The Place and Posture of Christian Women (Part 3 of 3)

talking about submission and leadership can often spread spur heated debates even in the church. Yet Jesus perfectly modeled both the submission and leadership. Today on Truth for Life we'll find out why biblical submission doesn't mean inferiority.

Alistair Begg is teaching from chapter 2 in 1 Timothy starting today at verse 15. What are we to do with this most awkward verse? Well, first of all, acknowledge that it is quite an awkward verse, insofar as there is no parallel statement to this anywhere else in the Bible. Now, that in itself should be a warning to us when we seek to interpret it. Because we do know that God tends to enforce and reinforce truth that is of vital significance in relationship to the understanding of his people.

These are probably the best two, if you like. The first interpretation is that in verse 15, when it says, "...but women," and you will see a footnote which says in the Greek, she. But she will be saved through childbearing. Who then is the subject? Well, the subject from verses 13 and 14 is Eve.

Okay? So one way of viewing this verse is that what we have here in verse 15 is a specific reference to Eve and then beyond Eve. Now, what could it possibly mean that she will be saved through childbearing?

What was the promise that was given to Eve in Genesis 3? It was the promise that the seed of woman would ultimately bruise the head of the serpent—namely, that there would come one from woman who would be the great liberator from sin and from the dominion of enmity against God. And so the hope of the Old Testament all the way through is for this one who is going to come, who will be born of a woman.

And the prophets look forward to this individual. And Isaiah speaks of a virgin who will be with child and will bring forth a son and will call his name Jesus. And as a result of this, the woman as well as the man will be saved by this unique childbearing event, for the Savior is born through her. And therefore, according to this interpretation, the woman's role in God's plan of salvation has been vital, because she, Eve, as with all males and females who follow, will be saved as a result of the childbearing which comes about in the incarnation of Jesus Christ. That, to me, is a hard one.

It's not impossible, but it seems you've got to really reach around for that. But that has been traditionally held for a long, long time. For myself, there is great appeal in the suggestion that the reference to her being saved in verse 15 has to do with women being kept safe from wrongly seizing men's roles by embracing a unique woman's role, so that you will be saved from usurping the authority of man if you embrace wholeheartedly the unique prerogative of woman—namely, to be a childbearer, to be a mother, and to fulfill the God-intended role for you. And that, then, will be accompanied by the evidences of Christian character like faith and love and holiness with propriety. So one interpretation sees it as an expression of the incarnation, if you like. Another simply says that the salvation being referred to here is not actually salvation from sin, but it is woman being restored from the position of usurping the authority of man by embracing her God-given role and living life as a woman rather than as someone who bucks the authority of man. Now, I don't want to say any more about that, and indeed, I've said probably more than enough. But I want to make just one or two correlative statements in conclusion to all of this. At least in my mind, they tie in. I think that part of the problem in this whole discussion, especially for women, is that there is a wrong view of authority and leadership in the church, per se.

And it goes like this. Authority or leadership in the church is about status. But when you read the New Testament, what do you discover? Authority and leadership in the church is about service. Now, that's what John 13 is all about. That's what staggered the disciples when Jesus, noticing the fact that none of them were prepared to wash each other's feet, takes a ball and water and a towel and establishes a pattern of servant leadership by washing the dirty feet of his own disciples. And he gives an example that we might follow in his steps. You see, when people think of ministry, particularly the preaching ministry, or of the eldership responsibilities within the local church in terms of status, then it is immediately considered wrong that women should be denied the opportunity to apply for the same jobs. See?

They transfer. Well, it's okay for men to be doctors, therefore it's okay for women to be doctors. It's okay for men to fly planes, therefore it's okay for women to fly planes. And so they argue, and that is fine.

We can follow that line through. But it does not transfer into the realm of leadership within the church. No more than that same logic reverses the roles of leadership within the home and the relationship between husband and wife. Leadership does inevitably carry a measure of authority—there is no question of that—but the authority is not a matter of status in the body of Christ. That's why when you read the list—for example, in Romans 12—leadership is not the top of the list, because leadership is not a higher status.

The significance in leadership has to do with the dimension of service. And in 1 Corinthians 12, for example, Paul reminds us that the members of the body of Christ don't all have the same task or the same function. Not all men in the local church are called to teach or rule. That in no way implies their inferiority to those who are called to teach and rule.

Agreed? You're going to have to think about that, you see, because you're smitten with the idea that this is about status. It's not about status.

It's about service. And if you are not called to rule or to teach, you are not therefore inferior within the structure and plan of God's complementary purpose within the body. That's the whole point. That's why the toe can't say to the finger, I don't need you.

Why the nose can't say to the eye, I have no part of you. And you see, when you think that through, then in the same way women are not inferior because their particular task is not to rule or to teach men. If the men are not inferior who don't do it, why would the women be inferior? If anybody was going to feel inferior, it ought to be the men. It ought to be them saying, Hey, I'm a teacher, I'm a ruler, I'm a leader, I want the status, I want to have those stripes. You say, Yeah, we'll give you stripes, okay, but the stripes will be on your back. If you're thinking status, think again, because it's not status, it's service. Because of that warped thinking, it therefore translates to a curious preoccupation on the part of women to say, Listen, if we really are equal, we've got to do everything that you can do. No. Everybody knows that women are better than men at being women, and that men are better than women at being men.

Now, this is not rocket science. Loved ones, it is because of the pressure of a godless age in which we live that we have so much jitterbugging over this issue. Although women's tasks in some instances are different from those of men, their tasks are equally necessary to the well-being of the body. The objection of some to the restrictions that are placed on women is that this makes women seem less important than men.

Absolutely not. But even if we were to concede that, in relationship to 1 Corinthians 12, it's pretty interesting. Let's concede for a moment that this makes women seem less important than men. Then we'll go to 1 Corinthians 12.22 and what we will read.

What will we read? These parts of the body that seem to be the weaker are indispensable. So even if you were to concede the idea—which I don't!

If you concede it, you're still left with the emphasis of Scripture, which says, And you think that these things, because they are not as significant in your mind, are not really there? Let me tell you, they're absolutely indispensable. So whether we are male or female, we should not, if we are in a nonleadership function, be envious of those who are in such positions, and we certainly ought not to feel ourselves inferior. Our functions are complementary.

That's the first thing. We've got to settle that status business once and for all. Second correlative statement is this. While affirming what Paul says here in terms of restricting the opportunity of women and prohibiting them from pastoral rule, we must affirm the role of women in pastoral care. Because a woman doesn't rule, it doesn't mean she cannot care. And Paul's own ministry is littered with women functioning within the rippling, concentric circles of his ministry at every point along the journey. I don't have time to belabor the point tonight.

You should be grateful for that. But the whole dimension of pastoral care—where, for example, a lady came to me this morning and broke her heart, telling me of a circumstance in her home, and sure, I am the pastor, a pastor, sure, I am a shepherd, and sure, I have something to say, but as a student listened to her, I said, It's not me that should listen to this. It is another woman who should listen to this. This is a place for a woman to be involved in pastoral care. And therefore, our women need to be trained in pastoral care, they need to be recognized in pastoral care, and I believe we have a phenomenal untapped resource in relationship to that. Also, while we recognize what Paul has said here—prohibiting woman from rule and from the teaching function in the mixed congregation of the fellowship of God's people—we need to affirm the woman's role in pastoral administration.

In pastoral administration. Where would we be? Where are we without the wisdom, abilities, and giftedness of women? Men, we are in total chaos.

And it is the worst form of male chauvinism to suggest anything other than that. We are not able on our own, we are not equipped on our own, we are not supposed to be on our own, and we live in need of that complementary dimension. The fact that because people are afraid of women in rule makes them run a thousand miles from women in anything is no excuse for a local fellowship not thinking it out and getting it right. And I'm not suggesting to you that we already got it right.

I am suggesting to you that it is a journey upon which we need to continue to move, and we will, as we continue, get it right. While also affirming the prohibition of women in the role of a teaching pastor or of a ruling elder, we recognize also the role of women as teachers, because the prohibition is governed by the word men, and it is governed by the context. It doesn't mean that women can't teach anywhere, anytime, anyhow. And again, the New Testament is littered with people and women in teaching roles. 1 Timothy 2 makes reference of it. 1 Corinthians 14 does. And one of the chestnuts that always comes up—and we won't have time for questions, you'll be relieved to know—is that he said to himself, one of the chestnuts that always comes up, he says, Well, you did that thing on 1 Timothy 2, and then you had Helen Rose over here come to the church.

Na-na-na-na-na-na. And she spoke on a Sunday morning, and she's not allowed to speak on Sunday mornings because of 1 Timothy 2. Yes, she's allowed to speak on Sunday mornings, if the elders determine that we'd like her to. She's not going to speak as the pastor and the teacher. She is not going to speak in a position of rule and authority, but she has something to say, and we like to hear it. There are women who have unique abilities in relationship to, for example, dealing with bereavement.

And if that woman has something to share with the fellowship in the context of the Lord's Day worship, then she can come and share it, providing it does not negate all that we have said. In other words, loved ones, we can't take a principle and make a law out of it. And legalists always make laws out of principles, because it is far more comfortable than you can always have it cut and dried. But principles must be principles, and laws remain laws.

Think it out. Because, if you think also, while this pulpit is my primary place for teaching, it's not the only place teaching takes place. It takes place one-on-one, it takes place in small groups, it takes place all over the place. And the same is true for women. Titus 2, women teaching women. Titus 2, women in the home teaching their children, teaching other young women the responsibilities and privileges of parenthood, and so on. What about new Christian groups, where you have young couples that are coming together and they've recently professed faith in Jesus Christ? And the opportunity for a husband and wife to be teaching that discipleship group, and for the wife or the lady in that context to be able to speak concerning the nature of things from a feminine perspective? There is nothing that negates that in the Bible. There is nothing that prevents in that context the males going in one room, the females going in another room, and the lady in the context going to the ladies and the girls and saying, Let me tell you about the implications of Christian living in the matter of sexuality, or in the matter of being a wife, or in the matter of being a single girl. That is the right place for that to happen. Not some loose-fired canon pastor who's confronted by all these attractive women in a room trying to explain to them the nature of human sexuality.

They've tried that. The bad idea. The principle, then, loved ones, is not to be applied like a law.

For example, where men are not available, can women teach the Bible? Hands up, yes. Okay? Hands up, no. Oh, you bunch of cowards, the lot of you. No, sorry, that was very unkind. You're waiting for the truth to dawn, and then you'll make your decision. All right.

I only once went to Urbana. It was 1984. The lady was there from Wycliffe Bible Translator. She explained how she and a fellow colleague had gone to a remote tribe somewhere in South America. They had gone there with the purpose of translation. They began to translate 2 Timothy, as it turned out—or 1 Timothy, actually, as it turned out. And they had a man who was the translator from the village. And in the course of translation and in the course of doing certain things, they shared their faith as best they could, and they worshiped as best they could, albeit in this very, very limited context. And this man, who was the translator before long, came to trust in Christ. And as he trusted in Christ, he continued now to translate the New Testament. And when he came to this section in 1 Timothy 2 and translated it, he said to the female missionaries, Now you must stop, and I must start.

And they did stop, and he did start. But were they supposed to sit there and do nothing because they were waiting for a man to come along? No. In other words, the principle that God's people be fed is more important than the identity of those who feed. In that context.

You're not going to turn that into a law either. Take it in the way I'm saying it. Loved ones, I think our objective should be to ask God to turn Parkside Church into a sphere in which the true complementarity of men and women is displayed—to turn us into a church that will uphold the dignity of marriage, the rightness of male leadership, the correctness of female submission, in a true understanding of equal but complementary, and that recognizing the volatile nature of what is represented in this, even when we form our convictions and hold them firmly, we need to recognize that this is an area in which genuine, professing believers disagree. And therefore, it is an area that demands of us humility and charity, recognizing that one day when we get to heaven, what now we see only through a glass darkly, we will see with absolute clarity. And to that day, I personally look forward, especially in relationship to this, with great anticipation. Men and women are equal in worth and value, but by God's design, they complement one another. It's an important distinction to grasp. You're listening to Truth for Life with Alistair Begg.

Alistair returns shortly to close today's program. Now, along with Alistair's Bible-centered teaching here at Truth for Life, we take great care in choosing books we can recommend to you with our mission in mind. And today's book is a little different from many of the titles we offer that look directly at Scripture. This is a book called How Christianity Transformed the World. It tells the compelling stories of dozens of Christians, men and women, going all the way back to the first century, people whose faith helped change the world.

If you enjoy history, you'll love this book, even if you're not much of a history buff. I think you'll be greatly encouraged as you read about how faithful Christians throughout history have contributed to the values that we hold in society today. Request your copy of the book How Christianity Transformed the World when you donate to the Ministry of Truth for Life. You can give a one-time gift through our mobile app or online at truthforlife.org slash donate, or you can arrange to set up an automatic monthly donation when you visit truthforlife.org slash truthpartner, or call us at 888-588-7884.

And if you'd rather mail your donation along with your request for the book, write to Truth for Life at Post Office Box 398000, Cleveland, Ohio 44139. Now, here is Alistair to lead us in prayer. Father, we want to be men and women of your word. We don't want to fiddle with the text. We don't want to maneuver it to suit our own preoccupations.

We don't want to be cowards in our culture. We want to be ruthless in being what you intend for us to be as men and women, within the home, in the realm of singleness, and in the context of church leadership. Save us, therefore, from error. Save us too, Lord, from turning principles into laws, from elevating this issue, which is a crucial issue, to a level that it doesn't really deserve. Help us at the same time, though, to see beyond the discussion to the real discussion, which is a discussion about the authority of the Bible, which must always be a fundamental, primary, crucial issue. I pray you would help us as elders, pastors, to clear our minds of any notion of status, and to think in terms of service, and that we might serve Christ as we serve one another. May we do so in your power and with your grace and help, for we ask these things, commending one another into your care and keeping. For Jesus' sake, Amen. Where the Learning is for Living.