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Women in the Household of God

Women in the Household of God

May 14, 2017

Passage: 1 Timothy 2:8-15

Preacher: Tom Ascol

Series: Life in the Household of God

Category: Sunday Morning

Keywords: authority, church, ministry, roles, service, women

Detail:

Pastor Tom Ascol continues his series in the Pastoral Epistles with a message entitled “Women in the Household of God,” built around 1 Timothy 2:8 – 15. God has established rules and order for how He governs His household. The Pastoral letters explain many of these rules. Today’s passage speaks to how the women of the church are to conduct themselves.

Paul teaches men and women do not have always have the same roles; the first lesson taught is that women have important responsibilities in the church. Differing roles diminishes the worth of neither. Modern cultural expectations present an opposing point of view, namely that unless roles are the same there can be no real equality, this unscriptural teaching must be set aside. God has specific roles for both men and women.

Paul starts his teaching here with instruction to men. Men are to pray and lead holy lives thus reducing the disruptions earlier evident in the church Timothy shepherded. Furthermore, to fulfill their obligations, men must stop harboring sinful attitudes to make their worship pure. Women too are to diminish disruptions in the church.

Women should display godliness. Paul, using language usually reserved for courtesans, warns against jewelry, not the jewelry itself but rather the focus some women were putting on it. Women were, and are, to dress modestly, in respectful apparel emphasizing a Christian’s internal attitude. Paul desires to let their inward godliness, not the cultural externals, determine how women should dress. Paul caps off this point by saying women should display godliness not only in how they dress but also in what they do…good works.

Paul moves on. Women are to learn respectfully. This learning have been new to Jewish believers since the education of Jewish women was not usually promoted. Women had their own section in the temple and were kept out of the main teaching areas. Yet among Jesus’ closest followers were many women. The Lord expects His disciples, men and women to learn about Him and, in so doing, become more Christ-like.

Finally, Paul states women should not be elders or preachers. Again, while this seems to conflict with accepted societal norms, those societal norms are the inventions of humankind and are not necessarily scriptural. Neither is this teaching indicative of the cultural norm at the time. Paul uses two explanations, the order of creation and the events of the Fall, to prove that. In fact, the Fall is indicative of the results of the role-reversal in which Adam and Eve participated during the temptation. This does not mean women cannot ever teach, or even teach men; it only means that women cannot teach men in a church meeting. There is no reason to be offended or rebel; the prohibition has nothing to do with individual worth or value. Rather it is reflective of God’s order for His church.

Just as God has ordained a way to Him through Jesus Christ, so He has ordained an order for His church. Only through Jesus can we enter in relationship with God; only through adhering to God’s order can we fully enjoy the Christian life.