”Of some men the sins very evident they are, going before unto judgment, but some also they are following.”
-Prior to his detour in the previous verse to care for Timothy’s health, Paul had been coaching him on the challenges of leadership and of addressing the problem of sin in the body. He was either cautioning Timothy about putting someone into leadership to hastily, someone who may possibly not quite be ready for that responsibility, or someone who could possibly be (still?) struggling with some kind of hidden sin; OR, Paul could have been concerned about receiving a potentially unjust accusation of sin against a current leader.
-His point here is that sometimes you can see quite clearly when someone is engaged in disobedience, and then other times you cannot see their sin. Perhaps they are hiding it. Perhaps their struggle will emerge if they are thrust into a position of leadership before they are ready. But caution, patience, wise counsel, taking time to seek the Lord and His wisdom and what He wants in prayer - these are things which help to make sure that we make informed decisions with regards to leadership and discipline within the local church. Again - a bit of brake-tapping is in order. The well-being of the body and of the forward-progress of the mission are at stake!
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