003:011 Deaconesses, in the same way, must be sober-minded women,
not slanderers, but in every way temperate and trustworthy.
003:012 A deacon must be true to his one wife, and rule his children
and his own household wisely and well.
003:013 For those who have filled the deacon's office wisely and well, are already gaining for themselves an honourable standing, and are acquiring great freedom of speech in proclaiming the faith which rests on Christ Jesus.
003:014 All this I write to you, though I am hoping before long to come to see you.
003:015 But, for fear I may be hindered, I now write, so that you may have rules to guide you in dealing with God's household. For this is what the Church of the ever-living God is, and it is the pillar and foundation-stone of the truth.
003:016 And, beyond controversy, great is the mystery of our religion— that Christ appeared in human form, and His claims justified by the Spirit, was seen by angels and proclaimed among Gentile nations, was believed on in the world, and received up again into glory.
004:001 Now the Spirit expressly declares that in later times some will fall away from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and the teachings of demons;
004:002 through the hypocrisy of men who teach falsely and have their own consciences seared as with a hot iron;
004:003 forbidding people to marry, and insisting on abstinence from foods which God has created to be partaken of, with thankfulness, by those who believe and have a clear knowledge of the truth.
004:004 For everything that God has created is good, and nothing is to be cast aside, if only it is received with thanksgiving.