¹¹ whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of dishonest gain.  

¹¹ whose mouths must be stopped,

If leaders of the church did not stop these false teachers, grim results would follow. It was necessary to stop these people. Note “must.” Paul placed a demand on Titus to prevent those who distort truth from teaching their false doctrine.

Since the false teachers of Crete acted like wild beasts, Titus was told he must muzzle their mouths. The Greek word means bridled. No pastor should tolerate those who distort Scripture in his congregation.

who subvert whole households,

False teachers will do damage to families in the church. In some cases, they deceive entire households. The households referred to here might have been house churches. These false teachers did not convert but subvert. “Vert” means turn. Subvert means to turn under. They penetrated the church to an alarming extent by subversive activities.

The word “whole” indicates the thoroughness of the deception. They put entire churches into turmoil and endangered the ministry in Crete.

teaching things which they ought not,

Their teaching was wrong, but the details of the teaching were not specified. Not only those who believe in the Bible but apostates, too, teach.

for the sake of dishonest gain.

The motive of Cretan false teachers was sinful. They made dishonest financial profit unscrupulously from their distorted ministry. They did not care what they believed as long as they got their money.

The reason these false teachers teach what they do is for the underhanded motive of making money. They believe that they will gain wealth by their false teaching. Their greedy motives mark them as phonies.

1 Pe 5: ² Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly;

 PRINCIPLE:

When false teaching grows, it becomes urgent to oppose it.

APPLICATION:

Heresy can penetrate into the fiber of how the church thinks and operates. It will affect the entire lifestyle of the church. And it is subtle.

Secret motives are behind what they teach. Since they are sneaky, their belief systems must be denounced in no uncertain terms. There can be no equivocation in discrediting distortions of biblical doctrine. Christian leaders must completely discredit false teaching.

The greatest danger to false teaching is when it embeds in the local church. Deceivers can disguise themselves as true believers there. Pastors and teachers in our seminaries must also be on their toes to stop the spread of the devil’s lies (Ga 1:8).

Ac 20: ²⁹ For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. ³⁰ Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.

Many television preachers are in ministry for financial profit. They live in palatial houses and drive the most expensive cars. They justify this by claiming a prosperity gospel. Sound doctrine is something they avoid like the plague.