The Role of Women in the Church

1 Timothy 2:9–15 AV

In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works. Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.

1 Timothy 2:9–15 NASB95

Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments, but rather by means of good works, as is proper for women making a claim to godliness. A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. But women will be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint.

Introduction:

Women are, without a doubt, very important in the history of redemption.

It was the woman Jochebed, Moses mother, who feared God more than shew feared the Pharaoh and hid her son rather than kill him and who became the leader of Israel.

It was the woman, Ruth, who refused to leave her mother-in-law, Naomi, and sacrificed her freedom and later obtained her kinsman redeemer in which the line of Messiah would come.

It was the woman, Hannah who willingly, though she had been barren, gave her son to the Lord who later became the Prophet Samuel.

It was the woman, Abigail, who trusted the LORD and interceded on behalf of the people of her foolish husband land and David did not slaughter them.

It was the woman, Esther, who called the Jews to fast for her and irregardless of her own life went before the King unannounced and won the life of her people.

It was the woman, Elizabeth, who by the Grace of God in her old age, carried the child who would become the forerunner of Jesus Christ, John the Baptist.

It is a woman, according to is the crown jewel of her husband.

It is a woman, according to Proverb 18:22, that says that “he who finds a wife, finds a good thing”.

It is a woman, according to , who is virtuous because of the way she runs the house.

It was a woman, Lydia, who was the fist convert of Paul in Europe who opened her home for the fist Church.

It were women who attended to our Lord’s body at His burial.

It was a woman, Mary, to whom our Lord first appeared at His resurrection.

And admittedly over the years, through ungodly processes, women have been the victims of abuse, not just physically but verbally and subordinately.

The Bible is clear that, in the Lord, there is a rejection of female subordination.

1 Corinthians 11:11–12 NASB95

However, in the Lord, neither is woman independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as the woman originates from the man, so also the man has his birth through the woman; and all things originate from God.

Galatians 3:28 NASB95

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Gal.

The Scriptures are filled with women of noble character, Deborah, Huldah, Mary, Mary Magdalene, Eunice and Lois and many, many others.

Woman are vital to the help and stability of the Church; as a the men have their role in corporate worship, so also do the women.

And we want to to look at this passage as the Apostle lays out the role for the woman; this has to do primarily with their look and and there labor.

We bring down this passage in four points so that we can get a handle of the Women’s Role in the Church.

We will see first, The Adornment of the Women; Second, The Attitude of the Women; third, the Actions of the Women; and fourth, the Atonement of the Women.

I. The Adornment of the Women (Vs. 9)

1 Timothy 2:9 AV

In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;

The phrase “in like manner also” marks a transition to a now aspect in the overall subject that we have been looking.

Paul, having discussed the conduct of the men in gathering in the Church, now turns to the women and there conduct while gathering in the Church.

Now, I want you all to understand that we are going to take this slow because I want you to get the understanding of what the Word of God says here.

Because many of the things that are said here in the text are, without a doubt the inspired Word, but can on the surface we offensive if it is not said a manner that is loving, kind and gracious can cause unnecessary hostility; so let’s take out time and see what the Word teaches, not man’s opinion, about how women are to conduct in the house of God.

First, of all the word for “women” in our text is the Greek word “γυνή” and it is speaking about mature women, women of marrying age.

Paul is not necessarily addressing female children here, because the focus is on the women and as such the older women, as we will see in another passage, are too teach the younger.

Now, understand this with the usage of Paul with “likewise”; just as the men are commanded to pray, likewise the women also are commanded to pray as well.

And just as the men are commanded to pray with holy lives, the women are commanded to pray with requirements as well.

Paul says that the women are to “adorn themselves....”

It is the Greek word “κοσμέω” and it is from the Greek root word “κοσμος” and is, of course, translated “world”.

You say, “well, how does that fit?”

Well, it fits because part of the Greek word κοσμος has to do with order, the world is an ordered or creation that is arranged properly.

The idea that the Apostle had in mind here that women are to order or arrange themselves with appropriate clothing.

Paul instructions are that when a women joins God’s people for worship she must have arranged herself with proper clothing.

Some will say, “Well, I am more concerned with my inside being right with God then I am with the outside”.

And that sounds super-spiritual, but the fact of the matter is that those of us who have to look at you would certainly appreciate it if you arranged yourself on the outside as well.

Listen, the word “proper” is “κόσμιος” and just as the before derives from the root, “κοσμος”, which again, really means “order”.

It is the opposite of chaos.

When the women come into the house of God to worship, they should look like a person that was put together with some sort of order, that is what Paul is saying.

And part of that order is in regards to clothing.

“clothing” is the Greek word “καταστολή” and in Greek, just a little grammar lesson, you have differing parts as it relates to words.

You have the lexical definition, which is what the words means.

You have morphology, which is how the word is used; which part of speech is it (noun, pronoun, verb, etc. ).

You have syntax, which is how the word relates to other words (what kind of noun is it, what kind of a verb is it).

You also have contextual sense, which is how the word is used in that verse.

And when you study the sense of the Greek word here, it has the idea of the way a person behaves, carries, or presents themselves towards other people; especially in regard to dress.

There was a little book that came out many, many years ago called, “Your clothes say it for you” by the Elizabeth Rice; and while I may not agree with all of her conclusions, I will say that one conclusion that I agree, because the Scriptures agree, is that a women’s attitude is marked by how she puts herself together.

Of a woman comes into worship in the house of God and is sloppy in here appearance, then that does say some things about that woman.

Paul is crystal clear here that when the ladies come into the house of God, they are to be arranged properly, without a chaoic look.

Now, that does not mean, necessarily, that you have to come to Church to worship dressed in the traditional Church attire, but you need to come to worship in order and not chaos.

But the Apostle does not stop there, he adds some other important parts to this for us.

He adds three dimensions to this proper order.

A. Clothing (vs. 9)

He says that women, when they come into the Church must have order that is modest.

Here is the problem that had arisen in Ephesus.

In Ephesus there was so much emphasis on the wrong idea of true worship, that a lot of the emphasis was placed on the external apparel of the women.

And because there was no much attention on the external, without an internal holiness, that the women (even in the Church) were dressing in a sexually suggestive manner.

Religious Affections Sixth Sign

In this respect a Christian is like a little child; a little child is modest before men, and his heart is apt to be possessed with fear and awe amongst them.

Women should maintain self-control in the way that they dress.

And they should be dressed in an orderly fashion and they should be dressed modestly.

There is nothing wrong with adorning yourself, but it must be in good taste and it must be done in modesty.

Ladies, you are teaching the young girls how to dress and act; sho when you come into the house of God make sure that you do it with modest apparel.

B. Covering (vs. 9b)

1 Timothy 2:9 AV

In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;

The term “broided hair” can generally mean “hair styles”.

His point is not that women should be indifferent to their hair; that would contradict what he had just said about careful preparation to put herself in order.

He is confronting any gaudy, ostentatious hairdo that would distract attention form the Lord and the purposes that are holy.

Women in that culture often wove gold, pearls, or other jewelry through their hairdos to call attention to themselves and their wealth and beauty.

1 Timothy: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary The Appearance of Women

There is nothing wrong with owning jewelry. Solomon’s bride in Song of Solomon wore gold and silver jewelry (Song 1:10–11; 4:9), as did Rebekah (Gen. 24:53). There is an appropriate time and place for that

Isaiah 61:10 NASB95

I will rejoice greatly in the Lord, My soul will exult in my God; For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

1 Timothy: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary The Appearance of Women

But jewelry was (and is) often used as a way of flaunting a woman’s wealth or calling attention to herself in an unwholesome way. It is that preoccupation which Paul forbids in the place of worship.

When a woman dresses for the worship service to attract attention to herself, she has violated the purpose of worship.

1 Peter 3:3–4 NASB95

Your adornment must not be merely external—braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.

The fourth century Church Father, John Chrysostom wrote:

1 Timothy: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary The Appearance of Women

And what then is modest apparel? Such as covers them completely and decently, and not with superfluous ornaments; for the one is decent and the other is not. What? Do you approach God to pray with broidered hair and ornaments of gold? Are you come to a ball? to a marriage feast? to a carnival? There such costly things might have been seasonable: here not one of them is wanted. You are come to pray, to ask pardon for your sins, to plead for your offences, beseeching the Lord, and hoping to render him propitious to you. Away with such hypocrisy!

Another way women in Paul’s Day flaunted their wealth and drew attention to themselves was by wearing costly garments.

1 Timothy: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary The Appearance of Women

The expensive dresses worn by wealthy women could cost up to 7,000 denarii. Pliny the Elder, a first-century Roman historian, described a dress of Lollia Paulina, wife of the Emperor Caligula, which was worth several hundred thousand dollars by today’s standards (Natural History 9.58). Dresses of the common women could cost as much as 500–800 denarii. To put that into perspective, the average daily wage of a common laborer was one denarius. Because of the extreme expense, most women probably owned only two or three nice dresses in their lives. For a wealthy woman to enter the worship service wearing an expensive dress would shift the focus of attention to her. It could also stir up envy on the part of the poorer women (or their husbands).

Such showy displays were even criticized by non-Christian writers.

In his sixth satire, the first century Roman poet Juvenal wrote:

1 Timothy: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary The Appearance of Women

There is nothing that a woman will not permit herself to do, nothing that she deems shameful, and when she encircles her neck with green emeralds and fastens huge pearls to her elongated ears, so important is the business of beautification; so numerous are the tiers and stories piled one another on her head! In the meantime she pays no attention to her husband!

The wearing of expensive clothes and jewelry that drew attention away from the Lord was obviously inappropriate in the Church.

Women are to display humble godliness, not appearing like prostitutes or showy pagan women.

To come to Church so attired was at best a distraction from honoring God, and at worst an attempt to seduce the men of the Church.

1 Timothy: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary The Appearance of Women

How does a woman discern the sometimes fine line between proper dress and dressing to be the center of attention? The answer starts in the intent of the heart. A woman should examine her motives and goals for the way she dresses. Is her intent to show the grace and beauty of womanhood? Is it to show her love and devotion to her husband and his goodness to her? Is it to reveal a humble heart devoted to worshiping God? Or is it to call attention to herself, and flaunt her wealth and beauty? Or worse, to attempt to allure men sexually? A woman who focuses on worshiping God will consider carefully how she is dressed, because her heart will dictate her wardrobe and appearance.

So, we have seen the Adornment of the Women.

Next is the Attitude of the Woman.

Next time!