Lesson for October 10, 2021
The Book of I Timothy
Chapter 2:9-15
Verses 9-10
“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.”
This is not saying that women shouldn’t wear makeup, dress well, or wear jewelry. However, if a woman is dressing a certain way in order to bring attention to herself, then that is wrong. If a believing woman has inner beauty as a result of her relationship with God, that will be reflected in the way in which she dresses. Apparently, there were some women in Ephesus that were dressing in such a manner that they had become a distraction in the local church meetings. But let’s concentrate on the positive in these verses regarding women, which is that any Christian woman can be genuinely beautiful. This is true because a woman’s real beauty is within her.
These verses emphasize the fact that what women wear on the body may be pretty, but it does not constitute their real beauty. It is what a woman possesses in her soul that makes her beautiful. What women wear on the outside is not as important as what they “wear” on the inside. When a woman has inner beauty, that is what people will see. Dressing to bring attention to oneself or to impress others is a sign that a woman lacks the inner beauty of Bible doctrine in her soul. (I Peter 3:3-4)
But rather by means of good works, as is proper for women making a claim to godliness. Good works is a reference to divine production produced in the life of a woman by means of consistent study and application of Bible doctrine. Making a claim to godliness means proclaiming godliness by those women who are living the Christian Way of Life. Godliness means to worship, to stand in awe of or to reverence. Therefore, a Christian woman is beautiful in the eyes of God and others when her soul is saturated with accurate Bible doctrine, and she is applying that doctrine consistently. Outward beauty is fleeting, but inner beauty will last a lifetime and throughout eternity!
Verses 11-15
“A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. But I do not allow a woman to teach or to 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 was deceived and became a wrongdoer. But women will be preserved through childbirth, if they continue in faith, love, and sanctity, with moderation.”
A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. In the local church setting, when the pastor is teaching, women (and everyone else) is to remain quiet by refraining from talking among themselves. Apparently, this was a problem in Ephesus. Good manners mean that respect is being shown to the person who is teaching. It is very difficult to concentrate and learn what is being taught when a person is whispering or talking to others.
The Greek word for quiet is “hesuchia,” which means silence or causing no disturbance. It doesn’t mean simply to be quiet; it means concentration while doctrine is being taught. Silence is the response of interest, good manners, concentration, and respect for authority. No one can learn doctrine while they are talking. Talking in church during Bible teaching is more than poor manners, it is a negative reaction, it is thoughtlessness, it is arrogance to think that what you are saying, or whispering is more important than what is being taught by the pastor. If the pastor allows questions or comments, then anyone can enter into the conversation.
No one can advance spiritually until they accept the authority of a pastor-teacher. The pastor’s authority is his spiritual gift received in grace at salvation from the Holy Spirit. It is to male believers only and no woman ever has the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher. His authority comes from his knowledge of God’s Word from dedicated study under the filling of the Holy Spirit. A woman must respond positively to the doctrine being taught for her personal spiritual growth and blessing, as well as the development of her inner beauty.
But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. Timothy was obviously having a hard time from some of the ladies. Timothy, as a young man, did not know how to handle strong-willed older women. Paul therefore made it very clear that women are not to teach the congregation or be in authority over the pastor (the man). This does not mean that ladies could not teach others. Paul later tells the spiritually mature women to teach the less mature women how to love their husbands. And we know that women were the ones who taught Timothy as a child.
Exercising authority over a man in context means assuming the authority of a pastor-teacher. This means that God’s plan for the Church Age is for men with the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher to do the teaching to the congregation. Women who assume the role of the pastor of a church are out of line. The requirements for the pastor are clearly taught in I Timothy 3 and no woman, regardless of how much she knows about the Word of God, can meet these requirements.
For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, became a wrongdoer. At Creation, God appointed Adam the authority over Eve and all of creation. In the perfect environment of the Garden of Eden, there was authority – Christ over the man and the man over the woman, which has never changed. Even after the Fall, God did not change the order. Man’s failure did not change the principle. Adam rejected the principle of leadership that God had given to him and followed Eve’s leadership when he should have been leading.
Adam was not deceived in the Garden of Eden means he knew exactly what he was doing when he chose Eve over God. There was not a point at which Adam was deceived. Adam understood doctrine and he chose not to enter into any conversation with Satan. Satan at no point tried to talk to the man because he knew it would be a waste of time. A direct attack upon Adam would not have worked. Adam was too strong doctrinally from the teaching he received every evening in the Garden directly from Jesus Christ. Therefore, Satan had to attack at the weakest point and he picked Eve. Apparently, he had already seen that she was not paying much attention when Jesus was teaching them. Therefore, Satan concluded that Eve would most likely be the one to succumb to his deceit (and he was right).
Eve was deceived by Satan and Adam was enticed by Eve. During the entire temptation from Satan and the fall of Eve, she was totally confused, totally ignorant, totally helpless, and totally arrogant. Everything that happened to Eve was because she chose to remove herself from divine authority. She was easy to deceive because she was arrogant, placing her own desires above the desires of God and ignoring the doctrine she had been taught. Though totally deceived, she still made the conscious choice to disobey God. Therefore, deceived or not, she did what she wanted to do, which resulted in the fall of mankind.
But women will be preserved through the bearing of children. The point is that men and women have different roles in God’s plan. Women were given the task of bearing children and being the primary care giver in the family. Paul has been writing about the role of women that was given to them by God. The term bearing of children can entail much more than simply giving birth. Once the child is born the mother has a huge responsibility in caring for and raising that child.
If a woman is living her spiritual life, she will depend on God to guide her through being the best mother she can be. So, raising children is much more successful for mothers if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint. The word “if” is a third-class condition meaning “maybe they will, maybe they won’t.” Maybe the Christian woman will achieve the goal of inner beauty by means of the study and application of Bible doctrine (continue in faith) and maybe she won’t avail herself to the teaching of God’s Word. If she does continue in doctrine (faith) and (virtue) love and experiential sanctification (sanctity) with soundness of mind (self-restraint), she will achieve the goal of inner beauty and will raise her children accordingly.
Paul could also have had the birth of Jesus Christ in mind because the Savior came into the world by means of a human birth, though it was the unique Virgin Birth. The preservation of women through the bearing of children is perhaps a reference to the Virgin Birth of Christ. It is through the birth and eventual death of Christ on the Cross that women can be preserved/saved eternally.