TULIP GEMS
“But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.” (2 Peter 3:18)
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“But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.” (2 Peter 3:18)
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REMARRIED PASTORS In some respects, he has no superior. For good, sound, massive, sober sense in commenting who can exceed Gill? n C.H. Spurgeon, Autobiography, Vol. 1
Taking the advice of the famous Baptist preacher, C.H. Spurgeon, we now quote from the great Puritan Baptist Bible commentator, John Gill. He is here commenting on 1 Timothy 3:2 on one of the qualifications of a bishop (overseer).
The husband of one wife; which is not to be understood in a mystical and allegorical sense of his being the pastor of one church, since the apostle afterwards speaks of his house and children, that are to be ruled and kept in good order by him, in distinction from the church of God; but in a literal sense of his conjugal estate; though this rule does not make it necessary that he should have a wife; or that he should not marry, or not have married a second wife, after the death of the first; only if he marries or is married, that he should have but one wife at a time; so that this rule excludes all such persons from being elders, or pastors, or overseers of churches, that were “polygamists”; who had more wives than one at a time, or had divorced their wives, and not for adultery, and had married others. Now polygamy and divorces had very much obtained among the Jews; nor could the believing Jews be easily and at once brought off of them. And though they were not lawful nor to be allowed of in any; yet they were especially unbecoming and scandalous in officers of churches. So the high priest among the Jews, even when polygamy was in use, might not marry, or have two wives, at once; if he did, he could not minister in his office until he divorced one of them f44 . For it is written, (<032113> Leviticus 21:13), “he shall take a wife”, µytç alw tj a, “one, and not two” f45 . And the same that is said of the high priest, is said of all other priests; (see <264422> Ezekiel 44:22), likewise the Egyptian priests might not marry more wives than one, though others might have as many as they pleased f46 : and so the Flamines among the Romans f47. (Emphasis mine)
The Biblical requirement the husband of one wife (1 Timothy 3:2 and Titus 1:6) in the original Greek of the New Testament is literally a one woman man. It means a man who is faithful to his wife. It does not preclude a man divorced before his conversion to Christ -- any more than persecution of the Church and murder of Stephen precluded Paul from being an Apostle after his conversion to Christ (1 Timothy 1:16). However, an elder must be one who rules his own house well (1 Timothy 3:4). Divorce shows a weakness in a man's spiritual leadership. If there has been a Scripturally permitted divorce (based on unrepented whoredom or desertion by the former wife) it should be so far in the past as to have been overcome by a long pattern of solid family leadership and the rearing of godly children. This is the basic view of the Westminster Confession of Faith, John Gill, John MacArthur, Dallas Theological Seminary and many others. We believe it is the teaching of the Holy Bible. Home Page -- Navigation LinksContact Information
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