1 Timothy 3

Desiring the office of a bishop was desiring a good work. A bishop was an overseer.

The husband of one wife meant "one wife at a time." To interpret this verse to also mean "never having been divorced" contradicted the Bible's view of Marriage. If a man was a bishop and had more than one wife he would not have time to put forth what was needed to be a bishop. His time would be put into leading his wives, which was something Paul referenced in 1 Corinthians 7. Notice, "given to hospitality" was an attribute. This meant "generous to guests," which meant reaching out to unbelievers. Also, "apt to teach" was an attribute.

Notice, this ought to be a person who administrated his own house well, his children in subjection. The home of this potential bishop would be the proving ground of whether or not they were qualified to help lead a church. Also, not a novice (beginner, newly planted, a new convert) so that he was not lifted with pride and fell into condemnation of the devil.

Bishops must have a good testimony from them that were not in the church. Bishops interacted with non-believers.

The word "grave" meant "humble." In this verse, "double-tongued" meant that what the person said did not match with what they did. We can see these requirements dealt with having a good thought process, for instance "grave" meant the person lacked pride, so they were teachable. Their thought process wasn't flawed in that they did what they said. They didn't lose their good thought process from the outside by drinking too much wine or focusing on effects (money) instead of the causes.

A mystery is different than a puzzle. A puzzle becomes easier to fully understand with each additional piece of information. A mystery becomes harder to understand with each piece of information and is only able to be understood when it is explained in its entirety.

Paul explained the mystery of the faith in his letter to the Ephesians: "Jesus will be married to the Church in an Eternal Marriage. His Bride will be made up of all believers who will be in the part of the Body we were designed for, so that we speak the truth in love to the other parts we are joined to, with the overall result being the building up of the Body for eternity."

Knowing this long term result ought to guide all Doctrinal and behavioral questions and concerns. Finally, all of this needs to be known "in a pure conscience". Notice, this final requirement of a deacon would prove the person has a good thought process. Basically, a deacon needs to fully grasp the mystery of the faith so they are able to help others with their issues.

This did not mean the deacon had to never have done wrong. In this verse "proved" meant "tested," while "blameless" meant "repaired." This meant it should be found out if the candidate for deacon has repaired all of the wrong they have done.

Notice, women could be deacons. Some translations begin verse 11 with "Wives."

Romans 16 began with this verse: "I commend unto you Phoebe our sister, who is a servant of the church that is at Cenchreae:"

In that verse, servant was the same word as used in this chapter that was translated as deacon. Notice the rest of the requirements:

• The first ("grave") was the same as for males.
• The second ("slanderers") was a more specific requirement that was like double-tongued, however, it dealt with people, instead of within a person like for the males.
• The third ("temperate") was a much bigger responsibility that covered both "not given to much wine" and "not greedy of filthy lucre".
• Finally, "faithful in all things" was a much bigger requirement than "holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience".

As we can see, not only could women be deacons, their requirements were much tougher than the requirements that men had to uphold! These tougher requirements were given to women because they were able to meet them, not because the men "naturally" met these requirements, unless you think that men are naturally "faithful in all things." As we have seen since the beginning of this commentary (Genesis 1-3), God's Word consistently stated women were more excellent than men.

Deacons also could not have more than one wife and also were required to have a well administrated home. Notice, Deacons do not minister to people outside the church. Anyone could try to qualify for these roles. Anyone could qualify to serve the church or qualify further to oversee the church and its activities with those beyond the church. This was different than those who were gifted from God with one of the five fold ministry (apostle, prophet, evangelist, teacher, pastor). However, deacons (unlike bishops) were not apt to teach, were not given to hospitality, and were not required to have a good testimony from unbelievers. Deacons dealt with people within the church. Paul stated the bishops ought to be reaching out to unbelievers. We can look at this another way, Jesus was the ultimate Bishop. The Disciples were deacons. Who reached out to sinners? Was it the Disciples or Jesus? Jesus, the Bishop, reached out to sinners. Is your pastor the one from your church reaching out to sinners the most?

Paul wanted to come to Timothy soon but in case he could not, he wanted Timothy to know HOW a church ought to behave.

Theme of Chapter 3: Paul explained to Timothy the roles of bishops and deacons in the church.