Is a Woman's Place in the Home? Part 1

In this part of the sermon: The class is invited to suggest Scriptures that support the thesis: 'The domestic sphere is the primary and ordinary realm within which a woman fulfills her God-assigned role.'…

This analogy is used to categorize biblical passages by their importance in addressing the sermon's thesis, distinguishing between primary and secondary texts.

That might be a third-ranked soldier, but let's not put him up here in the front ranks. You know, remember the old days when warfare was conducted? You had your front line of soldiers come out, boom, and all the ones that died. Then the second rank came up and filled their place.

19:32 - 19:44 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin turns to Titus 2, setting the context of Titus's mission in Crete and the need for practical godliness. He highlights that the issue of women fulfilling their roles impacts…

Paul's quotation of a Cretan poet (Titus 1:12) is used as an example of how Paul contextualized his directives, describing the dominant sins of Cretan society to highlight the relevance of his exhortations to older men.

for himself what things befit sound doctrine he gives specifics and the first specific is that aged men be temperate grave sober minded sound in faith in love in patience you see even the old men were liable to the eroding influence of the Cretan culture which Paul says was marked in verse twelve quoting one of their own poets it was a master stroke so no one could say ah Paul you're an outsider and a Jew and you're just prejudiced against us Cretans he said I'll quote one of your own poets here's one of your own's assessment about you Cretans Cretans are always liars and the testimony is true...

23:34 - 25:03 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin details the directives for aged women: reverent demeanor, not slanderers, not enslaved to much wine, and 'teachers of that which is good.' He clarifies that this teaching…

Martin speculates that if Paul were writing today, he might include warnings against excessive TV watching for bored, middle-aged women, similar to his warning against being enslaved to much wine, to illustrate how appetites can be uncontrolled.

and their appetites are in control. I'm convinced we're Paul writing in our day, knowing that not only is domestic drunkenness a chronic problem among middle-aged women in America, bored, kids are all grown and gone, they have all their conveniences, and if they're not out seeking an independent career, they're sitting at home watching the soap operas and drinking booze. Perhaps Paul would have also included, not only that, but also that the older women should not be enslaved to much wine, but not enslaved to much TV watching, in which they're living out the fantasies of youth, wishing they co...

31:58 - 33:07 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin expounds on the directive to be 'house workers' (homemakers), challenging modern terminology that devalues this role. He argues that the societal rejection of this biblical…

Martin shares his personal practice of answering 'yes' when asked if his wife works and stating 'Albert N. Martin' as her employer, to challenge the societal notion that homemaking is not 'work' and to open discussions about the value of domestic labor.

We have been given a verbal snow job in our day. When you fill out a form, it says place of employment, head of the house. All right? Then it says, does your wife work?

41:00 - 41:15 Read in full sermon

The point: Be careful not to judge other believers carte blanche regarding specific applications of biblical principles, recognizing that 'to his own master a servant stands or falls.'

Martin recounts a counseling situation where a couple chose for the wife to work outside the home for a limited period, saving all income for long-term financial stability (e.g., a house), illustrating a potentially justifiable 'abnormal' situation that doesn't fundamentally reject biblical principles.

For example, all right, let me just give you a specific that I have had brought to me in the counseling situation. We've got about two minutes and I can cover this. Where a couple have said, if we are to have long-term stability in our commitment to live in this particular area, we're at such and such a place economically, if we choose not to seek to bear a child in the first two years of our marriage and recognizing it is an abnormal, not a normal situation, my wife has agreed to work outside of the home, for the first year, two years, and we're not living on her income. Every bit is being su...

51:12 - 52:21 Read in full sermon