Are Preacher Training Schools Biblically Authorized?

Jesus himself trained preachers, and the divine plan is for the discipling process to continue until the end of the age (Matt. 28:18-20). By definition, discipleship involves not only initial teaching and converting, but also ongoing training to develop spiritual maturity and replication of disciple-making. Rather than doing this work individually and separately, it is the collective responsibility of all disciples congregated in local churches. 

As individual disciples in the local church collaborate together to accomplish the Lord’s work (1 Cor. 12:12-27), in like manner autonomous churches collaborate to accomplish a much broader range of God’s mission. Paul’s letter to the Romans is addressed to all the “saints” (hagioi) in Rome rather than to a specific “church” (ekklēsia) individually (1:7), and greetings are then sent to multiple church assemblies (16:5, 14, 15). His request to be assisted in his missionary work by “you” (plural) is directed to all these congregations as a cooperative enterprise (15:24).  

With congregational autonomy understood, we see in the NT individual churches cooperating in collaborative efforts such as benevolence (Acts 11:27-30; Rom. 15:26; 1 Cor. 16:1-4; 2 Cor. 8:1–9:15), edification (Acts 11:20-26; 14:21-22 [cf. 13:1-3]; 15:22-31, 36, 40; Col. 4:16), and evangelism (2 Cor. 11:8-9; Phil. 4:15-16; Rom. 15:24). Multiple churches in different geographical areas can and should pool their resources to accomplish the work the Lord has commissioned us all to do (note, e.g., 2 Cor. 8:1-4; 11:8-9). When missionaries are sent and supported to make disciples and establish and grow new churches, this necessarily involves the cooperative efforts of (a) the sending church and its leadership; (b) the supporting churches and their leaderships; and (c) the newly planted church and its leadership (incl. the missionary team and developing local leaders). 

Paul and his seasoned coworkers mentored and trained young evangelists (Acts 13:5; 15:40–18:5; 19:22). While helping to establish the church at Ephesus, Paul taught in a local synagogue and then in the school of Tyrannus (Acts 19:8-9). Years later, as Timothy worked with the same congregation to deal with problems and help get them back on track, he was instructed: “And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Tim. 2:2, NKJV).

As discipleship and ministerial training continue in modern times, how is it to be accomplished? There are no specific instructions or guidelines or exclusive NT pattern, so churches must decide the most expedient ways to effectively get this good work done in view of their own circumstances, resources, capabilities, and opportunities. If a single congregation does not have adequate resources to efficiently do this work, but the combined resources of multiple congregations do, there is a solid biblical precedent for the work to be done as a cooperative effort. 

Similar to sending relief aid or funding a missionary effort, a congregation may choose to have a centrally-located school for training preachers, evangelists, and missionaries, with the added support of sister congregations committed to the same work but incapable of doing it alone. As the designated work of a local congregation (albeit with outside support), the oversight of a qualified eldership guards the biblical and practical soundness of the program, instilling confidence in prospective supporters and students. 

--Kevin L. Moore

Related Posts: Institutions and Cooperation, Training Biblically Balanced Preachers

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Back to Biblical Holiness

If we want to teach our children anything important, we repeat it over and over until it becomes ingrained in their impressionable minds and in their lives. If something recurs numerous times in scripture, this may indicate an important matter God expects us to take to heart. In multiple forms, wording related to “holiness” appears well over a thousand times in the Bible, variously rendered “holy,” “holiness,” “sanctify,” “sanctification,” and “saints.” These expressions in the Greek NT, from the hágios word family, basically convey the sense of being “set apart” and “different” from anything contrary to God and his perfect will. 

God himself is holy (Isa. 6:3) and through his holy word calls upon his people to be holy (Lev. 11:44; 19:2; 20:7; 1 Pet. 1:14-16). The triune Godhead makes our sanctification/holiness possible. The God of peace sanctifies (1 Thess. 5:23), Jesus sanctifies (Heb. 13:12), the Holy Spirit sanctifies (Rom. 15:16), the Spirit-inspired word sanctifies (John 17:17, 19; Eph. 5:26). 

The Importance of Holiness

The primary focus of passages like 1 Thess. 3:13–4:8 is holiness. In view of the coming judgment, the stated goal for the reading audience is “to strengthen your hearts, blameless in holiness …” (1 Thess. 3:13).¹ Our duty or obligation is to “walk” (live, conduct ourselves) accordingly, and the ultimate aim is “to please God” (1 Thess. 4:1; cf. 2:4, 15; Rom. 8:8; 1 Cor. 7:32; 2 Cor. 5:9; Gal. 1:10).  

“For this is the will of God …” (1 Thess. 4:3a). The divine will has been revealed and is therefore knowable (cf. 1 Cor. 2:9-13; Eph. 3:3-5; 5:17). Here God’s revealed will is “your sanctification,” i.e., to be different (holy) and set apart from the sinful world. The admonition is directed to “each of you” (1 Thess. 4:4). There is an individual responsibility for everyone to “possess his own vessel,” i.e., continually and habitually control one’s own physical body² “in holiness and honor.” This is God’s purpose for his people.

To reject a life of holiness is to reject the will of God (1 Thess. 4:5-8) and the very reason Jesus suffered and died for us (Heb. 10:10). To accept anything less than a life of holiness is to reject, despise, and dishonor the sacrifice of Jesus (Heb. 10:29). The cross is proof that a holy God cannot simply ignore sin. God’s holiness has demanded that the debt be paid. “Mercy and justice meet at Calvary; love and holiness join hands at the cross” (Rex Banks). Without holiness, one cannot spend eternity with the Lord (Heb. 12:14). One cannot be a Christian, go to heaven, or be with God unless one submits to the biblical pattern of holy living.

The Process of Holiness

Sanctification begins with our initial obedience to the gospel (1 Cor. 6:11) but must be maintained (Rom. 6:19, 22). As we present ourselves as slaves of righteousness for holiness/sanctification (Rom. 6:1-19), this must continue for the rest of our lives (Rom. 12:1-2). Holiness does not mean we will ever be sinlessly perfect, but with God’s help we are striving toward that goal. The opposite would be resigning ourselves to a life of complacency, not even trying to be holy, thus taking God’s grace for granted, abusing it, and conforming to the mold of this sinful world (2 Tim. 2:21). Saints (sanctified ones) are not holy by mere verbal profession but are to be holy in real life. The world doesn’t need a church that looks like the world!

The Pursuit of Holiness

“Pursue … holiness, without which no one will see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14). This is not something that occurs automatically or easily or by accident (2 Cor. 7:1; Heb. 12:10). In an absolute sense only God is holy (Rev. 15:4), but it is his will for us that we do our imperfect best to pursue it. 

Practical application involves moral purity (1 Thess. 4:3). The only way to engage in sexual activity without being immoral is for each man to have his own wife and each woman her own husband (1 Cor. 7:2).³ While fleeing sexual immorality (1 Cor. 6:18), Christians should avoid compromising situations, like being alone with someone outside marriage where there is mutual attraction, open displays of seductive materials, online pornography, and places where people tend to dress immodestly. Make the commitment that Joseph made, so when faced with temptation the automatic response is: “How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (Gen. 39:9). The Christian is different from others in a world where abstinence and restraint are rarely taken seriously. We are called to a life of holiness.

Married couples must honor marriage vows, respecting and submitting to God’s teaching on marriage. Matt. 19:9 will be in our Bible until Jesus returns. One can ignore it, reject it, twist it, water it down, and explain it away, but it will continue to say the same thing: “whoever has divorced his wife, except for sexual infidelity, and has married another, is committing adultery …” Christian marriages must be different, because of holiness, in a world where divorce and remarriage are commonplace.

Holiness must characterize every aspect of our lives. The Bible does not specifically prescribe exact measurements and rules about how short, low, sheer, or tight one’s clothing can be. Nevertheless, in addition to the principle of modesty (1 Tim. 2:9-10), the Bible does call us to a life of holiness, and this in itself ought to govern the way we dress.

The Bible does not contain the explicit statement, “You shall not drink alcoholic beverages.” But being called to a life of holiness leads us away from anything that will damage our influence, lower our inhibitions, impair our judgment, or is associated with and responsible for so much evil in the world. Holiness is a way of life. It must govern our every decision, our every word, and our every action. 

Conclusion 

Holiness is possible. God does not expect what we are incapable of doing or being. The Bible sets forth these basic principles regarding holiness. (1) The biblical importance of holiness indicates the priority it must take in our thinking and our lives. (2) The process of holiness involves our cooperation with God; while we cannot do this alone, we must be proactive and do our part. (3) The pursuit of holiness implies intentionality and effort. Because sanctification is the revealed will of God for every Christian, like Jesus we ought to prioritize the divine will above our own (Matt. 6:10; 26:39; John 8:29). The pursuit of holiness must therefore be a primary focus for every child of God.

--Kevin Moore

Endnotes:

     ¹ See K. L. Moore, “Looking in the Wrong Direction,” Moore Perspective (17 Jan. 2018), <Link>. Unless otherwise noted, scripture quotations are the author’s own translation, with emphasis added.

     ² See K. L. Moore, “How to Possess Your Own Vessel,” Moore Perspective (7 March 2018), <Link>.

     ³ Holiness involves abstaining (present tense – ongoing, continual, habitual) from porneia (1 Thess. 4:3b), i.e., any kind of sexual intercourse that is not within a divinely approved marriage (cf. 1 Cor. 7:2; Heb. 13:4). Such a cautionary prohibition was particularly relevant to the mid-first-century Greco-Roman environment, although nearly twenty centuries later its applicability is still very relevant. Sexual permissiveness, perversion, and promiscuity were the norm in Paul’s day, not unlike the environment in which we currently live.

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Why was Herod’s marriage “unlawful”?

Saint John Reproaches Herod and Herodias, Baptistery of Florence,
 ca. 1240–1310. Photo: Courtesy Győző Vörös.

Mark 6:17-18, “For Herod himself had sent and arrested John and bound him in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, because he had married her. For John had been saying to Herod, ‘It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.’”¹

 

Historical Background

 

The Herodian family tree is quite complicated, so for our purposes we will simply note that Herod (Antipas) and Philip were half-brothers, sharing the same biological father (Herod the Great) but different mothers. Herodias was their half-niece by another half-brother, Aristobulus.²

 

After the death of Herod the Great in 4 BC, his kingdom was divided among three of his sons: (a) Archelaus became ethnarch of Judea, Samaria, and Idumea (Matt. 2:22) but was replaced by a Roman prefect in AD 6; (b) Herod Antipas was tetrarch of Galilee and Perea (Matt. 14:1) until he was exiled in AD 39; (c) Philip was tetrarch of the northeastern Hellenistic territories (Luke 3:1) until his death in AD 34.

 

Philip married Herodias and they had a daughter, Salome. Herod Antipas married Phasaelis, the daughter of the Nabatean king Aretas IV, but divorced her when he developed affections for Herodias, who divorced Philip in order to marry him (reported by Josephus, Ant. 18.5.1, 4).³ So what was it about the second marriage of these divorcees that compelled the Jewish prophet John to declare to Herod Antipas, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife”?

 

Was it unlawful to marry a former sister-in-law?

 

According to the Law of Moses: “You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife; it [is] your brother’s nakedness” (Lev. 18:16); “And if a man takes his brother’s wife, it [is] an unclean thing; he has uncovered his brother’s nakedness. They shall be childless” (Lev. 20:21). These injunctions, however, must be qualified, because they obviously do not apply if the man’s brother has died (Deut. 25:5-10). They rather pertain to adulterous relations. Adultery is committed when at least one of the person’s involved is married to someone else.⁴

 

It follows that if a divorce occurs without divine sanction, God does not recognize the dissolution of the marriage. The issue with the unlawful union of Herod Antipas and Herodias was more than the mere fact that she was his brother’s wife. Rather, she was his brother’s wife. The problem was “on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, because he had married her.” Under Roman law, one could not marry someone else’s spouse without a legal divorce. A person was allowed only one spouse at a time. It was not civil law but a prophet of God who declared this marriage of a divorced man and a divorced woman, “unlawful.”

 

Was it unlawful to marry a half-niece?

 

Since Herodias was the daughter of Aristobulus, the half-brother of Herod Antipas and Philip (all having different mothers), did this constitute incest? In Roman society an uncle marrying his full-niece was uncommon and considered improper, but there was no law against it (Tacitus, Annals 12.6).⁵ Technically, however, Herodias was the half-niece of the two half-brothers, and the respective marriages were apparently sanctioned under Roman law. John did not seem to be bothered that Herodias was “the wife” of Philip, so the issue with the other brother’s marriage does not appear to have been a question of incest.

 

Unlawful Divorce and Unlawful Remarriage

 

The teachings of Jesus provide the best commentary, enabling us to understand what is “lawful” (divinely sanctioned) and “unlawful” (without divine sanction) in regard to marriage, divorce, and remarriage, and what was wrong with the situation John bravely confronted that cost him his life.

 

The ministry of John the baptist was mostly “beyond the Jordan” (John 1:28; 3:26; 10:40), the territory governed by Herod Antipas.⁶ A couple of years after John’s death, Jesus was “beyond the Jordan” when some Pharisees publicly asked him about the legality of a husband divorcing his spouse for any cause (Matt. 19:1-2; Mark 10:1-2). This was in the political jurisdiction of Herod Antipas, a divorced man married to a divorced woman, wielding the power of life and death. The trap they were attempting to set makes the straightforward and courageous response of Jesus even more impactful. Like John, he implicitly regarded such a relationship unlawful.

 

Have you not read that the One having created from the beginning made them male and female … On account of this the man will leave his father and mother and will be united with his wife, and the two will be one flesh, so that they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God united together, let no one separate…. Moses, due to your obstinacy of heart, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not this way. But I say to you, whoever has divorced his wife, except for sexual infidelity, and has married another, is committing adultery …” (Matt. 19:4-9).⁷  

 

Conclusion

 

While Roman law permitted divorce and remarriage for any number of reasons, God’s marriage and moral laws are not as lax. According to Romans 7:1-3 and 1 Corinthians 7:39, death severs the marriage bond, so the widow or widower does not commit “adultery” in a subsequent marriage. Otherwise, unless a divorce is caused by sexual infidelity, it is without divine sanction and therefore another sexual union is adulterous. This most clearly explains why the marriage of Herod Antipas and Herodias was unlawful.

 

--Kevin L. Moore

 

Endnotes:

     ¹ Unless noted otherwise, scripture quotations are the author’s own translation. The entire incident is recorded in Mark 6:14-29, with parallel accounts in Matt. 14:1-12; Luke 3:18-20; 9:7-9. 

     ² The mother of Herod Antipas was Malthas (a Samaritan), the mother of Philip the tetrarch (Philip I or Philip II?) was Cleopatra of Jerusalem, and the mother of Aristobulus was Mariamne I (of the Hasmonean dynasty).

     ³ The historian Flavius Josephus was a Romanized Jew who divorced three previous wives and was married to a fourth. He reports: “Herod the tetrarch had married the daughter of Aretas; and had lived with her a great while …. However he fell in love with Herodias, this last Herod’s [Philip’s] wife …. One article of this marriage also was this, that he should divorce [ἐκβαλεῖν] Aretas’s daughter …. But Herodias, their [Aristobulus and Agrippa’s] sister, was married to Herod [Philip], the son of Herod the Great …. Herodias took upon her to confound the laws of our country, and divorced [διαστᾶσα] herself from her husband, while he was alive, and was married [γαμεῖται] to Herod [Antipas], her husband’s brother by the father’s side. He was tetrarch of Galilee” (Ant. 18.5.1, 4). 

     ⁴ Biblically defined, adultery involves voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and someone other than his or her lawful spouse (cf. Lev. 18:20; 20:10; Deut. 22:22; Prov. 6:32; Matt. 5:28; John 8:3; Heb. 13:4).

     ⁵ In 49 Claudius married his full-niece Agrippina the Younger, which earlier had sparked a debate in the Senate on the legality and propriety of such a union. Vitellius argued on the emperor’s behalf: “This is quite alien to the propriety of our day. Rather let a precedent be now set for the taking of a wife by an emperor. But, it will be said marriage with a brother's daughter is with us a novelty. True; but it is common in other countries, and there is no law to forbid it…. Custom adapts itself to expediency, and this novelty will hereafter take its place among recognized usages” (Tacitus, Annals 12.6).The Senate then passed a decree legitimizing uncles marrying nieces (Cassius Dio, Hist. 61.31.6-8). Later Domitian divorced his wife Domitia and then lived with his niece Julia “as husband with wife” (Cassius Dio, Hist. 67.3.2).

     ⁶ See K. L. Moore, “Beyond the Jordan,” Moore Perspective (9 June 2021), <Link>.

     ⁷ Note the transition in the Greek text of v. 9 from the aorist tense (completed action: “divorced … married”) and the present tense (continuing action: “is committing adultery”). The Byzantine Majority Text continues, “and the one having married her who has been put away is committing adultery.” See also Matt. 5:31-32; Mark 10:1-10; Luke 16:18. 

Works Consulted:

Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, in Josephus Complete Works, trans. William Whiston (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1980): 382-83.

George Long, “Incestrum,” in William Smith, ed., A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (London: John Murray, 1875): 633.

Brent D. Shaw and Richard P. Saller, “Close-Kin Marriage in Roman Society?” New Series 19.3 (Sept. 1984): 432-444.

Susan Treggiari, “Roman Incest,” review of P. Moreau’s Incestus et prohibitae nuptiae, in The Classical Review 54.1 (March 2004): 203-205.

Related Posts: Jesus on Divorce and Remarriage, Divorce and Remarriage (Part 2) 

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Wives and Daughters Praying

If a Christian man is to be the spiritual leader of his household (Eph. 5:22-24; 6:4), what about others in the family (incl. females) leading prayers at mealtime, bedtime, or in family devotionals?

With biblical directives concerning male spiritual leadership understood,¹ it might be helpful to note the distinction between corporate worship (e.g., 1 Cor. 14:26), worship training (e.g., Luke 11:1-4), and “worship” activities outside the corporate assembly (e.g., Acts 27:35). There are certain things regarded as unacceptable in a mixed worship assembly yet appropriate outside the assembly, particularly in the home (e.g.,  1 Cor. 11:22; 14:35). 

Training our children in the way of the Lord is a long-established divinely-enjoined duty (Deut. 6:5-7; Prov. 22:6; Eph. 6:1-4).²  Christian women are not exempt from being “teachers of good things” (Tit. 2:3) and engaging “in supplications and prayers night and day” (1 Tim. 5:5). In order for a mother’s children to “rise up and call her blessed” (Prov. 31:8), it would seem they need to witness her engaged in spiritual activities. 

While the Bible lays out general guidelines, it does not reveal specifics about how to train children for spiritual service. They learn by observation, instruction, and doing. Here is where we start getting into matters of personal judgment. Conservative Christians would object to a woman taking leadership in a corporate worship assembly, but in the home each family must decide how to implement biblical principles without neglecting or violating the Lord’s expectations.

In my family, I lead the prayers when we pray together. Everyone understands my leadership role. However, when my girls were little and wanted to say a prayer before a meal or at bedtime, we allowed them to talk to God as an innocent child and as part of their spiritual training, then I would follow with a prayer on behalf of the family. Not everyone would agree with this (some stricter, others more lenient), but I consider it a judgment call each family has to make. I would not be comfortable with a woman leading a family prayer instead of her husband when he is present, although this seems different than a husband and wife praying together. 

Obviously we don’t want to send the wrong message or leave the wrong impression, but neither do we want to establish regulations for God that he has not dictated. This is one of those areas where we genuinely seek to be pleasing to God and try to avoid unnecessary extremes. 

--Kevin L. Moore

Endnotes:

     ¹ 1 Cor. 11:3; 14:33-35; Eph. 5:22–6:4; Col. 3:18-21; 1 Tim. 2:8-15. See K. L. Moore, “A Woman’s Service in the Church,” Moore Perspective (27 December 2014), <Link>.

     2 See K. L. Moore, “Train Up a Child,” Moore Perspective (7 Oct. 2015), <Link>.

Related Posts: The Bible's Radical View on Women, Questions Concerning the Role of Women, Jesus Couldn't Be a Priest 

 

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Endurance of Hope

The Thessalonian Christians are commended for their “endurance” or “steadfastness” of “hope” (1 Thess. 1:3). In the New Testament ἐλπίς (“hope”),¹ particularly with reference to what lies ahead for the faithful child of God, is an earnest expectation, something eagerly anticipated. It “consists of a great longing and a positive certainty.”² The term in the Greek New Testament is much stronger than what the English typically conveys and “is Paul’s primary way of speaking about the certainty of the future.”³

 

Embracing the stability of God’s promises, hope is the sure and steadfast anchor of the soul (Heb. 6:18-19); it is to the Christian what a steady anchor is to a ship. It supports, braces, secures, and gives confidence to the believer during life’s storms. Without hope, we drift aimlessly and have no security in this turbulent world. 

Hope engenders, drives, and sustains ὑπομονή,⁴ “steadfastness,” “perseverance,” “endurance,” “fortitude,” which “is not a quiet, passive resignation, but an active constancy in the face of difficulties.”⁵ Both the noun and verb forms are used throughout the New Testament in connection with the inevitable afflictions encountered by followers of Jesus.⁶

 

In Christ alone, my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm ...⁷

 

Thank you Lord for the endurance of hope, your gracious gift that takes us home.

--Kevin L. Moore

 

Endnotes:

     ¹ Cf. Acts 2:26; 16:19; 23:6; 24:15; 26:6, 7; 27:20; 28:20; Rom. 4:18; 5:2, 4, 5; 8:20, 24; 12:12; 15:4, 13; 1 Cor. 9:10; 13:13; 2 Cor. 1:7; 3:12; 10:15; Gal. 5:5; Eph. 1:18; 2:12; 4:4; Phil. 1:20; Col. 1:5, 23, 27; 1 Thess. 1:3; 2:19; 4:13; 5:8; 2 Thess. 2:16; 1 Tim. 1:1; Tit. 1:2; 2:13; 3:7; Heb. 3:6; 6:11, 18; 7:19; 10:23; 1 Pet. 1:3, 21; 3:15; 1 John 3:3.

     ² H. N. Ridderbos, Epistle to Galatia 189-90.

     ³ G. D. Fee, Thessalonians 108, emp. in the text.

     ⁴ This is a compound word, comprised of ὑπό (“under”) + μένω (“remain”). The verb form ὑπομένω appears in Matt. 10:22; 24:13; Mark 13:13; Luke 2:43; Acts 17:14; Rom. 12:12; 1 Cor. 13:7; 2 Tim. 2:10, 12; Heb. 10:32; 12:2, 3, 7; Jas. 1:12; 5:11; 1 Pet. 2:20.

     ⁵ L. Morris, Thessalonians 42.

     ⁶ Cf. Luke 8:15; 21:19; Rom. 2:7; 5:3, 4; 8:25; 15:4, 5; 2 Cor. 1:6; 6:4; 12:12; Col. 1:11; 1 Thess. 1:3; 2 Thess. 1:4; 3:5; 1 Tim. 6:11; 2 Tim. 3:10; Tit. 2:2; Heb. 10:36; 12:1; Jas. 1:3, 4; 5:11; 2 Pet. 1:6; Rev. 1:9; 2:2, 3, 19; 3:10; 13:10; 14:12.

     ⁷ Lyrics by Keith Getty and Stuart Townsend, © Thankyou Music Ltd.

Related Posts: Obligation of Love & Power of Hope 

 

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