New Testament / 1 Timothy

  • The Mystery of the Faith

    1 Timothy 3:9

    John Calvin also says, “It would be exceedingly absurd to hold a public office in the Church, while they were ill-informed in the Christian faith, more especially since they must frequently be laid under the necessity of administering advice and ...Read More

  • Qualifications for Deacons

    1 Timothy 3:8

    The “Son of Man came not to be served but to serve” (Matt. 20:28) and so to be called to serve the church as a deacon is one of the highest callings Christ can give to us. But even ...Read More

  • When the Outside Looks In

    1 Timothy 3:6-7

    Non-Christians should be able to look at a Christian leader and say that he lives according to his profession and is quick to repent when he fails to do so. Yet all believers should be known by their exemplary lives ...Read More

  • Caring for God’s Church

    1 Timothy 3:4-5

    John Calvin comments that Paul recommends for eldership a man “who has learned to govern a family by wholesome discipline.” If you are a parent, are you consciously trying to lead your child in the faith in a way that ...Read More

  • An Example to Be Followed

    1 Timothy 3:2-3

    As we consider the qualifications for the offices of elder and deacon over the next few days, note that what the church is to look for is the quality of life since the candidate has professed faith. A man married ...Read More

  • The Desire for Ordination

    1 Timothy 3:1

    John Chrysostom notes that in wanting the office of elder “what is terrible is to desire the absolute authority and power of the bishop but not the work itself” (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, NT vol. 9, p. 168; hereafter ...Read More

  • Salvation and Childbearing

    1 Timothy 2:15

    On Monday, we will look at what else Paul means in 1 Timothy 2:15. Dr. MacArthur also writes that “women have the privilege of leading many out of sin to godliness” (p. 1,784). Mothers, grandmothers, and other women ...Read More

  • Order in Creation

    1 Timothy 2:13-14

    As we consider the many cries for equality in our day, we must always test them against the authority of Scripture. Equality of worth is not grounded in the ability for men and women to serve in any office they ...Read More

  • Female Authority

    1 Timothy 2:11-12

    Dr. John MacArthur says, “Paul is forbidding women from filling the office and role of the pastor or teacher. He is not prohibiting them from teaching in other appropriate conditions and circumstances” (The MacArthur Bible Commentary, p. 1,783). All ...Read More

  • How Godly Women Dress

    1 Timothy 2:9-10

    Secular therapists often try to boost self-esteem by telling us not to care what other people think. While there is no doubt some truth in this principle, Scripture would never have us be wholly unconcerned with how others view us ...Read More

  • Lifting Holy Hands in Prayer

    1 Timothy 2:8

    Christ promises us that if we forgive others, our heavenly Father will also forgive us, and He warns us that our failure to forgive others means that God will not forgive us (Matt. 6:14–15). Not everyone will accept ...Read More

  • The Testimony of Christ

    1 Timothy 2:5-7

    The atonement is essential to Christianity and is the most wonderful display of God’s grace ever offered. Meditate on the fact that if you are a believer, Christ died to pay fully for each and every one of your ...Read More

  • God’s Desire to Save

    1 Timothy 2:3-4

    Part of our imitation of Christ includes a desire that all people come to salvation. Too often we lack this desire because we have not considered how terrible hell will be and have not remembered often enough that eternal punishment ...Read More

  • Godly and Dignified Lives

    1 Timothy 2:1-2

    John Calvin says that if “we are at all moved by solicitude about the peace of society, or godliness, or decency, let us remember that we ought also to be solicitous about those through whose agency we obtain such distinguished ...Read More

  • Disciplining Blasphemers

    1 Timothy 1:19b-20

    Church discipline is much-neglected today largely because professing Christians have adopted the pervasive attitude in modern Western culture that says authority to determine right and wrong resides in the individual. Scripture, however, gives the church real authority, and the pronouncements ...Read More