1 Timothy 3.6-Paul Presents The Fourteenth Qualification That Must Be Met By Those Men Who Aspire To The Office Of Overseer
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday April 26, 2011
1 Timothy: 1 Timothy 3:6-Paul Presents The Fourteenth Qualification That Must Be Met By Those Men Who Aspire To The Office Of Overseer
Lesson # 58
Please turn in your Bibles to 1 Timothy 3:1.
The apostle Paul in verse 6 presents the fourteenth qualification that must be met by those men who aspire to the office of overseer in order for them to be promoted to this office.
1 Timothy 3:1 It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do. 2 An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money. 4 He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity. 5 (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?) 6 and not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil. (NASU)
“Not a new convert” is composed of the negative particle me (μή) (me), “not” and the accusative masculine singular form of the adjective neophutos (νεόφυτος) (nay-owe-fee-toce), “a new convert.”
This adjective is composed of νέος, “new” and φυτόν, “a plant,” thus the word literally means “new plant.”
The word means “newly planted” and in classical Greek it is used commonly in speaking of newly planted vineyards or trees.
It occurs only 5 times in the Septuagint where it is used in a metaphorical sense.
The term appears only once in the New Testament, 1 Timothy 3:6 where it is also used in a metaphorical sense where it describes a person who has been recently converted to Christianity.
Just as a newly planted tree or vine requires time to grow and to become well rooted and strong so a new believer needs time to grow up spiritually and become firmly rooted in the teaching of the Word of God and have to time to grow strong spiritually.
The English word “neophyte” is a transliteration of this word and it is where we get the word “novice.”
The word’s meaning is negated by the negative particle me, “not,” which denies any idea of a newly converted Christian being given authority of an overseer.
Therefore, Paul wants mature Christian men with the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher to assume the office of overseer in the local assembly and does not want new believers in this position.
A new believer is very vulnerable and susceptible to false teaching, thus it is dangerous to place them in a position of authority over the flock of God.
He goes on to teach here in verse 6 that they are susceptible to pride, which brought the devil to ruin.
This is why Paul issues the following prohibition in 1 Timothy 5:22.
1 Timothy 5:22 Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure. (ESV)
Both, new or immature believers in spiritual childhood and mature believers are susceptible to arrogance.
The difference between the two is that the believer in spiritual adulthood has more doctrine in his soul to combat the arrogance than does the believer still in spiritual childhood.
In other words a believer in spiritual adulthood has a greater understanding and awareness of the deception of his sin nature and the devil and his position in Christ and his dependence upon the Spirit and the Word to deal with these two enemies.
Therefore, 1 Timothy 3:6 and 5:22 emphasize that the overseer should be at some level of spiritual maturity since if he is not he will become arrogant.
It also indicates that the church in Ephesus has been in existence for some time.
1 Timothy 3:6 and not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil. (NASU)
“So that he will not become conceited” is composed of the conjunction hina (ἵνα) (ee-nah), “so that” and the nominative masculine singular aorist passive participle form of the verb tuphoo (τυφόω) (tee-foe-owe), “he will not become conceited.”
The conjunction hina is employed with the subjunctive mood of the verb empipto, “fall” in order to form a purpose clause that presents Paul’s purpose for prohibiting new believers being promoted to the office of overseer.
In 1 Timothy 3:6, the verb tuphoo means “to become arrogant” and is used to describe the man with the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher but who is a new believer being installed in the office of overseer.
The word indicates that a new believer will “become arrogant” if he is installed in the office of overseer in the local assembly.
The term speaks of the arrogance that comes about in a person when they feel they are superior because of their position of authority.
The meaning of the verb tuphoo is not being negated by the negative particle me but rather it is actually negating the meaning of the verb empipto, “fall.”
The reason is that the former functions as a participle of cause indicating the cause or reason or basis of the action of the finite verb empipto, “fall.”
It normally precedes the verb it modifies as it does here in 1 Timothy 3:6 and thus the form follows function or in other words cause of an action precedes the action. (Wallace, page 631)
Therefore, as a participle of cause the verb tuphoo indicates that a man who has been placed in the office of overseer will fall into the condemnation of the devil “because” he has become arrogant due to assuming this position.
Therefore, it indicates that arrogance precedes a fall.
Proverbs 11:2 When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom. (ESV)
Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. (ESV)
Thus, Paul is saying that it is absolutely imperative that the man who aspires to the office of overseer must not be a new convert in order that he will not fall into the condemnation that the devil incurred “because” he became arrogant.
1 Timothy 3:6 and not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil. (NASU)
“And fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil” is composed of the third person singular aorist active subjunctive form of the verb empipto (ἐμπίπτω) (em-beep-towe), “fall” and the preposition eis (εἰς) (eece), “into” and the accusative neuter singular form of the noun krima (κρίμα) (kree-mah), “condemnation” and the articular genitive masculine singular form of the noun diabolos (διάβολος) (thee-ahvah-loce), “the devil.”
The verb empipto means “to fall into” in the sense of experiencing a particular state or condition.
Here it speaks of a man with the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher experiencing divine discipline from the Lord because he became arrogant as a result of becoming an overseer when he did not have the spiritual maturity to handle such a position.
Obviously, Paul is speaking of a believer here thus his condemnation due to arrogance is not the same as the devil who rejects Jesus Christ.
A believer receives divine discipline from God as a child would receive from his parents.
Only unbelievers receive eternal condemnation like the devil.
Thus this condemnation that the believer receives for arrogance is not the same as the condemnation that the devil received.
They are similar in the sense that they both received punishment from God.
They are also similar because this punishment in both instances is due to pride and arrogance.
However, the devil’s punishment is permanent and the believer’s is temporary.
As we noted earlier, the negative particle me is not negating the meaning of the verb tuphoo but rather empipto.
The particle denies any idea of a man with the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher who assumes the office of overseer prematurely, falling into the condemnation of the devil because he became arrogant due to not having the capacity to be an overseer.
The noun krima means “condemnation” and refers to the guilty verdict that the devil received for rebelling against the Lord and not repenting of it.
It is the object of the preposition eis, which functions as a marker of entrance into a particular state or condition indicating that a man who does not have the capacity to be an overseer will enter into the state or condition of being punished by the Lord.
The noun diabolos means “devil” referring to God’s greatest enemy among the angels.
The articular construction of the word indicates that this noun and who it refers to is well-known to Paul’s readers.
The word is an objective genitive meaning that semantically it functions as the direct object of the verbal idea implicit in the head noun.
This would indicate that the believer who falls into arrogance as an overseer would be punished by God like the devil was punished for his arrogance.
Paul is comparing an immature overseer with Satan and does not want an immature overseer falling from his position of ministering to God like Satan fell.
So Paul’s emphasis is that arrogance in a leadership position results in God punishing the one in that position.