False Believers

Years ago I had someone quote to me Paul’s words to Titus, “To the pure all things are pure;”   The acquaintance said that means there was nothing wrong with his foul joke because if I were pure I would not have understood his filthy jest.  The entirety of Paul’s words clearly do not support such a meaning.

“Unto the pure all things are pure; but to them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscious is defiled” (Titus 1:15).  Every topic is acceptable for discussion, jesting or defiling to the unbeliever.  Often they hold little to nothing sacred and ridicule those who do hold things sacred.  

They may say they believe in God, a superior power, but the way they live and the things they do expose them as unbelievers because they are disobedient to God’s Word (Titus 1:15-16).  Paul’s words about the pure are not an excuse for ill behavior but a warning against disobedience and false believers.


We do not earn salvation through works, but our works are a clear induction of our salvation (Titus 1:16).