Put them. All the Cretian Christians; in mind to be subject Passively, not resisting; to principalities Supreme rulers; and powers Subordinate governors; and to obey magistrates Actively, as far as conscience permits. It is probable that the reason whey the apostle enjoined this so particularly was, because the Judaizing teachers in Crete affirmed, that no obedience was due from the worshippers of the true God to magistrates who were idolaters, and because by that doctrine they were beginning to make not only the Jewish, but the Gentile believers, bad subjects, and liable to be punished as evil-doers. To be ready to every good work In every relation which they sustain; to speak evil of no man Neither of magistrates, nor of any others. “The word βλασφημειν, besides evil-speaking, denotes all those vices of the tongue which proceed either from hatred or from contempt of others, and which tend to hurt their reputation, such as railing, reviling, mocking speeches, whisperings, &c.”
To be no brawlers Greek, αμαχους ειναι, not to be contentious: or quarrelsome, to assault none; but gentle Επεικεις, yielding, when assaulted, and often giving up their own right rather than contend; showing In their tempers, words, and actions; all meekness A mild, inoffensive, and kind behaviour; unto all men Even enemies, and such as we ourselves once were. For we ourselves also Or, even we ourselves, though now new creatures in Christ Jesus; were sometimes, ποτε, formerly, foolish Ανοητοι, ignorant, of God and divine things; unreasonable, particularly in rejecting the Lord Jesus, though demonstrated to be the true Messiah by the most incontrovertible evidences; and imprudent, or destitute of true wisdom, (as the word also implies,) being enemies to ourselves, in that we were disobedient to the divine commands, though holy, just, and good; and refused to hearken to the glad tidings of salvation announced in the gospel of his grace. The cause of this unreasonable and foolish conduct was, that we were deceived by the grand enemy of our souls, the subtle serpent that lies in wait to deceive; deluded by the allurements of this insnaring world, and erred, or wandered, (as the word πλανωμενοι means,) from the right way of truth and righteousness into by-paths of error and sin, promising ourselves liberty; but serving Δουλευοντες, enslaved to, divers lusts Επιθυμιαις, desires, irregular and inordinate; (see on Titus 2:12;) and pleasures Which perished in the using, but nevertheless were alluring us forward to everlasting miseries. Such was the state of our understanding, will, and affections. But what were our tempers? Such was our conduct toward God and ourselves; but what was it toward our fellow-creatures? The apostle tells us: living in malice Instead of exercising benevolence and love toward all men; and envy Grieving at the good enjoyed by others, instead of rejoicing therein, as it was our duty to have done; hateful Ourselves, while under the tyranny of such detestable passions, worthy to be abhorred by God and man; and hating one another On account of little clashings and oppositions in our temporal interests, while we forgot the great ties and bonds which ought to have endeared us to each other. Dr. Whitby, arguing from Act 23:1; 2 Timothy 1:3; Philippians 3:6, pleads that the above description could not be applicable to Paul himself, even while he was in his unconverted state; and with him Dr. Macknight agrees; forgetting, it seems, the malicious and vengeful passions which evidently dwelt in him while he was Saul the persecutor, breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the best people upon earth, the disciples of the Lord Jesus; binding and delivering into prisons both men and women, and being exceedingly mad against them, punishing them oft in every synagogue, pursuing them into strange cities, and persecuting them even unto death, Acts 9:1; Acts 22:4; Acts 26:11. On account of which conduct, when the eyes of his understanding were opened by the wonderful miracle of grace which the Lord Jesus wrought for him, he always reckoned himself the chief of sinners. But besides the persecuting spirit which he manifested toward the Christians, when he had a just view of his temper and behaviour in other respects, and became acquainted with the purity of God's holy law, he was so convinced of the depravity of his nature, and of the imperfection of his best obedience, that, notwithstanding all he says in the passages above quoted by Whitby, he could undoubtedly, as Dr. Doddridge justly observes, “apply what he here wrote to much of his own character while an enemy to Christianity.” The reader will easily see that the duty inculcated in this passage is highly reasonable, and of peculiar importance, namely, that we should be ready to show that mercy to others which God hath shown to us; and that, from a recollection of the errors and sins which we were chargeable with in our unconverted state, we should exercise compassion toward those who are still ignorant and out of the way, but who may hereafter be brought to the saving knowledge of the truth, and be created anew in Christ Jesus, as we have been.