Titus 1:15-16: They Profess that They Know God
Titus 1:15
Previously, we spoke of “charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned” (1 Timothy 1:5). We as disciples of Jesus Christ are not completely pure in experience. However, the new inward man is pure. With that, there is an innocence where we treat the sacred with respect. There is a pure conscience and sincerity that we have because of the Spirit working in us.
Have you ever heard the phrase, “nothing is sacred to such and such a person”? This is the idea here. They are defiled. We think of something that once was pure but is not anymore. It is somehow contaminated. The word unbelieving implies that such a one has heard the Gospel plainly, but they did not believe it. When the truth of God is suppressed and denied, they are given over to a state of defilement.
The mind is the intellect here. The world may consider them highly intelligent. However, the defiled intellect is impure and against God in every way. We live in an age where someone who graduated at the top of their class at an Ivy League school says that you need to be a biologist to determine the difference between a man and a woman. Such a one may be just trying appeal to one’s political base by feigning ignorance, but you get the idea. The smartest person in the world may be the most foolish before God.
The conscience here is one’s morality. We live in a society today where people think it is not just normal, but imperative to expose little children to things such as sexual orientation and transgenderism. It is moral for them to crush the skulls of babies in the womb and snap their spines. Not only that, what I say here is seen as narrow-minded at best and malicious bigotry ay worst. The defiled conscience is represented by Isaiah 5:20-24.
Titus 1:16
Many such people claim to be believers, but the works do not reflect the new man. Consider Matthew 12:33-35. The good tree produces good fruit, and the bad produces bad. It is the same with people. Matthew 7:15-20 is similar in that it is talking about false prophets. However, first passage shows us that this is about more than prophets. James 3:8-12 also speaks of the same. This does not mean that saved people are going to be perfect, but in general, this is how we can differentiate between Christianity and charlatans.
Being abominable here also implies being idolatrous. They do awful things that are contrary to Christ. They cannot be convinced that their sin is wrong and incompatible with Christ. They are “reprobate” to good works. That means they do not good works, for it is impossible for them to do so.