This is not a Church-this is online Internet with over 32'000 different denomination. You have your work cut out for you
True-however this here is not a "church"
Agree-however this is not a Church-this is an online Forum.
Agree-however this is not a ekklesia-
Eph 6:11 You must put on God's full armor, so as to be able to stand up against the devil's stratagems.
Eph 6:12 For our contest is not with human foes alone, but with the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers of this dark world; that is, with the spirit-forces of evil challenging us in the heavenly contest.
Eph 6:13 So you must take on God's full armor, so as to be able to take a stand in the day when evil attacks you, and, after having completely finished the contest, to hold your own.
Eph 6:14 Hold your position, then, with your waist encircled with the belt of truth, put on right-doing as a coat of mail,
Eph 6:15 and put on your feet the preparation the good news of peace supplies.
Eph 6:16 Besides all these, take on the shield which faith provides, for with it you will be able to put out all the fire-tipped arrows shot by the evil one,
Eph 6:17 take the helmet salvation provides, and take the sword the Spirit wields, which is the word of God.
Eph 6:18 Keep on praying in the Spirit, with every kind of prayer and entreaty, at every opportunity, be ever on the alert with perfect devotion and entreaty for all God's people,
Eph 6:19 and for me that a message may be given me when I open my lips, so that I may boldly make known the open secret of the good news,
Eph 6:20 for the sake of which I am an envoy in prison: so that, when I tell it, I may speak as courageously as I ought.
Williams Bible
Qualifications for Elders
Tit 1:5 I left you in Crete for this express purpose, to set in order the things that are lacking, and to appoint elders in each town, as I directed you --
Tit 1:6 each elder must be above reproach, have only one wife, and his children must not be liable to the charge of profligacy or disobedience.
Tit 1:7 For as God's trustee a pastor must be above reproach, not stubborn or quick-tempered or addicted to strong drink or pugnacious or addicted to dishonest gain,
Tit 1:8 but hospitable, a lover of goodness, sensible, upright, of pure life, self-controlled,
Tit 1:9 and a man who continues to cling to the trustworthy message as he was taught it, so that he may be competent to encourage others with wholesome teaching and to convict those who oppose him.
Tit 1:10 For there are many insubordinate people, mere talkers with nothing to say, but deceivers of their own minds, especially those of the circumcision party,
Tit 1:11 whose mouths must be stopped, for they upset whole families by teaching things they ought not to think, for the sake of dishonest gain.
Tit 1:12 One of them, a prophet of their own countrymen, has said, "Cretans are always liars, wicked brutes, lazy bellies."
Tit 1:13 Now this tendency is true. So continue correcting them severely, that they may be healthy in faith,
Tit 1:14 by ceasing to give attention to Jewish myths and to the commands of men who turn their backs on the truth.
Tit 1:15 To the pure everything is pure, but to the impure and unbelieving nothing is pure, but their very minds and consciences are impure.
Tit 1:16 They profess to know God, but by their actions they disown Him; they are detestable, disobedient, and useless for anything good.
Your verse you use frequently-out of context may I add.
False teachers and cult groups can be quickly identified by three characteristics.
1. exploitation of money
2. exploitation of sexual freedom
3. a claim to unique and direct revelation
If your religious leaders want your money, your wife, and claim God told them — run!
1:12 "One of themselves a prophet" Epimenides lived in the sixth century b.c. and was from Crete. The fact that Paul quotes one of their poets shows the Greek influence on this island and in the heresy. Paul quotes from Greek philosophers and poets at least three times in his writings (cf. Acts 17:28; 1 Cor. 15:13; Titus 1:12). His home town of Tarsus was known for its educational institutions. Paul was highly educated in both Greek and Hebrew culture.
Paul may have called Epimenides a prophet because he wrote truly about the inhabitants of Crete or possibly because the Cretans considered him a speaker inspired by the Greek gods. He was known as one of the wisest men of Crete.
"Cretans are always liars" This is in hexameter poetic form. The Cretans believed and bragged that Zeus was buried on their island. The term "cretinous" meant "a liar." In this context this characterization seems to relate to the false teachers, not the churches or the general public.
"lazy gluttons" The basic meaning of the phrase is greed (cf. Phil. 3:19).
1:13 "reprove them severely" This literally means "cut off with a knife." This is a present active imperative. This strong term is used only here in the NT. Additional admonitions to strongly rebuke can be seen in 1 Tim. 5:25; 2 Tim. 4:2; Titus 2:15.
See-I'm giving you ammunition!
"so that they may be sound in the faith" This shows that discipline is to be redemptive, not punitive (cf. 1 Cor. 5:5; Heb. 12:5-13). The pronouns in Titus 1:13 refer to the false teachers (cf. 2 Tim. 2:25-26).
The term "sound" is a recurrent theme in the Pastoral Letters, which refers to something being healthy (cf. 1 Tim. 1:10; 2 Tim. 1:13; 4:3; Titus 1:9,13; 2:1,2,8).
1:14 "Jewish myths" These myths may be connected to Jewish speculation about the genealogy of the Messiah (cf. Titus 3:9; 1 Tim. 1:4; 2 Tim. 4:4). For a good discussion of the differing connotations of "myth" see G. B. Caird, The Language and Imagery of the Bible, pp. 219-242.
"and commandments of men" This, in context, seems to refer to the Oral Tradition of the Jews, later codified in the Babylonian and Palestinian Talmuds (cf. Isa. 29:13; Mark 7:7-8; Col. 2:16-23).
"who turn away from the truth" This is a present middle participle. These false teachers continue to turn away from the gospel. See Special Topic: Truth at 1 Tim. 2:4.
1:15 "To the pure, all things are pure" "Everything" is put first in the Greek sentence for emphasis.
This truth is hard for some believers to understand (cf. 1 Tim. 4:4; Mark 7:15-23; Luke 11:41; Rom. 14:14,20; 1 Cor. 10:23-33)! This possibly relates to asceticism so common in Greek religious philosophical traditions (cf. 1 Tim. 4:3; Col. 2:20-22).
Legalistic Christians often lose the biblical balance at this very point (cf. Rom. 14:1-15:13)!
"but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure" The first cognate verbal is a perfect passive participle and the second is a perfect passive indicative, which speaks of a settled state produced by an outside agent, here possibly the evil one. This type of person twists everything and everyone for personal interest (ex. Acts 20:29).
1:16 "They profess to know God" "God" is placed first in the Greek sentence for emphasis. These false teachers claim to be religious! They claim godliness based on human regulations (cf. Isa. 29:13; Col. 2:16-23), but in reality, they are defiled. Some see this as another evidence of the Jewish element of the heresy because of the term "God" rather than Christ. For "profess" see SPECIAL TOPIC: CONFESSION at 1 Tim. 6:12.
"but by their deeds they deny Him" This is a present middle indicative. Believers' lifestyle choices give evidence of their true conversion (cf. Matt. 7:16,20; 1 John and James).
"detestable" This is a term used often in the Septuagint translated "abominable" (cf. Rev. 17:4) and is often associated with idolatry. It literally means "smelly" (cf. Rev. 21:8).
"and disobedient and worthless for any good deed" What a shocking phrase (cf. 1 Cor. 3:10-15; 2 Pet. 1:8-11)!
The word "disobedient" is also used in Titus 3:3 to describe how believers lived before the grace of God/Christ changed them (3:4)!
The word "worthless" literally means "failure to pass the test" (dokimos with the alpha privative, cf. 1 Cor. 9:27; 2 Tim. 3:8). See Special Topic: The Greek Term for "Testing" at 1 Tim. 6:9.
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You have a blessed day-I don't want to be online all the time.
J.
