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NASB | Matthew 15:9 'BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.'" |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Matthew 15:9 'BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, FOR THEY TEACH AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.'" [Is 29:13] |
Subject: What in the Word is an 'office?' |
Bible Note: I did a search, and found 34 occurences of the words "office" or its derivatives (offices, officer, officers) in the Bible. They all appear to fall under three basic catagories. 1. Offices of military nature. In the OT there are of course many references to officers in the armies of Israel and other nations. In the NT there are two kinds of military officers, Roman soldiers and officers of the Pharisees and chief priests (ie. John 18:3). 2. Offices of administration. In the OT there are several officers in government positions, which report to kings and pharaohs. In the NT an example of this kind of office are the tax collectors (ie Luke 5:27). 3. Offices of church responsibility. These are what I think your questions is referring to. In the OT the priesthood was referred to as an office, although in the NT this particular office seems to possibly be limited to only Jesus Himself (Hebrews 7:21-25). Paul makes a claim to an office of minister of the church (Col 1:24-26). There also are verses referring to the offices of Bishop (I Tim 3:1-7, Titus 1:5-9) and the office of Deacon (I Tim 3:8-13). Of these two offices, that of Bishop seems to be higher and refers to being responsible for the care and stewardship of a church. The office of Deacon seems to be one of lay leadership within a church and a person whom others can look to as an example. |