Book of Titus - Ch. 1, v. 6b

Titus 1 and the Purpose of the Letter

All righty, let's see here y 'all can Go ahead and turn over to Titus chapter 1. We'll have to do a little bit or recap this morning because it's been about two months since I've been sitting in this chair.

It has been an absolute blast getting to lead the youth Sunday school class over the past four weeks. I was supposed to do it one more time today, but Dave and Sam. Oh had a father-son trip. So I'm covering for Dave and so he will be taking over the youth Sunday school class when they get back for the next six weeks.

While I cover the adult class here. It's great to be back. Like I said, I love doing the youth. But I also absolutely love doing this one and we're also right in the middle of a study. So it's a it's about time that we started making some progress there.

So Tina and Devin we started a verse-by-verse study in the book of Titus. Maybe I can't even remember at this point. I want to say maybe May is when we started it. And with me and Dave alternating and things like that.

We've been moving through it very slowly we are we left off in the middle of verse 6 the last time I was I Was doing this class and so we'll be picking it up there today. But I am going to do a little bit of recap because it's been long enough to justify it.

And so we'll pick it up at verse 1 here. Just a second. It's also a very special day, it's mine and Ashton's 11th anniversary, so that's fun it's also fun that it fell on a Sunday because obviously Obviously it was on a Sunday that we ran off and eloped while the rest of our family was gone and We drove three.

I know that I get my parents wonder why I give them a hard time or not just my parents. But anyone for leave it it's because all the exciting stuff happens. Why everyone's out of town. That they weren't home they were home by the time we got home.

But they were they had gotten home from a business trip that day and drove home. From Dallas that day we got up. I don't even remember what time 5 a .m. Maybe 6 a .m. Drove three and a half hours to East Texas where her grandfather's churches.

And he was the one that married us that day, but anyway 11 years it flew by that's for sure. I'm excited for the next 11 Alrighty Titus chapter 1. We'll just pick it up at verse 1. Paul a servant of God an apostle of Jesus Christ and an apostle of Jesus Christ.

According to the faith of God's elect and the acknowledging of the truth, which is after godliness. That's an amazing thing right there because Paul not only references God's Sovereignty and in divine election of his people, but he also points out the emphasis on evangelizing those people he says.

According to the faith of God's elect Paul understood that he was the instrument He could be used as the very instrument for bringing God's people to a saving knowledge of him. And to the acknowledging of truth, which is after godliness.

This is an important point. Just to remind everyone on of course, we spent a good time on these verses a while back but acknowledging of the truth and godliness are what are. Two things that go together and they're inseparable.

You can't have a growing knowledge of the truth without a growth in godliness itself. You could call that sanctification. You could call that holiness. You could call that becoming consecrated a person that is becoming more like God each and every year Of their lives.

It doesn't mean we're perfect. It doesn't mean we're sinless. Obviously not the sanctification process is just that it is a process as we live our lives we will experience turmoil tribulation times where we may fall into one sin or other and Feel burdened by that and then go to God in confession of it.

That's the sanctification process. But the point being is that it is that move toward godliness is Happening in tandem with the acknowledging of the truth. You can't have an acknowledgement of the truth unless you're moving toward godliness there's no truth outside of the Word of God and without the Spirits teaching us and moving in us as we read it that You know, there's not going to be Any acknowledging of it even any understanding of that truth.

So godliness and the acknowledging of truth. They are always Moving in tandem verse 2 in hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie promised before the world Began, of course. There's a tremendous eternal security verse right there because this is a promise that was made between the Father and the Eternal Son Prior to the foundations of the world.

We were already in existence in the mind of the Father and a promise was made That those people that didn't even exist yet would have the hope of eternal life someday. They would have the hope of eternal life alongside Jesus Someday out into what we now call the future and this promise was made by a God as Paul says that cannot lie.

This is a promise that can't be broken. Verse 3 says but half in due times manifested his word through preaching. This is a wonderful thing. This comes right back to again Paul's great emphasis on the fact that the word has to be preached.

The word has to be spread the gospel has to be Given throughout the world because that is the mode that is the means by which God Brings in the elect brings in his sheep Brings in his fold and so again Paul understands this word is manifested through his preaching.

But also the preaching of others the preach the preaching of his successors as well Titus being one of them. So his word is manifested Through preaching which is committed unto me. That word committed could also be translated entrusted.

This is this is a a very Grave duty that has been entrusted to Paul and entrusted to every minister of the gospel. The word has been entrusted to him according to the commandment of God our Savior and Then verse 4 says to Titus, so here's the subject of our letter.

Here is the young man the young pastor that is as we are eventually going to learn on the island of Crete amongst not only a multitude of very new believers believers that don't yet have a deep understanding of The whole Council of God they are believers.

They were saved on many of them were saved on the day of Pentecost went back to the island of Crete started planting churches. But they didn't have a lot of direction. So they need Titus to clean things up which we'll see in verse 5 of just a second.

In the face of that though is also a multitude of false teachers a multitude of False teachers that are going to be in combat with Titus's authority and so one of the reasons we have this very sweeping introduction by Paul here in the first four verses is because Paul is establishing Titus's authority for him and for all.

Before all of these false teachers that Titus is going to be up against reading this letter aloud. Of course to the believers. But no doubt those false teachers will be there as well to sit there and seeing how they can thwart Titus's authority.

Well, they know who Paul is. Paul has been to Crete before we learned that in the later chapters of Acts. They know who Paul is they know the kind of authority he has and he is imparting this authority to Titus.

And so that is why Paul is being so meticulous in this introduction as we covered Many weeks ago. So to Titus in verse 4 mine own son after the common faith. We now know that Titus was a convert of Paul's.

Paul considered Titus his own son after the common faith is if you know, Paul is his spiritual father much like Philemon was anonymous was in our recent study of Philemon Titus was his son as well his spiritual son grace mercy and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior.

Of course, we discussed the significance in the fact then in verse 3 Paul ends the verse by saying God our Savior and then in verse 4 He ends it by saying the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior. This is a testament to the deity of Jesus Christ.

This is a testament to the fact that Jesus is God. He's not just a messenger God of the Father rather God himself. And so then we get to verse 5 and this is where we start to get an idea of the purpose behind this letter.

Leading into the qualifications of the elders of God's Church. He says in verse 5 for this cause left I thee in Crete what is the purpose that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting and Ordain elders in every city as I had appointed thee so we have believers we have churches.

But there is a very important part missing from what's happening on the island of Crete and that is God ordained elders and or pastors or overseers or bishops. These are all synonymous terms that need to be leading these young churches.

Leading them in doctrine and in truth and so Paul says this is why I left you here Titus. I left you here so that you could set things in order things are chaotic right now. There are believers here. There's a lot to work with but it is chaotic.

You need to set these things in order. You need to straighten them out would be the the literal rendering of the the Greek terms that Paul is using here. You need to straighten things out and what's one of the ways you're going to do that?

You're going to do that by ordaining elders in every city. So number one we realized that we know that Crete was a city of excuse me an island with a lot of cities. Perhaps hundreds of cities on this island this ancient island and Paul just casually mentions the fact that there's a church in all of them and all of these cities.

There's a lot of work to do here. Every single one of these churches and every single one of these cities and needs an elder and I want you to go ordain them. Just as I appointed you so we learn a lot right here.

Just in the process by which God works with his God called men in order to discern and appoint The next generation of God called men. Yes. It is a calling of the Holy Spirit. We learned in Acts chapter 20 verse 28 that the Holy Spirit is the one that calls and yet meaning.

Calling the oversee the the position of being an overseer or a pastor and yet Paul here Makes it very clear that Titus is to go out and ordain and appoint these men. And so you have a twofold action taking place.

You have these men being called by the Holy Spirit. They have this calling that they are now to fulfill this role as a pastor in one of these local churches but you also have the discernment of Titus as a previously called man as a previously ordained man to go out find them and Bring them in ordain them and prepare them for ministry.

So it's an amazing Dynamic you have going on here both God working as well as the men of God working all to accomplish The same goal and in God himself leading all of it. So now we find ourselves back at verse 6 where we left off last time and remember we're in the second half of verse 6.

The first half begins if any be blameless. We are now about to get the qualifications of these elders that Titus is to appoint one last note really quick. Yes, Paul tells Titus go find them ordain them and appoint them.

But he does not tell Titus to do that without giving him Something to work with some qualifications. It can't just be any guy that you stumble upon. It has they have to be men of character specifically men that fit these.

Criteria number one if any be blameless the husband of one wife. And that's where we stopped last time the word blameless there. You could also translate that if any be unreproachable. In other words these are men that if a charge is made against them that the charge is going to be unsuccessful if if the false teachers out there go and they start picking on this guy and start making up charges against him that would be disqualifying charges if they were real.

The charges would fall flat the charges would be unsuccessful. That's what Paul means by blameless. He doesn't mean sinless obviously. But what he means is that these are men that don't have any habitual Disqualifying sins anything that could bring reproach on their ministry on God's ministry on God's Church.

They're gonna be blameless now. That's kind of a general broad qualification there. But Paul gets way more specific as he goes on now in the first specific qualification that sheds some light on what exactly he means by blameless or beyond reproach is.

They are to be the husband of one wife now, we broke that down. We spent at least a couple of Sundays just on that phrase the literal Greek Meaning there is a one-woman man, so it doesn't necessarily mean that a man who was maybe married in his youth maybe even prior to salvation and it was.

It was a marriage that maybe shouldn't have happened in the first place. Perhaps it's among two unbelievers and they were immature. They didn't know what was going on and they end up divorcing. Later on this man becomes converted spends a number of years growing in the word under the faithful ministry of another pastor.

Perhaps and then he gets called. Well, then is he disqualified? Can he not can he not serve in the ministry because he is and then at some point he marries a second time. Maybe post conversion and he and his wife now have a faithful marriage.

It's growing strong. Is he barred is he to be barred from the ministry because he Is now the husband of a second wife? Well, that's not what Paul means. What Paul means is a one-woman man. In other words a faithful man to the wife that he has.

He is going to only have eyes for her. He's going to be faithful for her to her if she were to pass away and he's no longer a married man at all. Is he disqualified? No, it's that he it all it all has to do with his character.

It all has to do with his faithful Character toward his wife as a picture of Christ and his church. And of course we spend a good deal of time talking about the seriousness of if disqualification is breached.

In other words if a man is not faithful to his wife. And of course, this is a an egregious sin that is a disqualifying sin and there can't be restoration for it. We we Went through a number of passages in the Old and the New Testament for over the course of a couple of weeks substantiating that.

Sadly just since the the last time we did that particular study we had an exam and a recent example of a notable pastor in Dallas that presumably fell because of like sin and since then there has been yet another very very notable pastor with a global ministry that has Undoubtedly fallen into that Sin of being unfaithful to his wife that the details behind that story are devastating.

It's someone that that a lot of people around the entire world have looked up to for decades upon decades and He fell into this sin. He was unfaithful to his wife. He is now disqualified from all ministry for the rest of his life and is of course a disgrace to the Lord and His ministries as well.

And so that is a very important qualification. There's a reason that Paul starts with that the husband of one wife a one-woman man. Faithful he has the character and the integrity to do everything that he can to ensure that that is a wonderful marriage as a representation of Christ and his bride.

So now we find ourselves the last half of verse 6 and this is where we will continue on with our study. It says I'll just read the whole verse together. If any if any be blameless the husband of one wife.

Having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly. So this is the next important phrase that we're going to need to hone in on for a little while. Yet another very important qualification if you were to break down the qualifications that Paul gives in the verses 5 through 9 of This first chapter you could break them down into a few categories.

We covered these categories a number of weeks ago. The first category was having to do with the sexual morality of elders husband of one wife one woman man. He is he is faithful to her but that is his moral Character the second category, which we will now begin to cover is family leadership.

And so Just broadly speaking. What is the family leadership of an elder look like? What is it supposed to look like in order for him to qualify for the ministry. Having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly now.

This is a really loaded phrase that we have here from the Apostle Paul. I have recently heard this particular qualification referred to as the neglected qualification and As I began to think about that a little bit.

It started to really lock in things for me because what is the common kind of cliche as it relates to the pastor's kids. Well, I just said it. They're the pastor's kids. There's been this this proverbial Outlook on the quote-unquote pastor's kids for decades and it's not a good one so When you think about that and you think about the kind of cutesy Nature behind it and that people kind of chuckle at it and you know act like oh, yeah pastors kids.

It's just it's just the way it is. Well, there you go the neglected qualification now we can see why this is such a rampant issue. Certainly throughout churches in America perhaps throughout the rest of the world as well this was an issue if you read the Puritans if you read the Reformers if you read even Wonderful men of God post the Puritan age.

We're talking, you know, Jonathan Edwards all the way up through Spurgeon Whitfield Jonathan Edwards Whitfield Wesley all the way up through Spurgeon and then even into the 20th century with a lot of the Reconstructionist ministers BB Warfield Machen all of the Princeton guys.

These were all of you can just sweep throughout all of recent church history and you will not find this to be a neglected Qualification you will find pages in pages in chapters and chapters on the importance of fatherhood as The minister so it's not until you get into contemporary US US American history church history where you find this cliche of the pastors kids.

That's just how it is because for whatever reason, you know, oh look there's another pastor with bad kids. There's another one with bad kids. I guess that's just how it works for some reason. Well, the reason it's like that is because this has been a neglected qualification the spiritual state of the preachers kids Again has been notorious for decades and not in a good way.

So good true leadership in general Can be summarized by prominent attributes. The prominent attributes of the person in the leadership position because what is a pastor? It is a person in a very specific kind of leadership position.

So, how do you mark the character of a good leader? How do you where where are the how do you base a? Good leader. What do you base a good leader upon by what standard is a person a good leader? Well again the prominent attributes of the person should come to mind character good character maturity integrity Godliness and righteousness these attributes set a pattern for others to follow.

That's the kind of person that others want to emulate want to copy. Want to imitate if you want to find a man to be a true leader one that has these particular attributes look no further than how the man handles fatherhood if He is falling short there.

You cannot expect for him to bring anything good over into such a position as Leading the household of God. It doesn't matter how you spin it. Now. We're going to talk about a number of Hypotheticals as we go out as we go throughout this particular Section because it is a little bit different than the previous qualification.

We talked about one woman man faithful to his wife. That's about as cut cut and dry as it gets about as black and white as it gets but man over the course of decades. With a man and however many kids he has in their Lifestyles and the way they live out their lives.

This is a very Dynamic issue in a number of ways. We still have clear instruction. I'm not trying to insert any ambiguity here, but Point being is we're gonna talk about a number of factors that come into play with the importance the implication of this.

But just as the groundwork here. This is the bedrock of everything we're going to be talking about in general. When you want to find a good leader look and see how that leader follows. Excuse me. Look and see how that leader handles fatherhood because there is the basis by which he will be a Leader in every other area of life.

That's why Paul is bringing this into this particular context. In fact, it was in the context of Paul's own leadership. Think about Paul as the Apostle the preeminent Apostle whose leadership was Exemplary whose leadership was the kind of guy that made everyone want to follow him.

Full stop in the context of his own leadership in his own leadership style. He uses the analogy of parenthood to describe the way that he has led if you want to turn to first Thessalonians for a second turn to first Thessalonians chapter 2 he uses this analogy to describe his leadership style.

He compares himself as we will see just a second to godly parents and that's not an accident. That's not a coincidence. This isn't Paul just you know reaching into the air for what analogy he could use to describe his leadership style.

This is very this is a very intentional Analogy that he uses first Thessalonians chapter 2. What is a parent? What is a godly parent? What are their attributes tender? Being tender loving being sacrificial.

Setting the proper model for living teaching the morals of God. These are the types of things that a godly parent does lo and behold a godly parent is what Paul has in view. When he is thinking about the way he wants to conduct his own Ministry.

Paul lived a life that others wanted to copy. Just like a godly parent lives a life that their kid should want to copy. So first Thessalonians chapter 2. I forgot that I needed to be turning there myself.

And We have a Very interesting thing. I think we're gonna be starting somewhere around verse 7. Let's see here. Come on Colossians first Thessalonians, there we go. All right. Yeah, let's start at verse 7 and just look at look at this analogy that Paul uses and in the implications of it.

He says but we were gentle among you. He's talking about himself, but he's also talking about some of his other co-laborers. We were gentle among you even as a nurse cherish cherish it cherish if her children now.

The he's talking about a nursing mother specifically not a Nurse the way we would think of it. He's thinking about a mother who is in the process of nursing she's in that phase of Her child is in that particular phase of childhood still a nursing a nursing child and just as a mother a nursing mother Cherishes a chair man.

Cherisheth her children so being affectionately desirous of you. We were willing to have imparted unto you not the gospel of God only but also our own souls because you were dear unto us so the These people that Paul is talking about they are dear to his heart in the way that a child is dear to a nursing mother.

For you remember brethren our labor and travail. Think about the analogy that he's bringing into this here and this isn't the only place by the way that God excuse me that Paul uses the picture of a travailing mother to describe his labors.

For his people bringing them to a knowledge of saving faith as if it's a mother travailing in childbirth for laboring night and day because We would not be chargeable unto any of you we preached unto you the gospel of God ye are witnesses and God also you know, here's a good one how holily and justly and Unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe and ye know that we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you as a father Doth his children.

So now we have Paul not only talking about him acting in the sense of a nursing mother. But also in the sense of a loving father and then look at verse 12 that ye would walk worthy of God Who hath called you into his kingdom and into his glory?

So verse 7 mentions a nursing mother. Verse 11 mentions a loving father. Paul uses parents as the prime example of what servant leadership should look like. What do I mean by servant leadership? I'm talking about what Jesus talked about in Matthew.

I think it was chapter 17 or thereabouts where he is talking about the the greater being. The lesser being the greater in heaven and vice versa and he kind of describes How a true leader should act having a servant's heart and so Parenthood is the prime example of that.

Paul uses parenthood to call into everyone's mind what it should look like so that they can now realize. Oh, this is what Paul is doing. Oh, this is how Paul is trying to act. He's trying to act as a loving father.

He's trying to act with the nourishment of a nursing mother. There's no better way to demonstrate what proper ministry should look like Than the well-ordered home and that's why Paul uses this analogy of parents very Intentionally again, he's not grasping for an analogy to use.

He uses this analogy because he knows what it means to his hearers. So if you're to be a leader or It is put another way if you were to be the father quote-unquote of the household of God as a pastor.

Then what better way to prove that you are fit For that role than to look at the most intimate relationships in that man's life and see if he can be a leader there. If you're ever curious about whether or not a man is fit for the role of leading the household of God.

No one knows him better than his wife and kids. So ask them see what see what their relationship is with him. See what he is like at home when the church isn't around. Look no further than the home is the prime proving ground for whether or not a man is qualified for the ministry.

Now it's also worth noting briefly before we start talking about the implications of all of this. That the context of Paul bringing kids into the list of qualifications Flows directly after he uses that general statement at the beginning of verse 6 if any be blameless.

Immediately after that is when the kids enter the picture. So therefore the elder needs to have kids that are not rebellious. Because otherwise they may become a reproach on him in his ministry. How is he to be above reproach if he puts himself in a situation.

Because of bad parenting being a bad father that his kids later on bring a bad reproach on him in his ministry. That again is no accident that this flows directly from if any be blameless if any be above reproach now.

Now keep it, you know keep in mind as we progress through this study that idea. That children can come into play with regard to the being blameless being above reproach. Keep that in mind because there's a lot to be considered here.

But again, this kind of plays into the bedrock of of Paul's main Thrust in this whole passage now the majority of the Christian world. They have all kinds of workarounds and explanations for this verse.

I don't think I've ever read more material On any Bible study I've ever done. More than for this one phrase of this one verse and it's really interesting to again hear what the Puritans and the Reformers and the great men of the 17th and 18th centuries had to say about fatherhood and the Again the great men at the turn of the 20th century Arthur Pink, B .B. Warfield Machen The Hodges all of these wonderful men and then also in parallel to all of that read what a lot of Contemporary people have to say about this particular verse and again the workarounds they have for why a man who has terrible kids because of his Parenting style.

How you know there that that could be something that we can kind of glaze over and in turn You know kind of turn our gaze away from for lack of a better term. Meanwhile, so you have people that kind of have this again neglect toward this qualification the neglected qualification.

You have this dynamic over here, but at the same time you have more of a minority of people That read this and they want it to mean exactly what it appears to mean in other words they take Paul's words face value and they apply it but There can be another issue here, and it's the same issue that we ran into with our previous qualification one woman man.

We actually talked through a number of what you might call rigid interpretations of that for example. Well a man can't be a pastor if he's not married at all or a man can't be a pastor if he maybe was Divorced in his youth because of an unwise marriage prior to salvation and even though he has since been saved since been married for 20 years Since has ordered his household well You know husband one wife.

So we talked about how you can have these kind of legalistic rigid Interpretations of these qualifications without any room for discernment of the men of God in the local church which by the way is one of the most important reasons why we have the local church and why there isn't a singular universal body like the Catholics want to believe that there is and So the reason is because God wants each of his local bodies to be working through these issues in Relying on him for guidance in them.

So just like we had to Talk through that aspect of in the previous qualification even here. There are some interpretations That may be unintentionally Too rigid in a particular area and we have to discuss that as well.

So we want to avoid both extremes. We do not want to neglect this qualification all the same time. We don't want to quench the spirit in allowing him to work in a particular way in a particular Local church we have to be aware of both extremes.

We want to avoid both of them as we move through this but there's something that needs to be said from the onset as We run low on time here and that is that these words have to mean something. What Paul says has to mean something it has to be it has to be applicable sometime.

They're not just arbitrary words that he was filling the page with. They mean something and they mean something important and so it's always important for us to remember that a good starting point is to read the Bible plainly let the Spirit be our teacher and also take into account the rest of the Biblical narrative along the way as well at the Bible interpret the Bible.

But reading it plainly is a good place to start. Don't make excuses for ministry or for ministers that you like. Which can't be justified by these clear words of Paul. We have to avoid both sides of the road.

We have to avoid both ditches. You don't want to get too rigid in any interpretation and again quench the spirit. You also can't neglect the words of Paul either and say well He just didn't understand some of the modern inconveniences that we have.

He didn't know what we would be dealing with in the 21st century. And therefore we have some room to work with here. You have to avoid both sides of the road. So with that being said does anyone have any thoughts or questions so far because we're running kind of low on time.

We're only about five minutes left. If not, I can press on a little bit further, but if you have thoughts, please share. Well, this goes right back to the previous qualification one woman man by the rigid interpretation of that Paul would not have been qualified to be a pastor because he was celibate.

He was a celibate Elder, of course, we talked about Brother Bill in that context. There have no doubt been a number of Wonderful ministers and times past it meant met the qualifications based on Paul's intention.

Character faithfulness that sort of thing. But to your point Paul also didn't have any kids by virtue of the fact that he wasn't married and yet you have Paul. Interestingly is the one that delivered the most material we have on how to be a good father in that amazing.

It's a testament to the sufficiency of Scripture first and foremost. And it is also a great testament that it does not require For you to have perfect parents in order to know how to live a godly life.

Later, so in other words if you grew up in a less-than-ideal home and your parents failed the statutes the precepts Instructions that God gave for being good parents and so you feel now that because of that I You know, I'm at a disadvantage.

Well number one two things can be true at once you can be in this at a disadvantage. I will not. I will not make the claim that You can give or take having good parents absolutely not. You parents are held to such high standards and are responsible for so much Because of what it means for their sheep.

For what it means to be the stewards of these little ones that God ordained for them to be a part of your family. And so if you screw that up. Absolutely, the kids will be left at a disadvantage. But two things could be true at once that can be true while at the same time You can overcome it.

God's Word is sufficient. Christ himself is sufficient. We have all the instructions we need to be a good son to be a good daughter to be a good husband be a good Wife and so, you know, you you might be a person that feels self-conscious About being a spouse or being a parent because the models that you had growing up were far from ideal.

But you don't you don't necessarily need them even though it does put you in a tough spot. You don't necessarily need them to know what it is to be a biblical husband wife daughter son whatever it may be because the Bible lays it all out and Back to the original point.

Paul interestingly enough was the one that gave us so much of those instruction as a celibate Minister that didn't have a wife that didn't have kids. But he could still understand what it was to be those things because it's revelation directly from God.

He was not what you'd call a godly man. Started to look at the right direction. Yeah, and yet he wasn't disqualified.

This is an excellent point pop-pop and Brian Christopher has been waiting patiently for it to end for me to answer a question that he Asked probably two and a half months ago. And I've been sitting on it Brian.

I literally have it in my notes somewhere I copied and pasted it so I didn't forget the way that you asked it, but it was basically Asking the question. With what you just said in view what you know, what did these how do these qualifications come into play?