1 Timothy 3:1-10

1 Faithful is the saying, "If any one is eager to have the oversight of a Church, he desires a noble work."

2 A minister then must be a man of irreproachable character, true to his one wife, temperate, sober-minded, well-behaved, hospitable to strangers, and with a gift for teaching;

3 not a hard drinker nor given to blows; not selfish or quarrelsome or covetous;

4 but ruling his own household wisely and well, with children kept under control with true dignity.

5 (If a man does not know how to rule his own household, how shall he have the Church of God given into his care?)

6 He ought not to be a new convert, for fear he should be blinded with pride and come under the same condemnation as the Devil.

7 It is needful also that he bear a good character with people outside the Church, lest he fall into reproach or a snare of the Devil.

8 Deacons, in the same way, must be men of serious demeanour, not double-tongued, nor addicted to much wine, nor greedy of base gain,

9 but holding the secret truths of the faith with a clear conscience.

10 And they must also be well-tried men, and when found to be of unblemished character then let them serve as deacons.

1 Timothy 3:1-10 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 1 TIMOTHY 3

In this chapter the apostle treats of the qualifications of officers of churches, bishops and deacons, and of their wives; and points at the principal reason of writing this epistle to Timothy: and first, he commends the office of a bishop, as a good and desirable one; and asserts it to be such in the strongest manner, 1Ti 3:1 and then follow the qualifications for it, some of which are of the economical or domestic kind, and regard him as an husband and parent, and the head of the family; others of a moral nature, and relate to sobriety, hospitality, temperance, patience, and liberality; and others of the ecclesiastical sort, as aptness to teach, and that he should not be a novice in religion; and in general, that he should be a man of a blameless life, and of good report in the world, 1Ti 3:2-7, next an account is given of the qualifications of deacons; some which concern their moral character; others their soundness in the faith; and others their domestic affairs, and their conduct in their families; about which they should be first examined, before they were put into their office; the characters of their wives are also given; and for their encouragement in the faithful performance of their office, it is observed, that they hereby obtain a good degree of honour and boldness in the faith of Christ, 1Ti 3:8-13. And the end of the apostle's writing this epistle, and particularly of giving Timothy this account of the qualifications of the officers of the church of God, is, that he might know whom to appoint over it, and how to conduct himself in it; which he commends from its being the house of God, the church of the living God, and the pillar and ground of truth, 1Ti 3:14,15. Of which truth he gives a summary, in several particulars of it, which open the great mystery of godliness, 1Ti 3:16.