Proclaim and Protect Priority #2: The Teaching Ministry of the Church, 1 Timothy 2:8-15

Proclaim and Protect Priority #2

1 Timothy 2:8-15

1 Timothy 2:8–15 (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. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. 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.

Paul wrote this letter so that the church would know how to behave.

1 Timothy 3:14–15 (ESV)

14 I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, 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.

The church is a pillar and a buttress, it is called to proclaim and protect the gospel…

The Church is called to Proclaim and Protect the Gospel

1 Timothy 2:1-7, Proclaim & Protect Priority #1: Pray for every kind of person.

God desires for all kinds of people to be saved. For Paul writes in 1 Timothy 2:3-4, 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

God clearly has desires and wants, and according to His will he has set eternity in the heart of man and sent Christ to redeem mankind.

God’s desire and His design meet in Jesus Christ.

What I mean by this is that we can see that God’s desire is that all men would be saved… and His design and plan is that all men who are saved would be saved through Jesus Christ.

Now, track with me here… I just read a passage in which Paul addresses, men and women and their behavior in the church. Remember 1 Timothy 3:14–15 (ESV), 14 I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, 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 wrote the letter so that Timothy and the church at Ephesus would now how God’s family- the church- is supposed to be.

The first thing that he tells them is that they should pray… and that they should pray because God has a desire for all men to be saved, and that God has set out his design or plan for salvation and redemption.

In the same way that God desires for all men to be saved, God desires that all Christian men and women behave the same on Sunday as they do ever other day of the week.

If we are not careful we will miss the meat of what is being said here in these verses. I know that verses 11-15 are intriguing and deserve an explanation. But, they only make sense when understood in the context of the church… and do get how we read, interpret, and apply those verses we need to keep this whole passage in the context and flow the way God gave it to us.

Lifting hands to pray wasn’t unique, it was the command to lift “holy” hands that we should focus on.

The Ephesian church is known for a number of issues with some men in the congregation.

Some of them love controversy (1 Timothy 1:3-4) Some of them deny the future resurrection (2 Timothy 2:17-18) Some of them promote strife (1 Timothy 6:3-8) Some of them take advantage of women (2 Timothy 3:6-7)

Adorning yourself with respectable clothing, jewelry, and hair isn’t unique, it was the command for a woman’s “adorning” to be godliness through good works that we should focus on.

The Ephesian church is known for a number of issues with some of the women in the congregation as well.

Some are idle, gossips, and ignore their responsibilities. (1 Timothy 5:11-14) Some are prone to sexual misconduct ( Some chase novelty of doctrine over sound doctrine (2 Timothy 3:6-7)

Priority #1 is for the church to pray for all kinds of people because God desires for all kinds of people to be saved. And, the effectiveness of our prayers for is connected to our personal way of life. Which means the effectiveness of the church in it’s mission is connected more to the personal membership of its members than anything else. (Godly or not)

Proclaim and Protect Priority #2: The teaching ministry of the church.

1 Timothy 2:11-15 says, “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. 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.”

Misconceptions and wrong teaching:

All women are to be submissive to all men. Only women can be prideful in their physical appearance or immodest in their dress. God cares about how nice your church clothes are. Women must be completely silent in the church. Women cannot ever teach, have the gift of teaching, or the place to teach in the church. Men are better than women. Women are more easily deceived than men. The work of Christ removes or erases gender roles in the home and the church.

Via David Shrock- Galatians 3:28 is the egalitarian verse: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” It is argued that this verse obliterates the gender-distinctions brought about by the curse. However, such a reading fails to recognize the gender distinctions in creation (and new creation), and it does not see how inheritance (given only to firstborn sons of Israel in the Old Testament) is in view. Paul’s point in Galatians 3:26–29 is that the blessings given to Israel’s sons are now available to women, Gentiles, and slaves. There is not status in the world (e.g., sex, ethnicity, socio-economic standing) which can deny a believer a share in Christ’s inheritance. Conversely, salvation doesn’t erase gender roles.

Let’s look at what these verses actually say and mean:

1 Timothy 2:11-15

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. 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.

“Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness.”

“Let a woman learn”

This means that God intends for women to learn and for them to do something with what they learn. In fact, it’s God’s intention that women will pass what they learn on to others in their homes and in the church.

“Quietly”

Well, the word “quietly” here is also found in 1 Timothy 2:1–2 (ESV), “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.”

The description that Paul gives to women is not that they would never have anything to say, or even a place to speak up or ask questions. The meaning of these words is that Women who adorn themeless with good works and godliness, will be women who hear the word with the same quiet and peaceful way they are called to live.

One implication is that someone who cannot hear the word taught with the meekness that is described will likely be someone who also cannot or does not live with the same meekness or humility that fits with godliness.

Verse 11 calls women to learn with the peaceable and quiet spirit mentioned in verse 2, and it connects this posture of the heart to the word “submissiveness.”

“Submissiveness”

In the same way that men are called to be holy and without anger or quarreling, women are also called to submit to the Lord and to the leadership that he has established in each congregation.

Paul connects this to Genesis 3, when Adam and Eve first sin. As Paul says, 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. 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.

After they sin, God comes to judge them and then restore them. In the process of judging them he pronounces the consequences of their sin. But, he also gives insight into the ways that they have sinned.

Genesis 3:16-18, 16 To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.”

17 And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

Eve has stepped out of her role in listening to Satan and not following Adam’s lead. And, Adam has stepped out of his responsibility and followed Eve in to sin instead of leading her away from the temptation of the enemy and toward obedience to God. (This is why Paul writes the way he does in Ephesians 5 about the roles of men and women in marriage)

Paul reminds Timothy and the church that God has an order for the home and the world, and the church is the embassy of God’s kingdom until Christ returns. So, the way it was in the beginning is the way that is to be in the church… or the way that is in Christ, is to be the way that it is in the church.

Paul uses Genesis 3 here in reference to the church… because he is grounding the roles and responsibilities in the church in the same pre-fall design as the he does marriage in Ephesians 5. (And these are letters to the same church… which helps strengthen the connection and understanding of these verses)

Adam is held accountable for sin coming into the world. Why? Because Adam was responsible for Eve; and he didn’t carry out the command God gave him. It was sin to stand by and let Eve face temptation, and ti was sin to eat of the fruit.

I know it’s not a popular or modern idea to talk about the responsibility God has given men… but the truth is that it hasn’t been a popular idea since Genesis 3. God declares that from that point on this tension will exist, only to be resolved in Christ.

This passage doesn’t mean that women don’t have a voice or significant responsibilities in the church. It does mean that God has established for primary leadership of the church to come through preaching or teaching to the gathered congregation; and that God has established the role of teaching the whole congregation to qualified men, known here in 1 Timothy 3 as overseers and also mentioned in the NT as elders, pastors, shepherds, or teachers.

Why would I say that? Because the next passage after this one is establishes the qualifications of those who serve as overseers in the church. And, they must have the gift of teaching, and the other groups mentioned after them don’t have to have that gift to serve.

1 Timothy 2:12 says, “2 I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.”

Teaching and authority are intertwined… and Paul says that women are to remain quiet… or women are to remain peaceable, humble, godly, and dignified… their beauty as Peter says in 1 Peter 3:1–7 (ESV) is the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious

” Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, 2 when they see your respectful and pure conduct. 3 Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— 4 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. 5 For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, 6 as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening. 7 Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered."

God desires that the dignity of womanhood be found in their inner beauty and godliness. And God desires that the leadership and strength of men be found in their holiness and gentleness toward their wives and others.

And, you can see in 1 Peter and 1 Timothy that godliness is key to contentment and to an effective prayer life.

The establishment of authority in the church does not mean that women have no place, just as it doesn’t mean that women have no place or voice in the home. It does mean that God has established authority and determined to what he is holding those in offices of leadership accountable. And, we will look more deeply at those offices, responsibilities, and relationships to one another in the near future,

But, for today, I think it best to point out what Paul says women are to do in this same letter… and after that we will look back at the call to men and women, and then finish with our eyes on Christ.

Woman can… (adapted from David Schrock at https://cbmw.org/2023/03/16/say-what-paul-six-more-things-that-1-timothy-28-15-does-not-mean/)

1. Women are gifted to teach in the church.

As Titus 2:3–5 states, Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, 4 and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.

Acts 18:24–28 includes an example of Priscilla teaching Apollos with her husband Aquila. In most cases she is named first, which may indicate her leading role in teaching. Significantly, however, she is never recognized as an elder or teaching in the gathered church. Acts 18:26 is a wonderful example of how she and her husband instructed Apollos privately: “[Apollos] began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.”

Accordingly, we can see that Paul’s words to women in 1 Timothy 2:12 do not wholly deny women the place of instruction. Rather, for men and women in the gathered church, elders are the ones who give direction to biblical and theological vision of the church. The reason for this relates to the household imagery of the church. In marriage, husbands are to be the spiritual leaders of the home. Likewise, in the household of God, elders are proven husbands and fathers, whose godliness prepares them to lead the church.⁴

2. Women are to adorn themselves with good works

3. Women are to embrace their womanhood.

But this doesn’t mean that womanhood is lesser, it means we are to understand that womanhood is necessary… it’s not just that men are to be men, but it is also that women are to be women, and the church should be doing all we can to embrace and equip women for the all the ways that God uses them at home, in the church, and in the world.

This passage speaks to both men and women…

Men are called to follow the example of Christ, the second Adam, by leading and loving sacrificially in the home and the church through holiness and faithfulness to God and His Word.

Adam failed, Christ has succeeded… and the sacrificial way of Christ’s success is the example of the way that men lead in their homes. And, the strength of conviction and faithfulness to the Word that led to the death of Christ is the example of for those who oversee the church… but, not without also acknowledging the tender and gentle way of Jesus as he demonstrated what it means to be a Shepherd who leads the flock.

Not all men are called and gifted to teach, but all are called to lead and love sacrificially In their homes. Men are to be known for holiness more than the height of their hands. Men are to embrace manhood, as much as it relates to the person and character of Christ.

Women…

I have read this a few different ways in the last few weeks… and for our sermon today I found think that Rachel Jankovich wrote this well as it relates to the passage in its context and to the ministry of women today.

“That second Adam laid down his life for his deceived bride. He took our penalty, and through his death and resurrection has brought us life. Choose to remember what God has said, and to joyfully obey it. Trust his plan. Because through this mysterious gift of our obedience to our husbands, our glad embracing of our roles, we will be used in the remaking of the new garden. There is nothing little about our obedience now, just as there was nothing little about Eve’s disobedience then.” Rachel Jankovich

Women are called to follow the example of the church, the second Eve, by following what God has said; and leading through the example of obedience to God and godliness through good works.

Turning to Jesus… if men and women pursue holiness and godliness as described and instructed here in 1 Timothy 2, then Christ will be lifted up through the faithfulness of teaching and personal living.

Death reigns in Adam, Life is found in Jesus

“12 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— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.

15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17 For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. 20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

As Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 2:3–7 (ESV), “3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. 7 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.”

God’s desire and His design meet in Jesus Christ.

There is no other way, option, or possibility for sinful men to be freed from the curse of sin than through Jesus Christ. The promise that God made to Eve, is fulfilled through the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

The curse of sin that came through Adam has been undone. And, the gift of life that has come through Christ is available to all who receive Jesus as Lord.

Following Christ requires faith and a full surrender of your will to follow Him, even when it goes against the grain of the world and its ways.