The One Year Bible Club with Teaching
Commentary by Nick Boork
Commentary by Nick Boork
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October 18 – 1 Timothy 3
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.
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.
14 These things I write to you, though I hope to come to you shortly; 15 but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. 16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness:
God was manifested in the flesh,
Justified in the Spirit,
Seen by angels,
Preached among the Gentiles,
Believed on in the world,
Received up in glory.
OKAY, HERE’S MY TEACHING COMMENTARY
In this portion of Paul’s first letter to Timothy he begins by talking about Pastors and Deacons. He says that if a man desires to be in the ministry he desires a good work. This is very important because anyone that is called of God will have a burning desire to be in the ministry. Becoming a pastor is not like any other profession in the world because it is a divine calling from God that needs to be answered individually. Paul outlines the kind of qualifications that ministers of the gospel need to commit to live by and they have to do with our behavior, reputation and our ability to teach the word of God. Becoming a minister of Christ is nothing less than enrolling in the spiritual army of heaven and putting yourself on the front line to advance the Kingdom of God against the works of the devil to save souls! It’s a glorious partnership between God and man to become ambassadors for Christ and bring the message of forgiveness of sins and eternal redemption to the lost.
Let there be no mistake about it, the Christian ministry is not easy and if anyone tells you it is they’re obviously not a true man of God! One of the pastors that mentored me told me that if I could do anything else in the world other than be a pastor then do it. Why would he say this? Because you’re only able to fulfill your ministry through much personal sacrifice. You have to always put God first and minister to other people as his representative so that means you have to keep your own emotions, attitude and behavior under control and always seek to do the will of God in every situation. Every time that I perform an ordination service to provide ministerial credentials to someone pursuing the call of God I always read 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and ask every candidate if they are willing to commit to live according to these high Biblical standards as a minister of Christ.
Besides all of the moral qualifications there are a couple of restrictions that are very important to observe here. The Bible prohibits us from ordaining someone into the ministry that is a new believer in Christ because they have not yet been proven or grown into spiritual maturity. What can happen is that if someone too immature in the faith is ordained to the ministry then the position can go straight to their head and they can become lifted up and pride which is the very sin that Lucifer committed before he was kicked out of heaven and lost his place as one of the arc angels of God. The devil understands this and that’s why it says not to ordain a novice because the enemy will surely tempt them to be lifted up in the sin of pride. They begin to listen to the lies of the devil telling them you’re really something else, the anointing of God is all over you, you are a special messenger, there’s no one like you, you are glorious, people should worship you, people should bow down to you, people should fill in the blank…..they become conceited or lifted up in pride because of their position or because the Lord is using them and people begin to admire them. Then they begin to think they are superior to their fellow Christians and before you know it they end up backsliding falling into all kinds of moral sin because they were not mature enough in Christ to resist the temptations of the devil. On the contrary, servants of Christ, especially pastors and spiritual leaders must be clothed with humility and never allow pride to enter into their hearts.
3:7 says that they must have a good testimony with those that are without so they do not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. Having a good testimony does not necessarily mean that someone entering into the ministry lived a perfect life before they were saved. Just look at the apostle Paul how he used to persecute Christians before his conversion to faith in Christ. What this means is that someone entering into the ministry needs to have a reputation even among people that aren’t saved as being a upright man of God. For example, you would never want to ordain someone that is living in fornication or in public adultery because this would totally ruin his effectiveness as a servant of Christ. For this reason Pastors and spiritual leaders need to guard their testimony because the devil is always looking for an opportunity to point the finger and bring them down through sin.
Deacons are another group of ministers Paul tells Timothy to put into the ministry as well. Deacons were men that served in practical kinds of ministry like distributing food to the hungry and helping with any kind of practical task that needed to be done in the church. Deacons we’re trusted men. The original twelve apostles chose seven deacons in the book of Acts to help them serve the people of God and there were requirements and standards for the selection of these men as well. Acts 6:3 says “Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.” So from the very beginning those that would serve as deacons needed to be men that were of a good reputation and filled with the Holy Spirit and the wisdom of God to be able to assist the apostles in serving the needs of the church. The Scriptures reveal that the ministry of Deacons was an official position that was initiated much like ordaining pastors with the laying on of hands. Acts 6:6 says “they set before the apostles; and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them.”
Some men start their ministry as deacons serving in the church and through their faithfulness to the Lord are promotes into other ministries as we see in the example of both Steven who became a mighty preacher of the word of God used in great miracles signs and wonders who became the first martyr for Jesus Christ. Philip also became a powerful evangelist preaching the gospel and helping to plant new churches working directly with Peter and John. This is why the apostle Paul says in verse 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.
The Church is the Pillar and Ground of the truth
Paul describes the church to Timothy as both a pillar and ground of the truth. The church acts like a pillar because it holds up the truth of the Gospel for all the world to see like a candlestick that burns brightly bringing the light of the truth of Jesus Christ into the darkness and draws people to the salvation found in Christ alone. The church must always lift up Christ and preach the gospel faithfully. The church also is a foundation because it has been entrusted with the truth of the gospel and it is our divine duty to defend it and guard it’s truths and not allow them to be changed or corrupted because they are divine truths that we base our lives upon and our relationship with God. Finally Paul summarises our faith that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ by saying that the mystery of godliness is great. In other words understanding what Christianity is all about is a great mystery but it can be summarised in the following points:
God was manifested in the flesh
Jesus Christ was 100% God and 100% man at the same time. The Son of God who existed from eternity past manifested in the earth being born of the Virgin Mary. This is perhaps the greatest mystery of the Christian faith that God came down from heaven and took on him the form of a human being to become the savior of his creation.
Justified in the Spirit
After dying on the cross Jesus Christ was raised from the dead by the power of the Spirit of God on the third day. He had no sin of his own to pay for so he could become the Savior of all humanity. His resurrection from the dead proved that he was in fact the Son of the living God. Romans 1:4 says and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.
Seen by angels
The angels of God observed everything about the Lord Jesus Christ and they were actually in the tomb when the women came to look for the body of Jesus saying you seek Jesus who was dead behold he’s not here but he is risen! God would reveal to all the angelic host his eternal purposes by observing Christ and the redemption of humanity creating the church. Ephesians 3:10-11 says to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Preached among the Gentiles
The good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ has been preached around the world. It’s not only a message for the Jews but also for the Gentiles as Christ the Savior promised by God to save all of humanity.
Believed on in the world
Millions of people have come to faith in Jesus Christ as the Holy Spirit touches hearts everywhere in the world causing people to repent and turn from their sins and receive the forgiveness and new life that comes exclusively through faith in Jesus Christ.
Received up in glory
The apostles were there when Christ ascended back to the father. Jesus fulfilled his mission and ascended back to the father that sent to him and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God and will come again and power and great glory! If Jesus was just an ordinary man this miracle of being able to ascend up from the earth right to the clouds could never of happened. He was truly God manifested in the flesh returning to the glorious presence of his father in heaven.
WHAT’S THE BOTTOM LINE?
1) If a man desires to become a pastor or spiritual leader it is a very good desire.
2) Paul gives specific qualifications for those that desire to enter into the ministry of pastors, elders and deacons.
3) You have to be careful not to ordain someone into the ministry that is a new believer or has a bad reputation because they are to be the representatives of Christ.
4) The church is the pillar and ground of the truth and must preach the gospel and guard the divine truths of who Jesus Christ is and the word of God.
5) The mystery of God is revealed through Jesus Christ in his birth, death resurrection and ascension back to the father.
PRAYER TO APPLY THE WORD OF GOD TO OUR LIVES
ORDINATION
We provide Ministry Credentials and Ordination through Diamond Ministerial Association.
Click to learn more and apply! http://www.diamondinstitute.org/ordination
ONLINE COURSES
For Bible courses and ministry resources see our online school Diamond Institute.
Enroll free today! http://www.diamondinstitute.org/enroll
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.
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.
14 These things I write to you, though I hope to come to you shortly; 15 but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. 16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness:
God was manifested in the flesh,
Justified in the Spirit,
Seen by angels,
Preached among the Gentiles,
Believed on in the world,
Received up in glory.
OKAY, HERE’S MY TEACHING COMMENTARY
In this portion of Paul’s first letter to Timothy he begins by talking about Pastors and Deacons. He says that if a man desires to be in the ministry he desires a good work. This is very important because anyone that is called of God will have a burning desire to be in the ministry. Becoming a pastor is not like any other profession in the world because it is a divine calling from God that needs to be answered individually. Paul outlines the kind of qualifications that ministers of the gospel need to commit to live by and they have to do with our behavior, reputation and our ability to teach the word of God. Becoming a minister of Christ is nothing less than enrolling in the spiritual army of heaven and putting yourself on the front line to advance the Kingdom of God against the works of the devil to save souls! It’s a glorious partnership between God and man to become ambassadors for Christ and bring the message of forgiveness of sins and eternal redemption to the lost.
Let there be no mistake about it, the Christian ministry is not easy and if anyone tells you it is they’re obviously not a true man of God! One of the pastors that mentored me told me that if I could do anything else in the world other than be a pastor then do it. Why would he say this? Because you’re only able to fulfill your ministry through much personal sacrifice. You have to always put God first and minister to other people as his representative so that means you have to keep your own emotions, attitude and behavior under control and always seek to do the will of God in every situation. Every time that I perform an ordination service to provide ministerial credentials to someone pursuing the call of God I always read 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and ask every candidate if they are willing to commit to live according to these high Biblical standards as a minister of Christ.
Besides all of the moral qualifications there are a couple of restrictions that are very important to observe here. The Bible prohibits us from ordaining someone into the ministry that is a new believer in Christ because they have not yet been proven or grown into spiritual maturity. What can happen is that if someone too immature in the faith is ordained to the ministry then the position can go straight to their head and they can become lifted up and pride which is the very sin that Lucifer committed before he was kicked out of heaven and lost his place as one of the arc angels of God. The devil understands this and that’s why it says not to ordain a novice because the enemy will surely tempt them to be lifted up in the sin of pride. They begin to listen to the lies of the devil telling them you’re really something else, the anointing of God is all over you, you are a special messenger, there’s no one like you, you are glorious, people should worship you, people should bow down to you, people should fill in the blank…..they become conceited or lifted up in pride because of their position or because the Lord is using them and people begin to admire them. Then they begin to think they are superior to their fellow Christians and before you know it they end up backsliding falling into all kinds of moral sin because they were not mature enough in Christ to resist the temptations of the devil. On the contrary, servants of Christ, especially pastors and spiritual leaders must be clothed with humility and never allow pride to enter into their hearts.
3:7 says that they must have a good testimony with those that are without so they do not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. Having a good testimony does not necessarily mean that someone entering into the ministry lived a perfect life before they were saved. Just look at the apostle Paul how he used to persecute Christians before his conversion to faith in Christ. What this means is that someone entering into the ministry needs to have a reputation even among people that aren’t saved as being a upright man of God. For example, you would never want to ordain someone that is living in fornication or in public adultery because this would totally ruin his effectiveness as a servant of Christ. For this reason Pastors and spiritual leaders need to guard their testimony because the devil is always looking for an opportunity to point the finger and bring them down through sin.
Deacons are another group of ministers Paul tells Timothy to put into the ministry as well. Deacons were men that served in practical kinds of ministry like distributing food to the hungry and helping with any kind of practical task that needed to be done in the church. Deacons we’re trusted men. The original twelve apostles chose seven deacons in the book of Acts to help them serve the people of God and there were requirements and standards for the selection of these men as well. Acts 6:3 says “Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.” So from the very beginning those that would serve as deacons needed to be men that were of a good reputation and filled with the Holy Spirit and the wisdom of God to be able to assist the apostles in serving the needs of the church. The Scriptures reveal that the ministry of Deacons was an official position that was initiated much like ordaining pastors with the laying on of hands. Acts 6:6 says “they set before the apostles; and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them.”
Some men start their ministry as deacons serving in the church and through their faithfulness to the Lord are promotes into other ministries as we see in the example of both Steven who became a mighty preacher of the word of God used in great miracles signs and wonders who became the first martyr for Jesus Christ. Philip also became a powerful evangelist preaching the gospel and helping to plant new churches working directly with Peter and John. This is why the apostle Paul says in verse 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.
The Church is the Pillar and Ground of the truth
Paul describes the church to Timothy as both a pillar and ground of the truth. The church acts like a pillar because it holds up the truth of the Gospel for all the world to see like a candlestick that burns brightly bringing the light of the truth of Jesus Christ into the darkness and draws people to the salvation found in Christ alone. The church must always lift up Christ and preach the gospel faithfully. The church also is a foundation because it has been entrusted with the truth of the gospel and it is our divine duty to defend it and guard it’s truths and not allow them to be changed or corrupted because they are divine truths that we base our lives upon and our relationship with God. Finally Paul summarises our faith that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ by saying that the mystery of godliness is great. In other words understanding what Christianity is all about is a great mystery but it can be summarised in the following points:
God was manifested in the flesh
Jesus Christ was 100% God and 100% man at the same time. The Son of God who existed from eternity past manifested in the earth being born of the Virgin Mary. This is perhaps the greatest mystery of the Christian faith that God came down from heaven and took on him the form of a human being to become the savior of his creation.
Justified in the Spirit
After dying on the cross Jesus Christ was raised from the dead by the power of the Spirit of God on the third day. He had no sin of his own to pay for so he could become the Savior of all humanity. His resurrection from the dead proved that he was in fact the Son of the living God. Romans 1:4 says and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.
Seen by angels
The angels of God observed everything about the Lord Jesus Christ and they were actually in the tomb when the women came to look for the body of Jesus saying you seek Jesus who was dead behold he’s not here but he is risen! God would reveal to all the angelic host his eternal purposes by observing Christ and the redemption of humanity creating the church. Ephesians 3:10-11 says to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Preached among the Gentiles
The good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ has been preached around the world. It’s not only a message for the Jews but also for the Gentiles as Christ the Savior promised by God to save all of humanity.
Believed on in the world
Millions of people have come to faith in Jesus Christ as the Holy Spirit touches hearts everywhere in the world causing people to repent and turn from their sins and receive the forgiveness and new life that comes exclusively through faith in Jesus Christ.
Received up in glory
The apostles were there when Christ ascended back to the father. Jesus fulfilled his mission and ascended back to the father that sent to him and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God and will come again and power and great glory! If Jesus was just an ordinary man this miracle of being able to ascend up from the earth right to the clouds could never of happened. He was truly God manifested in the flesh returning to the glorious presence of his father in heaven.
WHAT’S THE BOTTOM LINE?
1) If a man desires to become a pastor or spiritual leader it is a very good desire.
2) Paul gives specific qualifications for those that desire to enter into the ministry of pastors, elders and deacons.
3) You have to be careful not to ordain someone into the ministry that is a new believer or has a bad reputation because they are to be the representatives of Christ.
4) The church is the pillar and ground of the truth and must preach the gospel and guard the divine truths of who Jesus Christ is and the word of God.
5) The mystery of God is revealed through Jesus Christ in his birth, death resurrection and ascension back to the father.
PRAYER TO APPLY THE WORD OF GOD TO OUR LIVES
ORDINATION
We provide Ministry Credentials and Ordination through Diamond Ministerial Association.
Click to learn more and apply! http://www.diamondinstitute.org/ordination
ONLINE COURSES
For Bible courses and ministry resources see our online school Diamond Institute.
Enroll free today! http://www.diamondinstitute.org/enroll