1 Timothy Episode 2: Prayer, Salvation, and Women
September 13, 2023 | Andy Davis
1 Timothy 2:1-15
Unity, Salvation, Prayer
Paul gives Timothy instruction regarding intercessory prayer and God’s saving intention for the world. Paul also addresses specific concerns for men and women.
- Podcast Transcript -
Wes
Welcome to the Two Journeys Bible Study podcast. This podcast is just one of the many resources available to you for free from Two Journeys Ministry. If you're interested in learning more, just head over to twojourneys.org. Now on today's episode. This is episode two in our 1 Timothy Bible Study podcast. This episode is entitled, Prayer, Salvation and Women, where we'll discuss 1 Timothy 2:1-15. I'm Wes Treadway, and I'm here with Pastor Andy Davis. Andy, what are we going to see in these verses that we're looking at today?
Andy
Well, 1 Timothy 2 is one of the most important chapters in the Bible on the issue of gender-based roles in the church. It's something that has come up again and again, and it is also therefore one of the most controversial passages. Many individuals have had a great deal of difficulty with the things in this passage. But there's no good reason for it. We need to realize all scripture is God-breathed, as he says in 2 Timothy 3, and it's therefore good food. It's therapeutic, helpful, beneficial. The question is how can we understand it? Let's understand it rightly. How can we apply it? And that's the end of the chapter.
The beginning of the chapter talks about prayers and intercessions being made for people for their salvation. And so, God wants the church, and that's what the whole epistle is about, it's how people should conduct themselves in the church, God's household. God is laying things out for us, and he's saying that he wants, as Jesus said about the temple, he wants his household to be a house of prayer for all nations. He wants it to be a place, not of controversy and of bitter rancor or disputations, but in which men and women are loving each other, getting along and uniting their hearts in prayer for the salvation of all kinds of people, and in which individuals play out certain roles as God has ordained. So, we're going to talk about gender-based roles and intercession for salvation. That's what this chapter is about.
Wes
Well, let me go ahead and read 1 Timothy 2:1-15:
First of all, then I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good and it is pleasing in the sight of God, our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. 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.
“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.
Andy, why does Paul use so many different words for prayer in verse one? And who does Paul urge his readers to pray for?
Andy
Yeah, it's a fascinating question. Different words for prayer. He says in my translations, "Requests, prayers, intercessions, thanksgivings." So, there's different aspects or elements of prayer. He does the same thing in Ephesians 6. So, there's different types of prayers. And I think it just shows the breadth and the complexity and the beauty of a healthy prayer life. So he wants different things to be happening in our prayer lives, and he's about to enjoin that we should be praying for kings and people in authority. We'll talk about that in a moment. But imagine for example, thanksgiving, thanking God for the king, thanking God for him being the one that God chose and put in that position, what effect that would have on the people. So, I just love the breadth of words given for prayer.
And then big picture, what's being said here is that the church, as I said in the intro, should be a place of prayer. We should be people that are praying for the salvation of individuals and for specific decisions that people in authority make. That prayer would be a central part of the life of a healthy church. That's what we are talking about in this chapter.
Wes
Now, to what end does Paul want us to pray for kings and all those in authority, and why might we find it hard to imagine praying for kings and all those in authority?
Andy
Well, initially, the immediate desire is that the church would be able to lead a peaceful, quiet, godly life. That basically it seems government would stay out of their way and would not harass them or provoke them or make life difficult. Paul is one who should know that very well because he was an instrument of the governing authorities, the Jewish governing authorities, the Sanhedrin, of hauling off men and women and throwing them in prison because they were Christians. Paul was an instrument of that very persecution. He mentions that in chapter 1, "I was a persecutor and a violent man. I was an arm of the authorities." (paraphrase of 1 Timothy 1:13) The Sanhedrin were religious authorities in Jerusalem and Judea and that area.
And so, he said, "I'm praying. I want people to pray for those in authority so that we might be able to live peaceful and godly lives, that we might be able to carry on our religion without being interfered with by the governing authorities." (paraphrase 1 Timothy 2:1-2) But I think ultimately what he wants is he wants those individuals in authority to be saved. He wants them to become Christians. And so, I would say his ultimate desire is salvation. He wants the work of the Gospel to spread even to the halls of power.
Wes
In verse three, what is Paul talking about when he says, "This is good and pleasing to God," and why?
Andy
Well, I think it's a connection to what he just said. He wants us to pray for kings and those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. That's what's pleasing to God. And that also, it's pleasing to God the government should not overstep its boundaries. We know that in Romans 13, government is portrayed as a servant of God to do His will. But in Revelation 13, it's a beast that crushes God's people. So, what is it going to be, Revelation 13, the destructive tyrannical beast? Or is it going to be Romans 13, the servant of God who wisely sets up society so that we can flourish? And so, the desire is that it would be the one and not the other, that government would stay within its boundaries, color within the lines that God set up. That is good and that pleases God. It's upright and good for governments to behave in that way.
Wes
I think of Peter also talking about government being instituted essentially to promote good and prevent evil as far as it's able to do so, that's the role that government is to have.
Andy
Exactly.
Wes
What are some difficulties in understanding verse four, and what does it mean to come to a knowledge of the truth?
Andy
Yeah, he wants all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth or all people to be saved. And I guess we'll get to this later in verse six, it says that Jesus gave himself as a ransom for all men, et cetera. And so, the idea here is God's intention in saving. Taken simply, these words tend toward universalism, the idea that God wants to save every single solitary human being. And universalists like as in the Unitarian Universalist Church really do believe that in the end, hell will be empty. There will be no one lost, everyone will be saved because God wants everyone to be saved. But most biblical Christians know that that's not true. And Jesus himself said most of the people are on the road that leads to destruction, enter that broad gate that goes to hell. And also, the picture in Revelation 20 is of many people being cast into the lake of fire, and the sheep and the goats, those who are goats are cast into the lake of fire. It's not biblical to believe that everyone is going to be saved.
So then the issue is what does it mean that God wants all men to be saved? Is what God desires being thwarted by human will? And so this goes into a battle between God's sovereignty and human responsibility. Some couch it in terms of Calvinism, Arminianism, this kind of thing. Is it the case that God really does want everyone to be saved, but human beings are thwarting that, like the sinners themselves are saying, no, I don't want to be saved, and God throws up His hands and says, "Well, what can I do? I can't abrogate your free will." Or the church is thwarting God's will because He wants people to be saved, but we're not sharing the gospel like we should, we're not going overseas as missionaries like we should. And none of us is saying that we're being as faithful in evangelism as we could or should be, but that ultimately God's plans are being thwarted by the church that is failing to evangelize, et cetera.
I don't really even think that's what these verses [are] talking about. I'm zeroing in on kings and those in authority. So either you're going to take it as God wants every single solitary person to be saved, and for some reason they're not, and you got to figure that out. So then people who believe that people will be in hell say that God has different kinds of will, that He has a decreeing will, and then He has a permissive will. He would wish everyone to keep the 10 commandments, but he knows that we won't. So they speak in that way. Or that we're zeroing in on what kinds of people Paul has in mind when he says that. He wants all types of people to be saved. That there are elect people from all walks of life, including kings.
And so I actually really do believe that King Nebuchadnezzar is in heaven. I think that God transformed him when He changed him into an animal that ate grass like a cow for seven years and then gave him his right mind back, and he immediately worshiped and praised the God of heaven and wrote such a sweet and powerful chapter, a testimony in Daniel 4 of his transformation. And so he would be an example of a mighty king who was at the height of his power who God saved. And so just because someone's a king, don't give up on him. Pray for them. I want prayers to be offered for kings and those in authority that they may be saved. Don't think, hey, they're king, they can never be saved. Now we know not many are wise. Not many are influential. That is powerful. Not many of the powerful ones, the movers and shakers are saved, but we never give up.
So we should always pray for those in authority that they may be saved because God wants all kinds of people to be saved. That's how I read this verse. All types or categories of people to be saved rather than that God wants every single solitary person to be saved. I actually wouldn't have a problem with the second. I would just say that that would be more of in His permissive will, broadly speaking, but then He works specifically and sovereignly in some. But I think it's better exegetically to say that God wants all categories of people to be saved, including some wealthy people, some powerful people, some CEOs, right? Some Nobel Prize winners and some presidents and prime ministers and kings and queens. We should never give up on somebody. We should share the gospel with all types of people.
I believe the apostle Paul shared the gospel with Caesar when he was on trial for his life, who would've been Nero. And I think he who wrote this lived it out saying, who knows? Who knows? God might actually convert Nero. It's not likely, but he might actually convert him. Why not? And so I think he lived out this confidence that God could save a tyrant like Nero, and he never gave up on him.
"He (Paul) lived out this confidence that God could save a tyrant like Nero, and he never gave up on him."
Concerning the second half of your question, what does it mean to come to a knowledge of the truth? I think that is equivalent to being saved. And so there's some basic facts about Christ we need to know, as Paul says very clearly in Romans 10:13, "For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." The word name means his reputation, what he's known for. And so, the name of Jesus has to do with His biography, his life, the virgin birth, his sinless life, his miracles, his crucifixion and his resurrection, the facts of his life, that all sums up who he is. That's the name. If you call on the name of the Lord, you'll be saved. But you don't know that name if you've never heard. And so, in Romans 10, he says, no one can call on someone they've never heard of. And so, you have to have the facts of the gospel.
And so, to come to a knowledge of the truth means to hear the gospel rightly proclaimed. And Paul, later in a few moments, he'll say, "Of this gospel, I was appointed a herald, a teacher." And so the facts of the gospel are what bring people to a knowledge of the truth.
Wes
What's the connection between verses four and five? What does verse five teach us about Jesus?
Andy
Okay, because God is the one who wants all types of people to be saved, and He wants those types of people, including kings and those in authority to be saved, to come to a knowledge of the truth. Why is that? Because there is one God, and that is it. There's not many gods. There's not many ways to heaven. There is one and only one God. There is one and only one mediator. There is one and only one way of salvation. And so we have that gospel, and we have therefore a responsibility to pray for people's salvation and to proclaim that one gospel on behalf of the one God. There aren't many ways, and so therefore, we have an obligation to take this message from the one God of the one mediator, Jesus Christ, to the ends of the earth, and that includes kings and those in authority.
That word mediator is very, very powerful. There is one God, and there is one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. I would preach through the Book of Job and at one point Job said, "If only there were someone who could lay a hand on us both, someone who could speak to God on my behalf and speak to me on God's behalf,” (paraphrase Job 9:33) that's a mediator. Well, there is someone, and his name is Jesus.
Wes
I remember as you were preaching through that, that just being a powerful picture as we think forward even to how the Book of Hebrews talks about the ministry of Jesus and what a rich picture that is of our need for someone to stand between us and God.
Andy
Amen.
Wes
What does verse six teach us about Jesus' ministry as our Mediator and Savior? And what does it mean that the testimony was given at the proper time?
Andy
Yeah, so Jesus is that one mediator, and we could say so much about that mediatorial role, but the number one aspect of that is his priestly role. He gave a sacrifice in his blood for the elect, and then he intercedes on their behalf before the throne of God. And so, Jesus, it says in Hebrews 7:25, is at the right hand of God and is always living to intercede for us as our great high priest. He is the mediator, and he's pleading with God that our faith will not fail, and that we will finally be saved. And so, Jesus, this great high priest, gave his life, his blood as a ransom for all men, again, all categories of people, for all those that would be saved.
Now, the word ransom is a very important word. Jesus used it himself in Mark 10:45 where he said, "Even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many." Now, what does that word mean? It means the payment of a price to deliver someone from a form of bondage, generally, like a slave could be redeemed or ransomed. So, you pay the price to the owner, and you can set that slave free from their chains. Or again, a kidnapping victim. Somebody's kidnapped, and then the kidnappers are demanding a ransom and a payment is made to deliver the victim from that imprisonment or from that bondage.
And so, the image here is we were delivered or ransomed by the blood of Jesus, set free by Jesus, and he gave that ransom, that blood payment of a blood price once for all, the author of Hebrews tells us. That was done once for all. And then at the right time, as it says in Galatians, in the fullness of time, at the right time, the testimony of that ransom was given, and that is the proclamation of the Gospel. Everything was timed perfectly. And so, the ransom was given at just the right time. And now this testimony was given at just the right time.
Wes
What does Paul tell us about his own ministry in verse seven?
Andy
"And for this purpose, the testimony given at the proper time for the purpose of me proclaiming the good news of the one God and the one Mediator and the ransom that was given for all time, for all sinners, for all types of people. For this purpose, I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher of the gospel to the Gentiles." (paraphrase 1 Timothy 2:6-7) That is Paul's ministry, that's his calling. And he was appointed to proclaim the good news of the gospel. Now, keep in mind he's writing to his protege, he's writing to young Timothy. And Timothy, as a second-generation proclaimer of the gospel, has heard it from Paul now and has a similar role to play. A herald, not an apostle, but a teacher of the gospel. He was called to do that.
Wes
So, we've been talking about prayer and the role of prayer in salvation. What does verse eight teach us about prayer in the church? And why is unity in prayer so vital?
Andy
It is vital. This past Sunday I preached on mountain moving, faith-filled prayer and how Jesus told His disciples, remember how they're amazed at the fig tree withering so quickly? And Jesus said, "Have faith in God. I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, you can say to this mountain, go throw yourself in the sea and it'll be done for you. Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. But when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins." (paraphrase Mark 11:22-25)
It seems like, well, what do the two have to do with each other? But I think what we learned is God will not hear prayer from people who are bitter and unforgiving and in broken relationship with other people. And so, he's talking now to the church, and he wants to be sure that people in the church are getting along with each other, that there's not bitter divisions in the church like we saw in Corinthians. And so, he wants therefore men, he focuses on the men, to lift up holy hands in prayer and get along with each other in sweet harmony. And if you do that, I'm going to listen to your prayers. I want you to lift up holy hands in prayer without anger or disputing, don't have rancorous disputes with each other. I want my church to be characterized by a sweet loving unity among the men in the church. So men, don't fight with each other, don't have bitter rancorous debates with each other, but get along with each other so that your prayers will not be hindered.
"God will not hear prayer from people who are bitter and unforgiving and in broken relationship with other people."
Wes
What does Paul command concerning women's dress in verse nine? And why is a woman's respectable attire so important for godliness in a church?
Andy
All right, so now we get into, in verses nine through 15, some specific injunctions given to women. And so, this is vital, and I just want to say something right now about gender in general. I think we need to understand, it is very important for a man to be a man, and a woman to be a woman. And for a man to delight in being a man, and for a woman to delight in being a woman. And for us to delight in whatever everybody is, for men to delight in the women of the church being women, and for the women in the church to delight that the men are men, because God chose from conception what every human being would be, a man or a woman. Now this is greatly attacked in our culture these days. We have this whole transgenderism movement which is going on right now, which is openly questioning the validity of gender. It acknowledges there is such a thing as biological sex, but [says] gender is self-defined, and it could vacillate into a whole array of permutations and different aspects. And it's just strange.
And I think for us as Bible-believing Christians, we see it as a very tragic Satanic attack on people as such, getting them to be discontent with what they are or arrogantly thinking they can change what they are. So, it's something that the church needs to stand firm on, the validity in the importance of gender. Gender is a real thing. It does matter that a man is a man and a woman is a woman.
Alright, having said that, then there are certain things that are going to be true for men and certain other things that are going to be true for women, and the church can't shrink back from that. We need to embrace 1 Timothy 2:9-15 and all that it teaches on women, and we need to not shrink back from it. And not think in any way that first of all, Jesus would disagree. No, Jesus sent Paul to say these things. He is a herald and an apostle and a teacher of the true faith. He just said that. So, he is there as a mouthpiece of God. This isn't just Paul, the misogynist, Paul, the chauvinist, not at all. This is Jesus teaching this, and Jesus delighted in women. Jesus respected and cared for women. He established, however, men as apostles and leaders in the church. And so, He's going to give certain instructions, and it's important for women, it begins here with their attire, how they dress. It does matter how a woman dresses.
Now the focus here initially is on modesty and decency, propriety. So, the idea there, I think initially has to do with not dressing in a sexually alluring way, to not dress in a way that would entice a man's eyes. It is true he has to govern his eyes. We are not also desiring women to dress in burkas like the women in Muslim countries where they're covering over entirely. You can't see their human form. It's not that. It's just that a woman be careful to dress in such a way that she will not be alluring or enticing to the man. And so I think it starts with sexual propriety, but then he goes on into not dressing in such a way that flaunts her wealth, that she's flaunting that she's wealthy enough to have pearls, which would be very expensive or gold. Most of the church was poor. So you can imagine some slaves and all that and others are showing if women are dressed out, they're dressed out with spectacular lavish gowns or clothes or whatever, with gold and pearls, and it just creates jealousy among people.
So He wants women to dress in such a way that it will not promote lust in the men or jealousy in anyone.
Wes
Having given these prohibitions at the end of verse nine, he does give some positive instructions to the women in verse 10. How should a woman make herself beautiful according to verse 10?
Andy
Similar to 1 Peter 3 where he says, "I want wives to dress with a beautiful, quiet and submissive spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight." So that's how she's supposed to make herself beautiful for her husband. Here, the women of a church are to make themselves beautiful with good deeds. They're to clothe themselves with good deeds. We're told in Romans 13 to clothe ourselves with Christ. So, you can put Christ on. Here, the women are being told to clothe themselves with an evident lifestyle of good deeds. Think about Dorcas, Tabitha, remember who is consistently making things for the women in the church? Everybody knew her as that kind of a woman. So, when she died, they grieved deeply for her, and Peter went and beautifully raised her from the dead. So here Dorcas, Tabitha, is a woman who clothed herself with good deeds.
Wes
What should we learn from what Paul says regarding how women should learn in verse 11?
Andy
"A woman should learn in quietness and full submission." So, first of all, she should learn. She shouldn't be shunned away from theological instruction. So, we get a picture, if you remember that Martha and Mary story, and Jesus is in the home of Martha and Mary and Lazarus. And Jesus is there teaching as he always was. And Mary was sitting at his feet drinking it in, and Martha was bustling around getting dinner ready. You get the picture that Martha has like a 17 course meal planned for the master, and Jesus is like, "Look, I don't need all that. Just come and sit down like your sister. Mary has chosen the better portion, and it will not be taken from her." (paraphrase Luke 10:40-42)
All right, so what is the better portion? Sit and listen to my doctrine. Listen to my teaching. Jesus dealt with women as doctrinal equals to men, fully able to drink in deep, powerful theological truth. So, I want a woman to learn, Paul’s saying, start with that. A woman should learn, but she should do so in quietness and full humility or full submission. So, the quietness there, the word quietness, and he's going to say it again in verse 12, "She must be silent." So, the quietness is, hesuchia, I remember the Greek word, it's a submissive peacefulness as opposed to a rancorous, roiling, controversial aspect. Fighting back, the what about, what about, what abouts kind of thing. Pushing back. It's a picture of rebellion.
So, I think the image there is of the churning up wind and waves of the storm on the Sea of Galilee, and Jesus extends his hand over and says, "Peace. Be still," and instantly everything got quiet. So that then can become a picture of our hearts and our minds, that we are quiet under the word of God. I want a woman to be quiet under the word of God, not pushing back or being controversial. That's what I think it means to learn in full submission and quietness.
Wes
Now verse 12 is the clearest and, therefore, one of the most controversial in the Bible in dealing with how women are to conduct themselves in the church. What two things does Paul prohibit here and how does this relate to the office of elder in the church which Paul is about to describe in chapter three?
Andy
Yeah, it's very, very important. 1 Timothy 2:12, "I do not permit..." He starts out with a prohibition, something he does not permit. Now we need to just stop any attempt to make a division between Paul and Jesus. Paul is Jesus' messenger here. You have a problem with Paul, you have a problem with Jesus, and therefore you have a problem with God. And so fundamentally the issue here, the prohibition is coming from God. Therefore, because it's coming from God, who loves both men and women, it's not mean-spirited. He's not trying to in any way denigrate women. It has nothing to do with capacity or capability. Women are in the image of God. They're intellectually capable of leading and teaching. They're intellectually capable of doing these things, God just doesn't want it. Jesus doesn't want it in the church. He has a certain order that he intends. It's not meant to be insulting.
He's not demeaning the personhood of women here when he prohibits them from these two things, teaching men and having authority over men. And that's what's being prohibited here. I do not permit, or God doesn't permit, Jesus doesn't permit women to teach men in the church and doesn't permit them to have authority. Now they are two things. They're related but different. The Greek sentence here separates the two infinitives, the negated infinitives, "I do not permit," but it starts with the first, "To teach I do not permit, neither to have authority." Some evangelical churches that do believe in gender-based roles melt them together and say, all that's being prohibited here is women being elders. That's what's being prohibited. No, he's prohibiting two things here. He doesn't allow the women to teach the men in any setting connected with the church.
Now we need to understand what this means and what it doesn't mean. I think it means in a formal teaching setting of the church, clearly a sermon, but also Sunday school lessons, we have cell groups, home fellowships, anything organized in which the doctrine of the church is rolled out and laid out and the church is being taught, women are not to teach men. Now women can teach other women, and I do believe women can teach children, male and female. But I do not believe that women can teach adult men. I think that's what's being prohibited here. Neither can they have authority over them. So, there's authoritative roles in the church, definitely that includes elder, but there are other ways in which women could exercise authority in a church, but they are prohibited from doing so over men. Now, this is very offensive in our culture because of feminism. There's a fundamental sense here that women's personhood is being attacked here because you're restricting them from doing some function. You're saying they're worth less. That is absolutely false.
Let's keep in mind most men are not going to teach other men. All right? James says, "Let not many of you brothers presume to be teachers." (paraphrase James 3:1) We're not saying that because a man doesn't teach that he's therefore worth less than the men who do. Not at all. Furthermore, the authority structure being set up that is gender-based here does not in any way denigrate those that have to submit any more than God thinks less of children than he does of parents or thinks less of wives than he does of husbands. Not at all. There's an order here that God is setting up. So Paul, to sum up, prohibits women from teaching men and prohibits women from having authority over men. And this is, I think, very clear, but because of feminism, it's gotten difficult. He finishes the thought, "I do not permit a woman to teach or have authority over a man. She must be silent." The word silent I think means quiet and not controversial or arguing back or pushing back or being contentious.
Wes
What reason does Paul give for the prohibition in verse 13 and how does this prove that the prohibition is not culturally bound, but rather for all churches in all eras of history?
Andy
Right. Now, I went to Gordon-Conwell Seminary in South Hamilton. They taught egalitarianism, or what we call evangelical feminism, which taught inerrancy, taught the inspiration authority of the Bible and that gender-based roles were not true. So, I don't know how you do both of those. I've thought that evangelical feminism is a transition state to one or the other. You're eventually going to be either overtly feminist or you're going to be evangelical, namely trusting in the authority of the Bible. I think it's a tenuous state. I heard all the arguments. This was a battleground text, and they went back and forth over it.
One of the things they said is there are unique circumstances that were going on in Ephesus that caused this kind of one-off prohibition that was culturally bound, and it is not therefore timeless. Well, that's completely false because Paul roots it in the creation order, "For Adam was formed first, then Eve." (1 Timothy 2:13) It had nothing to do with the fall, though he does mention the fall in the very next verse. So, it was fundamental; it was very good for Adam to be alone for a while. So, when I do premarital counseling, when it says, "It is not good for the man to be alone," God does say that, but based on this text, we can say, I think the full understanding is it's not good for the man to remain alone, but it was good for him to be alone for a while. In so doing, he established Adam as head of the human race, and man as leader over woman, both in marriage and in the local church.
Wes
Now Paul continues this line of reasoning in verse 14. What more do we learn from this verse?
Andy
"Adam was not the one deceived, it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner." Now, this is where things start getting pretty offensive. It's like, what, are women more susceptible to being deceptive? It's like, all I know is what the verse says, Paul links it to deception. And others have rather disrespectfully pushed back on Paul saying, "Oh, I'd rather have a guy who knew full well what he was doing and defiantly went ahead and ate from the tree than someone who really didn't understand and really thought she was doing what was best and was being deceived at that moment, but really thought she was doing the right thing."
Now, which of those two would you want? Well, we can push back all we want, but the fundamental reason that Paul gives here is Adam was formed first, and Adam was not deceived. And those are the reasons he gives for a woman not teaching or having authority over a man. It is true that Adam was rebellious. It is true that he was not deceived. He knew what he was doing. He was a sinner that led the entire human race into sin and death. And that's discussed in Romans 5. But Eve was deceived. She didn't understand what she was doing, and so therefore there is an issue of the possibility of doctrinal deception being in some way related to Paul's prohibition here.
Wes
Now the final verse, verse 15 is another difficult verse to understand. How should we understand these words and how do they point to the vital role of childbearing?
Andy
Yeah, it's a hard verse. It really is. My translation says, "But women will be saved through childbearing." A more literalistic translation is, "But she will be saved." Who's the she? Well, the last woman we're talking about was Eve. Is she saved through childbearing? And in what way is she saved through childbearing? Is it referring to Eve and the seed of the woman being Christ? That's one of the interpretations is that the seed of the woman is Christ, and he saves her through her bearing of a son, through Mary's bearing of the Savior of the world. That's at least a possible interpretation.
Others think it just has to do with women's reputation as beneficial contributors to the kingdom of God. Women in general will be held in honor because of their role of childbearing. They'll be held in honor because, as I've said many times from the pulpit, the single most influential and strategic role there is in the kingdom of God is a Christian mother because she teaches her infants their mother tongue, and then if she's a strong believer, pours the gospel into their forming hearts from infancy, like Timothy had with his grandmother, Lois, and his mother Eunice. So, women will be saved from being thought of as second-class citizens and saved from being thought of as having no significant contributing role because of the issue of mothering or motherhood.
"The single most influential and strategic role there is in the kingdom of God is a Christian mother."
Now, we should not go so far as to say that a woman who never has biological children cannot herself have a significant role. We don't want to go that far. We're just trying to understand a very difficult verse here. And so there is a role of child-rearing or childbearing that enable women to have a position of honor. So that's how I'm handling this complex or difficult verse. But that's only true if she carries herself a certain way. Because there are some bad mothers out there. There are some women that biologically give birth, but they're not godly at all. They're actually ungodly women, all right? So, if a woman wants to be held in honor in the church, she wants to be held in honor in godly society, she has to not only bear children, but she has to continue, herself, in faith, in love and holiness and propriety. Carry herself like a godly woman.
Wes
Andy, we've covered a lot in these 15 verses in chapter two of 1 Timothy, what final thoughts do you have for us today?
Andy
I have to be honest, I'm grieved at the attack on gender in our society. I am afraid of where it's going to lead us. I'm afraid that people who claim to be Christians are being so easily swayed by the transgenderism movement because they're, out of compassion, they think, they're trying to protect people from suicidal thoughts or other things. And more generally, they don't see the danger of the Satanic attack on gender that's been going on throughout my lifetime, through feminism and through homosexuality, and now through the transgenderism. We need to stand firm on biblical truth. We need to understand one of the very, very first things said about the human race is that we are male and female, and therefore it's not insignificant. It's very significant.
Secondly, we have to be willing, as in this passage and other places to accept gender-based roles. But we need to do it in a way that's loving. Men need to not lord it over women or think that they're in any way superior. Women need to not look on themselves as inferior. We need to accept with great delight these roles as given by a loving Savior, Jesus, who obviously honored women. Look at all that He told the Samaritan woman at the well about himself, about the future of worship, all these things. He clearly honored her intellect and her ability to take doctrinal insights. And she was an influential, effective missionary, bringing the entire Samaritan village out to meet Jesus. And so clearly God has a big role for women, but we need to understand these gender-based roles and delight in them.
Wes
Well, this has been Episode 2 in our 1 Timothy Bible study podcast. We want to invite you to join us next time for Episode 3, entitled Qualifications for Overseers, where we'll discuss 1 Timothy 3:1-7. Thank you for listening to the Two Journeys Podcast. And may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
