Creation Order in the Church

Good morning. It’s a joy to be here with you today as we gather in the name of the Lord Jesus to worship Him and enjoy Him together. I’m thankful to have the opportunity to proclaim the truth today that our God is alive and He has spoken to us through His word. Today we continue through the first letter to Timothy. As we approach this passage and you read through it, you no doubt found that even at a cursory reading, it is counter cultural in the extreme.

(Introductory illustration here)

Our modern American culture is doing some of its hardest work in attempting to erase any distinctions between the genders. The bottom line is that God created them male and female. Each gender has its own equal worth and dignity before God, and each has different roles when it comes to the home, the church, and society. All of this confusion tracks back to people denying the very created order of things by the Sovereign Creator God. In order to properly understand why God has set things the way He has inside the church we must look back to the creation order. What you’ll see is that God is absolutely consistent in how He has ordered the roles and responsibilities of the two genders. In all of life, we know and believe that the Word of God is our final authority. In all matters, where the Word of God goes one way and we see our lives going another, it is us who are wrong and need to repent and course correct.

Recommended additional reading: I wanted to give you some additional reading on this passage and topic of men and women in the church, in case you wanted to go deeper in your study. Try these volumes: Men and Women in the Church by Kevin DeYoung and Women in the Church 3rd Edition by Andreas J. Köstenberger and Thomas R. Schreiner. These books were extremely helpful in preparing this message and I commend them to you.

Now that I’ve given you a bibliography to investigate, let’s get to the text. The first thing I want to talk about is the responsibilities called for in verses eight through 11.

I. Responsibilities (v. 8-11)

Paul addresses men in this passage first.

1 Timothy 2:8–11 ESV

8 I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; 9 likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, 10 but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works. 11 Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness.

We must remember that we are not reading these verses outside of a context, and are instead reading them as part of this letter that the Apostle Paul was writing to Timothy as the latter pastored the church at Ephesus. Sometimes with passages like this one, in the excitement to dissect it and learn about it, some remove it from the surrounding context into which it was written. We should not do this. We also must realize, however, that there are timeless principles given for how the church is supposed to operate in all times and in all places that are not bound to the context of Ephesus in the time of Timothy. We can not simply write it off as for only that time and place. Ephesus was not a radically feminist place as some have suggested. The leadership was male in the city as with most Greco-Roman cities of the time. Again, though, Paul was not singularly focusing on Ephesus as we saw his purpose in 1 Timothy 3:15 “if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.” Paul was telling Timothy, and anyone after him who would read this letter what was appropriate within the life of the church.

To help us understand the passage, we should know that Paul had just talked about praying for everyone. Here in verse 8 he stays on the topic of prayer.

A. For Men

Some of the men apparently loved controversy and arguments.

Move from appearance (posture) to inward, the attitude of how you pray. With holy hands and without anger and quarreling.

1. Pray with purity

2. Pray with peace before others

B. For Women

1. In her dress and her attitude

I understand the dangerous land I am stepping on here. So we we are just going to dive right in. Why do you want to wear the particular clothing that you do?

modesty and self control… Moderation. Refrain from overt sensuality.

Not initiating the lavish styles of Roman court... Braided hair, gold, etc to flaunt wealth.

1 Peter 3:4 ESV

but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.

Women are to dress with good works. Paul does much the same as he had done with the men. He went from the outward appearance or posture to the inward or attitude.

Their motivation should be different than that of the world. Women are to dress themselves or present themselves, if you will, in way that is fitting to the gospel. That would be a great question to ask yourself as you get ready. Is this fitting the gospel?

Women who profess godliness should do so with good works. What happens on the outside should bloom from a change that has happened on the inside. The aim is not fashion or social media likes but godliness.

I like what Tony Merida said about this.

“God calls women (like men) to pursue a life of pervasive holiness.” - Tony Merida

He goes on to explain that,

“Such a comprehensive calling demands that women pay attention to the totality of their lives, which includes what they wear, as Paul and Peter note. This teaching is not only for the sake of glorifying God, but also for the sake of weak, tempted men! We try to encourage our women to remember that men are very visually stimulated and that one of the ways that women can love their brothers in the church is by avoiding clothing that causes a guy’s imagination to drift into the gutter. This caution doesn’t mean they need to dress like a Puritan, nor does it mean that they must avoid modern clothing styles. We simply want them to do the following: (1) live with an awareness of the nature of sin and temptation; (2) not abuse the power of their feminine appeal; and (3) be concerned more with what God thinks of them than with what a guy thinks of them.”

Now we come to verses 11 and 12, which together form one solid unit where at the beginning and end we find the command for women to be quiet but int he middle we an explanation for what it means for them to learn in quietness and full submission.

II. Roles and Restrictions (v. 11-12)

1 Timothy 2:11–12 ESV

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

Paul says some thing really wild for the times. He commands women to learn. This was countercultural for the time. Paul wanted women to learn the scripture. He did put some parameters on how.

Quietness or silence isn’t supposed to be demeaning to the women. These are great traits in a learner.

Submissiveness is a term that helps us understand why they were to be quiet. Kevin DeYoung explains it well when he says that “a woman who learns quietly embraces her submissive role and honors God’s design for the sexes.” Quiet learning grows a spirit of submissiveness.

1 Timothy 2:12 ESV

12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.

These verses present reasons why we do not and will not have female pastors in this church. Women can do thousands of different types of ministry within the life of the local church but the office of pastor/elder is reserved for men alone.

In an attempt for more liberal theologians to work their way to justifying egalitarianism, they have presented some alternative explanations for these verses. I want to go over a couple of the objections with you, though we won’t be able to cover all of them fully today.

They claim the verb for permit is in the present tense meaning Paul was meaning presently and that means only then. The issue with this is that it’s not how grammer works because if that’s the case then you would have to think the same of many of the commands in the New Testament and they would not be significant for us today. This is simply not true. This objection falls flat.

Some claim that Paul was only saying this for the women to avoid teaching error or wrong things. They claim this because the women were not educated. The issues with this objection are first, nothing is said about the women not being educated. Paul had been with them and taught them for three years so they couldn’t have truly been uneducated in things of the Lord. Additionally, Paul doesn’t use the same term for false teaching that he had earlier. He uses the word for teaching. Lastly, all of the false teachers we have names for were men. Why in the world would Paul bother putting this in here about women if it was only to avoid false teaching, which was at that point, being perpetuated by men as far as we know.

Exercise authority over a man… Some suggest that Paul is simply warning against the women domineering or assuming authority or getting it in the wrong way. Well that doesn’t work here either. Remember, the false teachers were men that we have named. So why warn women and not men about this? The word for authority here, when used outside the New Testament, doesn’t mean either to domineer or to usurp authority.

The best option is that this really means that women should do no teaching and no exercising of authority over a man in the church. This is what it means for a woman to learn in quietness, that is to say without teaching and the idea of submission is without authority over men. Kevin DeYoung was helpful in summarizing this. He writes,

““God desires women to be silent and submissive in the church, which means that women should not be public teachers over men nor exercise authority over men.” Two commands are in view, not just one. To put it another way, Paul is not just opposed to authoritative teaching (where nonauthoritative teaching could be permissible?). He prohibits women doing two different, but related things, in the church: teaching over men and exercising authority over men.”

Paul gives us this explanation of the principle and then takes it back to the Garden of Eden (not the patterns of our culture) to give us a couple of reasons for this. Let’s look at verses 13 through 15.

III. Redemption (v. 13-15)

1 Timothy 2:13–15 ESV

13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve; 14 and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. 15 Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.

A. Original creation order

Adam was created first. This is the order of creation. The man was made first and then the woman.

OT - first born idea consistency

Order is important. It shows position. Adam was the one who did the naming and taming. He was the protector. Eve’s position was to nurture, help, and support. This is the creation order for the marriage. God is completely consistent in that moving forward to the church.

B. Original corruption

Eve got deceived. She gave the fruit to her husband, he ate, and sin came into the world.

Some may interpret this as women being more easily duped than men. I don’t think that is what this is referring to. I think Paul may be pointing out what happens when male and female roles get reversed. Gloria Furman points out the idea that, when Satan tempted Eve, he did it by subverting God’s created order.

DeYoung agrees with her.

“Adam was supposed to be the head, responsible for loving leadership and direction. But he abdicated his role, and Eve’s leadership influenced him for evil. As a result of this role reversal, sin entered into the world. On this understanding, Paul is pointing to the difference between the two guilty persons: Adam sinned openly, but Eve was deceived. In highlighting this difference, Paul may be grounding his argument in God’s design for men and women, which was tragically supplanted in the fall.”

Now before we wrap up, we need to address verse 15. First of all, we need to admit that not all women give birth because of various reasons. So we really need to deal with this.

1 Timothy 2:15 ESV

15 Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.

Paul had just taken us back to the Garden and the fall of man. He could be thinking of Genesis 3:15

Genesis 3:15 ESV

15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

He could be thinking of Jesus as the birth through which women, and men for that matter would be saved. By His perfect life, death on the cross as a substitute for us, for our sin and His resurrection from the dead three days later.

This is the primary explanation that I have heard over the years for this verse. It’s one of those that is difficult to understand.

A second interpretation of this deals with the fact that in the New Testament, the term salvation does not only mean that time you believed the gospel and gave your life to Jesus. In the NT it covers the whole of Christian life and not just a single moment. There is a good example in Philippians 2:12.

Philippians 2:12 ESV

12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,

Giving birth, nurturing, and producing offspring out into the world is one of the ways that a woman demonstrates her acceptance of her role in God’s created order. It’s her obedience to her identity. So opposite of modern day feminism, a Godly woman exercises true femininity by dressing modestly, learning quietly, bearing children and continuing on in faith, love, and holiness. (DeYoung)

Medical reasons or singleness will obviously keep some women from giving birth. In God’s sovereignty there are other ways for her to nurture and exercise that part of her feminine identity.

Gloria Furman has been so helpful in this area. She says,

“Since womanhood cannot be handcuffed to mere biology, I would say to women who are not biological mothers that nurturing cannot be relegated to procreation. Through the gospel we see that fertility and “filling the earth” extend to Christian discipleship that bears lasting fruit. This is a joy-filled responsibility that every Christian woman bears. The clear glass of the gospel shows us that we are part of God’s bigger story in which he is calling out worshipers from every nation to come and adore his Son forever. So the goal of our nurturing is to promote human thriving in the most magnificently fulfilling capacity possible. As women who are in Christ, then, we should aim to do everything he gives us to do so that all the nations would see and savor him forever. Motherhood, according to God’s good design, includes biological and spiritual mothering and is woven into the very fabric of what it means to be a woman. Women lovingly mother others, using their God-given gifts to meet their needs for Jesus’s sake (2 Cor. 4:5).”

**Conclusion and Call to Respond**

This passage, in it’s most plain and simple reading, as complicated as it is, is consistent with the whole of scripture. Trillia Newbell said this,

“First Timothy 2:9–15 is one of the more controversial and complicated passages in the Bible. I believe that here Paul is instructing the church and is addressing the church context, especially in vv. 11 and 12. Paul, who had authority, shares that women should not exercise authority over men in the church (v. 12). And this is consistent with Scripture. We see it in Genesis. God created male and female and immediately gave us different roles. He could have created us all male, but he created a helper fit for Adam (Gen. 2:18). So here we see the woman coming alongside the male providing strength, encouragement, and assistance where the male is lacking. (Note: We see the distinctions carried over in the fall of man. Our curse affects us differently because we are different; Genesis 3.) We see it in Ephesians 5 as a beautiful description of the church and Christ. Women are to submit, and men are to love sacrificially (vv. 22–33). And again, we find similar instruction in 1 Peter 3. I could go on. It is a theme of the Word, all pointing ultimately to Christ and his redeeming love.”

To promote godly manhood and womanhood in the church, we need good teaching. Let us never tire of hearing the teaching and preaching of the things of God as we are sanctified.

It is key to our development as well as the development of the younger generations coming behind us.

I want to leave you with three challenges for application for women and three for men as well.

For women

Study theology - LEARN

Serve - THOUSANDS OF WAYS

Nurture - BEAR FRUIT

Men

Pray in purity and peace with others

Encourage your wife

Love sacrificially giving her the space to serve and nurture and disciple

And may God be glorified.

Let’s pray.

PRAY

Related Media

Related Sermons