For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre; But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate; Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers. Titus 1:7-9
We continue to look at the Apostle Paul’s divine instruction for the order and structure of the Church. Yesterday we looked at Gods qualifications for an elder or Pastor of the Church, today we are looking at the qualifications of a Bishop. Now if you look at the different English translations of verse 7, you get a more detailed idea of what the role of a Bishop is. It’s derived from the original Greek word “episkopon” which means overseer , this individual oversees many Churches not just one particular Church
Now the Apostle Paul under the guidance of the Holy Spirit is very clear about the qualifications of the Bishop, again its clear the Bishop should be a Man of God, just as we talked about in our previous post about the qualifications of the Pastor and Elder, Gods order of creation, God created man first and then the woman was created from man. The order of Creation is engrained in the family and the Church. Anything outside of this order is not natural and probably more issues will arise.
Its also very clear, not everyone should be a Bishop. The role of Bishop is not determined by academic degrees but by the holiness of a person. Most denominations fail as they promote people to positions of Bishop or Pastor based on resumes or academic achievements, but they neglect the spiritual life of the individual. Are they men born again in Christ? Are they led by the Holy Spirit and bear fruits of the Holy Spirit? If denominations would use the Bible as their instruction book instead of their own teachings, there would be alot less corruption within the Church.
As we look at the expectations of a Bishop, its clear this is not a calling for the faint of heart. This should be a man of great integrity , that has the fear of The Lord and walks with God. Someone who is not self centered but more concerned about his brothers and sisters in Christ at the Churches.
Notice this man needs to be grounded in the Word of God, as the Apostle Paul says “holding fast the faithful word he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict” The Bishop not only needs to know the Word of God, but needs to be living the Word of God, and needs to be able to defend the Word of God against enemies of the Church
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