Theological Term of the Week

deacons
A group of officers in the New Testament church whose primary responsibilities were to assist the elders by taking care of the physical needs of the church so the elders could concentrate on preaching, teaching, and governing.

• From scripture:

Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. (Acts 6:1-6 ESV) 

Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain. They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. And let them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless. Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things. Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their own households well. For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus. (1 Timothy 3:8-13 ESV)

• From A Display of God’s Glory: Basics of Church Structure by Mark Dever:

We should always be careful to maintain a distinction between the ministry of deacons and the ministry of elders. In one sense both elders and deacons are involved in “deaconing,” but that service takes on two very different forms. It is in the first seven verses of Acts 6 that we find the crucial passage where deaconing is divided between traditional deaconing (table-waiting, physical service), and the kind of “deaconing” of the Word to which the apostles (and later, elders) were called. The deacons described in Acts 6 are very much like the church’s waiters, at least in an administrative sense. They are to care for the physical needs of the church.

Deacons supported the teachers of the Word in their ministry. They were fundamentally encouragers and supporters of the ministry of the elders. If this is the case, then it is the most supportive people in the church who should serve the church as the deacons. We should look for gifts of encouragement, so that more, not fewer, people will be blessed by their service. 

Learn more:

1. GotQuestions.org: What are the responsibilities of deacons in the church?
2. John Piper: What Did Deacons Do?
3. Robert H. Thune: Deacons: A Theological Study (pdf)
4. Jamie Dunlop: Deacons: Shock-Absorbers and Servants
5. Benjamin Merkle: The Biblical Qualifications and Responsibilities of Deacons 
6. John MacArthur: Qualified Servants for the Church—Deacons, Part 1 - 1 Timothy 3:8 (mp3), Qualified Servants for the Church: Deacons, Part 2 - 1 Timothy 3:8-12 (mp3).

Related terms:

• complementarianism
• elders

Filed under Ecclesiology

Do you have a term you’d like to see featured here as a Theological Term of the Week? If you email it to me, I’ll seriously consider using it, giving you credit for the suggestion and linking back to your blog when I do.

Clicking on the Theological Term graphic at the top of this post will take you to a list of all the previous theological terms in alphabetical order.

Theological Term of the Week

elders
The main governing and teaching group in a church in the New Testament; also called pastors, overseers, bishops.

• From scripture:

When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed. (Acts 14:21-23 ESV)

The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil. (1 Timothy 3:1-7 ESV)

• From A Display of Gods Glory: Basics of Church Structure by Mark Dever:

Who should be an elder? What should their qualifications be? The qualifications for an elder are laid out clearly in the Bible in I Timothy 3 and in Titus 1.

…Take a few minutes to read I Timothy 3:1-7. D.A. Carson (professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) noted once that this list of characteristics is most notable for being not very notable at all. What he meant is that all of these characteristics are elsewhere in the Bible enjoined on all Christians—all of them, that is, except for the ability to teach (I Tim. 3:2). While the Scriptures are sufficient to teach us here about the character of an elder, I do not think that Paul would claim that this particular list is exhaustive. Rather, his purpose was to list characteristics which would generally have been recognized as virtuous even by the surrounding culture of the time.

The point of leadership in the church is to bring glory to God by commending the truth to outsiders. This is why Paul was so incensed at the Corinthians for going to secular court against each other and for allowing those living fla- grantly ungodly lives to be associated with the church. Both of these things would undermine the witness of the gospel. So in Paul’s first letter to Timothy, the evident ungodliness of some of the false teachers in the Ephesian church was jeopardizing the whole way that God would be glorified through the church—the proclamation of the gospel of forgiveness and hope, and the conversion of sinners! The list of virtues which Paul gave in I Timothy 3 (or Titus 1, for that matter) are not all of the virtues which a Christian should exhibit. They are virtues which would have commended the gospel to those who were watching the church’s leaders. Regular Bible reading is good, and prayer is necessary, but Paul mentions neither here. Nevertheless, I want both of these virtues in my elders! I am taught elsewhere in the Bible that they are to charac- terize all Christians, but I think for Paul’s purposes here, he wanted to emphasize things like paying bills on time, being cheerful, humble and helpful—things that even most pagans recognize as good. 

Learn more:

1. Theopedia: Elder
2. GotQuestions.org: What are the duties of an elder in the church?
3. John MacArthur: Answering Key Questions About Elders
4. Alexander Strauch: Biblical Eldership (pdf)
5. Daniel B. Wallace: Who Should Run the Church? A Case for the Plurality of Elders
6. Dr. R. B. Kuiper The Office of Ruling Elder
7. John MacArthur: The Call to Lead the Church—Elders, Part 1, The Call to Lead the Church—Elders, Part 2, The Call to Lead the Church—Elders, Part 3, The Call to Lead the Church—Elders, Part 4, The Call to Lead the Church—Elders, Part 5.

Related terms:

• complementarianism
• deacons

Filed under Ecclesiology

Do you have a term you’d like to see featured here as a Theological Term of the Week? If you email it to me, I’ll seriously consider using it, giving you credit for the suggestion and linking back to your blog when I do.

Clicking on the Theological Term graphic at the top of this post will take you to a list of all the previous theological terms in alphabetical order.

Theological Term of the Week

final judgment
The judgment of all people by Jesus Christ at the end of this world order when the eternal destiny of each person will be declared; also called last judgment.

• From scripture

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:11-15 ESV)

• From The Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 33:

Of the Last Judgment.

I. God hath appointed a day, wherein he will judge the world in righteousness by Jesus Christ, to whom all power and judgment is given of the Father. In which day, not only the apostate angels shall be judged; but likewise all persons, that have lived upon earth, shall appear before the tribunal of Christ, to give an account of their thoughts, words, and deeds; and to receive according to what they have done in the body, whether good or evil.

II. The end of God’s appointing this day, is for the manifestation of the glory of his mercy in the eternal salvation of the elect; and of his justice in the damnation of the reprobate, who are wicked and disobedient. For then shall the righteous go into everlasting life, and receive that fullness of joy and refreshing which shall come from the presence of the Lord: but the wicked, who know not God, and obey not the gospel of Jesus Christ, shall be cast into eternal torments, and punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.

III. As Christ would have us to be certainly persuaded that there shall be a day of judgment, both to deter all men from sin, and for the greater consolation of the godly in their adversity: so will he have that day unknown to men, that they may shake off all carnal security, and be always watchful, because they know not at what hour the Lord will come; and may be ever prepared to say, Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly. Amen.

• From Biblical Doctrine: An Overview in the ESV Study Bible:

Believers, as well as unbelievers, will be judged by Christ. As the apostle Paul writes to the Christians at Corinth, “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” (2 Cor. 5:10; cf. Rom. 2:6–11; 14:10–12; Rev. 20:12, 15). The judgment of believers will test the worth of the way they lived. It will reveal some tragic lack of true good works in the sanctification process and will show that some were saved “but only as through fire” (1 Cor. 3:15). Here the testing (“fire”) of God’s judgment at the return of Christ will reveal the quality of a believer’s works, and some will have little to show for their salvation. On the other hand, what was done to glorify God will be rewarded (1 Cor. 4:5; Col. 3:23–24). Although God seeks to motivate his people to holy living by the rewards they will receive, ultimately, believers can stand before God only because of Christ’s finished work on their behalf. The basis for justification is only the perfect righteousness imputed to believers and the diverting of sin’s penalty from them to Christ, and never the false security of self-righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21; Phil. 3:8–9). There is no fear of the final judgment for those who have trusted Christ for salvation because there is “no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1), which means they “have confidence for the day of judgment” (1 John 4:17).

Learn more:

1. Tim Challies: The Essential: Judgment
2. Leon Morris: Day of Judgment
3. Louis Berkhof: The Resurrection, The Last Judgment, and the Final State
4. Brian Schwertley: The Final Judgment
5. William Webster: Judgment and Hell
6. John Piper: What Will the Final Judgment Mean for You?
7. Jonathan Edwards: The Final Judgment
8. Joel Beeke: The Final Judgment (audio)

Related term:

• heaven
• hell
• intermediate state

Filed under Last Things

Do you have a term you’d like to see featured here as a Theological Term of the Week? If you email it to me, I’ll seriously consider using it, giving you credit for the suggestion and linking back to your blog when I do.

Clicking on the Theological Term graphic at the top of this post will take you to a list of all the previous theological terms in alphabetical order.