The Qualifications of Deacons (1 Timothy 3:8-13)

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1 Timothy 3:1-13 shows that there are two ordinary offices in the Church. Deacons must derive from Acts 6:1-6. Calvin: deacons are ‘those whom the Church appoints to dispense alms, and take care of the poor’.

  1. Deacons must be godly.
    • 3:8 (note v.3); 3:12 (see vv.2, 4-5); 3:10.
  2. Deacons must hold to the faith rather than teach it.
    • compare 1 Tim.3:2 and Tit.1:9 with 1 Tim.3:9. This mystery has been revealed in Scripture – Eph.3:3-6. He is not there to be a kindly heretic.
  3. Women deacons?
    • 3:11. Could be women or wives.
      1. There are no parallel qualifications listed for the wives of elders in 1 Timothy 3:1-7.
      2. Paul does not say ‘their’ wives – the possessive pronoun is missing.
      3. Deacons are not covered by the prohibition in 1 Timothy 2:11-12.
      4. Romans 16:1-2 speaks of Phoebe’ as ‘a deacon (or servant). John Murray thinks that she is a servant, not a deacon. Calvin saw some kind of secondary deacon. Robert Haldane, Charles Hodge, Douglas Moo and Thomas Schreiner all consider that Phoebe was a female deacon, and C. E. B. Cranfield says this interpretation is ‘virtually certain’. A. A. Hodge and B. B. Warfield also supported the deaconess movement in 19th century American Presbyterianism.
      5. There were women deacons (or deaconesses) in the early Church.
  4. The work of deacons is commendable.
    • 3:13. That is more than social work; it is a good and godly work. Note Mark 10:45.