3:9

They must hold to the mystery of the faith: This means that deacons must consistently believe in the true message of faith that God has revealed to people.

the mystery of the faith: In English, as in other languages, the word “mystery” normally refers to something that no one can know or understand. However, when Paul used the word “mystery” together with the faith, he was referring to the true message about the faith. This is the message about the Christian faith that God revealed to people, or caused them to understand. For example, the Good News Translation says:

the revealed truth of the faith

See also the New Living Translation (2004 Revision). Paul also used this expression in Ephesians 3:1–13.

the faith: In this context, Paul used the word faith to refer to everything that people believe and do in order to follow Christ.

a clear conscience: A person who has a clear conscience does not feel guilty because he knows that he has done the right thing.

conscience: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as conscience refers to the part of a person that helps him know what is right and what is wrong to think or do. A conscience causes a person to feel ashamed or guilty if he does wrong. It also makes him feel good when he does what is right.

However, in many languages, there is not a word that means conscience. In some languages, there may be an idiom that can be used. In other languages, it may be necessary to translate the expression “good conscience” by an expression like:

doing what he knows is right

See the note on 1:5c.

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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible. BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.