1 Timothy 3:2 - A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;
I would like to spend a little bit of time here because I believe there's some very important teaching here concerning the qualifications of a bishop. And please keep in mind that this word for bishop (EPISKOPOS) is also interchangeable with elder and pastor.
But here is a very important technicality I want to share with you. It says in the text a bishop then must be, and then he starts his list. The word "must" is the word necessary. It is necessary. And then in the Greek text, it says (to be), not just be, but to be. That is what is called a Present Tense Infinitive. It means to presently exist with these qualities. It has nothing to do with the past, and obviously nothing to do with the future. It is right now presently that these are the qualities and the character of this person.
There are a couple of highlights here that people use, but it's not really a text about marriage and divorce, or relationships. This is all about character. This is all about faithfulness. If you are into marking in your bible, you might want to write off to the side 1 Corinthians 4:2. Paul says there is one requirement of those who are stewards, or ministers, and that is faithfulness. That's the only requirement. If you read that into each one of these qualities, you will see that Paul is saying that to be an overseer, a (man) must be faithful in all of these areas. There are 16 of them.
Not covetous; Now the normal word for covetousness in the bible, which is not this word, but the normal word PLEONEXIA means to have a desire to want more. You might say more what? Well, that's what covetousness is. It's the whole attitude of I've reached this level of material wealth in life, and the common desire amongst western culture people is to want the next level, the next step, the next thing.
That's covetousness, to want more than what you have, and the desire to have more than what you need. We just keep going and that's covetousness. But that's not this word here. This word is a single Greek word that means a love for silver or love for money. It's the same word used in Chapter 6 where he says the love for money is the root of all evil.
It doesn't say money is evil. It says the love for money. And the word love is PHILEO which means friendship. And unfortunately for many people, money is their best friend. We rearrange our whole schedules around money, what's going to make us the money, and how we're going to spend our money.
So, a person in leadership cannot desire or love money. Which as you know, if you watch TV, or heard enough in church, for people in ministry, that's a difficult thing because usually that's all they talk about.
In Verses 4 and 5 we have the crux of the whole book. It's the pivotal point and the center of the whole book. It says in Verse 4, and this is the 14th characteristic of the person who is the overseer.
1 Timothy 3:3 - Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;
The 8th thing is "Not given to wine." Now that kind of sounds like there's a loophole there. Not given to wine. Literally, the Greek text means to not be alongside of wine. What does that mean? It means don't be associated with it. Don't even let it sit on the table next to you, even if it belongs to someone else. Stay away from it. Don't be associated with it.
No striker, and that's the literal translation, somebody who does not use their fists to handle their situations. It is somebody who does not beat up other people.
Then the next thing which is our tenth thing and it's only in the Textus Receptus manuscripts. You won't find it outside of the King James Bible.
Not greedy of filthy lucre; Now before I understood what that meant, just by those words I didn't want anything to do with it. I had no idea what filthy lucre was, but I didn't want to find out. It's literally one Greek word that means do not desire or be greedy of shameful gain. It means that if you're in a position of leadership in the church, that issue of your relationship with the world and your desire for worldly material things, it has to already be settled.
But (meaning in contrast to that), but patient, that is, you wait back. You're not known to be out in the world. You're known to be moderate. You hold back. You don't need to go there. You don't need that!
Then it says not a brawler. That is self-explanatory.
Next: To be of good behavior. Some people would be eliminated there. But good behavior comes from the Greek word KOSMION, like cosmetics, and it means to have an orderly lifestyle disciplined and orderly.
Next: Given to hospitality. This has nothing to do with parties, or the church Christmas party has got to be at his house. It has nothing to do with that. In fact, the word hospitality, it's one Greek word. It's a compound word that means to love or be fond of strangers.
I think I shared this in the past, but it has to do with the believers who come into town on the Lord's business, and they have nowhere to stay. And believers opened their homes to other Christians, people who were strange in that city, and had no place to go or no place to stay. So that's what it's talking about. Be hospitable to other believers that have no place to stay, as they're traveling through your town.
After giving the hospitality, it says apt to teach; And it literally means have the ability to teach. An overseer, and especially a pastor, must be able to teach God's word.
As I mentioned in part 10a, there are 16 qualities that are necessary for a bishop, elder, or pastor.
First of all, it is necessary to be blameless. This word means that he is unable to be impeached. You can accuse him of things, you can spread rumors about him, but there must be at least two or three witnesses to bring a conviction in court. You can't just accuse a leader of something. You have to prove it. And there must be at least two or three witnesses, and this person cannot be eligible to be impeached. If he can be impeached for any of the moral problems or areas that he's presenting here, then he cannot be an overseer. So, he must be blameless, unimpeachable.
Secondly, the husband of one wife, and remember, all of this goes with (to be), to exist as the husband of one wife. How can a woman be an overseer (Bishop, Elder, or Pastor) and be the husband of one wife?
Now the way the Greek text reads, it reads a one-woman man. That's the way it reads. It has nothing to do with marriage, or divorce, or remarriage. It has nothing to do with any of those factors as far as the text is concerned. He must be a one-woman man, faithful, period! We're talking about faithfulness. He must be unimpeachable. He must be a one-woman man.
Next: He must be vigilant. That means attentive, to be watching, because Satan is always on the prowl. So, he's got to be taking inventory of his life and taking care of things as they're happening.
Then it says sober. This has to do with sober mindedness. This has nothing to do with alcohol or that type of sobriety. It means to have a frame of mind that thinks in wisdom and facts according to God.
1 Timothy 3:2 - A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;
I would like to spend a little bit of time here because I believe there's some very important teaching here concerning the qualifications of a bishop. And please keep in mind that this word for bishop (EPISKOPOS) is also interchangeable with elder and pastor.
But here is a very important technicality I want to share with you. It says in the text a bishop then must be, and then he starts his list. The word "must" is the word necessary. It is necessary. And then in the Greek text, it says (to be), not just be, but to be. That is what is called a Present Tense Infinitive. It means to presently exist with these qualities. It has nothing to do with the past, and obviously nothing to do with the future. It is right now presently that these are the qualities and the character of this person.
There are a couple of highlights here that people use, but it's not really a text about marriage and divorce, or relationships. This is all about character. This is all about faithfulness. If you are into marking in your bible, you might want to write off to the side 1 Corinthians 4:2. Paul says there is one requirement of those who are stewards, or ministers, and that is faithfulness. That's the only requirement. If you read that into each one of these qualities, you will see that Paul is saying that to be an overseer, a (man) must be faithful in all of these areas. There are 16 of them.
1 Timothy 3:3 continued:
Not covetous; Now the normal word for covetousness in the bible, which is not this word, but the normal word PLEONEXIA means to have a desire to want more. You might say more what? Well, that's what covetousness is. It's the whole attitude of I've reached this level of material wealth in life, and the common desire amongst western culture people is to want the next level, the next step, the next thing.
That's covetousness, to want more than what you have, and the desire to have more than what you need. We just keep going and that's covetousness. But that's not this word here. This word is a single Greek word that means a love for silver or love for money. It's the same word used in Chapter 6 where he says the love for money is the root of all evil.
It doesn't say money is evil. It says the love for money. And the word love is PHILEO which means friendship. And unfortunately for many people, money is their best friend. We rearrange our whole schedules around money, what's going to make us the money, and how we're going to spend our money.
So, a person in leadership cannot desire or love money. Which as you know, if you watch TV, or heard enough in church, for people in ministry, that's a difficult thing because usually that's all they talk about.
In Verses 4 and 5 we have the crux of the whole book. It's the pivotal point and the center of the whole book. It says in Verse 4, and this is the 14th characteristic of the person who is the overseer.
1 Timothy 3:3 - Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;
The 8th thing is "Not given to wine." Now that kind of sounds like there's a loophole there. Not given to wine. Literally, the Greek text means to not be alongside of wine. What does that mean? It means don't be associated with it. Don't even let it sit on the table next to you, even if it belongs to someone else. Stay away from it. Don't be associated with it.
No striker, and that's the literal translation, somebody who does not use their fists to handle their situations. It is somebody who does not beat up other people.
Then the next thing which is our tenth thing and it's only in the Textus Receptus manuscripts. You won't find it outside of the King James Bible.
Not greedy of filthy lucre; Now before I understood what that meant, just by those words I didn't want anything to do with it. I had no idea what filthy lucre was, but I didn't want to find out. It's literally one Greek word that means do not desire or be greedy of shameful gain. It means that if you're in a position of leadership in the church, that issue of your relationship with the world and your desire for worldly material things, it has to already be settled.
But (meaning in contrast to that), but patient, that is, you wait back. You're not known to be out in the world. You're known to be moderate. You hold back. You don't need to go there. You don't need that!
Then it says not a brawler. That is self-explanatory.
1 Timothy 3:2 continued:
Next: To be of good behavior. Some people would be eliminated there. But good behavior comes from the Greek word KOSMION, like cosmetics, and it means to have an orderly lifestyle disciplined and orderly.
Next: Given to hospitality. This has nothing to do with parties, or the church Christmas party has got to be at his house. It has nothing to do with that. In fact, the word hospitality, it's one Greek word. It's a compound word that means to love or be fond of strangers.
I think I shared this in the past, but it has to do with the believers who come into town on the Lord's business, and they have nowhere to stay. And believers opened their homes to other Christians, people who were strange in that city, and had no place to go or no place to stay. So that's what it's talking about. Be hospitable to other believers that have no place to stay, as they're traveling through your town.
After giving the hospitality, it says apt to teach; And it literally means have the ability to teach. An overseer, and especially a pastor, must be able to teach God's word.
1 Timothy 3:2 continued:
As I mentioned in part 10a, there are 16 qualities that are necessary for a bishop, elder, or pastor.
First of all, it is necessary to be blameless. This word means that he is unable to be impeached. You can accuse him of things, you can spread rumors about him, but there must be at least two or three witnesses to bring a conviction in court. You can't just accuse a leader of something. You have to prove it. And there must be at least two or three witnesses, and this person cannot be eligible to be impeached. If he can be impeached for any of the moral problems or areas that he's presenting here, then he cannot be an overseer. So, he must be blameless, unimpeachable.
Secondly, the husband of one wife, and remember, all of this goes with (to be), to exist as the husband of one wife. How can a woman be an overseer (Bishop, Elder, or Pastor) and be the husband of one wife?
Now the way the Greek text reads, it reads a one-woman man. That's the way it reads. It has nothing to do with marriage, or divorce, or remarriage. It has nothing to do with any of those factors as far as the text is concerned. He must be a one-woman man, faithful, period! We're talking about faithfulness. He must be unimpeachable. He must be a one-woman man.
Next: He must be vigilant. That means attentive, to be watching, because Satan is always on the prowl. So, he's got to be taking inventory of his life and taking care of things as they're happening.
Then it says sober. This has to do with sober mindedness. This has nothing to do with alcohol or that type of sobriety. It means to have a frame of mind that thinks in wisdom and facts according to God.
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