1 Timothy 5.25-The Good Deeds Of Some Men Are Conspicuous And Those Which Are Not Cannot Be Concealed
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday September 13, 2011
1 Timothy: 1 Timothy 5:25-The Good Deeds Of Some Men Are Conspicuous And Those Which Are Not Cannot Be Concealed
Lesson # 122
Please turn in your Bibles to 1 Timothy 5:24.
The apostle Paul’s statement in 1 Timothy 5:25 stands in contrast with his statement in verse 24.
In the latter, he taught that the sins of some men who aspire to the office of overseer are conspicuous however indeed the sins of some are not but in fact appear later on in their lives.
Now, in verse 25, the apostle teaches that the good deeds of some men who aspire to the office of overseer are conspicuous and those which are not conspicuous can not be concealed.
1 Timothy 5:24 The sins of some men are quite evident, going before them to judgment; for others, their sins follow after. 25 Likewise also, deeds that are good are quite evident, and those which are otherwise cannot be concealed. (NASB95)
“Likewise also, deeds that are good are quite evident” is composed of the by the adverb of manner hosautos (ὡσαύτως) (oce-owf-toce), “likewise” and this is followed by the conjunction kai (καί) (keh), “also” and then we have the articular nominative neuter plural form of the noun ergon (ἒργον) (air-gone), “deeds” and this is modified by the articular nominative neuter plural form of the adjective kalos (καλός) (kah-loce), “good” and then we have the nominative neuter plural form of the adjective (πρόδηλος) (proethee-loce), “quite evident”
The adverb of manner hosautos marks a similarity between the good deeds of some men who aspire to the office of overseer and the sins of some of them.
It indicates that the good deeds of some men who aspire to the office of overseer are similar to the sins of some of them but not identical to.
They are similar only in the sense that some good deeds are conspicuous and some are not.
The conjunction kai denotes that not only are the sins of some men who aspire to the office of overseer conspicuous and some are not but “also” or “in addition” the good deeds of some of these men are conspicuous and some are not.
The noun ergon means “works, actions” referring to actions performed by a man who aspires to the office of overseer.
The adjective kalos that modifies it indicates that these actions or works were performed by these men while they were in fellowship with God and were produced by the Holy Spirit when they exercised faith in the Word of God.
This in turn results in obedience to the will of the Father, which is revealed by the Spirit in the Word of God.
It speaks of the works or actions that the Holy Spirit performed through these men as a result of their obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ’s command to love one another as He loved.
Like the noun hamartia in verse 24, the noun ergon in verse 25 is related to the qualifications of the overseer listed by Paul in 1 Timothy 3:1-7.
In verse 24, the sins of some candidates are described by Paul as very obvious and not obvious.
Here in verse 25, he says the excellent works of some of these men are very obvious and some not.
These qualifications were given to help Timothy and the Ephesian church to determine which men with the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher and who aspire to the office of overseer should be ordained and hold this office and which should not.
Failure to meet many, not all, of these qualifications would constitute sinning.
Therefore, the candidate who consistently does not meet these qualifications is disqualified whereas the one who consistently does meet these qualifications is qualified to be an overseer.
The adjective kalos means “excellent” and is modifying the noun ergon, “works” which is used of those men who aspire to the office of overseer and the works they performed during their lives as a Christian.
The word describes these works as being of the highest moral quality or character because they were done by the power of the Spirit as a result of obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ’s command to love one another as He loved.
The implication is that these works were useful and a great benefit to the Christian community in Ephesus and to the Lord Himself.
As was the case in verse 24, the adjective prodelos in verse 25 means, “conspicuous.”
However, in verse 24, it was used of the sins of some men with the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher who aspire to the office of overseer.
But here in verse 25, it is used of the excellent works of some of these men.
It describes their excellent works as very obvious or conspicuous.
The excellent works that are very obvious or conspicuous are directly related to their ability to consistently meet the qualifications listed by Paul in 1 Timothy 3:1-7.
1 Timothy 5:25 Likewise also, deeds that are good are quite evident, and those which are otherwise cannot be concealed. (NASB95)
“And those which are otherwise cannot be concealed” is composed of the conjunction kai (καί) (keh), “and” and this is followed by the adverb allos (ἄλλως) (ah-loce), “otherwise” and then we have the articular nominative neuter plural present active participle form of the verb echo (ἒχω) (eh-ho), “are” and this is followed by the aorist passive infinitive form of the verb krupto (κρύπτω) (creep-towe), “concealed” and then we have the emphatic negative adverb ou (οὐ) (oo), “not” which is negating the meaning of the third person plural present passive indicative form of the verb dunamai (δύναμαι) (thee-nah-meh), “can.”
The conjunction kai is used here in an adjunctive sense meaning that the word is introducing a clause that presents an “additional” description of the excellent works performed by some men who aspire to the office of overseer.
The verb echo means “to possess a particular characteristic” and is used of the excellent works produced by some men who aspire to the office of overseer which are conspicuous.
The adverb allos, “otherwise” modifies this verb indicating that it is referring to the excellent works of some candidates as not possessing the characteristic of being conspicuous.
The adverb allos is modifying the verb echo functioning as an adverb of condition and means “otherwise.”
It pertains to the excellent works of some men who aspire to the office of overseer as being “different in condition” from those which are conspicuous.
It denotes that the excellent works of some candidates are not conspicuous.
The verb dunamai means “to remain” in the sense of having the continued capacity to do something, to be able to do something.
Its meaning is emphatically negated by the emphatic negative adverb ou, which means “absolutely never.”
Therefore, together, they denote that the excellent works performed by some candidates which are not conspicuous, will “absolutely never remain” hidden.
The emphatic negative adverb ou emphatically negates the idea that the excellent works of some men will absolutely never remain hidden.
The verb krupto means “to conceal” and is used of the excellent works produced by some men who aspire to the office of overseer as being “concealed” from public viewing.
It is used with the expression οὐ δύνανται, “will, as a certainty, absolutely never be able.”
Thus, together, they teach that the inconspicuous excellent works produced by some men who aspire to the office of overseer will as a certainty absolutely never be able “to be concealed” or “hidden.”
The apostle Paul teaches in verse 25 that in direct contrast to the obvious sins of some men, the good deeds of some men are also obvious, which demonstrates that they are qualified to be an overseer.
However, the good deeds performed by others are not so obvious but will show up eventually in a man’s life.
Therefore, Paul is teaching Timothy and the ordained pastors in Ephesus, who would also be involved in the process of ordaining men, that some candidates might not appear to be qualified but in fact are.
In verses 24 and 25, Paul is killing two birds with one stone.
First, he wants to give Timothy and the ordained pastors in Ephesus discernment with regards to choosing those who are qualified and those who are not.
Secondly, he wants to give them encouragement since it is not so obvious to determine who is qualified and who is not.
Therefore, the apostle is instructing them to be cautious in ordaining men and not ordaining men.
Being cautious in ordaining men will allow time for the sinful lifestyle of some men to surface, which disqualifies them to be overseers.
On the other hand, it would also allow time for the good deeds of some to surface as well, which would qualify them to be overseers.