1 Timothy 3:10

10 and these also must be tested first; then let them serve [if they] are above reproach.

1 Timothy 3:10 Meaning and Commentary

1 Timothy 3:10

And let these also first be proved
Not that they should be tried in any part of the deacon's office, to see how capable they are of performing it; but their internal and external characters are to be looked into and examined, and if they appear, to be right, then they are to be approved of, chosen and called unto, and invested with the office:

then let them use the office of a deacon;
let them be employed and minister in the several parts and branches of that office:

being found blameless;
not without sin, but free from any gross and enormous one; not before God, but in the sight of men; (See Gill on 1 Timothy 3:2).

1 Timothy 3:10 In-Context

8 Deacons likewise [must be] dignified, not insincere, not devoted to much wine, not fond of dishonest gain,

9 holding the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience,

10 and these also must be tested first; then let them serve [if they] are above reproach.

11 The wives likewise [must be] dignified, not slanderous, temperate, faithful in all [things].

12 Deacons must be husbands of one wife, managing [their] children and their own households well.

Footnotes

• [a]. *Here "[if]" is supplied as a component of the participle ("are") which is understood as conditional