Vs. 10, “For there are many rebellious people, mere talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision group.”  As the church grew on Crete, they needed more Godly people to step up.  Paul once again lays out some attributes that a leader/elder must possess to set the example and be effective (vs. 5-9).  Question: Why?  Because where God is working, the enemy is also working hard to bring division and false doctrine.  Paul does not pull any punches when it came to addressing these people who were contributing towards these false ways (vs. 10-16).  Titus was not to tread lightly, but rebuke them harshly for the error of their ways (vs. 13).  While this may seem harsh, there is a difference between rebuking those who know the error of their ways vs. those who ignorantly believe the false teaching.

Regarding application…Why Doctrine?  Vs. 9, “He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.”  There is a tendency these days not to pay much attention to good biblical doctrine.  I believe this, they believe that, my church believes this, etc.  There are huge ramifications if we do not know sound doctrine.  When the enemy comes to plant his seeds of lies, if we don’t know the truth, we may fall into the trap.  When we try to encourage others and they think that Jesus didn’t really die on the cross but lived out his life to old age, how then can they think they can overcome if God’s son did not overcome death?  We need sound doctrine in our lives to be able to encourage others and have an answer for our faith.