1 Timothy 2.15-Christian Women Will Be Delivered By Giving Birth To A Child, If They Continue In Faith Resulting In Love And Holiness With Self-Control
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday April 12, 2011
1 Timothy: 1 Timothy 2:15-Christian Women Will Be Delivered By Giving Birth To A Child, If They Continue In Faith Resulting In Love And Holiness With Self-Control
Lesson # 51
Please turn in your Bibles to 1 Timothy 2:11.
We complete our study of 1 Timothy chapter 2 by noting verse 15 and in this verse Paul teaches that Christian women will be delivered by means of giving birth to a child, if they continue in faith, love and holiness with self-control.
1 Timothy 2:11 A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. 12 But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. 13 For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve. 14 And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. 15 But women will be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint. (NASU)
1 Timothy 2:15 is one of the most difficult verses in the Bible to interpret and as a result has produced several different interpretations, which Moo lists: (1) Despite the judgment pronounced upon woman (Gen 3:16), Christian women will be safely preserved through the experience of childbirth. (2) Christian women will experience salvation even though they must bear children (Gen 3:16). (3) By observing her proper role (τεκνογονία) and maintaining Christian virtues, the woman will be kept from the error just mentioned (lording it over the husband and being deceived). (4) Christian women are saved through good works, figuratively represented by τεκνογονία. (5) Despite the disastrous results of Eve’s deception, Christian women will be saved through the childbirth, the coming of the Messiah, just as was promised in the protoevangelium (Gen 3:15). (6) It is not through active teaching and ruling activities that Christian women will be saved, but through faithfulness to their proper role, exemplified in motherhood. (1 Timothy 2:11-15: Meaning and Significance; Trinity Journal volume 1, number 1, Spring 1980, page 71)
“But women will be preserved through the bearing of children” is composed of the conjunction de (δέ) (theh), “but” and the third person singular future passive indicative form of the verb sozo (σῴζω) (so-zoe), “will be preserved” and the preposition dia (διά) (thee-ah), “through” and the articular genitive feminine singular form of the noun teknogonia (τεκνογονία) (tek-no-thoe-nee-ah), “the bearing of children.”
The conjunction de is used by Paul here in 1 Timothy 2:15 in an adversative sense meaning it is introducing a statement that stands in contrast with the adversative clause in verse 14, which teaches that because Eve was thoroughly and completely deceived, she entered into transgression.
This transgression refers of course to her disobeying the Lord’s prohibition to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
In verse 15, the conjunction de introduces the statement that teaches that Christian women will be delivered in a spiritual sense through the act of Mary giving birth to the Messiah, if they continue in faith and love and holiness with self-control.
This statement presupposes that Paul’s readers know Genesis 3:15-16, which taught that Eve and her female progeny would bring forth children in pain but would be delivered from sin and Satan through the act of one of Eve’s descendants giving birth to the Messiah who would provide this deliverance.
A comparison of verse 14 with verse 15 indicates that the contrast is between Eve and her female progeny in bondage to the consequences of Eve’s sin with that of their being delivered from sin and Satan through the act of bearing a child who would provide them this deliverance through His death and resurrection.
The verb sozo refers to the act of Jesus Christ delivering Eve and Christian women from personal sin, the sin nature, Satan, his cosmic system, condemnation from the Law, spiritual and physical death and eternal condemnation through His substitutionary spiritual and physical deaths on the cross and resurrection.
The subject of sozo is not only the historical Eve but also refers to Christian women who have appropriated this salvation provided by the Messiah at the moment of conversion when they exercised faith in Jesus Christ.
Eve is the representative of Christian women.
Salvation is accomplished in three stages: (1) Positional: At conversion, through faith alone in Christ alone, the Christian is delivered from sin and Satan. (2) Experiential: After conversion, by exercising faith in the Spirit’s teaching with regards to their union and identification with Christ in His death and resurrection, the Christian experiences this deliverance. (3) Perfective: At the rapture of the church, the Christian will experience permanently this deliverance.
The faith mentioned in the conditional clause does not speak of the moment of conversion since the Ephesian women are already saved but rather it speaks of their faith after conversion, which will enable them to experience their salvation and its benefits.
If they continue to live by faith in the Word of God, they will experience their salvation.
The noun teknogonia is a compound word composed of the noun teknon, “child” and the verb ginomai, “to give birth,” thus the word literally means “to give birth to a child.”
In 1 Timothy 2:15, the noun means “giving birth to a child” and refers to the act of giving birth to a child and specifically, it speaks of Mary giving birth to Jesus Christ.
This is indicated by the articular construction of the word which indicates that the noun refers to something that is well-known to the reader.
The apostle is not saying that the Ephesian women are saved by the birth of Christ.
Rather, he is saying that they can experience their deliverance from sin and Satan that was provided by the Messiah, who Mary, a descendant of Eve, gave birth to, by appropriating this deliverance through faith in the Word of God.
This noun refers specifically to the act of Mary giving birth to the Messiah and not the birth itself (Mounce, page 145).
The noun teknogonia is the object of the preposition dia, which functions as a marker of means indicating that Eve and all Christian women would be delivered from sin and Satan “by means of” the act of giving birth to the Messiah who would provide this deliverance.
The curse of giving birth to children in pain became a blessing in that through the birth of Christ, salvation was provided for all people.
“If they continue in faith” is composed of the conditional particle ean (ἐάν) (ah-ahn), “if” and the third person plural aorist active subjunctive form of the verb meno (μένω) (men-owe), “they continue” and the preposition en (ἐν), “in” and its object is the dative feminine singular form of the noun pistis (πίστις) (pee-steece), “faith.”
The conditional particle ean is employed with the subjunctive mood of the verb meno, “they continue” to form the protasis of a fifth class conditional statement.
This statement teaches a spiritual principle that Christian women will experience their deliverance from sin and Satan that was provided by the Messiah if they continue to exercise faith in the Word of God.
This results in operating in God’s love for one another, and experiencing the holiness of God accompanied by self-control.
The verb meno in 1 Timothy 2:15 means “to continue to exist in a particular state” indicating that Christian women will experience their deliverance from sin and Satan provided by the Messiah if they “continue to exist in the state of” exercising faith in the Word of God.
Thus, the word speaks of experiencing fellowship with God since it is based upon exercising faith in the Word of God.
In 1 Timothy 2:15, the noun pistis speaks of the post-conversion faith in the Word of God of Christian women.
It does not refer to saving faith or faith in Jesus Christ for eternal salvation but rather the Christian’s faith in the Word of God after their conversion since in context Paul is addressing the conduct of Christian women.
Also, in context, pistis is used in relation to Christian women obeying the command to love their fellow believer as Christ loves, which is accomplished by exercising faith in the Spirit’s teaching in the Word of God and specifically, the command to love one another as Christ loves.
Therefore, pistis is referring to Christian women exercising faith in the Word of God after their conversion, which will enable them to experience deliverance from sin and Satan, which Christ provided through His death and resurrection.
“And love” is composed of the conjunction conjunction kai (καί) (keh), “and” which is followed by the dative feminine singular form of the noun agape (ἀγάπη) (ah-gah-pee), “love.”
The noun agape in 1 Timothy 2:15 means “divine-love” since it refers to the love of God reproduced in the life of the Christian by the Holy Spirit when the believer exercises faith in the Word of God and specifically faith in their union and identification with Christ.
It refers to Christian women obeying the Lord Jesus’ command to love one another as He loves, which is the direct result of exercising faith in the Word of God (John 13:34).
The conjunction kai is expressing a result meaning that exercising love for one’s fellow Christian is the direct result of exercising faith in the Word of God.
“And sanctity” is composed of the conjunction kai (καί) (keh), “and” which is followed by the dative masculine singular form of the noun hagiasmos (ἁγιασμός) (ahgee-ahs-moce), “sanctity.”
In 1 Timothy 2:15, the noun hagiasmos refers to Christian women experiencing sanctification as a result of exercising faith in the Word of God.
“With self-restraint” is composed of the preposition meta (μετά) (meh-tah), “with” and the genitive feminine singular form of the noun sophrosune (σωφροσύνη) (so-froe-see-nee), “self-restraint.”
Here in 1 Timothy 2:15, Paul uses this noun sophrosune with reference to the women in the Christian community and means “self-control” with respect to one’s sexual desires and impulses which is the direct result of thinking in a godly fashion.
It is the result of understanding and applying the Word of God and appropriating by faith one’s union and identification with Jesus Christ in His death and resurrection (Romans 6:11-13).