Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
He teaches that Christians ought to be obedient even to Ethnic magistrates, likewise modest and gentle.
Hence secondly, in verse 4, he inculcates the grace of Christ, who by baptism regenerated us, that we may be zealous for, indeed preside over, good works.
Thirdly, in verse 10, he commands that heretics be avoided.
Finally, in verse 12, he calls Titus, Zenas and Apollos to himself, and greets his own.
Vulgate Text: Titus 3:1-15
1. Admonish them to be subject to princes and powers, to obey what is said, to be ready for every good work, 2. to blaspheme no one, not to be litigious, but modest, showing all gentleness toward all men. 3. For we ourselves also were once foolish, unbelievers, going astray; serving various desires and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. 4. But when the goodness and humanity of God our Saviour appeared, 5. not by works of justice which we did, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the laver of regeneration and the renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6. whom He poured out upon us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour: 7. that, being justified by His grace, we may be heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 8. The word is faithful, and of these things I wish you to affirm: that those who believe in God may take care to preside over good works. These things are good and useful to men. 9. But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and disputes of the law. For they are unprofitable and vain. 10. After one and a second correction, avoid a heretical man: 11. knowing that he who is such is subverted, and sins, being condemned by his own judgment. 12. When I shall have sent Artemas or Tychicus to you, hasten to come to me at Nicopolis: for there I have determined to spend the winter. 13. Send forward carefully Zenas the lawyer, and Apollos, that nothing may be wanting to them. 14. And let our people also learn to preside over good works for necessary uses, that they may not be unfruitful. 15. All who are with me greet you: greet those who love us in faith. The grace of God be with you all. Amen.
Verse 1: Admonish Them to Be Subject to Princes and Powers, to Obey What Is Said, to Be Ready for Every Good Work
1. Admonish them to be subject to princes and powers. — In Greek ἀρχαῖς καὶ ἐξουσίαις, that is, principalities and powers, that is, princes and magistrates having power: for the abstract is put for the concrete, as I said on Colossians I, 16.
To be subject. — After the Apostle in the preceding chapter has given laws and admonitions to each of the states of men, here he gives common ones to all; and first that they obey lay princes and magistrates, even Ethnic ones, both lest they provoke them against the Christian religion, but rather draw them to Christ by their obedience; and lest they disturb the peace. The reason why Paul, Peter, and indeed Christ Himself often command this obedience is that which I stated on Romans XIII, 1, namely that they may show themselves not to be of the sect of the Galileans, which taught that the faithful people ought to be subject to God alone and not to Ethnics: for the Apostles were suspected of this, being Galileans. And this sect prevailed so much among the Jews that not even with death set before them could the Jews be induced to call Caesar Lord; indeed many of them, with Eleazar as their leader, would not allow themselves to be enrolled and registered by Cyrinus the governor of Syria, lest they profess themselves subject to Caesar, as Josephus relates, Wars VII, XXVIII and XXIX; but they, finally rebelling against the Romans by a public and common conspiracy of all, persisted most obstinately in their opinion and rebellion to the very last destruction of Jerusalem; and therefore they were utterly destroyed by Titus.
To obey what is said. — In Greek πειθαρχεῖν, that is, to obey promptly, willingly, and from the heart.
To be ready for every good work. — He speaks of a work not undertaken voluntarily, but prescribed by a prince or magistrate, of whom he previously spoke, so that whatever good thing he commands to be done, the Christians may show themselves ready for it. For if he should command some evil work, the Christian cannot obey him, but must say: "We must obey God rather than men." Whence St. Augustine on Psalm CXXIV, speaking of the Christian soldiers who served the Emperor Julian the apostate and idolater: "When," he says, "it came to the cause of Christ, they acknowledged none but Him who was in heaven. When he wished them to worship idols, to offer incense, they preferred God to him; but when he said: Bring forth the battle line, go against that nation, immediately they obeyed. They distinguished the eternal Lord from the temporal lord, and yet they were subject for the sake of the eternal Lord even to the temporal lord."
Verse 2: To Blaspheme No One, Not Litigious, Showing All Gentleness Toward All Men
2. To blaspheme no one, — that is, to curse no one, or to imprecate evil, to revile no one. For this is what βλασφημεῖν means. Thus 1 Corinthians IV, 13, it is said, "we are blasphemed," that is, cursed, "and we entreat." Otherwise among the Latins blasphemy is properly the reviling that is poured out against God and the Saints. The Apostle forbids that Christians should curse anyone, even a private person, but most of all that they should not curse any of the princes or magistrates, as many do when they are burdened by them with taxes and other burdens, either justly or unjustly; and he commands them to bear patiently both the commands and those who command. So Paul did, and he confirmed this doctrine of his by his own example, Acts XXIII, 3, where, when ordered to be struck by Ananias the unjust high priest: "God shall strike you," he said, "you whitewashed wall." And when those standing by said: "Do you curse the high priest of God?" he replied: "I did not know, brethren, that he is the prince of the priests. For it is written: You shall not curse the prince of your people."
Not litigious, — ἀμάχους, that is, not contentious, not so much in blows as in words, namely lest they wrangle, and be prone to disputes and quarrels against superiors and magistrates, and even any others. For gradually the Apostle extends himself and his sentiments to all. Whence he adds: "Showing all gentleness toward all men."
Verse 3: For We Ourselves Also Were Once Foolish, Unbelieving, Going Astray
3. For we ourselves also were once foolish, unbelieving, going astray. — For the word "For" gives the reason why Christians ought to be gentle toward all, even Ethnic unbelievers, the perverse and the wicked, both magistrates and any private persons. And here there is a tacit anticipation, as if to say: You will say to me, O Christians, that the Ethnics are impious and wicked, and harsh, troublesome and intolerable to you: how then shall we be able to avoid disputes with them and be gentle? Reply: The Apostle says that this should not retard the peace and gentleness of Christians, but rather kindle it: for those most miserable men are worthy of all compassion; Christians ought to consider that those are the vices of paganism and ignorance of God, and that they themselves were such when they lived among them as pagans: therefore let them recognize the difference and disparity of their present Christian life and the former one which they led in paganism; let them admire God's grace bestowed on them, and give thanks for it, and have pity on those who still live in the darkness and rough places of paganism; let them bear their passions and vices, and pray to God that they too may at some time be converted with them to Christ and to Christian modesty, gentleness and holiness.
St. Jerome notes the word "we," as if to say: I, Paul, also before my conversion lived an unbeliever in Judaism, I followed the concupiscences of the flesh, and I was unable to restrain them, being destitute of the grace of Christ; but having been imbued with it after my conversion, I became a vessel of election and of virtues.
Note: For "foolish" the Greek is ἀνόητοι, which St. Jerome translates as "foolish," St. Ambrose as "inconsiderate."
Secondly, for "unbelievers" the Greek is ἀπειθεῖς, that is, unpersuadable. It can secondly be translated with Jerome as "disobedient," and with Cyprian as "contumacious."
Thirdly, malice is the same as wickedness, perversity, depravity and the desire to harm. From this, evil men are called perverse, who attack others in words and deeds, and are troublesome and malign to all. So Theophylact. "By sin," says Prosper, book On the Grace of God, against the Collator, "man lost the knowledge of good: for iniquity drove out justice, pride destroyed humility, concupiscence shattered continence, unbelief snatched away faith, captivity took away liberty, nor could any portion of the virtues remain there, where so great a host of vices rushed in."
Verse 4: But When the Goodness and Humanity of God Our Saviour Appeared, Not by Works of Justice Which We Did
4. But when the goodness and humanity of God our Saviour appeared, not by works of justice which we did. — For "goodness" the Greek is χρηστότης, that is, goodness, benevolence and beneficence. "Humanity" is not the same as the assumption of human nature, as D. Thomas explains. For in Greek it is φιλανθρωπία, that is, that singular love, zeal and affection of God the Father toward men, and, as St. Jerome translates, clemency: by which, namely, God the Father, as Saviour, willing to lead us to salvation, gave us His Son as Saviour, our brother and a man of like nature with us, who, having assumed human nature, instituted baptism by the merit and price of His blood, by which He might wash us from our former vices and concupiscences and save us; and so might make us new men, that from foolish we might become wise, from unbelieving believing, serving not the desires of the flesh, but of the spirit.
Elegantly and piously St. Bernard, sermon 1 On the Feast of the Lord's Nativity: "There had appeared before," he says, "power in the creation of things, there was appearing wisdom in their governance; but the goodness of mercy has now most of all appeared in humanity." And soon after: "Let Your goodness appear, O Lord, to which man (who was created to Your image) may be conformed: for majesty, power, and wisdom we can neither imitate, nor is it expedient to emulate. How long is Your mercy confined to the angelic part alone, while judgment occupies the rest with the whole human race? Let mercy enlarge her bounds, extend her cords, expand her bosom, reach mightily from end to end, ordering all things sweetly."
Note: In this philanthropy, or singular love of God toward us, there are many things to be admired.
First, that He who is God, that is, who is the highest majesty and happiness, who has every good in Himself, so that He needs neither us nor any other thing, has loved us from eternity.
Secondly, that He does not love us by necessity, as He necessarily loves the Son and the Holy Spirit, but altogether freely and bounteously.
Thirdly, that He loves us without His own utility or proper advantage. For, as Cyril says, book I of the Thesaurus, chapter VI, the production of creatures is superfluous to God, as far as God's perfection is concerned. For God was that before we were created which He is even now: we brought Him nothing when produced from nothing into being, and if we were reduced to nothing, we would take nothing from Him.
Fourthly, because God loves man in whom no reason, no merit, no dignity went before, on account of which he should be loved, but rather many and great demerits, on account of which he was worthy of all hatred. "God commends," says Paul to the Romans V, 8, "His charity in us, because when as yet we were sinners, Christ died for us."
Fifthly, because He loved those whom He foreknew would be ungrateful, indeed His enemies.
Sixthly, because this love of God toward men proceeds neither from ignorance nor from passion, as men foolishly often love their mistresses out of insane love, or because they persuade themselves that they are most charming; but every love of God is joined with the highest equity and wisdom.
You will say: What wisdom is there in God in loving sinful and miserable men? for this object in itself is not lovable.
I reply: The reason for loving in God is not sought from the lovable object, as it is among men, but from God Himself. For God loves us for His own sake, because He is supremely good, and so abounds in goodness that He wishes to pour out His goodness and liberality upon us, who are unworthy of every love. Therefore the infinite goodness of God is the root and reason for loving men, and for communicating Himself and His goods to them. St. John wonderfully inculcates this love when he says, chapter III, verse 16: "So God loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life."
Where note that each word has emphasis, and emphatically exaggerates the love of God. For first he says, "so," that is, with such vehemence, effort, and excess of love. Secondly, not a king, not a Caesar, not an angel, but "God." Thirdly, "He loved," namely first and gratuitously, without merit, indeed without our desire. Fourthly, "the world" contrary to Him, an enemy and worthy of damnation. Fifthly, "that" He gave not a man, not an angel, not another world, but "the Son," not a stranger, not adopted, but "His own," proper and natural, and Him not one of many, but "only-begotten" and unique.
Sixthly, He would not sell at a price, He would not lend, but gratis "He would give," not to a kingdom and triumphs, but to death and the cross. Seventhly, He did this not seeking any fruit for Himself, not for Christ, but that He Himself, that is the Creator of His creatures, might give us life by His death, exalt us by His humility, and heap us with eternal glory, immense wealth and goods by His self-emptying.
Of God our Saviour. — Note: Here God the Father is called Saviour; for he distinguishes Him from the Saviour whom he subjoins in verse 6, saying: "Through Jesus Christ our Saviour." Whence St. Jerome teaches that the Most Holy Trinity is here noted: for the third person of the Holy Spirit is named when he says: "He saved us through the laver of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit." He speaks of inchoate salvation, which is justification itself, by which we are freed and saved from sins and the guilt of death and hell, and we tend toward the full and complete salvation, which we shall obtain in heaven, freed from all troubles, concupiscences, and dangers of sinning. So St. Augustine, book III Against the two Epistles of the Pelagians, chapter III.
Verse 5: Not by Works of Justice, but According to His Mercy, by the Laver of Regeneration and the Renewal of the Holy Spirit
5. Not by works of justice (that is, not by the merit of just works, since no such works went before faith and justice), but according to (that is, on account of, see Canon 25) His mercy, — that is, gratuitously, out of God's mere mercy.
By the laver of regeneration. — Here the Apostle asserts that we obtain the aforesaid salvation in baptism: for baptism is the laver of regeneration, by which, namely, we are regenerated and reborn in Christ.
And of the renewal of the Holy Spirit, — by which, namely, through the grace of the Holy Spirit we are renewed, and become new men, that is, holy, just, friends and sons of God. Hence Tertullian, in his book On the Resurrection of the Flesh, explaining the power of baptism: "The flesh," he says, "is washed that the soul may be cleansed; the flesh is anointed that the soul may be consecrated; the flesh is fed that the soul may be fortified; the flesh is overshadowed by the laying on of hands that the soul too may be illuminated by the Spirit; the flesh feeds on the body and blood of Christ that the soul may be filled with God." For in baptism honey and milk, and the Eucharist, were given to the newly baptized to taste, as I said elsewhere, and the sacrament of Confirmation by the laying on of hands was at once bestowed on the baptized, as Tertullian here intimates.
Note here the emphasis: for baptism is called renewal, in Greek παλιγγενεσία, that is, a second generation, because as it were begotten anew according to the flesh, it regenerates us according to the spirit and the virtues. Whence Theophylact rightly exclaims here: "O an arduous and admirable thing! So immersed were we in vices, that we could in no way be purged, but there was need of regeneration; for regeneration and renewal signify a second birth and a new formation. For just as we do not prop up a ruinous and altogether old house, but we destroy and demolish it down to the foundations, and build a new one: in a similar way God did not refurbish what was corrupted by patching it up, but founded it anew. How? Through the Holy Spirit: for do not seek the mode — the Spirit, he says, accomplished the whole. Whence is this clear? Whom He poured out, he says, abundantly upon us: for us He not only refashioned through Him, but also bestowed Him upon us liberally, that this too might be shown by this. And rightly: for after He had cleansed us, then He also abundantly filled us with His Holy Spirit; this is what he says: He poured out. That world-pure Spirit did not enter into the impure."
Again, D. Thomas here: "Man," he says, "in the state of perdition needed two things, namely participation in divinity and the laying aside of the old man. Christ provided both for us: the former, when through His grace He made us partakers of the divine nature; the latter, when through baptism He regenerated us into a new creature." And again: "In the justification of the impious," says D. Thomas, "there are two termini: from which, the remission of guilt, and this is renewal; to which, the infusion of grace, and this is regeneration." But this does not seem solid enough: for just as regeneration, so also renewal has its terminus, both to which and from which: for the newness of grace and life is the terminus to which of renewal. D. Thomas therefore speaks only accommodatively, and by renewal he precisely understands the laying aside of the old; for he wishes to distinguish in justification the terminus from which, from the terminus to which; and as he assigns this to regeneration, so he attributes that to renewal.
Finally note, that this renewal from sins is fully accomplished in baptism, but from vices and concupiscences only inchoately, in which one must daily make progress, namely by mortifying concupiscences, so that from them we may obtain full health and renewal in heaven. So St. Augustine, book XIV On the Trinity, chapter XVI.
Verses 6 and 7: Whom He Poured Out Upon Us Abundantly Through Jesus Christ Our Saviour, That, Being Justified by His Grace, We May Be Heirs According to the Hope of Eternal Life
6. Whom (namely the Holy Spirit, that is, the grace and gifts of the Holy Spirit) He poured out upon us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour, 7. that, being justified by His grace, we may be heirs according to the hope of eternal life. — Note: He does not say "gave," but "poured out," and that not sparingly, but "abundantly," in Greek πλουσίως, that is opulently, says Jerome, lavishly, copiously; and this with this end, that "justified," that is, purged from sins and gifted with justice, not by our own merit, but by His grace, "we may be heirs according to the hope of eternal life," that is, that we may hope to be heirs in heaven of eternal life.
Note: Just as a son who has been written as heir by his father is the father's heir, not in actual fact, but only according to his hope and according to his father's designation, by which it will come about that, when the father is dead, he will in actual fact be his father's heir: so in baptism, when we are justified, we are destined and inscribed as heirs of eternal life, but only according to our hope and the designation of God. For we shall in actual fact be heirs after death, if indeed we persevere in the justice received, which gives us the right to eternal life, and die in it.
Verse 8: The Faithful Saying, That Those Who Believe in God May Be Careful to Preside Over Good Works
8. The word is faithful; and of these things I will that you affirm: that those who believe in God may be careful to preside over good works. — As if to say: Those things which I have said about God's goodness and humanity toward us, about renewal, about salvation, about the hope of eternal life, are not fabulous, not uncertain, not doubtful; like the doctrines and hopes of the Jews and the Philosophers; but faithful, that is, certain and undoubted (as I said in 1 Timothy chapter 1, verse 15); and therefore I will, that of these things you confirm not so much yourself (since you are sufficiently firm in these things) as others, as the Syrian translates, namely that they themselves, excited and confirmed by this faith and hope, may be careful to preside over good works. So St. Chrysostom and St. Jerome.
Whence note first: For "confirm" the Greek is διαβεβαιοῦσθαι, which you would translate more clearly and aptly as "affirm," asseverate, assert, and proclaim, as a certain and undoubted matter; for the Apostle wills that Titus affirm these things to others and propose them as most certain and most true, that by them they may be incited to good works.
Note second: For "that they may be careful to preside over good works," the Greek is ἵνα φροντίζωσι καλῶν ἔργων προΐστασθαι, which Ambrose translates, "that they may be solicitous toward the affection of good works"; but Beza, "that they may be zealous to defend good works." For it cannot, he says, be translated as "preside"; for thus in Greek it would have to be said in the dative καλοῖς ἔργοις, but it is said in the genitive καλῶν ἔργων. But I reply, with Jerome and Budaeus, indeed Vatable and Erasmus, that προΐστασθαι properly signifies "to preside," and governs the genitive: for the preposition πρό demands this. For hence προστάς and προστάτης τοῦ ἔργου is called the prefect of the work. Therefore the Apostle wills that Christians so apply themselves to and devote themselves to good works, especially of almsgiving and beneficence, that they preside over them as leaders and prefects, just as in a camp someone is said to preside over the provisions, the grain, the artillery. For just as it is the duty of the latter to take care that nothing in these matters is lacking, so it is the duty of Christians to take care that nothing is lacking to anyone, so that they do not wait for the petition of the poor, but seek them out and anticipate them with their alms. So Theophylact. As Cato, according to Plutarch, used to say, "distinguished actions are to be seized," that is, to be sought after and called for, so that we may always heap former good deeds upon later ones. For just as vain and worldly men aspire to honors, magistracies and prefectures, and contend over them, that they may snatch them from others: so Christians ought to contend over good works, that in alms they may be ahead of all and snatch them from others. Whence Chrysostom, explaining what it is to preside over good works: "This is," he says, "to bring help to those oppressed by injury, not only with money, but also with exhortation and wholesome doctrine; likewise to bring aid to widows and orphans, and to look after all who are in affliction or distress, with an affection of compassion."
To this end the same Chrysostom here in moral homily 6 suggests a stimulus to the rich, namely that they should think and persuade themselves that those who give alms receive more from the poor than they give them, namely more good prayers and supplications, more virtue, more merit, more grace, more reward both present and eternal: and for this reason Christ, although He could have provided for His own sustenance in other ways, nevertheless willed to be nourished by Magdalene and other pious women, namely not in order to receive, but to confer a benefit upon them. And Chrysostom adds: "Beneficence," he says, "makes us like to God. This is the mother of charity, the proper mark of Christian virtue, by which the disciples of Christ are known: this is the medicine of our crimes, this cleanses the filth of our soul, this is the ladder which extends even to heaven, this connects the body of Christ, and embraces all the members of Christ."
Some explain it thus: "let those who believe take care," that is, Christians, "to preside over good works," that is, to surpass and excel the unbelievers, and to snatch from them the palm, not in glory or wealth, but in the pursuit of good works: for the Greek προΐστασθαι is the same as "to stand before," that is, to surpass others, or to be the first whom others follow, and not one who follows others. But thus in Greek it should rather have been said καλοῖς ἔργοις, than καλῶν ἔργων, and ἀπίστων, that is, "the unbelievers," should have been added.
Verse 9: But Avoid Foolish Questions, and Genealogies, and Contentions, and Disputes of the Law
9. But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and battles of the law. — He understands by "genealogies" those of the Jews and Judaizers, who from boyhood study these things so much that they rapidly run through from memory all the generations from the beginning of Adam down to Zorobabel, so that you would think they were reciting their own name, says Jerome. Again, by "battles of the law" he understands futile questions and quarrels, which are stirred up concerning the law, such as in what year Solomon took a wife, whether he begot Roboam in the eleventh year; and similar things, says Jerome.
Verses 10 and 11: Avoid a Heretical Man After One and a Second Correction, Knowing That He Who Is Such Is Subverted and Condemned by His Own Judgment
10 and 11. Avoid a heretical man after one and a second correction, knowing that he who is of such a kind is subverted, and sins, since he is condemned by his own judgment. — For "correction" the Greek is νουθεσίαν, that is, as Jerome translates, admonition, which is done gently, by teaching and warning sweetly without more severe rebuke. For the Apostle is speaking not of an obstinate and formed heretic, but of one who errs from ignorance or bad instruction, and follows the sect of those erring; or of one about whom it is doubtful whether he is obstinate or not. For this one ought to be corrected and instructed, first more gently, second more harshly and forcefully; but if when thus warned he despises it, and shows himself obstinate, he is to be avoided, and not to be corrected: for there will be no fruit of correction. Indeed, such a one, if corrected, resists more, and becomes obstinate, says Ambrose, because "such a one," as the Apostle adds, "is subverted," in Greek ἐκπέπτωκεν, that is, overthrown, namely from faith, hope, and all good things, being plainly in heresy and his own obstinacy perverted and immersed.
Whence Tertullian, in his book On Prescription, chapter XVI, teaches that in the case of heretics, the precept of the Lord, Matthew XVIII, on the order to be kept in correction, has no place. Hence also the same Tertullian and Ambrose read here thus: "avoid a heretical man after the first correction"; and thus, says Erasmus, we do not avoid heretics, if they relapse after the first correction, but burn them. But everywhere the Latin, Greek and Syriac read, "avoid a heretical man after one and a second correction." For the Apostle speaks of a heretic who is not obstinate, but erring, as I have said.
Note first: For "avoid" the Greek is παραιτοῦ, that is, reject, turn away from, refute.
Here Erasmus, in his customary manner, bites at the theologians for proving from this place of the Apostle that heretics should be punished and chastised, supposing namely that "avoid" (devita) is the same as "take from life" (de vita tolle), just as "behead" (decapita) is the same as "take off his head." And not content with this sarcasm, he imputes a similar but more bitter, not so much ignorance as injustice, to the jurisconsults, when he adds: "Thus the jurisconsults hang the thief, because the law commands the robber to be punished with the head, and the French call a thief a robber (larron); thus physicians, from ignorance of words, sometimes give poison for a remedy." You err, Erasmus; this was not the foolishness of the French jurisconsults, but the just law and sanction of the princes and magistrates, which everywhere assigns thieves to the cross, as robbers to the wheel. Much less is it the ignorance of the theologians, but the decrees of kings and emperors, that condemn heretics to the pyre. Who, I ask, of the Interpreters or Latin Fathers was so senseless, so insipid, as to say "devita" was the same as "tolle de vita"? There may have been some idle talker who explained it so, as you say, either in jest or in earnest: to what council, king, or prince did he persuade that this very thing should be inflicted as a punishment on heretics under this name? There are other Scriptures, certain and clear, which teach that heretics ought to be punished, which you may see, if you wish, in Bellarmine. Excellently Tertullian, Scorpiacus chapter II: "It is fitting," he says, "that heretics be compelled, not allured to their duty. Hardness must be conquered, not persuaded."
Note second: "He sins," in Greek ἁμαρτάνει, that is, he errs, or he transgresses and sins, supply: knowingly, prudently, and obstinately in his heresy, malice and offense. Heresy therefore is here called by antonomasia a transgression, a sin, and a crime.
Note third: "Since he is condemned by his own judgment," in Greek ὢν αὐτοκατάκριτος, that is, since he is condemned by himself, and, as Cyprian reads, by his very self, because namely he willingly and obstinately separates himself from all the faithful, and from the whole Church, outside of which there is no salvation, but certain damnation. So Jerome, Anselm and others.
Whence Saint Maximus, sermon 50, aptly compares the heretic to Judas, who was not cast out by Christ, but of his own accord separated himself from the college of the Apostles, when he wished to betray Christ: "With such a punishment," he says, "is the heretic condemned as Judas, that he is at once both guilty of his own crime and judge of vengeance, because the Lord whom Judas sold, the heretic blasphemes." Again, as Vatable says, since the heretic judges those worthy of eternal damnation who resist the truth and the faith, by this very thing he condemns himself, since he resists both the truth and the faith of the whole Church.
Thirdly, others explain it thus: the heretic trusts too much in his own judgment: for in this consists the sin of heresy: therefore the heretic sins by overconfidence in his own judgment, and consequently condemns himself by the same, that is, makes himself guilty of condemnation, and liable to it. But this is beside the mind of the Apostle.
Verse 12: When I Shall Have Sent Artemas or Tychicus to You, Hasten to Come to Me at Nicopolis
12. When I shall have sent Artemas or Tychicus to you, — namely that they may supply for your absence in Crete, and instruct and feed the Cretans on your behalf.
Hasten to come to me at Nicopolis. — Chrysostom understands Nicopolis of Thrace; but St. Jerome better takes it as Nicopolis of Epirus. It was called Nicopolis, that is, city of victory, by Augustus, who there, namely near the promontory of Actium in Epirus, defeated Antony and Cleopatra in a naval battle.
Verse 13: Send Zenas the Lawyer and Apollos Forward Carefully, That Nothing May Be Wanting to Them
13. Send Zenas the lawyer and Apollos forward carefully, that nothing may be lacking to them. — The Apostle commands these to be sent to him, that he may have them as companions and helpers in preaching the Gospel. For Apollos was eloquent and powerful in the Scriptures, Acts XVIII, 24. But Zenas was not a jurist of Roman law, but a doctor of the law, namely the Mosaic, and therefore of great authority and reputation. Hence, now converted to Christ, he was able to refute the Jews from the law and the Prophets, and to teach that Jesus is the Messiah. These therefore he commits to Titus, that he should direct them to him, and carefully take care that nothing be lacking to them in provisions for the journey or in other things suitable for travel.
Verse 14: And Let Our People Also Learn to Preside Over Good Works for Necessary Uses
14. And let our people also learn to preside over good works, for necessary uses. — The Apostle repeats this sentence on the occasion of the provisions which he commanded to be given to Zenas and Apollos: and there is a tacit objection, as if to say: You will say to me, O Titus, that you are poor, and cannot provide them with all things necessary for the journey. I reply, go to our faithful, teach them to exercise this charity toward the ministers of God and the Apostles, that they themselves may learn not only through doctrine, but also through experience and practice, to preside over good works and alms so necessary, so worthy and holy, and to be liberal and munificent toward their masters. So Jerome, Theodoret and others. The same St. John, in epistle 3, commends to Gaius: "Dearest," he says, "you faithfully do whatever you do for the brethren, and this for strangers, etc., whom doing well you shall send forward worthily of God: for they have set out for the sake of His name. We therefore ought to receive such, that we may be cooperators of the truth." Hence among the first Christians the right of hospitality was strict and great: so much so that Peregrinus the impostor (according to Lucian in his Life) for this reason pretended himself to be a Christian and a preacher, because he knew that in the hospitality of the Christians he had enough provisions for the journey, so that not only was he fed by them, but also escorted on the way, and thus (as Lucian says) he proceeded surrounded on every side. About this hospitality I shall say more on Hebrews XIII, 2.
Closing Benediction
Grant, O Lord, that we may preside over good works, that we may pass this short span of life fruitfully, that we may become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.