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Part 5

The Apostolic Instructions for Men

By Dr. Andrew Corbett, 16th June 2026, from Melbourne Australia

In this concluding chapter I am proceeding to discuss the final biblical instructions to men to be men. GOD has created and designed men to be strong, appropriately aggressive, protective, socially organised, romantic, godly, spiritual, courageous, and to problem-solve. Lately, these very traits have been categorised as “toxic masculinity.” I am arguing that these are the traits of positive-masculinity. But they only warrant being positive if they are harnessed according to the wisdom of God’s Word. I have shown in our previous chapter that Christ was the preeminent example of such positive-masculinity. I now outline how the apostolic teaching of the earliest Church articulated how these traits were to be developed and celebrated by men. In my conclusion to this short book, I will appeal to all men to heed the example set by those I have referred to in the Old Testament, the preeminent example of Christ, and this apostolic teaching. I do this in the light of the current global crisis we must confront.

Apostolic Instructions For Husbands & Fathers

The apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesian church with wisdom for husbands and fathers. Note this passage from Ephesians 5 that Paul’s wisdom is grounded in theology. In particular, this theology is grounded in Christ’s relationship with His Church. Most apostolic teaching about relationships is also grounded in a theological truth.

¶ Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her, that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that He might present the church to Himself in splendour, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.
Ephesians 5:25-28

In writing to fathers, the apostle once again grounds his instruction on Old Testament theology:

¶ Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honour your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
Ephesians 6:1-4

Men as Leaders Within a Local Church

In the first century, the distinctive cultural roles of men and women were understood so that it was expected and accepted that men would take the leadership roles. If we examine the common structures of the local church of the New Testament churches, we would notice how similar it was the Greco-Roman household. In a household. the head was the husband and father. When the apostles planted a church, they simply structured the church’s leadership on the basis of these household. These leaders are identified as ‘overseers’ often translated as ‘elders’. These are the necessary qualifications and duties of an overseer:

¶ The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.
First Timothy 3:1-7

The Accountability of Male Leaders

The apostle Paul publicly corrected wayward leaders – and even named them (1 Tim. 1:20; 2 Tim 2:17). The apostle gives us an insight that correction is grounded in relationship and truth:

¶ This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.
First Timothy 1:18-20

There are times when a persistently wayward leader who has resisted initial correction, needs to be corrected publicly by name before the whole church:

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some.
Second Timothy 2:15-18

Paul instructs men how to correct other men – especially older men (1Tim 5:1). Again Paul assumes that there is an established relationship with the one who is to be corrected.

¶ Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers,
First Timothy 5:1

Men are called to be spiritual leaders, even if they are not appointed elders, which demands that men must be publicly prayerful (1 Tim. 2:1-8).

¶ First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Saviour, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
¶ I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling;
First Timothy 2:1-8

Men Should Help Their Wives Learn

Unless women were raised in a wealthy household where the householder could have afforded a tutor to instruct his daughters in grammar, logic and rhetoric, it is probably unlikely that a first century Greco-Roman would have been literate and educated. Understanding this helps us to understand what Paul may have intended with his injunction that an uneducated woman is not permitted to instruct a man – especially her husband. Husbands should teach their wives is the implication of what Paul wrote in First Timothy 2:11-12.

Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.
First Timothy 2:11-12

The apostle expects that all men should work together to serve as educators and  governors:

If anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.
Titus 1:6-9

All Men Should Be Worship Leaders

I suspect that many believers have a very narrow view of Christian worship as being Sunday congregational worship. But worship is far broader. True worship is an act of surrender to God that gives Him glory. It involves a worshiper’s undivided attention on adoring God. To be a man who is a worshiper is to be a model of a true worshiper to others and not distracted by the lure of wealth that beguiles so many other men. Consider what the apostle instructed men to do:

But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
¶ But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses./I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in His testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,
First Timothy 6:9-14

Any man who accepts the call of God to be a worshiper — not just on a Sunday — but everyday of the week. Worship  is not merely a matter of singing choruses or hymns, it is how you treat others, how you go about your business or work, how you spend your time and your money. As you should realise, this requires a man to be particularly self-disciplined:

¶ You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also./Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.
It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.
¶ Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
The saying is trustworthy, for:/If we have died with him, we will also live with him;/if we endure, we will also reign with him;/if we deny him, he also will deny us; /if we are faithless, he remains faithful—/¶ for he cannot deny himself.
¶ Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene.
Second Timothy 2:1-17a

The Apostles Instructed Men to be Self-Controlled

Jesus taught, and the apostles reiterated, that sexual purity was more than just abstaining from physical immorality, it also begins with the imaginations of the  heart (Matt. 5:28) Men should, the apostle instructs, guard their hearts from lust – just as Joseph did when Potiphar’s wife attempted to seduce him:

¶ So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.
Second Timothy 2:22

This is why pornography does such violence to a man’s soul.

God has designed men to be aggressive so that they can be a protector and defender. But men must learn to be gentle and not to be quarrelsome, to best reflect their creation mandate as imagers of God:

Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.
Second Timothy 2:23-26

Conclusion

It is my hope that Christian men will take these apostolic instructions to heart. This requires an application of Second Timothy 2:7. I would be thrilled if church  men’s groups went through each of these chapters and discussed what they read and then how this could be applied. Individually, I would be delighted if a man read this prayerfully. This involves understanding how God has made and designed men, and what He expects of men. The reason this is urgent needed is because our culture is in a crisis. I ask you to bear with me as I explain what I mean before I finally conclude.

Where Kim and I now live, Melbourne, Victoria, is now regarded as the crime capital of Australia. The rate of violence, theft, abuse, and destruction of property, is rampant in Melbourne — and it is largely perpetuated by men. Increasingly, it is young men—as young as thirteen—who are now committing heinous crimes. Most of these young men do not have functional fathers. This bible study on manhood and masculinity is an attempt to offer a starting blueprint for churches to help their men to be examples to the men of our wider culture about what a God-honouring man looks like. I am mindful that before we can have the moral authority to address the men of our cities, towns, communities and neighbourhoods, we must get our own houses in order first. For me, the signs that we are making progress in this mission is when begin to pray for youth gang members to turn away from idolatry and to have a revelation of who God the Father is and why they need Jesus as their Saviour. When I hear of crime-lords being prayed for to repent and to turn to Christ, I will know the the Spirit of God is moving in the men of a church. And when I hear of more men coming to church for the first time and then many of them being baptised – I will know that we are indeed making missional progress. And I hope that I am not the only one who has these hopes.

Dr. Andrew Corbett
@DrAndrewC
16 June 2026