Qualifications of Overseers
1 This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work. 2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; 3 not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money,but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; 4 one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence 5 (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?); 6 not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. 7 Moreover he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.
Qualifications of Deacons
8 Likewise deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for money, 9 holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. 10 But let these also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons, being found blameless. 11 Likewise, their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things. 12 Let deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. 13 For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.
2 comments:
Verse 1. He desireth a good work - An excellent, but labourious, employment.
Verse 2. Therefore - That he may be capable of it. A bishop - Or pastor of a congregation. Must be blameless - Without fault or just suspicion. The husband of one wife - This neither means that a bishop must be married, nor that he may not marry a second wife; which it is just as lawful for him to do as to marry a first, and may in some cases be his bounden duty. But whereas polygamy and divorce on slight occasions were common both among the Jews and heathens, it teaches us that ministers, of all others, ought to stand clear of those sins. Vigilant, prudent - Lively and zealous, yet calm and wise. Of good behaviour - Naturally flowing from that vigilance and prudence.
Verse 4. Having his children in subjection with all seriousness - For levity undermines all domestic authority; and this direction, by a parity of reason, belongs to all parents.
Verse 6. Lest being puffed up - With this new honour, or with the applause which frequently follows it. He fall into the condemnation of the devil - The same into which the devil fell.
Verse 7. He ought also to have a good report - To have had a fair character in time past. From them that are without - That are not Christians. Lest he fall into reproach - By their rehearsing his former life, which might discourage and prove a snare to him.
Verse 8. Likewise the deacons must be serious - Men of a grave, decent, venerable behaviour. But where are presbyters? Were this order essentially distinct from that of bishops, could the apostle have passed it over in silence? Not desirous of filthy gain - With what abhorrence does he everywhere speak of this! All that is gained (above food and raiment) by ministering in holy things is filthy gain indeed; far more filthy than what is honestly gained by raking kennels, or emptying common sewers.
Verse 9. Holding fast the faith in a pure conscience - Steadfast in faith, holy in heart and life.
Verse 10. Let these be proved first - Let a trial be made how they believe. Then let them minister - Let them be fixed in that office.
Verse 11. Faithful in all things - Both to God, their husbands, and the poor.
Verse 13. They purchase a good degree - Or step, toward some higher office. And much boldness - From the testimony of a good conscience.
Verse 15. That thou mayest know how to behave - This is the scope of the epistle. In the house of God - Who is the master of the family. Which is - As if he had said, By the house of God, I mean the church.
Verse 16. The mystery of godliness - Afterwards specified in six articles, which sum up the whole economy of Christ upon earth. Is the pillar and ground - The foundation and support of all the truth taught in his church. God was manifest in the flesh - In the form of a servant, the fashion of a man, for three and thirty years. Justified by the Spirit - Publicly "declared to be the Son of God," by his resurrection from the dead. Seen - Chiefly after his resurrection. By angels - Both good and bad. Preached among the gentiles - This elegantly follows. The angels were the least, the gentiles the farthest, removed from him; and the foundation both of this preaching and of their faith was laid before his assumption. Was believed on in the world - Opposed to heaven, into which he was taken up. The first point is, He was manifested in the flesh; the last, He was taken up into glory
Mr Wesley writes:
The husband of one wife - This neither means that a bishop must be married, nor that he may not marry a second wife; which it is just as lawful for him to do as to marry a first, and may in some cases be his bounden duty. But whereas polygamy and divorce on slight occasions were common both among the Jews and heathens,it teaches us that ministers, of all others, ought to stand clear of those sins.
This reminds me of a story many years ago when I met a person who argued that a husband or wife should never divorce under any circumstance-be it adultery, desertion or domestic brutality.
Finding them unwilling to accept general Biblical teaching along with common sense I decided to ask them the following hypothetical question.
If they were preaching, in say the West Indies, and a man who had three wives and twenty children came up after the sermon claiming to have just become a Christian: how would they advise him?
At first the person said that they would not not say anything to them about their wives -'just give them a Bible and they would see the truth for themselves'.
However I then pressed them, as a teacher of the truth, to tell me how they would advise them.
Sadly their answer was as unloving as it was unbiblical!
They said that the man should choose one of the wives and divorce the others. When I asked them why they said that the Bible stated that 'a man should be the husband of one wife', which of course, as we see here does not-it does state however that : 'A bishop must be..... the husband of one wife'.The implication of the verse
being that there may well have been converted polygamists
in the church who were free to serve but not as deacons or bishops, most likely for the sake of outsiders.
It is not wise,I believe to encourage new Christians who live in lands where polygamy is practised to forsake their wives and children in the name of Christ. Rather, using Paul's concession to the Corinthians to allow the wives to go if they wish ,for the sake of peace. But if they wish to stay, the man should become a better husband and father than he was before AND then teach his children the better way.
The point of the story is this: the person I spoke to was prepared to be more severe on a new Christian from a pagan country than God was on Jacob, David, Solomon etc who had know the truth from their infancy.And on the other hand, they would forbid in the name of God a woman who was being beaten up by her adulterous husband from getting a divorce.
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