1 Timothy 3.9-Paul Presents The Fifth Qualification That Must Be Met By Those Men Who Aspire To Be Deacons
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday May 3, 2011
1 Timothy: 1 Timothy 3:9-Paul Presents The Fifth Qualification That Must Be Met By Those Men Who Aspire To Be Deacons
Lesson # 61
Please turn in your Bibles to 1 Timothy 3:8.
The apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 3:9 presents the fifth qualification that must be fulfilled by those men who desire to hold the office of deacon.
1 Timothy 3:8 Deacons likewise must be men of dignity, not double-tongued, or addicted to much wine or fond of sordid gain, 9 but holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. (NASU)
“But holding to the mystery of the faith” is composed of the accusative masculine plural present active participle form of the verb echo (ἒχω) (eh-ho), “holding to” and the accusative neuter singular form of the noun musterion (μυστήριον) (me-stear-ee-own), “of the mystery” and the articular genitive feminine singular form of the noun pistis (πίστις) (pee-steece), “of the faith.”
The verb echo means “to adhere to, to be in a particular condition or state of possessing” a particular object, which is identified by the noun musterion, “the mystery,” which is modified by the noun pistis, “faith.”
It means “to adhere” to the gospel, i.e. the Word of God.
This indicates that it is absolutely imperative deacons adhere to the mystery of the faith.
It refers to responding by faith to the gospel after conversion which results in obedience to the commands and prohibitions that are revealed in the gospel.
In 1 Timothy 3:9, the noun musterion, “mystery” refers to the gospel as it relates to the Christian since Paul is presenting qualifications for those men who aspire to the office of deacon, which can only be held of course by Christians.
The noun pistis, “faith,” which modifies musterion, “mystery” is appositional defining musterion and refers to the body of doctrine the church believes.
Therefore, the verb echo indicates that it is absolutely imperative deacons adhere to the mystery, which is doctrine.
To “adhere” to something means one gives support or maintains loyalty.
It means “to hold fast or stick by, to bind oneself to observance.”
Thus, echo in 1 Timothy 3:9 denotes that deacons must adhere to the mystery, which is doctrine in order to hold the office of deacon.
The verb echo speaks of exercising faith in the gospel after conversion, which results in obedience to it since faith in the Word of God results in obedience (Hebrews 11:8).
It refers to the fact that after conversion deacons must possess faith in the gospel, which is synonymous with sound doctrine according to a comparison of 1 Timothy 1:10-11.
Consequently, it also denotes obedience to the gospel, i.e. sound doctrine since faith produces obedience.
Echo therefore, indicates that it is absolutely imperative that deacons be committed to the gospel, i.e. Bible doctrine, the Word of God.
Also, this word combined with the fact that being a skillful teacher is a qualification for an overseer rather than a deacon implies that deacons are not responsible for teaching or communicating the Word of God to the church.
Rather, it implies that deacons are responsible to receive the teaching of the overseers.
However, all Christians, including deacons should be able to explain their beliefs to the unsaved according to 1 Peter 3:15 but the official role of teaching the Word of God to the church belongs to the overseers exclusively along with the apostles.
Today, overseers hold this responsibility exclusively since the apostles have all died in the first century.
The present tense of the verb echo in 1 Timothy 3:9 does not indicate a “temporal” condition but rather a “characteristic” of all Christians since it is a “gnomic” present used to make a statement of a general, timeless fact or in other words, an eternal spiritual truth.
This is indicated by the fact that Paul is listing qualifications or characteristics that men must consistently manifest in the local assembly if they are to hold the office of deacon.
The “gnomic” present of the verb echo in 1 Timothy 3:9 indicates that deacons must be “characterized” as adhering to the mystery of the faith.
It indicates that adhering to the mystery of the faith is a “characteristic” that deacons must possess.
The verb is a participle of means indicating that deacons be dignified and not hypocritical, addicted to much wine, nor greedy “by” being characterized as adhering to the mystery which is doctrine, i.e. that body of doctrine, which the church believes.
In 1 Timothy 3:9, the noun musterion means “mystery” and refers to the plan of salvation for both Jew and Gentiles and is now fully revealed during the church age by the Spirit through the apostles to the church, which was not fully known to the Old Testament prophets of Israel.
The content of this mystery is Jesus Christ and His death and resurrection for both Jew and Gentile.
The “hidden” nature of the gospel is not that it was totally unknown since the Old Testament prophets, all the way back to Abraham, were told that salvation would be provided for both Jew and Gentile through the Jewish Messiah.
What Paul means by musterion in 1 Timothy 3:9 is that through the Spirit, God the Father has “fully” disclosed the gospel in the person of Jesus Christ and in the proclamation of the gospel by the apostles.
Musterion in this verse is a revelation of the “divine decree,” which is God’s eternal and immutable will, regarding the future existence of events, which will happen in time and regarding the precise order and manner of their occurrence.
The decree of God is the chosen and adopted plan of all God’s works.
It is the revelation of the chosen and adopted plan of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ for the Jews and the Gentiles.
It is His eternal purpose according to the counsels of His own will, whereby for His own glory He has foreordained whatever comes to pass.
Therefore, musterion refers to the proclamation of Jesus Christ’s victory over sin and Satan through His death and resurrection and that faith in Him for salvation would be proclaimed to both Jew and Gentile.
It refers to the manifestation of the divine decree eternity past.
It is a secret known only by God but has now been revealed to the church by the Spirit through the apostles.
In 1 Timothy 3:9, the noun pistis does not refers to the deacon’s faith but rather it is used in an objective sense referring to the Christian faith.
It refers to the content of what Paul taught the Gentile churches or in other words it is a synonym for the gospel.
It refers to the gospel from the perspective of a body of doctrine or that which is believed by the church.
Thus, pistis is synonymous for the gospel and speaks of it from a different perspective, namely that which the church believes.
That the word does not refer to faith in a subjective sense for the deacon’s faith is indicated by the fact that the verb echo is expressing this subjective side of faith.
Thus, pistis is expressing the objective side of faith in the sense that it refers to that which the Christian is to exercise faith in after conversion.
It would be redundant therefore, to interpret pistis as referring to the deacon’s faith in the Word of God.
1 Timothy 3:8 Deacons likewise must be men of dignity, not double-tongued, or addicted to much wine or fond of sordid gain, 9 but holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. (NASU)
“With a clear conscience” is composed of the preposition en (ἐν), “with” and its object is the dative feminine singular form of the noun suneidesis (συνείδησις) (see-nee-thee-sees), “conscience” which is modified by the dative feminine singular form of the adjective katharos (καθαρός) (ka-tha-roce), “a clear.”
To have a “clear conscience” does not mean that we have never sinned or do not commit acts of sin but rather it means that the underlying direction and motive of life is to obey and please God, so that acts of sin are habitually recognized as such and confessed to God the Father (1 John 1:9).
The noun suneidesis in 1 Timothy 3:9 means “conscience” and speaks of that aspect of the human soul where the Christian’s norms and standards reside, which are to be based upon the teaching of the Spirit in the Word of God.
In 1 Timothy 3:9, the adjective katharos refers to the state or condition of the believer’s conscience that does not have any known sin circulating in its stream of consciousness.
It refers to the believer who has confessed his sins to the Father and as a result is experiencing fellowship with God and is filled with the Spirit or more accurately is influenced by means of the Spirit.
Therefore, with this prepositional phrase Paul is teaching that a deacon must be characterized as adhering to the standards of the gospel, i.e. sound doctrine so that their conduct is characterized as reflecting the standards of the gospel.
In contrast to those who adhere to the false teaching of the Judaizers, deacons are to be characterized as adhering and reflecting the holy standards of the gospel.
