Your Daily Slice

Av 15

Blameless

“An overseer, then, should be blameless …” (1Tim 3:2 ISR)

The Word that has been translated as ‘blameless’ is the Greek word anepilēptos (Strong’s G423), and is what is known as a negative particle.  In other words, the translation could read ‘cannot be blamed’, or ‘irreproachable’, or ‘not open to censure’; there is a negative connotation attached to the noun or verb being used in the sentence.  In the many Scripture versions that I have on my Bible Study program, I have found anepilēptos translated as everything from ‘blameless’, to ‘one in whom no fault is found’ (OANT), ‘beyond criticism’ (TLV), ‘without reproach’ (RV), and the AMPC reads ‘give no grounds for accusation’, all of which are correct.  But how do we translate all of this into the character requirements of a leader?

Someone who is blameless is not necessarily perfect, as in without sin, for we know that no one is perfect except for our Creator (Rom 3:23; 2Sam 22:31).  The one who is blameless has most likely made mistakes, but that individual has learned from the mistakes made, and endeavors to not make them again.  If, at any time, there was a transgression against the dictates of Torah, teshuvah (repentance) was immediate, and if and when it was needed, tikkun (restitution and restoration) was also performed.  There are now no further grounds for accusation, criticism or blame, for all has been dealt with, and covered.

We live in a world where offenses are piling up on an hourly basis; this whole world is offended at something or someone.  Today’s mindset is all about “me, myself, and I”, and the rights that I have that are supposedly being trampled upon.  We are witnessing more and more of this type of attitude even among born-again believers and those who claim to be Torah observant.  To find an individual – man or woman – who is beyond criticism, above reproach, and blameless in both speech and actions might seem to be as finding the proverbial ‘needle in a haystack’.  Yet, this is what we are instructed to do.

Being blameless and beyond criticism should not just be limited to those who aspire to a leadership role; we should all be making the effort to set this kind of an example.  And it is only as we persevere in walking the Torah walk that this is even possible; it is only according to the importance and reverence we place upon the ‘divine instructions in moral and righteous living’ that we are even able to be that city set on a hill that our Master Yeshua desires us to be (Matt 5:14-16).

“Do all matters without grumblings and disputings, in order that you be blameless and faultless, children of Elohim without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.” (Phl 2:14-15 ISR)

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