1 Timothy 3:9 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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1 Timothy 3:9

Comments

Holding securely and tenaciously to the truth. They are to be people who have a very firm grasp on the truth of God because, contrary to what a few people have said, they are not just cleaning and sweeping the chapel floor ,and unlocking the doors; they have a definite spiritual role and ministry, and so they are to be those who have a very firm grasp and hold on the truth. In persecution they won't surrender it. and give it up under pressure. The devil won't tempt them to give it up, and neither will the world. What is the prospective office bearer like in his personal life? What is he like in his place of business? Does he hide his light under a bushel? Or does he witness to the truth no matter what it costs him? This is not an unrelated matter; this is really the means by which all the qualities or graces that have been mentioned are arrived at. How do these graces get formed in us? How can we acquire them and advance and deepen in them? Because most of them at any rate are qualities that should be seen in all of us. They should, at the very least, be seen in those who are set aside to office, plus some other things, like ‘apt to teach’. They are arrived at because we hold the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. This is so precious to us. Certainly there is a lot of effort and mortifying sin, and putting aside temptation and impulse to misbehave or to speak and think wrongly. But the strength come from holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. The word ‘mystery’ translates the Greek for ‘secret’: that which is unspoken, unsaid. There are a number of secrets in the New Testament, such as the amalgamation of saved Jews with saved Gentiles in the Church of Jesus Christ. This is a great mystery, says the Apostle Paul. But the supreme mystery is the one that is going to be mentioned here: holding the mystery of the faith. How can it be a secret when we preach it, and seek to declare it openly? It's a secret because it was not fully disclosed until the coming of Christ. He was prophesied, but it wasn't revealed daylight-style until the coming of Christ. Then again it's never fully revealed to people who are lost. It is only by the illumination of the Spirit that our eyes are opened. We can be brought up in a Christian home, and taught the things of God and the gospel, but when the Spirit moves in illuminating power, suddenly it comes home to you. So it's a secret in that it is open to you by the blessing and power of the Spirit of God. But it's a secret in another sense too. The Old Testament says, ‘the secret of the Lord is with them that fear him.’ The word secret represents the mainspring of something, the real core or essence of something. People say, what is the secret of happiness? If I just know the thing that turns the key in the lock, it makes all the difference. The secret is not only something that was hidden and is now revealed; it also means that which is of the essence, the real source of power, the mainspring of something. And that is intended without doubt here, and the apostle spells it out in verse 16. .

Application

These are people who hold the mystery, the revealed secret and the core of the matter. You want in office people who are tenaciously holding to the things that are revealed by God. They believe in the inspiration of the Scripture; they believe in the inerrancy of the Scripture; they believe in the infallibility of the Scripture. They believe in Scripture alone. They are acute enough to know when Scripture is being undermined. You want in office who can see through liberals, people who can see through New Evangelicals, people who can see through those who are substituting human wisdom for God’s wisdom and not obeying the word. If you have got a real elder, a real deacon, what happens is this. Along comes some minister who says, ‘Wouldn't it be wise and good if in the operating of the church we followed good business sense.’ Immediately they are on edge. ‘We have got to look at this carefully because business sense comes from worldly wisdom. We have a tenacious hold on revealed truth.’ According to the new man, business sense dictates that we get together with all other churches, irrespective of what they believe, and we hold a great campaign, and if we're in with everybody then the authorities will not be able to ignore us, and we'll be able to have the biggest stadium and we will attract great attention. The true deacon or the true elder is immediately concerned. They follow the principles of the word, the principles of separation from error, and so they will not let anybody foist worldly wisdom upon them.

If only we had had that since the 1850s, when worldly wisdom began to come in and the word of God began to be pushed onto the sidelines. Unfortunately there were far too many Baptist deacons in far too many Baptist churches who were not sufficiently strongly attached to the exclusive authority of that which is revealed in Scripture. They were too easily being led the wrong way. After all, deacons are sharing in the government of the church with the preachers, with any other pastoral elders. They are administering things they have a role in the protection of the church: defending the Bible, keeping the doctrine pure.

‘In a pure conscience.’ First of all, they are very sincerely holding the things of the faith. It is very interesting how much you can tell about a person from their conversation. You can look back sometimes at people and you can say, ‘Over the last year I don't think I have ever heard that person getting excited about certain things. I don't think I've ever heard that person manifesting any deep concern about the error which is around us, about the desperately decadent things that are going on. That person doesn't seem to mind. That person seems to remain relaxed and comfortable with anything and everything.’ But then there is another person in the church and you can see the brow furrowed, and that person is bothered by things that happen, concerned about error, horrified at some of the trends, anxious to be clued up on these things. This is what you are looking for: ‘holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.’ How sincere is a person? Never appoint a deacon in a church who isn't bothered, who doesn't seem to mind, who isn't concerned about things going wrong. That person may hold the truth: ‘I believe in Jesus Christ the Son of God who came down into this world who was crucified and buried, and rose again from the dead, and ascended into heaven. I believe in the truth of the Bible, the inspiration of the word and its infallibility, but I don't mind if that evangelical church at the other end of the town has got a pop concert on Saturday.’ If a person doesn't feel about things, he isn't deeply and conscientiously involved when things start going wrong in our church, then he should not be a deacon.

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1 Timothy 3:9 Commentary and Bible Study