(Titus 1:5–9; 1 Peter 5:1–4)
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The word [is] steadfast: If anyone longs for overseership, he desires a right work;
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it is required, therefore, the overseer to be blameless, a husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, respectable, a friend of strangers, apt to teach,
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not given to wine, not a striker, but gentle, not contentious, not a lover of money,
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leading his own house well, having children in subjection with all dignity,
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(and if anyone has not known [how] to lead his own house, how will he take care of an assembly of God?)
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not a new convert, lest having been puffed up he may fall to a judgment of the Devil;
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and it is required of him also to have a good testimony from those outside, that he may not fall into reproach and a snare of the Devil.
Qualifications for Deacons
(Acts 6:1–7)
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Servants, in like manner, dignified, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not given to shameful gain,
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having the secret of the faith in a pure conscience,
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and let these also first be proved, then let them minister, being unblameable.
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Women, in like manner, dignified, not false accusers, vigilant, faithful in all things.
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Servants—let them be husbands of one wife, leading the children well, and their own houses,
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for those who ministered well acquire a good step to themselves, and much boldness in faith that [is] in Christ Jesus.
The Mystery of Godliness
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I write to you these things, hoping to come to you soon,
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and if I delay, that you may know how it is required to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is an assembly of the living God—a pillar and foundation of the truth,
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and confessedly, great is the secret of piety: who was revealed in flesh, declared righteous in [the] Spirit, seen by messengers, preached among nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory!
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