Paul worked to make sure overseers benefited from all God had planned for them. Even though some had gone astray, if possible Paul wanted them to be restored to ministry. Jesus, the faithful word, was ready to help them in their good work. Not all who had gone astray would be restored to ministry. Paul gave a partial checklist in 1 Timothy 3 to be used for those who could assume the work of oversight in the church once again. Paul is thinking of the women and men under correction in Ephesus from chapter 2 who sincerely wanted to get back into service. Sadly, the tone and content of verse 1 is widely misinterpreted in Bible versions we have today.
In 1 Timothy 2:8-15, Paul recommended appropriate discipline for disruptive and injurious behavior. His recommendations took into account not only the sin committed, but also the heart motivation of the offender. In 1 Timothy 3:1-12 the women and men leaders who had been disciplined were encouraged to aspire to, and to resume, ministry in the church.
In these verses, Paul did not teach any doctrine of “authority-of-a-husband,” or “leadership-by-men” in the church. Instead, he drew a picture of various Christian men and women actively serving Christ, having been made faithful by Jesus, the Word!
How did we get here? Likely, much of what we have just covered is not what you have heard before about 1 Timothy 2-3. We faced the same thing in our studies of Ephesians 5-6 and Genesis 2-3. For me, the findings of my wife’s research into Genesis 3:16 makes all the difference. She found that in God’s eleven Hebrew words in Genesis 3:16 God didn’t curse Eve or limit woman in any way.
God showed love and mercy to Eve in the Garden of Eden. But Satan, the murderer and liar, wants us to think God cursed her.
She unmasked his attack at the tree but he is still the enemy of the woman. He wants us to take as many shots at her as he can get us to!
Sadly, translators and theologians have been tricked into playing on his side. They have mistranslated Genesis 3:16 and they have also mishandled other Bible passages related to God’s words to the woman like 1 Timothy 2-3.
That’s why we have produced these studies. That’s why we have written The Book of Eden, Genesis 2-3.
Where they have gone astray Bible translations need to be corrected based on the true words of Genesis 3:16. That’s the challenge of the Tru316 Project: to bring about change in all the passages that need correcting in the light of what God really said in Genesis 3:16.
I invite you to get involved and join the work. You can start at Tru316.com.
The focus of this episode is:
1 Timothy 3:2-13 Who can serve in the church?
The story is told of the person who booked passage on an ocean crossing to New York City. He spent almost all his money in just buying his ticket. He brought with him only a little food but he made it last as the days passed.
Every day he smelled delicious aromas coming from the dining hall on the ship where passengers were enjoying full meals featuring delicious hot food and pastries and fruit of every kind. As his ship approached the harbor he went up and stood at the rail. There he happened to learn that meals on that passage had been for all passengers on the ship, including him. Those meals were included in the price of his ticket.
Have you ever wondered whether or not there is more in store for you than you are experiencing? There certainly was more in store for the ones God had gifted for ministry in Ephesus back in the days of Paul and Timothy.
Paul worked to make sure they benefited from all God had planned for them. Even though some of them had gone astray and wandered into teaching false doctrines and into incorrect practice, if possible Paul wanted them to be restored to ministry. Jesus, the faithful word, Jesus the faithful logos, was ready to give them the full menu destined for them in their good work.
Not all who had gone astray would be restored to ministry. Paul gave a partial checklist to be used for those who could assume the work of oversight in the church once again. This checklist is what we find in 1 Timothy chapter 3.
The tone and context of this list is introduced by the pivotal words of 1 Timothy 3:1. There Paul points to Jesus who makes it possible to serve faithfully. Paul is thinking of the women and men under correction in Ephesus from chapter 2 who sincerely wanted to get back into service. Sadly, the tone and content of verse 1 is widely misinterpreted in Bible versions we have today.
1 Timothy 3:2-7. Qualities of overseers.
In 1 Timothy 1:16, Paul notes that he had been appointed for service that he might be an example for others. Not everyone would live exactly as Paul, but in every way that is applicable, Paul was a role model. In 1 Timothy 3:2-7, he lists a number of traits that should be present in anyone who aspires to oversight in the church. It is not a check-all-of-the-boxes kind of list. If this list indicated who to exclude, Paul himself would have been barred from ministry!
For example, the list refers to individuals who are married, but neither Paul, nor Timothy, were married. The list outlines the kinds of behavior one must exhibit when an item applies to them.
Dr. Philip Payne commenting on 1 Timothy 2 and 3 (“1 Timothy 2:11-3:13 Reconsidered,” JH 4, 19-21, 193-194 and elsewhere) points out the seamless continuation of 1 Timothy 2 into 1 Timothy 3. He writes,
The description … is a listing of qualifications which would apply to women as well as to men. In fact, parallels to each of these requirements are mentioned in 1 Timothy specifically regarding women, over half using identical terminology.
At the very time Paul wrote 1 Timothy each of these overseer descriptions not only could, but in fact did, apply to women. It is virtually impossible that so many of these infrequently used expressions describing overseers just happen to occur in nearly identical terminology in the verses of 1 Timothy dealing exclusively with women.
The long list of 12 qualifications in 1 Timothy 3:2-7 is not a complete checklist…. Candidates for resuming service will need to meet the qualifications that apply to their situation. These verses weed out those who do not qualify.
Above reproach. In 1 Timothy 3:2, Paul uses a compound Greek word to state an important fact of life that applies to all overseers. He writes that overseers must be “above-reproach.”
One summer, I was a student intern for an old-time evangelist who had grown up in a tough seaport town in the south of England. During the Roaring 20’s he came to America to seek his fortune. When he arrived, he found hard liquor to be most to his liking and he became a raging alcoholic. But, at the age of 29, someone told him the good news of new life in Christ and he was wonderfully saved!
Bill Denton spent the rest of his life serving those he called, the “down-n-outers.” He set up a Rescue Mission and preached there every evening. He roamed the streets late at night to find the homeless and the alcoholic and he brought them into his Mission to spend the night safe from danger and away from the elements. In the morning he gave them food, and clothing too, if necessary.
Bill actively worked to rescue victims of sex trafficking. He became a chaplain of the State Prison where he walked a number of condemned inmates to the death chamber. Bill had led fully half of them to know Christ as Savior by the time of their execution.
He and his wife lived in a simple home and raised a family. He pioneered a live 30-minute nightly radio broadcast that continued for more than five decades. At the end of each transmission he would end it with, “Lost soul, get right with God!”
On their 50th wedding anniversary, his wife surprised Bill with an anniversary ring. She had saved and saved over the years for this occasion. She loved him so much! It had a diamond in the middle. He was very touched by her gesture. But he never wore his ring in public.
Several times, I came to the house to drive him to his first call for the day. Before he left the house, he stopped just inside the door, took off his ring and placed it on a stand. When he came back to the house, he would put it on again.
He told me, “It wouldn’t look right for a poor old preacher like me to wear a flashy thing like that out in public. What would people think I was doing with their money?” “But Bill,” I argued, “It was a gift from your own wife!” “I know,” he answered, “but I just wouldn’t want anyone to get a bad idea in their head.” He wanted to be sure he was “above reproach.”
Being “above reproach” is the overarching character qualification Paul lists for overseers in 1 Timothy 3:2. All other qualifications are subordinate to it. This qualification is so important that Paul introduces it with the Greek phrase, “It is necessary….”
According to J. N. D. White (in Earle, “1, 2 Timothy,” p. 364), “above-reproach” describes “one against whom it is impossible to bring any charge of wrongdoing such as could stand impartial examination.”
The list in verses 2-3. This first qualification is followed by eleven more qualifications for overseers in verses 2 and 3.
“above reproach” is the overarching requirement.
“a faithful spouse” – was next if it was applicable. Some were single.
“temperate” or self-controlled (Titus 2:2, 5).
“sensible” or “sober” – found here and in 2:9a, 15b.
“orderly” – also used in 2:9a, 15b.
“hospitable” (1 Peter 4:9-11).
“apt-at-teaching” (2 Tim. 2:24).
“not excessive drinker” or “not quarrelsome over wine.”
“not a striker” or “not pugnacious or a bully.
“forbearing” or “gentle” (Philippians 4:5).
“uncontentious” or “not a brawler” (Titus 3:2).
“not-avaricious” or “no lover of money” (Heb. 13:5).
Stumbling Blocks Due to Mistranslation
“Faithful spouse” (3:2). Qualification number two deals with the overseer’s married life. The Greek words used to make this point are unique. Later in 1 Timothy 3 and elsewhere, Paul uses a phrase that is different in Greek, which says “husband of one wife.” But in 3:2, the Greek is unique and more compact – “a one wife/husband” or “a one husband/wife.”
Careful research has shown that this qualification means that whether one is a husband or a wife, it is important to be a “faithful spouse.” It requires an overseer, if married, to be faithful and be “a one-spouse kind of person.”
According to the French scholar and priest, Lucien Deiss, in his notes to the TOB French Bible translation (Edition Intégrale, p. 646, note a), this Greek phrase was used in Asia Minor, on both Jewish and pagan gravestone inscriptions, to designate a woman or a man, who was faithful to his or her spouse in a way characterized by “a particularly fervent conjugal love.”
When I read Deiss’ comment how this phrase was used on inscriptions in Turkey, where Paul and Timothy ministered, I confirmed it with him myself, reaching him by telephone in Vaucresson, France.
This insight into 1 Timothy 3:2 is at variance with modern versions of the Bible which translate this Greek phrase as if it were like the longer phrases used elsewhere – “husband of one wife.” Their Bible versions do not indicate that there is a difference with what is written in verse 2.
Their translations make the qualification in verse 2 appear to be restricted to men only! However, rightly understood, this qualification is about faithfulness in marriage by a Christian spouse, husband or wife. It is not saying that oversight is “for men only.”
Is it surprising that this mistranslation has caused confusion in the churches? While instructions in the Bible apply to all people in all cultures, the misinterpretation of this characteristic has led to contradictory interpretations. I have come across three different, distinct and mutually exclusive interpretations of 3:2, none of which square with the colloquial meaning of this phrase for a faithful spouse:
In the United States I heard: No divorced and remarried man may be an overseer – one may have only “one wife.” 1 Timothy 3:2 says so.
In France I heard: Bachelors may not be overseers because they are not “husbands” and do not have “one wife.” 1 Timothy 3:2 says so.
In Congo I heard: No polygamist may be an overseer because one must have only “one wife,” not many. 1 Timothy 3:2 says so.
Well, they all couldn’t “say so.” Each case said something different.
Who was right? Those in America who ruled out ministry for divorced and remarried men weren’t thinking about bachelors. Those in France who ruled out ministry by bachelors weren’t thinking about polygamists in Congo. I had lived in all three countries. What was I to do?
When the meaning of the Greek phrase in verse 2 is understood as a comment on being a “faithful spouse” of either gender, I was relieved to note that it applied to all marriage situations whether one ministered in America, Europe and Africa! If married, either a husband or a wife may be an overseer, but in married life an overseer must be a “faithful spouse.”
“Family manager” (3:4-5). In addition to the twelve characteristics listed in verses 2-3, Paul adds several more in verses 4-7. Perhaps because the meaning of Paul’s words in verse 2 have been misunderstood, verses 4-5 usually are translated in a way that excludes women from what Paul originally wrote.
In 1 Timothy 3:4-5 and following, the pronouns are gender inclusive and should not be translated as “he” and “his.” Instead they should be translated as “his or her,” as in:
4ruling his or her own household well …
5… manage his or her own family …
The point in these verses is not that a particular spouse should manage the family unit, but rather that every overseer, husband or wife, should be able to manage his-or-her own household well. Payne (Surrejoinder, p. 96) comments on 1 Timothy 3:2 and the related references in verses 4-5, as follows:
The [verses] describing the overseer in 3:2, 4-5 must not be interpreted as requiring that the overseer be male, married, and have children…. Common sense tells us that these phrases are intended only to exclude those who are not faithful … or managing their children badly….
The other qualifications Paul lists in verses 4-7 are personal qualities reflecting spiritual maturity. This is one reason why he writes, in verse 6, that new believers should not hastily assume responsibility. Over time, a person’s fitness for ministry would become apparent.
Here is a proper paraphrase of 1 Timothy 3:1-7:
1“Faithful is the Word,” so if anyone aspires to oversight, that person desires a good work.
2Here is a partial list of important practices and traits one must display:
An overseer must be without reproach –
a faithful spouse, temperate, serious, modest, hospitable, a good teacher, 3not an excessive drinker or pugnacious, but patient, uncontentious, and not avaricious,
4ruling his or her own household well, having one’s children in subjection, 5(for if someone doesn’t know how to manage his or her own household, how can that one take care of the church of God?)
6not a recent convert, so as to avoid the danger of being puffed up with pride, and falling into the same condemnation as the devil received. 7It is important to have a good testimony from outsiders, so as not to fall into disgrace and the devil’s snare.
About deacons, 8-13. Paul begins verse 8 with these two Greek words, “Deacons, similarly….” Similar to whom?
Verses 8, and following, refer back to the men and women of 1 Timothy 2 who were made fit for service by “the faithful Word of 1 Timothy 3:1.” Just as the ones who aspired to oversight could be made worthy, similarly, “the faithful Word” could equip men and women for faithful service as deacons.
In Philippians 1:1 Paul refers to two groups: (1) the “overseers,” and (2) the “servants” or “deacons.” Paul has these two distinct groups in view in 1 Timothy 3:2-13 as well. The main difference between overseers and deacons is being “apt to teach” (3:2). This qualification about teaching is not in the list for deacons.
The list for the deacons is not exhaustive nor restrictive. An obvious exception to it was Stephen, the martyr, who was also a teacher (Acts 6).
In 1 Timothy 3:8-10, Paul refers both to men and women “deacons.” In the early church, there were no “deaconesses.” The characteristics required of men and women deacons were as follows: grave, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not pursuing dishonest gain, having a clear conscience, having passed approval.
While verses 8-10 concerned both men and women deacons, verse 11 had specific advice for women deacons and verse 12 was specific to male deacons.
As for women deacons, Paul instructed them to be worthy of respect, not slanderers, self-controlled, and faithful in all things. As for the men deacons, he exhorted them to work at being faithful husbands and to be responsible at home.
Structure communicates meaning. The organizational pattern of Paul’s thoughts in the long passage of 1 Timothy 2:8 through 3:13 becomes evident as it draws to a close. Paul has organized his comments into a rainbow pattern, also called a chiastic or mirror pattern! This ancient way of organizing one’s thoughts usually placed the most important idea in the center section. Paul built the central section of his chiasm on the life changing power of “the faithful Word” (3:1-10).
This can be diagramed as follows:
A Men (2:8)
B Women (2:9-15)
C Men and Women (3:1-10)
B’ Women (3:11)
A’ Men (3:12)
Difficulties of serving are not to dampen their enthusiasm, for there are rewards for those who serve faithfully. For the men and women who go on to fruitful ministries, Paul writes in verse 13: “Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus.”
Theological Implications. In 1 Timothy 2:8-15, Paul recommended appropriate discipline for disruptive and injurious behavior. His recommendations took into account not only the sin committed, but also the heart motivation of the offender. In 1 Timothy 3:1-12 the women and men leaders who had been disciplined were encouraged to aspire to, and to resume, ministry in the church.
In these verses, Paul did not teach any doctrine of “authority-of-a-husband,” or “leadership-by-men” in the church. Instead, he drew a picture of various Christian men and women actively serving Christ, having been made faithful by Jesus, the Word!
How did we get here? Likely, much of what we have just covered is not what you have heard before about 1 Timothy 2-3. We faced the same thing in our studies of Ephesians 5-6 and Genesis 2-3. For me, the findings of my wife’s research into Genesis 3:16 makes all the difference. She found that in God’s eleven Hebrew words in Genesis 3:16 God didn’t curse Eve or limit woman in any way.
God showed love and mercy to Eve in the Garden of Eden. But Satan, the murderer and liar, wants us to think God cursed her.
She unmasked his attack at the tree but he is still the enemy of the woman. He wants us to take as many shots at her as he can get us to!
Sadly, translators and theologians have been tricked into playing on his side. They have mistranslated Genesis 3:16 and they have also mishandled other Bible passages related to God’s words to the woman like 1 Timothy 2-3.
That’s why we have produced these studies. That’s why we have written The Book of Eden, Genesis 2-3.
Where they have gone astray Bible translations need to be corrected based on the true words of Genesis 3:16. That’s the challenge of the Tru316 Project: to bring about change in all the passages that need correcting in the light of what God really said in Genesis 3:16.
I invite you to get involved and join the work. You can start at Tru316.com.