Spiritual Leadership in the Church (1 Tim. 3:1-7)
Portrait of John Newton Salvation is by grace through faith. You are not saved by your works, nor are you kept by your works. The fact of the matter is that you can be fully justified by faith in Jesus Christ and freed from condemnation and yet have a lot of growing to do. Even those who have been believers for many years can identify places in their lives that need to change. But we can rejoice that no one is saved by reaching a certain level of sanctification; we are saved by grace alone through faith alone because of Christ alone to the glory of God alone. However, the qualifications for ministry and the qualifications for salvation are not the same. Though there are no qualifications for salvation, there are strict qualifications for entry into the ministry. Paul mentions some of them in our text. In verses 2-7, Paul lists sixteen qualities that a man has to have if he would be an overseer. Desire for the office, though good (as Paul affirms in verse 1), is not enough. Pau
