1 Timothy 2:8-15 - Order in the Church - Men and Women
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction:
We have mentioned already that this book is one of the Pastoral Epistles - consisting of 1 and 2 Timothy as well as Titus. And we discussed how these books are all about order in the church. Well today we come to a difficult passage for our culture. This is a sermon that was really not very difficult for the first 19 and a half centuries of the church. The church had a firm and consistent grasp on the meaning of this passage for much of church history.
However, according to a Bibliographical Reference Study done by Bob Yarbrough of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, he found that in 1969 a flood of articles began to appear in Christian literature that sought to alter the long-standing and clear historical interpretation of texts such as this. It is clear that in the decade preceeding this flood of articles, the feminist movement had a direct effect on this movement.
This progressive and liberal theological movement has come to be known as egalitarianism. This word encompasses not only promoting equality, which is certainly Biblical, but goes beyond equality by promoting sameness, which is not Biblical. Many liberal theologians have twisted verses such as Galatians 3:28 to blur the lines of gender. However, this verse is clearly discussing the equality we have in Christ with salvation offered to all despite any gender or ethnic differences.
Although men and women are equal, we are not the same.
The Bible, instead, teaches the concept of complementarianism. This term stands for the teaching that men and women are equal in value and are both created in the image of God as seen in Genesis 1:27. However, it also understands that the teachings of Scripture such as the gender distinctions of Genesis 2, the family distinctions of Ephesians 5:21-33, as well the distinction of church leadership found in Scriptures such as 1 Timothy 2 and 3 all point to distinct gender roles.
With all of that in mind, my prayer today is that we order our church fellowship in the way God has ordained it. Our pre-understandings and opinions do not matter. It is only God’s will and commands that matter. May we not let our culture dictate how we interpret Scripture. We must be consistent with our interpretation and interpret this section of Scripture as we would any other. Join me as we read our verses for today.
Read Full Scripture:
I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling;
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,
but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works.
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.
For Adam was formed first, then Eve;
and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.
Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.
Prayer
Before getting into these verses, it is important that we understand that the Greek words used in verses 8-15 are clearly specific terms for man and woman. These two words are exclusively man and woman and do not refer to people in general.
There are words such as anthropos (on-thra-pose) which is used in verse 4 when stating that God desires all people to be saved.
However in these verses we see two Greek words repeated:
Aner (a-nare) - man/men
Gyne (you-nay) - woman/women
With that in mind let’s dive into studying our Scripture for today.
Today we will see three ways in which we should practice holiness in the church. The first is…
I. Men Are Commanded to Practice Holiness in the Church by Being Men of Peace (8)
I. Men Are Commanded to Practice Holiness in the Church by Being Men of Peace (8)
I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling;
Here we see the Greek word for men given. And we have a qualifier - in every place. The Greek word translated ‘in every place’ or sometimes ‘everywhere’ is mentioned four times in Paul’s writings and always refers to the official assembly of the church (1 Corinthians 1:2, 2 Corinthians 2:14, 1 Thessalonians 1:8). In essence, he is referring to the corporate worship services of churches everywhere present and future which even includes our gatherings on Sunday morning at CrossPointe.
Note that he asserts male leadership of the service here. This will become more apparent in a moment as we move forward. But Paul, writing by the power of the Holy Spirit, will make a strong command for male leadership in the church.
It must be noted here that this assertion also comes with a rebuke to these men who were to be leading the church in prayer and the Word.
These men in Ephesus had a problem. They were allowing their anger and quarreling to become apparent even in the church services.
What a tragic rejection of the holiness of God’s gathered people in worship to allow quarrels and anger to spill over into the church service. At a time where these men were to be lifting up prayers, praises, and thanks to the Lord, they were holding grudges against one another and spewing hatred toward one another.
The Sunday worship service should never be about us. It should only be about God. We must leave our egos and our preferences at home and come ready to worship the Lord in Spirit and in truth.
Another clarifying aspect of this passage is found in the statement lifting holy hands. We mentioned back in December when we went through the Lord’s Prayer in Luke 11:1-13 that there are many ways to pray to God. Lifting holy hands is one of many. I am including a couple of slides on the postures of prayer from my previous sermon so that you recall that prayer can occur in many aspects. Let’s review them for a moment:
Postures of Prayer in the Scriptures:
1. Standing (Genesis 24:12-14, 2 Chronicles 34:31)
2. Lifting the hands (1 Timothy 2:8, 1 Kings 8:54, Psalms 141:2)
3. Sitting (Judges 20:26, 2 Samuel 7:18)
4. Kneeling (Mark 1:40, Daniel 6:10, 1 Kings 8:54, Luke 22:41-42)
5. Looking upward (John 17:1, John 11:41, Luke 9:16)
6. Bowing down (Exodus 34:8, Psalm 5:7, 1 Kings 1:47)
7. Prostrate on the ground (Genesis 24:52, Joshua 5:14, Job 1:20, Luke 5:12, Matthew 26:39, Revelation 1:17)
8. Praying silently (1 Samuel 1:13, Psalm 46:10)
9. Crying out (Psalms 34:6, Psalms 77:1, Hebrews 5:7, Psalms 55:17)
Given the fact that there are many postures in prayer, why does Paul focus on lifting holy hands?
The Bible is clear that the hands are a sign of holiness or unrighteousness. Consider the Psalmist in Psalm 24:4:
He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.
Here we see clean hands paired with a pure heart. We must have a pure heart and be free of bitterness, anger, and rage in order to lift up holy hands in prayer.
Those who lead the church need to be self-controlled and gentle. They need to be above reproach. And they must not be quick to anger. As James 1:20 states:
for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
May we at CrossPointe have godly men who lead with humility and gentleness and who seek peace with one another.
Next we see that…
Scripture References: Galatians 3:28, Genesis 1:27, Genesis 2, Ephesians 5:21-33, 1 Timothy 2-3, 1 Corinthians 1:2, 2 Corinthians 2:14, 1 Thessalonians 1:8, Luke 11:1-13, Psalm 24:4, James 1:20
II. Women Are Commanded to Practice Holiness in the Church by Being Women of Purity (9-10)
II. Women Are Commanded to Practice Holiness in the Church by Being Women of Purity (9-10)
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, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works.
It is important to note that men and women may both struggle with anger or quarreling and we also see that there are some men who struggle with the way they dress as well. Men and women can both seek to draw attention to themselves in the way that they dress. However, Paul is focusing on women in this section and men in verse 8 because these weaknesses fall into those gender distinction more often. But it is important as we continue moving along to evaluate yourself as a man or a woman who struggles with purity and with being peaceable.
I think it would be helpful for us to address the negative commands of this verse first and then move into the positive commands next.
Women are not to adorn themselves with braided hair, gold, pearls, or costly attire.
The Greek word for adorn here refers to demeanor as much as attire. We will see the replacement for these negative commands is not just the way a woman dresses, but how a godly woman should behave.
Some of you are hearing this verse and wondering if you need to go home and change and come back. A couple of you might have just considered taking off your earrings a second ago!
Before going into the context of these verses let’s look at a parallel passage from 1 Peter 3:3-4:
Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— 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.
The consistency of these two passages is incredible. There was certainly a problem with immodesty in the early church.
S.M. Baugh has done a lot of research and study into the first century church in Ephesus. A lot has been gleaned from looking at Roman coins from that time period and location as well. There were extravagant dresses of the Roman court that might have cost somewhere upwards of 7,000 denarii or 7,000 days wages. And the hairstyles were incredibly elaborate and would oftentimes be adorned with gold and pearls and gems.
There were two problems that were arising here. First, some women were using this time of church worship to show off their wealth and affluence. And second, some women were using their attire to entice the men of the congregation. Many of these elaborate hairstyles were associated with prostitutes and sensuality and were causing their brothers in Christ to stumble.
Baugh states:
“Today, it is the equivalent of warning Christians away from imitation of styles set by promiscuous pop singers and actresses.”
SM Baugh
The biggest issue that Paul is addressing here is the heart. Some women in the church were not coming for the sole purpose of worshiping Jesus. They were spending more time and thought on how they appeared to others than on how they were to worship their Savior.
This is a good question for all of us today. Certainly, in our culture, women struggle with this more often than men. However, it can be a struggle for both genders at times. But…
Do you spend more time Sunday mornings on beautifying your external being or preparing your eternal being - namely your soul - for worship?
I know that is a difficult question there. Although we understand that these verses in 1 Timothy 2:9-10 and 1 Peter 3:3-4 are not prohibitions from common braiding of hair or wearing reasonable jewelry, what is your biggest focus as you prepare for worship?
Some of you just breathed a sigh of relief when I said that we understand that these verses are not a direct prohibition from ever braiding your hair or wearing jewelry. My heartfelt warning to you is this - that you be sure that your relief isn’t because of vanity instead of Christian liberty.
But others might be bothered in thinking that I am explaining this passage away or not taking it as literally as I should. Well we understand the literal and contextual statements here through looking at the rest of Scripture. We must interpret Scripture with Scripture. Don’t let me or anyone else try to culturally explain away passages. It is important to understand the culture, but ultimately, we must look at the Bible.
See the following verses that clarify this:
She makes bed coverings for herself; her clothing is fine linen and purple.
Here we see the Proverbs 31 woman dressed in beautiful clothing - purple which signified royalty during that time. This is a woman seen as holy and above reproach in the Bible.
Jewelry is positively described in other verses such as Proverbs 25:12, Genesis 24:53, Isaiah 61:10, Luke 15:22 and Revelation 21:2.
And we see it even more clearly in how God adorns His people with jewelry in Ezekiel 16:11-13.
And finally, we see in verses 9-10 here that there is no prescriptive hair replacement style given. The heart of the matter is modesty, purity, and godliness which we will go through in a moment.
In conclusion of these negative warnings, we must also see that there are many verses warning us against the wrong use of jewelry and using excessive jewelry and sensual dress and hairstyles to entice men. These Scriptures must all be balanced. Women are given liberty in this area. But this liberty should not cause another to stumble. We are not here to make a law where there is no law. We must each, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, walk in purity.
Getting back to our verses we see instead that:
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, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works.
Women are to:
Adorn themselves in respectable apparel, modesty and self-control. They should be adorned with what is proper for women who profess godliness - which is good works.
Here we see the result of a pure and clean heart before God. It is one of respect for others by dressing with modesty. It is one of self-control and godliness. And it is one that has faith with deeds.
A woman who leads a godly life and does good works for Christ is adorned with much more beauty than a woman focused only on external adornment.
As the writer of Proverbs 31 states:
Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
Ladies, may you practice holiness by being women of purity. And finally, we see that…
Scripture References: 1 Peter 3:3-4, Proverbs 31:22, Proverbs 25:12, Genesis 24:53, Isaiah 61:10, Luke 15:22, Revelation 21:2, Ezekiel 16:11-13, Proverbs 31:30
III. Women Are Commanded to Practice Holiness in the Church by Being Women of Prudence (11-15)
III. Women Are Commanded to Practice Holiness in the Church by Being Women of Prudence (11-15)
Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness.
Before getting into the prohibitions of Paul in the following verses, we must see the first command that he gives. Let a woman learn. First century Judaism allowed women to attend synagogue but did not encourage the teaching of women. Most rabbis refused to teach women and some likened it to throwing pearls to pigs. Yet Paul, following Christ’s example and direction, commanded that women be taught theology and the Word of God. They were to be included in the church fellowship. They were to be fed the Word of God.
Paul then moves forward to command that women are to learn quietly with all submissiveness. This refers to having a peaceful, gentle, and humble spirit. We will see this word quiet stated again in verse 12. The idea is clarified in 1 Corinthians 14 where we see that women are to remain quiet during the gathered body of believers in 1 Corinthians 14:34:
the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says.
Before expositing this idea any further yet, we need to continue to read verse 12:
I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.
Paul, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, gives two prohibitions here. He prohibits a woman from teaching and from exercising authority over a man. So what do these two things actually mean?
1. Teaching
This does not mean that women cannot teach. Titus 2:3-5 specifically charges women to teach other women! Timothy, himself, is a man who was taught the Scriptures by his mother and grandmother as seen in 2 Timothy 1:5, 3:14-15. The Scriptures are clear that women are to teach one another and children.
The Greek word for teach here is didaskō (dee-das-ko) which is where we get the English word didactic. This refers to the systematic teaching of the Word of God.
So what is clearly taught by Paul here is that women should not didactically and authoritatively teach men. This practically can be seen as women are not permitted to preach from the pulpit or permitted to teach when men are present in the church. They most certainly can teach women and children.
Paul will give a little more information about this in a moment, but let’s look at the next word as well.
2. Authority
Paul then prohibits women from assuming positions of authority over men in the church. There are many practical implications to this that have been debated in churches. The main idea here is that women are not to assume leadership over men in the church. We will discuss the roles of elders and deacons in the coming weeks. Leaders of the church are, by God’s command, to be men.
Sadly, many modern pastors - influenced by the feminism of our culture today - have begun using the phrase ‘under the authority of the pastor’ to allow women to teach and exercise authority over men in the church. This is clearly in opposition of this Scripture. The only authority I have is the authority given to me by God as seen in His Word. I have no authority to change His commands and Word.
Paul then moves on to give the reasoning for this prohibition in verses 13-14:
For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.
There are two reasons that Paul says God requires male leadership of the church.
Creation Order - Adam was created first and thus man is to be the head of his family which extrapolates to being the head of the church as well. This idea is clearly shown through marriage in Ephesians 5.
The Fall - Eve, not Adam, was deceived.
Most people understand number one pretty well. This is clearly shown throughout the Scriptures and is usually not a point of contention in Biblically-minded churches.
The second reason is a bit more difficult. We are told that Adam was not deceived, but Eve was.
There are multiple things that fell apart in the Garden of Eden when the serpent - namely Satan - tempted Eve to eat of the fruit.
We see that Eve usurped her husband’s authority. The serpent bypassed Adam, who was right there according to Genesis 3, and went to Eve. She makes this decision to eat of the fruit without discussing it with Adam. And then she leads her husband into sin by offering him a taste of the fruit.
Because of this, as well as created order, we are told that the church should be led by males.
Now before we blast Eve here, we need to see Adam’s transgression as well.
And we see Adam passively sitting back and not leading. We are told that he was not deceived. What does that mean? It means that he pridefully and willingly rebelled against God!
Because of this, the entire New Testament blasts - not Eve - but instead Adam for the fall of mankind!
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—
and
For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
Although men are given the charge to lead, this charge comes with great responsibility and a heavy burden. We bear the burden of leading the family and some of us bear the burden of leading the Church.
Regarding leading the church, this is certainly a difficult task. I do love what I get to do in preaching the Word of God, and I have a burning desire to see others grow in their knowledge and understanding of the Word. I also love shepherding this wonderful group of believers. But with all of that said, this is certainly a difficult job.
I am sure that there are few - if any - of you that envy what I am doing right now in preaching this difficult text. There is a great burden in studying the Word of God and preaching the Word of God. It is something that I love and count as a privilege. Yet, it comes at a price. It is a great responsibility. And given our subject matter today, I can probably assume that most of you would not trade places with me this morning even for a great sum of money!
With all of this said…
How do we practically play out these verses today? How do we avoid going off the rails in either direction - legalism or liberalism? Like anything, we must approach it with the entirety of Scripture. I have developed some practical points for women serving in the church. I hope that you find this clarifying and helpful.
Practical Points for Women in the Church:
1. Women may sing and play instruments unto the Lord. We see countless examples of females singing throughout the Scriptures.
2. Women may teach and lead prayer with other women and/or children in the church and disciple others. (Titus 2:3-5, 2 Timothy 1:5, 3:14-15)
3. Women are called to share the Gospel with others. (Matthew 28:16-20)
4. Women may serve in hospitality ministries. (Hebrews 13:2, 1 Peter 4:9, Acts 9:36-39, among many others)
5. Women may serve to aid in the help of widows and orphans in the church. (1 Timothy 5, James 1:27)
6. Women may pray and give knowledge in groups of men and women so long as it is not authoritative or didactic in nature (example, Bible study, small group, Sunday School etc). (Acts 12:12-27, Acts 18:24-26)
7. Women may serve in an unlimited number of practical ways as long as it does not involve authority for teaching over men.
We should all be learning from the women in our church! They have so much to offer. These verses do not preclude men from learning from women. I have learned so much from my wife over the years. I have learned from women in my family including my mother, grandmother, and sisters. And I have learned much from other women along the way including many in this church as well! These verses are all about church order concerning authority and authoritative proclamation of God’s Word.
Any pastor or elder who would not seek the advice of the women in his church would be severely hindered in his ministry. It would be as though he was trying to function with only half of his body! We are one body and many parts. All parts are valuable. They have different roles - absolutely. But they are all of value!
I pray that you see that the Bible clearly does not teach that women are inferior. They are equal before God but have complementary roles to men. I would also suggest that you listen to my most recent podcast on the Biblical understanding of the importance of women for more details about God’s value for women.
Paul ends this section with one of the most difficult verses in the Bible at first glance.
Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.
There are many interpretations of this verse and time would fail us to mention them all. However, the most straight-forward interpretation, in my view, is the view of the Messiah here. After the Fall we see the following statement in Genesis 3:15:
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.”
As we have discussed before, this is the proto-evangelium, or the first Gospel. It is the first prophesy of the coming Messiah who would crush the head of Satan.
For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.
Looking at verses 13-15 in context, it is clear that we are referring back to Genesis 3 by discussing creation order and the Fall. It makes sense that Paul, keeping Eve in mind, would say that she would be saved through childbearing - referring to the child of promise who would come - namely the Messiah - who would save those who would continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.
What a beautiful way to end this difficult Scripture! He ends it with Gospel.
Gender confusion has been present since the Fall of mankind. Although it appears more blatant than ever, it has been an issue since sin entered the world. The cure for all sin is the Gospel. Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins and rose three days later! Salvation is found in Him alone. If only people will repent and place their trust and faith in Him - then they can be saved.
Scripture References: 1 Corinthians 14:34, Titus 2:3-5, 2 Timothy 1:5, 2 Timothy 3:14-15, Ephesians 5, Genesis 3, Romans 5:12, 1 Corinthians 15:21-22, Genesis 3:15
Conclusion:
As we come to a close I think there is a really important teaching that we need to remember from this passage.
The church must be focused on Christ alone.
Our temptation is to make the Church focused on ourselves. We saw a warning to men in our first point. Men sometimes like to make the church a place where they dominate and angrily quarrel. Time would fail us to review all of the alpha male leaders who have imploded or exploded their churches because of their ego and dominating nature. This should never be the case for the leadership of the church - and it really should not be true regarding any other men in the church for that matter.
Then we saw a warning to women not to make the church a place where they were noticed because of their external beauty. Women are to come to the fellowship with the sole focus of worshiping Christ and magnifying Him and not magnifying themself.
And finally, we saw the gender roles of the church. Women are to exercise prudence, meaning wisdom, in how they act in the church. There are so many roles that are available for women to fill in the church.
Frankly, there are so many roles for both men and women to fill in helping Christ’s church thrive. May we not be focused on what we can or cannot do which only leads to selfishness and strife. But may we, instead, focus on Christ alone and what He is calling us to do.
May CrossPointe not be about men or women but instead be about Christ alone.