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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadWilliam Burkitt Notes and Observations - 1 Timothy 3:6 - 3:6
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A novice signifies, a young plant; here, a young, raw, unexperienced person; yet not so much young in years as in knowledge; for Timothy himself was very young: not a novice in religion then, not one that is unexperienced in the mysteries of the gospel, undertaking to teach others before he has learnt himself.
And the reason for this injunction is weighty; Lest being puffed up with pride, he fall into the condemnation of the devil; implying, that young, raw, and unexperienced persons, when put into public office, are in very great danger of falling into the sin of pride, the devil's sin, and of exposing themselves to condemnation, the devil's punishment because their knowledge is weaker, and their passions stronger, and their graces feebler, and they want that experience which should consolidate their judgments, and are therefore in great danger of self-exalting; for none so proud and confident as the ignorant and injudicious.
Note here, That when St. Paul says, Lest he fall into the condemnation of the devil, it is as if he had said, "Lest he be condemned for the same sin that the devil was condemned for, which was pride;" not that the devil will condemn him for his pride, for the more proud a man is, the more the devil approves him; nor is it the devil's office to condemn, but to execute; he is the executioner, not the judge; he will not condemn for sin, but he will eternally torment them whom God condemns.