Titus 3:10
Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them.
New Living Translation
If people are causing divisions among you, give a first and second warning. After that, have nothing more to do with them.
Amplified Bible
After a first and second warning reject a divisive man [who promotes heresy and causes dissension—ban him from your fellowship and have nothing more to do with him],
Contemporary English Version
Warn troublemakers once or twice. Then don’t have anything else to do with them.
Good News Translation
Give at least two warnings to those who cause divisions, and then have nothing more to do with them.
There is a limit to what we tolerate. We can forgive seventy times seven as Jesus commanded, Matthew 18:22, but we must protect ourselves from further harm by those whom we forgive. Forgiveness ends hostilities but may not end the consequence of the mistake done. God forgives us but we still die as a consequence of sin. We are forgiven and saved but we still live with the consequences of sin until God puts an end to sin.
Forgiveness means you no longer count the mistake against the person who wronged you. But forgiveness doesn’t mean you remain vulnerable to being wronged. You forgive but ensure that it doesn’t happen again and that may include permanent consequences. You can forgive someone who attempts to kill you in the middle of the night as you sleep, but you shouldn’t continue living with such a person. Forgiveness means the end end of ill feelings, but not the evasion of consequences.
Consequences are not veiled revenge. Consequences are not a clever way to pretend you have forgiven when you haven’t. God who reads human hearts will not forgive us if we pretend to have forgiven and then use consequences as a way to maintain hostilities. Consequences should be the inevitable steps that are taken to ensure the damage caused by wrongdoing does not recur. The danger should not face us again, but the guilty person is forgiven.
Our text today tells us that there is a troublemaker in the church. There is a controversial person in the church. The person is teaching heresy and promoting divisions. The person is reversing the gains the church has made. Should we allow this to continue? Can we stand helplessly as damage is inflicted on the organization?
The Bible tells us to warn this person once and observe if there is a change of heart and character. Warn this person a second time and observe if he or she has changed their dangerous activities. If the person doesn’t change after two chances, the person is forgiven but the church should remain safe from damage, therefore, the person will be separated from the church. Have nothing to do with such a person.
The warnings are not a formality to a predetermined conclusion. God knows our hearts if genuinely we are giving a chance for the person to reform, or we are setting up the person for the trap we have set. The process must be redemptive. The final decision to separate the person from the church is not out of hatred or malice, but the desire to keep the church safe from his or her dangerous activities.
When the person is finally separated from the church, it is not a failure of the church to forgive. The church has forgiven but the consequences are separation from the church for the welfare of the individual and the church. There is a limit to niceness to an ingrate. There is a limit to being vulnerable. There is a limit to remaining at risk. There is a limit!
There is a limit to attempts we make to salvage a business, or else we will sink in trouble never to rise. There is a limit to what we put up within a toxic environment and relationship, or else we will suffer a mental breakdown. There is a limit even after forgiveness. There is a limit!
May God grant us wisdom to first understand the message and internalize. May God give us the wisdom to apply it for His own glory, in Jesus’ name, Amen!
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