Featured Deacon qualifications

You are wrong! If conversion/redemption/salvation does not free us from that time when we "walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:" then what does it do?

Micah 7:19 KJV
He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

Ezekiel 36:25-27, KJV
25. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
26. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
27. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

1 John 3:8 KJV
He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

Psalms 103:12 KJV
As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

Isaiah 38:17 KJV
Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.

 

I never said we weren't forgiven for our lives before conversion.

In the case of a deacon, there is no exception made for pre-conversion divorces.

Also, the whole matter of deacon qualifications is based on credibility, not forgiveness. Everybody gets forgiven, but our credibility is still damaged.

Forgiveness does not negate the consequences for our sins. And the consequence of divorce is disqualification for church office.

I am not wrong. Just read 1 Timothy and obey it, it is that simple.

John

 

There doesn't need to be an exception, all the past has been cast into the depth of the sea. I would also note there is no exception made for any pre-conversion sins/misdeeds. Suppose his children were unruly before conversion. does this disqualify the man. Actually in our current cultural environment I doubt that any pastor/deacon would meet the qualifications spelled out in Timothy.

 

Albert Moher, in his recent 'exposé' of Andy Stanley, notes that:

 

I agree:applause::applause: Very well said. There are only two rolls in which God put specific conditions on that which regardless of forgiveness which we know is possible, one must meet exactly as the Bible lays out. Unfortunately so many have attempted to change the meaning of the Scriptrure so to fill a position in the church because so many have been disqualified. Those who have been through the terrible situation of divorse can serve in many areas of work within the church but the two offices do have specific qualifications and in the matter of divorce we don't get a "do over".

 

"Deacons likewise must be men of dignity, not double-tongued, or addicted to much wine or fond of sordid gain, 9 but holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. 10 These men must also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons if they are beyond reproach. 11 Women must likewise be dignified, not malicious gossips, but temperate, faithful in all things. 12 Deacons must be husbands of only one wife, and good managers of their children and their own households. 13 For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a high standing and great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus."

Paul here lays out the qualifications for being a deacon. The interpretation being questioned is "husband of one wife." Well first of all, it doesn't say a man who is never divorced. It doesn't say a man who has divorced and remarried. The literal translation is man of one woman. Most translations use "husband" and "wife" since we are talking about a husband wife relationship. So, can a person get divorced and remarried and be a man of one woman? Sure. there are men that have only one wife but are not a one woman man. The qualifications are moral. Is Paul saying that a person who is not married is not qualified to be a deacon? And along those lines, would a person who doesn't have any children not be qualified? Of course not. Paul is giving moral requirements for the elders and here the deacons.

It's always interesting that everyone of the qualifications could be violated in a time past, but it wouldn't disqualify one as long as today they were meeting them except for this one.

Let's say for instance a man and women get married. The wife begins to run around with other men and leaves her husband. The man later remarries and it totally devoted to his wife. He is a one woman man and would not be disqualified from being an elder or deacon.

The qualification list is not just a list that elders and deacons should be following. Everyone should be like this.

 

Good post jbh28.

I have tried to make the point that if a man is divorced before he is saved that should not disqualify him from being a deacon. If we interpret the passage from Timothy as some want to do it would disqualify a man who is divorced for cause of adultery and remarried. Yet Scripture sanctions that person's remarriage.

 

also IF the person had a 'bibilical divorce", than should NOT be disqualified from becoming elder/pastor or a deacon!

 

If a man on death row for murder gets saved, and is forgiven for the murder, do they open the doors and let him go?

No, of course not, because death is the consequence for that sin.

Same applies to being a deacon. Divorce is forgiven but the consequence remains.

"Husband of one wife" is not about polygamy. The jews had stopped the practice centuries before Paul's time, and it was against Roman law.

It's not about cheating on your wife either. Disqualification for that would be automatic if known, and Paul would have no reason to expand on that.

It's about credibility. Elders are held to a higher standard as role models for Christian living.

BTW, nobody is blameless in a divorce, not either side. If the woman was cheating there was a reason. If nothing else, the man is at fault for marrying a woman like that to begin with. I don't believe that if a man sought God's counsel through prayer before marriage, that he would marry a woman such as this.

John

 

IF was a biblcally allowed divorce though, the person should still be able to be in roleof elder/pastor/deacon IF that is the Plan and will of God for their lives!

Just mention this, as know a pastor who was let goand as far as I know never allowed to minister again, when his wife ran off with another minister and left him with their kids!

Even though he was in a "no fault' divorce as per the bible, church still looked at it being a "black mark" on his ability to pastor!

 

The church was simply obeying 1 Timothy and not making excuses for him.

John

 

then you would deny tothat pastor the "out clause' allowed to him by both Lord jesus and Apostle paul?

 

Well, it would include polygamy.

That's exactly what is being spoken of here. It is saying to be a one woman man. cheating would disqualify. It does not say never divorced.

Not at all. Total misconception of what is being said here. EVERYONE should be doing Christian living. Paul is simply stating that elders and deacons should be doing right, especially in these areas.

While I would agree that both parties have flawed, it cannot be said that both are blamed for the divorced. Anyone that is married knows that there will be problems. No marriage is 100% perfect. A good marriage will work through those difficulties. It is possible to get married and the woman run off and not be the mans fault. I gave one example of this already.

The point is that Paul doesn't say divorced. It's simply not there. It says man of one woman. A person can be divorced in his past and meet this qualification. There are many men that are not divorced that do not meet this qualification.