This is a faithful saying: if a man seeks the office of an overseer, he desires a good work. 2The overseer therefore must be without reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, sensible, modest, hospitable, good at teaching; 3not a drinker, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; 4one who rules his own house well, having children in subjection with all reverence; 5(but if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of God’s congregation1?) 6not a new convert, lest being puffed up he fall into the same condemnation as Iblis.2 7Moreover he must have good testimony from those who are outside, to avoid falling into reproach and the snare of Iblis.
8Deacons3, in the same way, must be reverent, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for money; 9holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. 10Let them also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons, if they are blameless. 11The women in the same way must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things. 12Let deacons be husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. 13For those who have served well as deacons gain to themselves a good standing, and great boldness in the faith which is in AL-MASIH4 ‘ISA.5
14These things I write to you, hoping to come to you shortly; 15but if I wait long, that you may know how men ought to behave themselves in the household of God6, the congregation of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
16Without controversy, the mystery of godliness is great:
God was revealed in the flesh,
Vindicated in the Spirit,7
Seen by angels,
Preached among the nations,
Believed on in the world,
And received up in glory.
- 3:5 congregation, the community of believers in ‘ISA AL-MASIH, the Christian church.
↩︎ - 3:6 Iblis, derived from the Greek diabolos, which also gives rise to the English word, devil. ↩︎
- 3:8 The word for “deacons” literally means “servants.” ↩︎
- 3:13 AL-MASIH – an Arabic title equivalent to the Messiah (Hebrew) or Christ (Greek), all of which mean the Anointed One, that is, God’s Chosen One. In ancient times, divinely-appointed kings, priests and prophets were anointed with oil to signify their appointment to office. All of them point ahead to God’s ultimate Anointed One, the Messiah, AL-MASIH. Al-Kitab unanimously points to ‘ISA Ibn Maryam as the only person worthy to bear the title AL-MASIH. He is the one whom God sent into this world to save people from sin, and to usher in God’s Kingdom at his Second Coming. ↩︎
- 3:13 ‘ISA – The names ‘ISA (Arabic), ISHO (Syriac) and JESUS (Greek, IESOUS) are all derived from the Hebrew name YEHOSHUA, which means “YAHWEH saves.” (YAHWEH is God’s personal name revealed to Prophet Musa in the Taurat, Exodus 3:15 – God said moreover to Musa, “You shall tell Bani-Israel this, ‘YAHWEH, the God of your fathers, the God of Ibrahim, the God of Ishaq, and the God of Yaqub, has sent me to you.’ This is my Name forever, and this is how I am to be remembered to all generations.”) ↩︎
- 3:15 God, English translation of theos. It is the Greek equivalent of elohim and eloah (Hebrew) which are related to allah (Arabic) and alaha (Syriac), all of which translate as “God,” and refer to the one true God. ↩︎
- 3:16 Spirit, or Holy Spirit, or Spirit of God; not an angel, created being, nor an impersonal force, but the uncreated, eternal Spirit of God himself. The Spirit was present and active at the creation of heaven and earth (see Genesis 1:2), and today lives inside of every follower of ‘ISA AL-MASIH, empowering them to live in a way pleasing to God. ↩︎