1 Timothy, Chapter 3
© Copyright 2002 Darroll Evans, all rights reserved

1 Timothy 3:1-13
1 This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.
2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;
3 Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;
4 One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity;
5 (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)
6 Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.
7 Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.
8 Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre;
9 Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.
10 And let these also first be proved; then let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless.
11 Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things.
12 Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.
13 For they that have used the office of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.

The issue of who qualifies has been of great concern in the Church.

Even among translators it is a hot issue.

I know that some may be angry concerning this, no matter what I say.

However, after a good deal of study of this text, and despite my personal preferences, there is no way a Church can justify placing a woman or a divorced man in a position of Pastor.

Some may tell us that "there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28/NKJV).

That is true in dealing with salvation, but in looking at the Servants of the Church Galatians 3:28, it does not apply!

The key to understanding this section is found in the Greek word translated "wife."

It comes from the Greek word gune-gune.

In verses 2 and 12 it appears as Mais gunikos-maiV gunikoV.

"Mias gunikos" means one, only one, or first wife.

The same wording is found in verse 12 in reference to Deacons.

The literal translation of the beginning of verse 11 is "Wives, in the same manner, be honest…." The word in question is gunikas-gunikaV the plural of gunikos.

As I studied these verses, I realized that if the word in verse 11 is translated "women," the word in the others verses would need to be translated "woman."

In doing that the Bible’s stance on marriage would be need to be dismissed.

Using Paul as an example, a weak case may be made for single Deacons may be made.

Using Phebe as an example, a weak case for Deaconesses may be made.

However, no biblical case can be made for divorced Pastors or Deacons or unmarried Pastors without abusing Scripture.

In anger you may point to 1 Peter 2:25.

In that verse, Jesus is called the Bishop (Pastor) of our souls.

That is in reference to the risen Savior and cannot be used to elevate an un-risen human being.

To do so would be an extreme abuse of Scripture.

1 Timothy 3:14-15
14 These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly:
15 But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

Both letters to Timothy were written in the period between Roman trials.

In the first trial, Paul was acquitted. Later he was re-arrested tried again and executed.

At the time of this writing, Paul wanted to go back to visit with his son in the Spirit as soon as possible.

Also at the time of this writing, Timothy may have been near to thirty years of age.

That was still young in the Jewish tradition.

Also Timothy may not have been married at that time.

With a strict, letter of the law, reading of these verses, he could not have qualified to be a Bishop/Pastor.

1 Timothy 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

As we all know, the mysteries of godliness are "great" (Gr. mega).

Then, Paul puts it all in perspective.

"God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory."

That is the mystery of Christ Jesus.

Chapter 4
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