Deacons Must Mark 16:16

102 - Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 1Ti 3:8 Likewise deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for money, 9 holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. The next qualification for the person serving as deacon is they are not to be given to much wine. It's interesting to note that the qualification for a bishop says “not given to wine,” and for the deacon, it is “not given to MUCH wine.” Let's not read too much into this difference except to say a deacon must handle alcohol responsibly and a pastor even more responsibly. AND all followers of Christ must beware of the sin of drunkenness. The deacon is also not”greedy for money.” We have already covered that trait as we looked at the qualifications for the pastor. I might add that since the deacon is often in charge of the distribution of alms (the offering) this trait is a no-brainer. But what about this next qualification? A deacon is to be someone who holds the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. Two things here: Mystery of the faith = belief, and pure conscience = someone with guilt removed. Simply put this person must hold to the mystery of Mr 16:16 "He who believes and is baptized will be saved;” When you think about it, it's the same qualification that was put on the original deacons, only worded a little differently. The original deacons were to be believing men “full of the Holy Spirit,” ( Ac 6:3) This filling having been accomplished through baptism as we read in Acts 2:38, “Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” The link between a pure conscience and baptism is found in 1Pe 3:2, “ There is also an antitype which now saves us--baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,,” The only thing that can produce a pure or guiltless conscience is the removal of sins, and this is still another benefit of baptism as we read in Ac 22:16 'And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.' So you see this qualification for deacons is just another way of saying they must believe (hold the mystery of the faith, that is, have a firm grip on basic Christian doctrine) and be baptized (have a pure conscience). To be sure, it's a minimal requirement for all Christians, but no one is to serve as a deacon unless they have this business taken care of first.