1 Timothy 3:11
11 Even so [hosautos] must their wives [gune] be grave, [semnos] not [me] slanderers, [diabolos] sober, [nephaleos] faithful [pistos] in [en] all things. [pas] KJV-Interlinear
11 Women must likewise be
dignified, not malicious gossips, but temperate, faithful in all things. NASB
The words must their
is in italics so the reader knows that the words are not a part of the
text.There is no possessive pronoun or
definite article connecting women with deacons, as their wives.
Even so women , is how
this verse begins.
But the word for women,
gune in this context is a reference to mature
women, not immature women or girls as it were.
Typically when a girl becomes a wife she is transformed into a
woman.That, by the nature of being
married.But that does not make her
mature.Maturity comes with knowledge
and experience, and that is obtainable regardless if one is married or not.
Back in Pauls day, there was not a Greek
word for deaconess, so deacon was used in the masculine in all cases, whether
it referred to men or women.
Paul has been
describing the characteristics expected of the elder (or instructor of Bible
doctrine), and the deacon (one who is engaged in general Christian service). Remember that the deacon is only a word for
servant, in the broad sense of the word.
All Christians have a servant obligation.
And here, Paul quickly
changes from men to women, only to make sure that the reader knows that these
characteristics, which he has used to describe men, likewise, apply to women
deaconesses (Christian service).
So the word likewise
or even so means just that.Just as
these characteristics apply to men, so too they apply to women.
Paul does not list them
all, because that is not necessary, because he uses the context to include all
of the attributes as they apply to both genders, for Christian service.
Women, just as men,
must be grave, not slanderers, sober, and the catch all faithful in all
things.
The believer must be
grave. The word for grave semnos, means honorable, honest, serious. It again, is non-generic so it applies to all
believers.
It indicates that the
person has his/her priorities in order, that he/she looks to God first and not
to the world, with respect to responsibility and accountability for ones
thoughts and actions in life.
They are to not engage in
sins of the tongue, but be poised and temperate in their behavior, under self
control, non-judgmental and so forth.And
as with all believers, faithful (obedient to Christ) within their spiritual
life.
That means that a daily
study, spiritual growth, spiritual maturity and so forth, are mandatory (not
optional) practices for every believer, and especially for anyone who is
expecting God to make use of them in this life, within His plan.
God uses prepared
believers and He uses them in a proactive way.
God does not use
unprepared believers, except in their role as historical filler. And filler is not a very complimentary
description.But unfortunately most
believers do not pursue their spiritual life in accordance with Gods mandates,
and therefore most believers are simply filler for history. Though of course most would never agree with
that description about themselves.
Christian service is
not what you do, but in what spiritual sphere that you do it.
Whenever you are in
fellowship (you have confessed your sins to God the Father), then you are in
active Christian service.What you
happen to be doing is irrelevant.The
spiritual life functions from within the fellowship sphere,
and not from within the carnal sphere.
So you could be
cooking, changing diapers, driving a car, or designing the next Mars flight. If
you are in fellowship, then you are engaged within your Christian service. Christian service is not limited to church
choirs, prayer groups, or such things as most folks tend to define as their
Christian service.
God is not interested
in your works.God is interested in the
content of your soul.And the content of
your soul is determined through study and learning and understanding Bible
doctrine.
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