Chapter # 12 Paragraph # 3 Study # 7
January 19, 2019
Humble, Texas
(036)
1769 Translation
8 Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, [
let him do it] with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.
1901 ASV Translation
8 or he that exhorteth, to his exhorting: he that giveth, [
let him do it] with
liberality; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that showeth mercy, with cheerfulness.
- I. Paul's List of "Grace-Gifts" And His Instructions Continued [see notes at (027) and (029)].
- A. The "prophecy" gift is the first listed and the "standard" for our grasp of the "way" the rest are also to be exercised. It is also listed first because it is the primary, foundational "gift" as it makes the "words of God" available to men as revelation of the "Truth for Life".
- B. After "prophecy" comes a "list" of six more "gifts".
- 1. There are "six", divided into two groups of "three" [See notes at (033)].
- 2. The "six" divided into two groups of "three" present the entire picture of "gift/stewardships" in brief.
- a. The first of the first group is "ministry", a large category that has the distinction of being applicable to all (every believer has a "ministry" as a part of the Body) but specifically for those "gifted" to discern "problems" and "solutions".
- b. Likewise, the first of the second group is "giving" which is also a large category that is applicable to all but specifically for those "gifted" to "give" to meet needs.
- c. Then, the second of the first group is "teaching", also having some limited application to all as everyone can explain the truths he/she understands, but specifically for those who are "gifted" to understand the content of "prophecy" so as to be able to enable others to see the interactions of all truth and grow in understanding.
- d. And that brings us to "he that rules", as the focus of this present study.
- 1) Like "teaching", "ruling" has application to everyone as everyone has certain "tasks" within the "Body" and, therefore, must "rule" over those tasks; but, there are "those who rule" who have a larger "Task" as it deals with the larger issues of the Body's health and growth.
- 2) The verb Paul chose to use in this case is proistemi and it is found in 8 texts of the New Testament (all penned by Paul: Romans 12:8; 1 Thessalonians 5:12; 1 Timothy 3:4; 3:5; 3:12; and 5:17; and Titus 3:8; and 3:14) with, as shown, four of the eight in 1 Timothy, and two in Titus. It is not insignificant that six of Paul's uses are in his "pastoral" epistles, written to Timothy and Titus with instructions for "setting the local churches up in a biblical order".
- a) 1 Thessalonians 5:12 is written to the Thessalonian believers regarding how they respond to those who "labor among" them and "are over" them in the Lord and "admonish" them. This text deals with those who "rule" in the local church and gives three major categories of activities of "ruling".
- b) The "pastoral" letters contain the majority of the references as noted above and specify certain "issues" of "ruling".
- i. 1 Timothy 3:4 requires that every "overseer" of a local church is to have the characteristic of being able to "rule" over his own household is such a way as to have his children in subjection.
- ii. The next text, 3:5, says that a man cannot "oversee" the church if he cannot "oversee" his own household with skill.
- iii. 3:12 applies this "requirement" to the "deacons" of a local church also as the same logic applies: a man who cannot "oversee" his own house with skill will only botch his "rule" over the church so that he must not be allowed to do that.
- iv. 5:17 applies to "elders" of the churches and requires that they "rule well".
- v. Titus 3:8 applies to all believers in its insistence that "they which have believed in God" might be particularly "thoughtful" in their "producing" (the word we are considering) of good works.
- vi. And 3:14 puts the same requirement of "learning to maintain good works" upon all who would be "fruitful".
- c) The word, therefore, refers to making decisions that are rooted in divine wisdom and direct the activities of others into "fruitful works".
- 3) Thus, like "giving" mirrors "ministering", "ruling" mirrors "teaching" in that both teaching and ruling have to do with getting others to "understand" the linkages that exist in the words of God so that they can make good decisions about actions under consideration. The distinction between them exists in that the "teacher" explains Truth in terms of its comprehensive unity, but the "ruler" requires compliance to Truth in its details.
- 4) The fact that Paul's primary "application" to "ruling" is to elders and deacons means that "possessing this gift" is inherent to being qualified to be a deacon or elder. This strongly suggests that this "gift" is one which can be "acquired" as one develops into those qualities that make it possible to serve the church as a deacon or elder.
- a) This means that "ruling" is not a "gift" as something one obtains at the point of the Spirit's indwelling of the believer except as a "seed" that must be allowed to sprout and grow as a matter of spiritual growth unto maturity.
- b) This also means that this "gift" is not like some of the others, such as speaking in tongues, that apparently are capable of being exercised without a great deal of maturity. Maturity in Christ is a pre-condition to "ruling". Without the maturity, attempting to "rule" is a terrible error motivated by pride or ignorance, or both.
- 5) The primary insistence by Paul is that anyone who "rules" must be "diligent".
- a) The word translated "diligence" is used in twelve texts/contexts in the New Testament
- i. Mark 6:25 uses it to describe the "haste" with which the daughter of Herodias entered into Herod's presence to announce her "request" to have the head of John "in a charger" (on a platter).
- ii. Luke 1:39 uses it to characterize the "immediacy" with which Mary responded to the news that Elizabeth was "in her sixth month".
- iii. Paul used this term both here in Romans 12:8 and in 12:11. In the latter, the issue is "to take care of business when that care requires immediate attention".
- iv. Paul also used the same term five times in 2 Corinthians, and, in each case in that letter, it carried the connotation of "immediately paying attention to what is important".
- v. The author of Hebrews 6:11 also indicates that the word carries the concept of "not procrastinating in matters of present necessity".
- vi. 2 Peter 1:5 and Jude 1:3 are in harmony with the other uses: "diligence" means "taking care of business when it is necessary that action be taken".
- b) Paul is clearly saying that those who "rule" must not be slack in addressing the issues that come up with the actions that those "issues" require at the present time.