituality and sense of eternal security than they had in the Gospel. The false teaching always seems to offer more than the Gospel and many believers foolishly yield to the deceitful temptation and follow the false teaching. Paul concludes his argument against Idle-talkers and deceivers and the false teaching they brought into the church in verses 15-16 where he divides humanity into two categories; the pure and the defiled. Titus needed to appoint blameless men who were pure to the office of Elder so that the influence of the defiled would stop destabilising sound doctrine. We need to consider the concepts of purity and defilement to enable us to identify those who are pure and those who are defiled.

The concepts of pure and defiled.

1. The meanings of the words pure and defiled are plain. When we say that something is made of pure-gold we mean that it is made up of gold and nothing else, it is 100% gold, it is free from extraneous elements, it is free from all foreign matter. Pure in a religious sense means not to be contaminated or polluted by sin. If you are pure it means that you are holy. To be defiled usually refers to a ceremonial uncleanness or a moral deficiency which has lead to sin, and sin has made the person unclean and unfit to worship God. The concept of being pure or defiled is the same as that of being clean or unclean before God. Whether a person is clean or unclean is a matter that is not often spoken about or thought about today. The idea of being clean or unclean before God becomes irrelevant when the love of God is erroneously separated from his holiness, justice and majesty. In modern theology the idea of God being unapproachable by those who are defiled by sin has disappeared and has been replaced a teaching that gives everyone the right of access to God. By ignoring the teaching of the Bible, popular modern theology has either elevated man to make him God's equal or degraded God and brought him down to man's level. God according to modern theology is no longer to be seen as One who is to be feared or held in reverence, but rather as a good friend or a helper in daily life. Modern theology does not deal with the God of the Scriptures, as the God of the Bible, the true and living God who is unapproachable by those defiled by sin. Sin renders individuals unacceptable in the holy presence of God. Before coming into the presence of God you need to be cleansed from sin or whatever defiles you.
   
   
2. Sin is totally incompatible with the awesome holiness of God. The prophet Habakkuk makes this point when he says, ‘You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on wickedness' (Habakkuk 1:13). Talking about God's holiness and man's sinfulness the Lord tells Moses, ‘you cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live' (Exodus 33:20) Listen to Hebrews 12:28-29, ‘Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire.' If a defiled sinner offered service to God that was sinful it was consumed by the holiness of God as a fire consumes a tinder dry bush. Only that which is pure or clean is acceptable in the eyes of God. The Old Testament strongly emphasised the need for sinners to be pure/clean. The Old Testament prescribed many cleansing ceremonies and rituals which involved washing and offering sacrifices for sin. In Leviticus 16 we have the ceremony prescribed for the Day of Atonement. Atonement was made for sin in order to cleanse the children of Israel. Listen to Leviticus 16:19, ‘Then he(High Priest) shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, cleanse it, and consecrate it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel. And verse 30, ‘For on that day the priest shall make atonement for you, to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before the Lord.' The God of the Bible demands that those who worship in his presence be cleansed from their sin.
   
   
3. When we think of sin, we tend to think only of things we actually do, we do not always see ourselves as being totally corrupted by sin and in need of cleansing. In Numbers 19:11-16 Moses makes it clear that anyone who touched a dead person's body was considered unclean. If someone who was sharing your home (tent) died, then your home and everyone living in your home was considered unclean. In Leviticus 12 we are told that when a woman gave birth to a baby she was unclean for 7 or 14 days depending on whether or not it was a boy or a girl. Leviticus 13 & 14 tells us that leprosy and various skin diseases made you unclean. Leviticus 15 reveals that bodily discharges and emissions from men and women made them unclean. Leviticus 11 gives us a list of animals and foods that were considered clean and unclean, if you ate an unclean animal you were rendered unclean. Living as fallen creatures in a fallen world makes us unclean simply by partaking in the ordinary things of human experience - birth, death, sex, illness, and eating. It was this concept of being unclean that made Isaiah declare, ‘But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away' (Isaiah 64:6). I am not unclean because of what I do, or say, think or love, but because I am totally corrupted by sin. Sin has made me, in my very inner being, my heart, mind, and will sinful and defiled. Every part of me is full of sin and makes me unclean. I need to be cleansed if I am to be acceptable to God. The ceremonies and rituals taught this truth symbolically over and over again. The need to be clean and not become defiled formed a very real part of everyday life for God's people living under the Old Covenant ceremonial law. God's holiness has not changed, nor have men and women become less sinful, therefore the need to be cleansed remains.
   
   
4. The believers in Crete had been taught by the Apostle Paul and those with him that Christians are permanently washed clean by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, therefore the ceremonial washing and sacrifices for cleansing are no longer required. Listen to Hebrews 9:11-14 making this point; ‘But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if  the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?' You are totally clean if you have been washed by the blood of Jesus, once washed by the blood of Jesus you never need to be cleansed again. Your life is hidden in Christ, his blood and righteousness constantly keeps you in the state of being clean. God the Judge has on the basis of the substitutionary work of Jesus declared believers not guilty of sin; therefore they are fully and totally acceptable to God. Believers trust Christ to make them clean and to make their service acceptable in God's sight. Christ Jesus has done what the ceremonial laws and rituals could never do; he has fully and permanently dealt with the sin and uncleanness of his people. He has redeemed them, atoned for their sin, clothed them in his righteousness and fully reconciled them to God. We rely on Christ and trust him alone to cleanse us forever. Because the Scriptures tell us this we are secure and assured by the work of Christ that we, who are believers, and who trust and depend on the Saviour will never be defiled.
   
   
5. As a Christian on the basis of the Scripture you can say, ‘I have been washed by the blood of the Lamb of God therefore I am and always will be clean, therefore I am accepted by God.' This you know is the biblical truth and you trust what God has said in his word. Paul in Titus 3:4-5 says, But when the kindness and the love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit in his mighty work of regeneration washes us in Christ's blood and renews us for eternity. While this is without a doubt Gospel truth, there are times when you are strongly tempted to doubt it and not believe it. This temptation comes in differing degrees of strength every time you fall into sin. The question you ask yourself is - How can I be clean if I sin as much as I do? Believers in Crete faced this same temptation and asked the same question. In opposition to sound doctrine that centres on the glorious work of Christ came two false teachings.
   
   
1. Can I be clean if I sin as much as I do? No, answered the false teaching, you are defiled every time you sin and need to undergo the cleansing ceremonies and keep the laws concerning clean food and holy days. If you are defiled you need to cleanse yourself by performing these rituals. Christ's work gave you a new start, but you need to keep on cleansing yourself as you walk through life to be with the Lord. This system allowed you to sin and then to cleanse yourself. Slowly the attitude of ‘So long as I have completed the required ceremony I am free to do as I please' developed. Trust in Christ's work is replaced with trust in the ceremonies and rituals. It is not very difficult to imagine why this system would be very attractive to those whose culture promoted a self-centred decadent life of pleasure. No change in life-style was needed if you could find the time to go through the cleansing rituals. This false teaching was very influential in Crete and the rest of the Roman Empire. In many ways the Roman Catholic Church follows this system and many Catholics have the attitude ‘I can do as I please, as long as I go to confession and receive mass every week.' This teaching disparages the finished work of Jesus Christ and declares that it did not accomplish the salvation of his people. Jesus' work in this system is seen to be inadequate, insufficient and ineffective. You need Jesus, but you also need the cleansing only the church can give. In this system the focus falls more on what the rituals accomplish than on what Christ Jesus' atoning work accomplished once for all.
   
   
2. Can I be clean if I sin as much as I do? ‘Yes,' answered the false teaching, ‘sin is no longer important if Christ Jesus has saved your soul.' Sin only involves your body and its desires. All matter is evil; your body is matter and must therefore be destroyed because it is evil. God is only concerned about your spiritual being, and Jesus has saved your soul. This false teaching came from Jews who promoted the ideas of Gnosticism which saw spiritual things as pure and good and all forms of matter as evil. What you did in the body was irrelevant if your soul was saved. This teaching not only contradicts the need for Jesus to become a man and take on a material human body in order to save the elect, it also makes nonsense of Christ's own resurrection and the resurrection of the dead on the day of judgement.
   
   
6. What is the Biblical answer to the question, ‘How can I be clean if I sin as much as I do?' When Paul writes to the churches he addresses members as saints. The word saints literally means holy ones. Every believer is called a saint because they are in Christ. Believers are not called saints because they are sin free, but because they are in Christ. They are hidden or covered by his blood and righteousness, so in God's sight they are always pure/clean, their sin past, present and future has been fully and completely atoned for. When you are born from above your new status is in Christ, always clean and always acceptable to God. Nothing but the work of Christ can take away your defilement and make you clean. Human works contaminated by sin can never, never cleanse you from any sin. If you are not cleansed by Christ Jesus you will always be defiled. Does this mean that the sins of Christians do no matter? Not at all! Your sins do matter and greatly affect your spiritual health. Your sins matter to Christ for he died to set you free from sin's dominion and condemnation. Your sins matter to your Heavenly Father and he will lovingly chastise those he loves. Believers are sons of God and therefore obligated to honour their heavenly Father by the way they live. Listen to Romans 8:12-16, Therefore, brethren, we are debtors-not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father." The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.' As a Christian you are no longer obligated to live according to the flesh, you are a debtor to Christ therefore obligated to put to death the sinful desires and lusts of the body by the power of the Holy Spirit. Your sins matter to the Holy Spirit and he is grieved by them.
   
   
7. Christians are pure because Christ's blood and righteousness makes them pure; therefore they have no need of any ceremonial cleansing. Believers are pure even if they touch a dead body, give birth, get a skin rash or leprosy, eat pork or snake, and do not keep the festivals given in the Old Testament. Defilement does not come from these common things of daily life, but from within from having a sinful nature. Jesus makes this point in Mark 7, listen to his concluding remark in verses 18-23. ‘So He said to them, "Are you thus without understanding also? Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?" And He said, "What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. ^For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man."' When you are born again you receive a new heart, a heart that longs to be pure and like the Saviour. Because the heart is clean and sin dealt with, the believer is always pure and therefore has right of access to the God of all grace.
   
   
8. Paul goes on to describe the defiled saying, ‘...to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled. They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.' What Paul says is exactly what Jesus says in Mark 7:18-23, sins corruption has perverted every faculty. Those who are defiled Matthew Henry says, ‘things lawful and good they abuse and turn to sin; they suck poison out of that from which others draw sweetness; their mind and conscience, those leading faculties, being defiled, a taint is communicated to all they do. The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, Proverbs. 15:8.' How can you tell the difference between those who are pure and those who are defiled? Listen to how Paul tells Titus to identify the defiled, ‘They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him.' Jesus in Matthew 7:15-20 gives exactly the same test, ‘Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ^A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.' In the opening verse of the epistle to Titus, Paul stated that truth always promotes godliness. This test means that those who teach the truth, must show the fruits of godliness in their own lives. Any teacher whose life reveals that he has no real concern about overcoming sin and drawing near to God contradicts the God of the Bible. If you keep company with God, his influence reflects itself in the way you live. This test of godly fruitfulness is not only applicable to false teachers; it is also applicable to every Christian. Your new life in Christ must show positive fruits of godliness, if it does not you need to seriously examine your heart.

Conclusion.

If you are a Christian you are clean because you have been washed in the blood of Jesus and clothed in his righteousness, you have received a new heart which desires to be godly. If you are defiled you are under condemnation and will suffer eternal damnation if you are not made clean by the Saviour. You need to seek the cleansing of the Saviour's blood.