1 Timothy 3.13-Paul Ends His List Of Qualifications For Deacons With A Statement Of Encouragment For Those Who Serve Well As Deacons
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday May 11, 2011
1 Timothy: 1 Timothy 3:13-Paul Ends His List Of Qualifications For Deacons With A Statement Of Encouragement For Those Who Serve Well As Deacons
Lesson # 66
Please turn in your Bibles to 1 Timothy 3:8.
The apostle Paul in verse 13 concludes his discussion of the list of qualifications that must be met by those men who aspire to the office of deacon with a word of encouragement for those who serve well as deacons.
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. 10 These men must also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons if they are beyond reproach. 11 Women must likewise be dignified, not malicious gossips, but temperate, faithful in all things. 12 Deacons must be husbands of only one wife, and good managers of their children and their own households. 13 For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a high standing and great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus. (NASU)
“For those who have served well as deacons” is composed of the conjunction gar (γάρ) (gar), “for” and the adverb kalos (καλῶς) (kah-loce), “well” and the nominative masculine plural aorist active participle form of the verb diakoneo (διακονέω) (thee-ah-koe-neh-owe), “those who have served as deacons.”
Here we have the “emphatic” and “intensifying” use of the conjunction gar, which introduces a statement that advances upon and intensifies upon the list of twelve qualifications for a deacon that appear in verses 8-12.
Paul’s statement in verse 13 advances upon this list and intensifies it in the sense that he is presenting the rewards that a deacon can receive for serving well.
Verse 13 advances upon and intensifies the discussion of this list in the sense that it advances from discussing how to qualify as a deacon to the rewards for serving well as a deacon.
It is emphatic in that it would attract special attention from those men who sought to qualify as a deacon because it presents the rewards for serving well as a deacon.
The verb diakoneo means “to serve as a deacon” and is used of those men who serve as deacons in the church according to God’s standards of excellence that are revealed by the Spirit in the Word of God.
The adverb of manner kalos is modifying the verb diakoneo and as was the case in verses 4 and 12, it means “correctly” with the implication of being commendable since it pertains to meeting relatively high standards of excellence.
It denotes a man serving as a deacon according to the standards of God’s Word and specifically with regards to operating in God’s love by the power of the Spirit and thus serving commendably.
The word expresses the idea of a man serving in the office of deacon in the way God would have him serve, namely by obeying the teaching of the Holy Spirit as it is found in the Word of God, who instructs the Christian to operate according to the love of God by His power.
Thus, by doing so, he serves as a deacon “commendably.”
1 Timothy 3:13 For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a high standing and great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus. (NASU)
“Obtain for themselves a high standing” is composed of the accusative masculine singular form of the noun bathmos (βαθμός) (vahth-moce), “a standing” and the dative third person masculine plural form of the reflexive pronoun heautou (ἑαυτοῦ) (owf-too), “themselves” and the accusative masculine singular form of the adjective kalos (καλός) (kah-loce), “high” and the third person plural present middle indicative form of the verb peripoieo (περιποιέω) (pehdee-pee-eh-owe), “obtain.”
The verb peripoieo means “gain for oneself” with considerable effort and what is obtained or gained is identified by the expression βαθμὸν καλὸν, “high standing.”
Therefore, the verb denotes that the deacon who serves faithfully “gains for himself” excellent progress spiritually resulting in greater confidence before Christ at the Bema Seat.
Moulton and Milligan cite that the mystery religions used bathmos of a step toward a goal.
Also Danker and Bauer cite that philosophy used the word to denote the gradual attainment of wisdom.
Here in 1 Timothy 3:13, Paul uses the word in a similar fashion in the sense that it speaks of a step toward the goal of Christ-likeness or in other words it denotes spiritual advancement to spiritual maturity or in other words, progress to greater Christ-likeness.
It speaks of advancing toward the Father’s goal of conforming the Christian into the image of Christ.
Therefore, serving as a deacon according to the standards set in God’s Word produces excellent progress toward the Father’s will of conforming the deacon into the image of Christ.
The office of deacon presents greater opportunities to operate in the love of God and to grow up spiritually.
The fact that bathmos refers to “spiritual progress” or “advancement to the goal of spiritual maturity, i.e. Christ-likeness” and not an excellent reputation in the Christian community is clear since the former is a much greater reward for a believer and has a much greater value that the latter.
This is because the former is based upon the Father’s will and the latter is not.
Also, it does not mean “standing” since the believer already has an excellent standing before God, which was obtained at the moment of conversion through faith alone in Christ alone, which can never be improved upon.
The adjective kalos is used to modify the noun bathmos, “spiritual progress,” which as we noted speaks of spiritual advancement or progress to the goal of spiritual maturity or Christ-likeness as a result of faithful service as a deacon.
The adjective means “excellent” and describes this spiritual progress or advancement as being of a high moral quality or character with the implication that this person is a great benefit to the community in which he lives and to the Lord Himself.
1 Timothy 3:13 For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a high standing and great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus. (NASU)
“And great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus” is composed of the conjunction kai (καί) (keh), “and” and the accusative feminine singular form of the adjective polus (πολύς) (police), “great” which is modifying the accusative feminine singular form of the noun parresia (παρρησία) (pah-deesee-ah), “confidence” and the preposition en (ἐν), “in” and its object is the dative feminine singular form of the noun pistis (πίστις) (pee-steece), “faith” and the dative feminine singular form of the definite article ho (ὁ) (owe), “that” and the preposition en (ἐν), “in” and the dative masculine singular form of the proper name Christos (Χριστός) (cree-stoce), “Christ” and the dative masculine singular form of the proper noun Iesous (Ἰησοῦς) (yee-soose), “Jesus.”
The conjunction kai is consecutive meaning that it is introducing an expression that presents “the result” of advancing spiritually to greater Christ-likeness, which is greater confidence before the Lord Jesus Christ at the Bema Seat.
This use of kai indicates that confidence in the presence of Christ at the Bema Seat is the direct result of spiritual progress or growing up spiritually.
The noun parresia means “confidence” referring to the confidence that the Christian man will possess at the Bema Seat Evaluation of the church while in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ because he was faithful in serving as a deacon.
It speaks of the confidence the faithful deacon will possess in the presence of the Lord at the Bema Seat because he served as a deacon according to the Lord’s standards, which are taught by the Spirit in the Word of God.
The adjective polus denotes the increase in confidence.
The noun pistis in 1 Timothy 3:13 means “faith” and refers to the deacon’s faith in the Word of God after conversion.
It does not refer to the Christian faith in an objective sense since the expression τῇ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, “that is in Christ Jesus” defines the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ as the object and basis for the deacon’s faith.
By exercising faith in the teaching of Jesus Christ the deacon gains for himself excellent spiritual progress resulting in greater confidence at the Bema Seat.
The noun pistis is the object of the preposition en, which functions as a marker of means indicating the means by which the deacon gains for himself excellent spiritual progress resulting in greater confidence at the Bema Seat.
Therefore, the word indicates that those deacons who serve correctly gain for themselves excellent spiritual progress resulting in greater confidence at the Bema Seat “by means of” faith, which is based upon the teaching of Jesus Christ.
Christos contains the figure of “metonymy” meaning that the Person of Christ is put for His authoritative teaching directed to His body and future bride.
The preposition en is a marker of “cause” indicating that deacons who serve according to God’s standards gain for themselves excellent spiritual progress resulting in greater confidence at the Bema Seat by means of faith, which is “based upon” the teaching of Lord Jesus Christ.
He taught His disciples to serve one another by means of His love through the power of the Spirit.