1Timothy 3. This is particularly true in the case of New Testament Epistles. Paul s advice didn t come out of thin air

Transcription

1 1Timthy 3 Many times, a prper interpretatin f scripture depends n ur understanding f the authr s times and circumstances This is particularly true in the case f New Testament Epistles These letters are scripture, s f curse their message is timeless And the truths they cntain are applicable t all believers in all circumstances But ur applicatin requires an appreciatin fr the specific situatin cncerning which the authr was writing Eternal truths dn t turn n circumstance, but prper respnse t thse truths ften d Last week Paul cmmanded Timthy t instruct the men and wmen in certain ways cncerning their behavir Paul s advice didn t cme ut f thin air It wasn t as if the church in Ephesus had n idea hw t cnduct itself in the cngregatinal meeting Paul spent cnsiderable time in the city during his jurneys And he left Timthy behind t lead the church S clearly the church was aware f hw t cnduct a meeting That s why I cncluded last week that Paul s instructins were intended as an antidte t specific false teaching that was disrupting the cngregatin Based n Paul s instructins we can surmise what the false teachers were advcating We can als sense the plitical maneuvering that was taking place in Ephesus in Paul s absence As we ended last week, we had reached the pint f Paul s instructins t wmen within the cngregatinal meeting The meeting was a time f teaching fr the benefit f the entire church 2017 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

2 1Timthy 3 2 f 18 In traditinal fashin, the teaching wuld have been cnducted by male leaders in the church Thugh a persn may have been assigned t teach, it was als cmmn fr members f the cngregatin t stand t ffer a teaching There might als be discussin amng the men in the audience, including questins put t the teacher Fr example, lk at Paul s apprach as he entered a synaggue in Antich Acts 13:13 Nw Paul and his cmpanins put ut t sea frm Paphs and came t Perga in Pamphylia; but Jhn left them and returned t Jerusalem. Acts 13:14 But ging n frm Perga, they arrived at Pisidian Antich, and n the Sabbath day they went int the synaggue and sat dwn. Acts 13:15 After the reading f the Law and the Prphets the synaggue fficials sent t them, saying, Brethren, if yu have any wrd f exhrtatin fr the peple, say it. Acts 13:16 Paul std up, and mtining with his hand said, Men f Israel, and yu wh fear Gd, listen: Ntice Paul had just arrived in the city, and yet he was welcmed t teach in the synaggue S the traditinal understanding f a religius gathering was less structured than we knw tday It fllwed frm and decrum, but the entire bdy was expected t play a part in the teaching rather than just a select ne r tw With that in mind, we saw Paul instructing the men in the church t pray tgether fr the salvatin f all men within sciety The gal was t make the church acceptable and dignified within the culture rather than a pariah This was a departure frm traditinal Jewish thinking Jews traditinally sught t be separate and haughty, and they gave little cnsideratin t nnjews Therefre, we cncluded last week that Paul s advice was a direct assault against false teaching The false teachers apparently tried t reimpse a sanctimnius attitude amng the men in the church 2017 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

3 1Timthy 3 3 f 18 It seems they taught that ne must be a Jew r fllw Jewish law in rder t be a Christian S Paul wanted t break up their mnply n piety by directing the church t pray pening, in unity and fr all peples Then Paul mved t cuntering the false teaching directed at the wmen in the church Let s pick up in the text again there 1Tim. 2:11 A wman must quietly receive instructin with entire submissiveness. 1Tim. 2:12 But I d nt allw a wman t teach r exercise authrity ver a man, but t remain quiet. We cvered the first part f these verses last week, s let s begin with a little reminder f what we learned First, Paul is speaking abut a specific situatin in the church bdy The cntext is the larger gathering f the church, when men and wmen were gathered tgether fr teaching As I nted last week, this was a departure frm traditinal Jewish meetings Usually, a synaggues were segregated places, with men and wmen listening t the same teaching But the tw grups were separated by a barrier, much like yu see at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem tday But in the church in Ephesus, men and wmen cngregated tgether Which was an imprtant develpment, especially fr the wmen This detail helps us understand Paul s instructins He started by asking that wmen accept teaching with entire submissiveness which als culd be translated whle bedience Why did Paul single ut wmen t bey the wrd? Why didn t Paul say all must receive teaching in bedience? Was he suggesting that nly wmen need bey the teaching? 2017 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

4 1Timthy 3 4 f 18 Clearly nt, since all are suppsed t submit t leaders and bey the wrd f Gd Therefre, Paul singled ut wmen in respnse t sme failure amng the wmen in Ephesus t bey their teachers We might assume that the false teachers in the church had managed t gain an audience amng the wmen Perhaps sme wmen in the church had cme under the deceptive influence f these teachers As a result, these wmen were rejecting sund teaching frm the elders in the church Mre than that, it appears these wmen were disrupting the cngregatinal meeting by penly challenging the authrity f the men Perhaps they spke up t defend the teaching f the false teachers Or perhaps they sught t ffer their wn cntrary pinins t the teaching In any case, Paul specifically rders that wmen nt teach r exercise authrity in the gathering When Paul mentins teaching, he s referring t the nrmal practice f cngregatinal members ffering teaching frm their place in the audience as we saw Paul d in Acts It was acceptable fr men t challenge male teachers in a respectful fashin frm the audience But Paul instructs the wmen nt t d the same A wman shuld nt seek t cmpete with the male teachers ver scripture T d therwise is t challenge the authrity f the teacher and t exercise authrity ver male leadership As we nted last week, the Greek wrd Paul uses here fr exercise authrity ver is a unique Greek wrd It ccurs nly here in the Bible It means t take take authrity inapprpriately r t dmineer 2017 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

5 1Timthy 3 5 f 18 S Paul is directly that wmen may nt dmineer r usurp male authrity by rising up t ffer cntrary teaching Instead, wmen shuld remain seated and quiet Paul says The Greek wrd fr quiet des nt mean cmplete silence The wrd means t settle dwn r t remain still Based n Paul s wrd chice, I cnclude that a wman culd respectfully ask a questin in the cngregatin Or perhaps even participate in a grup discussin abut the teaching Nevertheless, the behavir f wmen in the cngregatin may nt crss the line int disrupting the gathering r challenging male authrity publicly In fact, n ne has the right t usurp authrity in the church We are all called t respect thse appinted ver us Demnstrating submissin may vary slightly frm situatin t situatin Generally, men r wmen have apprpriate ways t challenge teaching, generally privately and under prper authrity The key is in all cases is t maintain a heart attitude f submissin and bedience t authrity In Ephesus Paul encuntered the ppsite situatin We can safely assume wmen were penly challenging the men with an intent t undermine prper instructin And knwing what we knw abut the activities f false teachers in the church, the wmen appear t have been deceived Perhaps sme wmen were prmpted by the false teachers t challenge the teaching f the elders Perhaps the false teachers enlisted willing wmen t defend their false teaching in frnt f the cngregatin If s, it was irnic Because had the wmen listened t the church s teaching, they wuld have been knwn better 2017 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

6 1Timthy 3 6 f 18 I believe that s why Paul cites the example f Adam and Eve in the Garden 1Tim. 2:13 Fr it was Adam wh was first created, and then Eve. 1Tim. 2:14 And it was nt Adam wh was deceived, but the wman being deceived, fell int transgressin. 1Tim. 2:15 But wmen will be preserved thrugh the bearing f children if they cntinue in faith and lve and sanctity with self-restraint. In supprting his decisin, Paul makes an appeal t the circumstances f the Fall in the Garden Paul makes tw separate but related arguments frm the situatin in the garden First, Paul reminds us that Adam was created first Fllwing Adam, Gd made Eve t accmpany the man Paul says smething similar in 1Crinthians 1Cr. 11:8 Fr man des nt riginate frm wman, but wman frm man; 1Cr. 11:9 fr indeed man was nt created fr the wman s sake, but wman fr the man s sake. This biblical principle is simple but prfund: Gd made a purpseful chice in the way He went abut the creatin f mankind Gd began with Man and later created Wman frm Man Gd s actins reflected a certain pint f view He intended that man have authrity ver wman in family relatinships, bth in marriage and in the family f Gd Cnsequently Eve was nt respnsible t Gd fr Adam in the same way that Adam was respnsible fr Eve Man was expected t assume a leadership rle in the family and church Leadership includes a respnsibility t teach Gd s wrd within the family r at least ensure gd teaching happens Paul cites a man s Gd-given leadership rle t supprt his argument that wmen must take care nt t usurp the authrity f men in the church 2017 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

7 1Timthy 3 7 f 18 T d s is rebellin against the rder Gd Himself instituted Perhaps Paul reminded the church f this principle because false teachers had sught t undermine it in Ephesus And as a result f such teaching, wmen develped rebellius hearts and felt freedm t create disruptin in the gathering Wrst f all, they permitted deceptin t gain a fthld in the church It s that last pint that gives rise t Paul s secnd argument In v14 Paul says that the Fall f mankind began in a similar way Wman was deceived by the serpent, wh was Satan we re tld She was misled by Satan s lies and s she fllwed after such teaching cntrary t the wrd f Gd As a result f her mistake, she influenced her husband, wh then made his wn chice t sin While wman isn t t blame fr Adam s sin, her deceptin certainly played a rle in the utcme Paul cites the histry f the Fall t illustrate the danger f the present situatin in Ephesus Wmen in the church were being deceived by the false teachers These wmen had adpted wrng views f the Law and ther things And s Paul warns that these wmen were in danger f repeating the mistake f Wman in the Garden by becming a surce f crruptin Paul is nt suggesting that wmen in general are cngenitally predispsed t deceptin mre s than men He was simply using the Garden as an illustratin The church shuld remember the lessn f Wman in the Garden and avid making the same mistake again Once befre a wman fell under the deceptin f the enemy and by her deceptin the enemy led the man int sin Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

8 1Timthy 3 8 f 18...s let s be n guard against the enemy pulling that trick n us again. It s interesting t cnsider why the false teachers targeted the wmen in this way Perhaps the false teachers targeted specific wmen knwn t impressinable easily influenced Perhaps the false teachers felt they were less likely t persuade the men since they felt mre pressure t remain lyal t the elders But then we culd ask the same questin f Satan in the Garden...why did he target the wman ver the man? It seems he knew that ne culd be a means t bring dwn the ther Then Paul ends the chapter with instructins fr wmen Presumably, the church (including the wmen) did nt want t repeat Eve s mistake by becming victims f Satan s deceptin S in v.15 Paul says but wmen will be preserved... Paul was ffering the church a way t avid such a fate The Greek wrd translated preserved means t be saved Paul means saved in the sense f prtected frm such an utcme He s nt speaking f being saved spiritual in an eternal sense, fr that s nt the tpic under discussin Based n the cntext, we must cnclude Paul s speaking f wmen aviding deceptin and crruptin S turning t the slutin, Paul says wmen shuld bear children cntinuing in faith, lve and sanctity with self-restraint Paul recipe is fur parts, thugh it s the first part that gets the mst attentin First, Paul says a wman seeking t avid the mistakes f Eve shuld bear children 2017 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

9 1Timthy 3 9 f 18 At first reading, this slutin seems bth antiquated and illgical Wmen bear children by Gd s design (it s nt as thugh there is anther ptin), s hw des it slve any prblem? And what are we t say abut wmen wh dn t marry r have children...are they sinning by acting cntrary t Paul s cmmand? Once again, the answer is fund in an understanding f the cntext and circumstances f the letter Paul was writing t cntend with false teachers wh were stirring up imprper behavir amng the wmen Their crrupting influence led wmen t usurp male authrity in the gathering Later in the letter we learn that in sme cases wmen yung and ld were als engaging in scandalus behavir utside the hme S int that situatin, Paul tells wmen t bear children, which is a euphemism fr fulfilling their unique and Gd-appinted rle Gd endwed wmen with the privilege f bearing children Wmen alne psses this ability With childbearing cmes certain assciated rles in the hme S Paul s referring t the whle lifestyle f attending t a wman s unique respnsibilities Finding cntentment and purpse in fulfilling this rle was step ne t aviding the deceptins f the enemy Hw wuld this preserve the wman? The enemy s success in deceiving the wmen depended upn stirring up discntent The Garden the enemy cnvinced Eve that by nt eating f the tree, she was missing ut n smething she had right t knw And in Ephesus, the false teachers had cnvinced the wmen they shuld want fr the rle Gd gave men in church 2017 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

10 1Timthy 3 10 f 18 Had the wmen been cntent serving in their Gd-given rle, they wuldn t have been as susceptible t such schemes Obviusly, Paul s wrds dn t require every wman t bear children r even that wrking utside the hme wasn t gdly Remember, bearing children represents the unique, Gd-given rle f a wman in cntrast t the rle Gd assigned men S a wman withut children r a wman wrking utside the hme must still meet the same expectatin f heart She must find cntentment in the rle Gd assigned wmen bth in the hme and in the church while respecting the rle Gd assigned men Dn t let the wrld tell yu that yu must have smething beynd what Gd assigned Because discntent is the devil s playgrund Paul adds finally that wmen shuld cntinue in faith, lve and sanctity with self respect Each f these expectatins is mstly self-explanatry Faith refers t trust in Gd s wisdm and judgment Gd assigned the rles, and we d well t cntinue in faith that Gd gt it right in the first place Lve (agape) means hnring thers abve urself, including respecting the leadership f thse in authrity Sanctity with self-respect refers t living in hliness and self-cntrl Because ultimately the prblems in this church stem frm a lack f these things The enemy can cme against us anytime and we can t d much abut that except pray But he can nly gain a ft hld inside us if we decide t give him that grund Paul was asking the wmen nt t give the enemy a chance S what s the prper applicatin f Paul s teaching in ur circumstances tday? 2017 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

11 1Timthy 3 11 f 18 First, everything Paul says is bradly applicable tday Wmen may nt publicly challenge the authrity f men wh lead And since teaching is an implied expressin f authrity, wmen may nt challenge the teaching f men in public Fr the same reasn, wmen may nt teach men in a cngregatinal gathering f any size But we can als set reasnable limits n Paul s instructins Fr example, a wman culd challenge a teacher r even a leader f the church privately assuming she des s respectfully And a wman culd teach a man privately, as when a wife teaches her husband r when a wman authr teaches a male student thrugh a website r bk And wmen culd teach yung men wh are nt deemed f age t jin the adult men Perhaps ther exceptins culd be fund as well In all these cases, a wman is nt usurping male leadership nr is she disrupting the church Nw we mve int chapter 3, and with it a different but related tpic 1Tim. 3:1 It is a trustwrthy statement: if any man aspires t the ffice f verseer, it is a fine wrk he desires t d. 1Tim. 3:2 An verseer, then, must be abve reprach, the husband f ne wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hspitable, able t teach, 1Tim. 3:3 nt addicted t wine r pugnacius, but gentle, peaceable, free frm the lve f mney. 1Tim. 3:4 He must be ne wh manages his wn husehld well, keeping his children under cntrl with all dignity 1Tim. 3:5 (but if a man des nt knw hw t manage his wn husehld, hw will he take care f the church f Gd?), 1Tim. 3:6 and nt a new cnvert, s that he will nt becme cnceited and fall int the cndemnatin incurred by the devil. 1Tim. 3:7 And he must have a gd reputatin with thse utside the church, s that he will nt fall int reprach and the snare f the devil Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

12 1Timthy 3 12 f 18 Paul pivts ff his discussin f wmen s rles in the assembly t that f the male leadership f the church It s a lgical prgressin Paul taught the wmen t respect the rle f men in leadership ver the church S nw he s explaining the qualificatins fr men t fill thse rles But nce mre, Paul is psitining his teaching as a rebuke f the false teachers In this passage, Paul describes the ideal verseer t guide the church prperly, especially in the face f false teachers r ther threats Paul s list is lng (a ttal f 16 requirements) We ll tuch f all f them in turn, thugh sme items deserve a lnger discussin Fllwing this list is anther list describing the qualificatins f a deacn The list f deacn requirements is quite different and less stringent than that f verseer And the mere fact that tw ffices are mentined in this chapter begs the questin hw many ffices exist in the church and hw t they relate? In ur English Bibles, we find a variety f titles used, but in Greek there are nly three wrds used fr psitins f authrity in the church The Greek wrd fr verseer is episkps (smetimes translated bishp) The Greek wrd fr deacn is diakns And a third wrd fr leadership is that f elder, which is presbuters in Greek, which is literally gray haired In anther f the pastral epistles, Titus, Paul instructs Titus t appint elders in every city An analysis f the way these three terms are used in the New Testament reveals their relatinship 2017 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

13 1Timthy 3 13 f 18 First, an episkps (verseer) is anyne wh leads the church in any capacity The wrd is never used t describe a specific title r psitin Therefre, an verseer culd be a pastr r an elder r even anther psitin we invent in the future Anyne wh has versight respnsibilities in the church is an verseer Therefre all elders meet Paul s requirements in this passage An elder (presbuters) is a specific kind f verseer with respnsibility t ensure prper teaching, rder and discipline f Gd s peple In the absence f apstles, elders are the highest authrity in the church Churches shuld be led by a plurality f elders, nt merely ne This serves t prtect the many frm the ne and the ne frm himself Als, elder is a rle that cmes alngside whatever spiritual gift r functin a persn perfrms in the bdy therwise S an elder culd als serves the bdy with a teaching r pastral r service gift but nt necessarily Cnversely, a certain spiritual gift des nt autmatically bestw authrity upn a persn Fr example, smene with a pastral gift r wh perates in a pastral (i.e., shepherding) rle is nt autmatically an verseer The nly exceptin t this rule wuld be in cases where a church uses the term pastr t mean verseer r elder Finally, the wrd deacn (diakns) ne wh serves in ministry r mre generally, "servant" The wrd appears 29 times in the New Testament Of thse 29 times, it is translated (by the NASB) as "deacn" three times, as "minister" seven times, and as "servant" 19 times 2017 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

14 1Timthy 3 14 f 18 Cnsequently, the best definitin f the duties f a diakns is ne wh ministers t the church thrugh their service They are mature members f the bdy assigned certain service respnsibilities by the elders r ther verseers Deacns, therefre, are nt verseers themselves They carry n authrity ver the bdy apart frm managing their wn service and that f thse wrking under their directin In sme church traditins, hwever, the gverning grup ver the church are called deacns In such cases, the deacns are effectively perating as verseers and shuld be thught f as elders despite their title We ll lk at their qualificatins later Turning back t the versees, Paul pens in v.1 with an intriguing statement Paul mentins thse aspiring t the rle prbably because this was the desire f the false teachers Or perhaps sme f the false teachers were already in that rle S Paul says such aspiratin is gd, because it leads t a fine wrk The fine wrk is the preparatin f ur character s that we might meet the tests f verseer Fr example, if smene aspires t be a Nbel Prize winner, they are desiring a gd wrk They are desiring t wrk hard, t pursue excellence They are seeking t distinguish themselves amng their peers, t advance the bdy f knwledge in their field And this is a fine wrk Similarly, a persn wh desires t be an verseer is saying they desire t pursue gdly character, a deep knwledge f scripture, and a testimny f faithfulness These are the right things t pursue 2017 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

15 1Timthy 3 15 f 18 And in fact, everyne in the bdy f Christ is suppsed t pursue them N ne is excused frm these gals, but nly sme make a pint f pursuing them because they aspire t leadership On the ther hand, if a persn merely desires the pwer and prestige f verseer withut desiring the character that must accmpany the rle, they d nt d well Such was the case f the false teachers it appears, which may explain why Paul pens with this cmment The false teachers were like Pharisees, trying t enter the fld by climbing ver the wall instead f entering thrugh the dr They were seeking cntrl fr selfish illegitimate reasns T ften tday the church makes the mistake f lking past these qualificatins We prematurely elevate men int versight rles, whether elder r pastr r whatever title We select men wh haven t had time r pprtunity t develp the prper knwledge, character r testimny Or even wrse, we may verlk disqualifying factrs This trend is bviusly dangerus fr the church Our leaders guard all f us frm ungdliness, deceptin and disunity But if they are unable t guard even themselves frm these things, then what will becme f thse under their care? Furthermre, the rle f verseer includes serving as a rle mdel t the rest f the cngregatin Our leaders shuld be men wh we aspire t emulate Just as Paul called the church t fllw him as he fllwed Christ S clearly, the church shuld hld the rle f verseer in high regard and assign such authrity carefully 2017 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

16 1Timthy 3 16 f 18 And in v.1 Paul gives the first requirement fr verseer: the persn must be a man Ntice Paul begins with the wrd man and thrughut the passage he repeat male prnuns We knw this is mre than simply a generalizatin, as in mankind, fr tw reasns First, the previus passage made clear that wmen cannt exercise authrity ver men Secndly, in the next passage n deacns Paul includes a specific discussin f wmen serving as deacns Therefre, we must cnclude that the absence f any discussin f wmen as verseers was intentinal Then in v.2 Paul mves frward in his list f persnal qualificatins beginning with being abve reprach This ne standard sunds impssible high, but in reality it s Paul s cncessin t the fact that nly Christ culd meet this list perfectly The wrd in Greek means t be blameless Blamelessness is nt sinlessness Rather, it means that the persn s life and wrds gives n cause fr public accusatin Paul is acknwledging that perfectin is nt the expectatin Nevertheless, we must seek men wh are blameless And we shuldn t elevate men int leadership if they cme with mral baggage A bad track track recrd shuld give us reasn fr cncern It culd mean they are nt wh they seem t be And if they have refrmed their ways, their past mistakes may fllw them in unhelpful ways At the very least, their checkered past wuld be an unhealthy and unnecessary distractin fr the church 2017 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

17 1Timthy 3 17 f 18 We must select leaders whse life des nt give cause fr accusatins In the end, this is a judgment call Next, the final pint fr this lessn, Paul says the man must be husband f ne wife Yu culd lk at Paul s wrds in a variety f ways First, we culd cnclude Paul was requiring verseers t be married This was a Jewish requirements fr rabbis in the synaggue Secndly, we culd cnclude that an verseers must have been married nly ne time This argument takes Paul s wrds hyper-literally This is the mst unlikely interpretatin, since it desn t relate t any ther biblical standard Fr example, scripture clearly allws remarriage in cases f the death f a spuse S this interpretatin is likely wrng Thirdly, Paul may have been insisting that verseers be mngamus (married t ne wman at a time) In sme eastern cultures, plygamy was cmmn S as a man with multiple wives became a believer and entered the church, he entered with multiple wives But he culd never be an verseer, since his marriage was nt the gdly way t practice marriage Therefre, this view says Paul was teaching that church leaders must mdel the crrect frm f marriage Finally, we culd interpret Paul t be teaching that the man must perate mrally in marriage He must hnr marriage as Gd intended in all respects Fr example, if he is unmarried, he is mrally upright and des nt engage in frnicatin 2017 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

18 1Timthy 3 18 f 18 If he is married he des nt cmmit adultery r take multiple wives (which is adultery) He des nt divrce r marry a divrced persn This final view is my view, and therefre I believe Paul is teaching that as with all areas f life, we want verseers t mdel the ideal practices f the faith We aren t saying that thse men wh fail this test are less gdly necessarily Nr are we saying that such men are stand guilty r cndemned Paul is simply saying we want ur leaders t stand as mdels f what s best and true and right Marriage is s imprtant t the health f the family and the church that we shuldn t elevate men whse testimny des nt exemplify the idea standard This requirement als raises the questin f hw must accuntability we place n smene prir t cming t faith Sme say life prir t faith is nt relevant t the questin f qualificatins, since we all behaved in gdless ways prir t faith After all, Paul was a murderer befre he tk charge Other wuld argue that certain sins fllw us in unhelpful ways, which culd cmprmise ur ability t serve as a rle mdel (divrce) There is n simple answer n this questin, s we must trust the Hly Spirit t lead us in each church decisin Hwever, we knw the present life f a man must cmprt with these expectatins While we may excuse certain chices prir t faith, if thse same behavirs cntinue after faith, they shuld be cause fr alarm 2017 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.