The New Testament pattern is a plurality of qualified elders who oversee, teach, guard doctrine, and shepherd the flock under Christ.
The Plurality of Elders in the New Testament
Shepherding the Flock of God Under Christ’s Lordship
Biblical shepherding submits entirely to Christ’s Lordship, feeds the flock with Scripture, guards holiness, and leads by humble example.
Daily Devotional for Saturday, January 03, 2026
The congregation belongs to God—shepherds must guard it with Scripture, and believers must honor Christ’s blood-bought people.
Pastors: Watching Over the Flock
Shepherds must guard, feed, and guide Christ’s flock with courage and faithfulness until the Chief Shepherd appears.
The Practice of New Testament Textual Criticism: How to Read a Critical Apparatus and Resolve Key Variants
Learn how to read a New Testament critical apparatus and see major variants resolved by early papyri and Alexandrian witnesses with disciplined, documentary method.
Pay Attention to Yourselves and to All the Flock
Paul's farewell address in Acts 20 emphasizes vigilance, sacrificial leadership, and doctrinal integrity for church overseers, urging spiritual accountability.
NTTC ACTS 20:28b: Is It “which he [God] purchased with the blood of his own [Son]” OR “which he [God] purchased with his own blood”?
Be honest in all things
Follow the truth regardless
Obey God not man
If textual scholars and translators obey all three of those principles; then, if the text, translation, or interpretation supports our specific doctrinal view, fine, if it does not, fine. A so-called major doctrine does not hang in the balance based on one Bible verse.
NTTC ACTS 20:28a: “the church of God” OR “the church of the Lord” OR “the church of the Lord and God”?
TEXTUAL PRINCIPLE: The more difficult or awkward reading is often preferable. The reading at first will seem to be more difficult or awkward to understand, but after further investigation, it will be discovered that a scribe deliberately or mistakenly changed the text to an easier reading.
NTTC ACTS 20:28b: “which he [God] obtained with the blood of his own Son” OR “which he [God] obtained with his own blood”?
Acts 20:28: The NRSV, RSV, LEB, and the UASV read that the church was purchased with “the blood of his [God’s] own Son.” On the other hand, the other ESV, NASB, CSB, and the ASV read that the church was purchased with “God’s . . . own blood.”
