Alteration to Invent Deaconesses
The image above can be used to illustrate cutting the stones to fit which is symbolic of altering God’s word (the rock) to fit preconceived human ideas or agenda.
See the link “Cutting Stones to Fit” for more details.
Cutting God’s Word to Include Deaconess
1 Timothy 3:12 (NASB)
12 Deacons must be husbands of only one wife, and good managers of their children and their own households.
The requirement for being a deacon was that he must be a husband of one wife and be a good manager of his own household and his children. This means that the office of deacon was exclusively “male-only” because only a man can be a “husband” because a husband is a male-gender term.
1 Timothy 3:11 (KJV)
11 Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things.
1 Timothy 3:11 (NKJV)
11 Likewise their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things.
1 Timothy 3:11 (NIV)
11 In the same way, their wives are to be women worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything.
The three translations above all correctly translate the verse to refer to the wives of the deacons who are to be reverent and who are not to be slanderers and temperate and faithful in all things.
1 Timothy 3:11 (NIV)-M
11 In the same way, the deacon’s wives are to be women worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything.
I modified the NIV (shown above) here to clarify it by showing this scripture is referring to the behavior of the deacon’s wife. If the deacon does not know how to rule his wife (reflected in her unsubmissive behavior) then he is disqualified from ministry and in fact is unworthy to even sweep the floor in the church as a deacon. A deacon who has an unruly wife is automatically disqualified from ministry!
1 Timothy 3:4-5 (NASB)
4 He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity
5 (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?),
The same requirements for a deacon are also applied to one who is an overseer and can also be applied for every man in the Fivefold ministry. If they do not know how to manage their own household, then they have no business trying to lead the church of God. A sign of spiritual maturity is that a man knows how to keep his wife and children under submission. If his wife is insubordinate and ruling the home and his children are misbehaved, then it is a sign of a man’s spiritual immaturity. It is as if he is a baby wearing diapers and using a bottle. No baby can lead or help others when they themselves have to be carried around and bottle fed and have their diapers changed. The same is true of any man in the ministry who does not know how to manage his own household.
Again see my teaching lesson called “Divine Order for Women” that gives men instructions on how to deal with a wife who refuses to submit to his leadership in the home!
1 Peter 5:3 (NIV)
3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.
The reason that all of the Fivefold minsters (plus the deacons) are required to have their households in order is because they are serve as examples to the flock (or congregation). Every household in the congregation is to have the man in leadership and there should be no disorder evident. Every man should have his wife submissive and his children obedient and there should be no disorder in the home and their finances should be in order and every aspect of living. Only when men are mature and have these areas in order do they have any possibility of serving in the church in any capacity as leaders. This is a requirement for all leaders in the Fivefold ministry and they are examples to all the men in the congregation to also put their own households in order.
But the NASB version has tried to insert an alternate meaning in this scripture by attaching a footnote.
1 Timothy 3:11 (NASB)
11 Women must likewise be dignified, not malicious gossips, but temperate, faithful in all things.
NASB Footnote for 1 Timothy 3:11: [I.e. either deacon’s wives or deaconesses]
The NASB uses the general term “women” rather than “wife” and leaves this open to be interpreted however the reader desires. Then by adding a footnote they attached an alternate meaning to say that this scripture can refer to the deacon’s wives or an alternate meaning of a deaconess! But this is obviously ludicrous to suggest this means a “deaconess” when in fact there is no such thing. All deacons are men who are husbands of one wife and that qualification eliminates any possibility of a woman being a deaconess (feminine form of deacon) because no women can be a husband of one wife! This is a subtle way of altering the scriptures to conform to the views of humans and the world’s system rather than altering their own behavior to conform to what God’s word has said!
1 Timothy 3:11 (AMP)
11 [The] women likewise must be worthy of respect and serious, not gossipers, but temperate and self-controlled, [thoroughly] trustworthy in all things.
AMP Footnote for 1 Timothy 3:11: [either their wives or deaconesses, or both]
The Amplified bible translator did the same thing as the NASB and followed the same lead when she also used the general term “women” instead of “wives” and then added an alternate meaning using a footnote to suggest it can also mean wives or deaconess or both.
The fact of the matter is that these two translations are adding something that is foreign to the bible because nowhere in the bible does the term “deaconess” ever appear! No deacons have ever been women in the history of the church because this is an “all-male” position in the church just as is every office of the Fivefold ministry is also “all-male” in orientation.
The overall big-picture biblical principle is that God sees the man as head of the home and the woman as one-person together with him. The woman is required to submit to her husband and this was stated clearly by God in both the Old and New Testaments. It is not proper for a woman to have authority over a man or lead him or attempt to teach him in any way.
1 Timothy 2:11-12 (NIV)
11 A woman should learn in quietness and full submission.
12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent.
No women can hold a Fivefold ministry office or even that of a deacon for this reason or she would be placing herself in leadership over men. This is all clear when the biblical principles are taken as a whole throughout both Old and New Testaments.
1 Timothy 3:10-11 (KJV)
10 And let these also first be proved; then let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless.
11 Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things.
The KJV is right here when is says that the wives of the deacons must be in order or else that deacon is disqualified from the ministry. The overall biblical principle is that if a man does not know how to manage his own household then how can he manage the house of God? This clear principle is totally subverted by trying to attach an alternate meaning using footnotes to suggest it could also mean deaconess! This opens the door for women to enter the church and serve as deaconesses when there is absolutely no biblical precedent to do so. Rather than complying with God’s word they are seeking to alter God’s word to fit their own ideas of feminine equality that is sweeping the world’s system and the carnal church.
Romans 16:1-2 (NASB)
1 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea;
2 that you receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and that you help her in whatever matter she may have need of you; for she herself has also been a helper of many, and of myself as well.
Phoebe was a servant of the church of God at Cenchrea but this does not make her into a deaconess because a deacon is an ordained position. She may have just been a single woman who did her best to run errands or bring messages and whatever might have been needed to be done. People cannot use this as an example of a deaconess as there is no biblical precedent for ordaining women as deacons or as any Fivefold ministry office either.
Romans 16:1 (NIV)
1 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church in Cenchrea.
Romans 16:1 (NIV2011)
1 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church in Cenchreae.
The 1984 NIV translation above says that Phoebe was a servant of the church at Cenchrea but the 2011 NIV translation was altered to say that Phoebe was a deacon. This is a great piece of insanity considering the fact that the requirements of a deacon are that they be the husband of one wife. Therefore, only a man can be a deacon and there has never been any such thing as a woman serving in the office of a deacon.
Phoebe is a woman who was never ordained into the role of a deacon because this is an all-male leadership role and no women have ever served in this office under the New Testament era. Again, this is altering the scriptures to conform to human agenda rather than humans adapting themselves to conform to God’s word!
Acts 6:3 (NASB)
3 “Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task.
The first deacons selected were all men (not women) because all leadership positions in the New Testament (NT) church were exclusively masculine. God has ordained men to be leaders and this is the reason that every office of the Fivefold ministry was “male only” and every deacon was also “male only” in the NT churches.