Qualification Two — One-Woman Man | 1 Timothy 3:2

Therefore an overseer must be... 2 the husband of one wife. — 1 Timothy 3:2 Okay, this one is a little challenging. But I think it is hard because when we read the list, we naturally want to be qualified by it. Like any man, we want to read it and feel like we measure up. But before we dig into what this means, we need to remember that there are men mentioned in this letter who were not and never were married — specifically Paul, Timothy, and Jesus. Jesus established the church, Paul planted this church, and Timothy is going to direct and determine leaders for this church. So we have to give this precedent consideration when we define the intent and meaning of "the husband of one wife." Yet I think what most don't like about this qualification are the exclusions of it. For example, if this qualification means a man "must be married," this excludes single men. And this cannot be the case because Paul, Timothy, and Jesus were not married. Or if it means a "man cannot have numerous wives at one time," this excludes polygamy. I hope this is okay for most of you because that's not a great situation by any means. Or if it means "one wife for a life-time," this would exclude divorced and widowed men. And I don't believe this is the issue Paul is trying to address. Otherwise, he would have stated that. There were Greek words for this, and he could have stated explicitly that, but he doesn't. The final option, which I think is the best, reads this way in the originating language, "a one-woman man." Now, what is a "one-woman man?" Well, a "one-woman man" would be a man (gender male as determined by God) who is faithful to one woman (gender female as determined by God). This would exclude polygamy, promiscuity, homosexuality, and any self-identification as another gender when we define it this way. It captures the value of moral faithfulness between a man and a woman. Which is what I believe Paul intends to communicate. But there is a little more. Remember, Jesus, Paul, and Timothy were all single. So this statement would have to infer something more than just moral faithfulness in a marital relationship. It would have to include a component of sexual purity for the unmarried man. With this, I conclude that Paul is trying to make a razor-sharp point. The point is, married or single, this man is morally and sexually pure and faithful. This is demonstrated by how he follows through on his commitments to God in his relationship with another. So if he is married, he is morally and sexually pure. If he is not married, he is also morally and sexually pure. Either way, he is a one-woman man. So the question that results is, are you being morally and sexually pure? Again no one is perfect. But we can aim to be. We can repent of wrongs, receive God's grace, reconcile relationships, and be directed by the Spirit to live morally and sexually pure. This is what we should aspire to. So aspire to it and remove any hint (even the hints) in your life of moral and sexual unfaithfulness. ASK THIS: Do you have any moral or sexual issues to repent? DO THIS: Repent and receive his grace. PRAY THIS: God, remove even the hints of moral and sexual unfaithfulness in my life. PLAY THIS: Better Man (I will let this one play for a while). Check out other all Vince Miller's videos and audios for small groups at: https://beresolute.org/ Get Vince's most widely read resources The Daily Devotional at: https://beresolute.org/mdd Check out more ALL IN products like the one Vince is wearing at: https://beresolute.org/product-category/all-in-hats/ __________________________________________________ Connect with Vince socially: FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/millervince INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/vinceleemiller LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincemiller TWITTER: https://twitter.com/vinceleemiller