Wenstrom Bible Ministries Marion, Iowa Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom wenstrom

1. Wenstrom Bible MinistriesMarion, IowaPastor-Teacher Bill Wenstromwww.wenstrom.org

2. Wednesday April 20, 20111 Timothy: 1 Timothy 3:4-Paul Presents The Thirteenth Qualification That Must Be Met By Those Men Who Aspire To The Office Of OverseerLesson # 56

3. Please turn in your Bibles to 1 Timothy 3:1.

4. Paul in 1 Timothy 3:4 presents the thirteenth qualification, which refers to the fact that the man with the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher, who has a family and aspires to the office of overseer must manage his own household by exercising his authority in the home in such a way, which commands respect from his children.

5. 1 Timothy 3:1 It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do.

6. 2 An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,

7. 3 not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money.

8. 4 He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity. (NASU)

9. “He must be one who manages his own household well” is composed of the accusative masculine singular present middle participle form of the verb proistemi (προΐστημι) (pree-steh-mee), “one who manages”

10. and the articular genitive masculine singular form of the adjective idios (ἴδιος) (ee-thee-oce), “his own” and the genitive masculine singular form of the noun oikos (οἶκος) (ee-koce), “household” and the adverb kalos (καλῶς) (kah-loce), “well.”

11. This verb proistemi is a compound word composed of the preposition pro, “before” and the verb histemi, “to stand,” thus the word literally means “to stand before.”

12. Its primary meaning is “to lead, govern.”

13. In classical Greek, this verb was used of those who “stood before” an army in order to lead or of those who “stood over” the affairs of government.

14. It also indicated the support, help and care offered by those in permanent positions.

15. The idea of going before evolved into the notion of “to protect, care.”

16. The verb proistemi appears in 1 Timothy 3:4-5 and in each instance the word means “to exercise a position of authority” and is used with reference to the man with the spiritual gift of pastor who aspires to the office of overseer.

17. It is used with reference to the pastor’s authority over his own household.

18. In 1 Timothy 3:12, the term is used in the same manner but with respect to those who aspire to hold the office of deacon.

19. The word conveys a leadership style characterized by loving care.

20. The word expresses the idea that the man’s children submit to his leadership out of respect for him and not out of fear.

21. The pastor’s wife and children must love, respect and follow his leadership and his children should have respect for authority in every area of life.

22. Mounce writes that this word “provides a commentary on the nature of a Christian father’s role within his family: his leadership should not be dictatorial but caring and protecting.” (The Word Biblical Commentary, volume 46, Pastoral Epistles; page 178; Thomas Nelson, 2000)

23. The noun oikos means “household” consisting of those related by blood and marriage as well as slaves and servants living in the same house or homestead (Louw and Nida, 10.8).

24. Towner writes, “Although the phrase to follow this requirement resolves itself into family leadership (TNIV), and ‘family’ is the modern equivalent in Western culture to the ancient household concept (oikos),

25. the stipulation here initially exceeds issues of parenting and husbanding to include management of slaves, property, business interests and even maintenance of important relationships with benefactors/patrons or clients.” (Towner, Philip H., The Letters to Timothy and Titus; page 254; William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Grand Rapids, MI, 2006)

26. Mounce writes “Oikos is a significant metaphor in this chapter and ties the argument together. The church is the household of God and the church must protect the truth of the gospel (1 Tim. 3:15). Yet the opponents were leading whole households away from the truth (Titus 1:11).” (Ibid., page 178)

27. The affirmative adverb kalos means “correctly” since it pertains to meeting relatively high standards of excellence, which would be managing one’s own household in accordance with the teaching of the Word of God.

28. The emphasis with the word is not so much the quality of the performance of some task but rather whether one does it correctly.

29. The word conveys the idea that the man who aspires to the office of overseer must be governing his own household according to the standards of God’s Word and specifically with regards to operating in God’s love by the power of the Spirit.

30. Running one’s household according to the world’s standards will not cut it.

31. 1 Timothy 3:4 He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity. (NASU)

32. “Keeping his children under control” is composed of the accusative masculine singular present active participle form of the verb echo (ἒχω) (eh-ho), “keeping” and the accusative neuter plural form of the noun teknon (τέκνον) (tek-known), “his children” and the preposition en (ἐν), “under” and its object is the dative feminine singular form of the noun hupotage (ὑποταγή) (eepoe-tighee), “control.”

33. The verb echo denotes the “possession of persons to whom one has a close relationship with.”

34. Here it refers to the children that the man who aspires to the office of overseer “possesses.”

35. The word also is a participle of means, which indicates that it is defining what Paul means in the previous clause that the pastor, i.e. the overseer must be managing his own household correctly.

36. The noun teknon means “children” and is used in a literal sense speaking of the offspring or children of the overseer.

37. In 1 Timothy 3:4, the noun hupotage means “submission” and refers to the children of the overseer submitting to his parental authority.

38. The word is the object of the preposition en, which functions as a marker of a state or condition.

39. This indicates that the children of the overseer must be in a submissive state towards him.

40. The Scriptures teach that there are several categories of authority: (1) Christ’s Authority (Phlp. 2:8; Jn. 5:26-27; Col. 1:15-17; 2:10; Eph. 1:22)

41. (2) Biblical Authority (2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:20-21). (3) Angelic Authority (Eph. 6:12; Col. 1:16). (4) Apostolic Authority (Luke 9:1; 2 Cor. 10:8).

42. (5) Pastoral Authority (Pet. 5:1-3; Heb. 13:17; 1 Timothy 2:11-15). (6) Spousal Authority (Eph. 5:22; Col. 3:18). (7) Parental Authority (Deut. 21:18-21; Prov. 1:7-9; Eph. 6:1-3; Col. 3:20). (8) Governmental Authority (Rm. 13:1-7; Titus 3:1; 1 Pet. 2:13).

43. 1 Timothy 3:4 He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity. (NASU)

44. “With all dignity” is composed of the preposition meta (μετά) (meh-tah), “with” and the genitive feminine singular form of the adjective pas (πᾶς), “all” and the genitive feminine singular form of the noun semnotes (σεμνότης) (sem-noe-teece), “dignity.”

45. The noun semnotes means “dignity” and is used with respect to the overseer rather than the children.

46. This is indicated by the fact that the word is used later in 1 Timothy 3:8 to describe deacons, their wives (1 Timothy 3:11) and older men (Titus 2:2) and the noun is used to describe believers in 1 Timothy 2:2 and in Titus 2:7.

47. The word refers to conduct that is worthy of honor, reverence and respect by others.

48. The term speaks of the overseer’s conduct as worthy of honor, reverence and respect by the Christian community in which he lives as a result of caring for his children and disciplining them to be submissive to him.

49. In 1 Timothy 3:4, semnotes is the object of the preposition meta, which is a marker of manner denoting the manner in which the aspiring overseer was to manage his own household correctly, namely “with all dignity.”

50. The adjective pas means “absolute” in the sense of perfectly embodying godliness and dignity, thus, Paul wants the aspiring overseer to perfectly embody dignity while managing their household.