Male and Female Church Roles, Part 1

Introduction to the Series and the Day's Topic: Male and Female Roles in the Church

0:04 This adult Sunday school class was held on June 12, 1988, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey.

0:18 While we're waiting for others to be seated, let me just say a word again for any who were not here when I previously recommended this book. I highly recommend this excellent work by George W. Knight III, The Role Relationship of Men and Women. I do not know a finer work that more succinctly and more honestly deals with this crucial question in a non-technical way, and yet with tremendous, solid, sanctified scholarship undergirding what is stated.

0:54 And the chapter headings are Submission and Headship in Marriage, Submission and Headship in the Church, and then this very crucial study on Does, does the word kephale, head, in the Greek mean origin or source, or does it mean ruling authority? And that material is very, very helpful as well, and I would commend this for any of you who are desirous of having in more permanent form the things we've been discussing in these past weeks, and also for those of you who like to have something that you could give to the average serious Christian who may be confused on these matters. I highly commend this excellent work by Dr. Knight.

1:40 Now, for those of you who are visiting with us, let me assure you we do extend a hearty welcome to you, and a word of explanation is in order as to what we are doing in the class at this particular time. We are addressing crucial issues facing the people of God in a very unique way in our generation, and the first of those crucial issues is the whole matter of male and female, identity, roles, and relationships. And after laying what I trust was a broad base for thinking biblically about these matters by considering some of the major materials in the opening chapters of Genesis, what we are now doing is working through this basic premise that male and female roles and relationships are not negated or cancelled by the fall of the law. Or by redemption, and we are considering that premise as it applies in more specific areas. Number one is what we call general male-female relationships, and the pivotal passage that we considered was 1 Corinthians chapter 11 and verse 3, in which a fundamental hierarchical structure is set forth in these terms. I am reversing the word order.

3:05 God stands as head over Christ, Christ stands as head over the man, and the man stands as head over the woman. Now having established that that is God's divinely instituted order from the beginning of creation, for in 1 Corinthians 11 Paul roots this structure in the creative order as found in 1 Corinthians 11. In Genesis chapter 2, we are now seeking to understand from the scriptures that that pattern that is established in general is to be reflected, first of all, in the home. And so last week we looked at the pivotal passages which teach that male headship and female subordination is the order of God for the structuring of the home, or the family, or the domestic sphere. And rather than redemption cancelling this, that very male headship and female subordination is the pattern after, is patterned after the redemptive reality.

4:21 The husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church. And so this is not a culturally oriented thing, it is not only rooted in the doctrine of creation as finding expression in this general structure of female subordination and male headship, but even in the great reality of redemption, that relationship is to obtain. Now we come this morning to see whether or not this is true in the realm of the church or the ecclesiastical relationship. Now, does the fact that the fall or the great realities of redemption, cancel or negate male headship and female subordination in the church? Now, once again, again, primarily for the sake of our visitors, but I hope none of us wearies of hearing these things, in addressing this matter, never forget we are not addressing the question of standing in Christ. The standing in Christ of male and female is absolute. Absolutely and unequivocally equal.

Clarifying the Scope: Equality in Christ vs. Functional Roles in the Church

5:38 Galatians 3, 27 and 28, Ye are all the sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ. In Christ there is neither male nor female. When Paul writes in Ephesians 1, 3, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ, there is no distinction between male and female, so in terms of their standing in Christ, there is absolute, unqualified equality. Likewise, in terms of their endowment with the Spirit, 1 Corinthians 12, 13, For by one Spirit you are all baptized into Christ Jesus, and have all been made to drink of the one Spirit. And then in terms of usefulness in the church, usefulness in the church, and there is an excellent section in James Hurley's book, starting on page 82, in which he shows the place of women in the Gospels, and then starting on page 115, a whole section dealing with the place of women and their usefulness in the apostolic church. So we are not talking now about standing in Christ, endowment with the Spirit,

7:00 or usefulness as members of the body of Christ. The single issue before us is this. Should the pattern of divinely established male headship and female subordination be reflected in the life and government and teaching ministry of the church? That's the single question that is before us.

7:26 We are not addressing standing in Christ, endowment with the Spirit, or usefulness in the church. That's not the question. The question is, should the hierarchical structure be manifested in the life and government, worship and ministry of the church of Christ? Now that's the question.

Identifying Pivotal Passages for Discussion

7:49 In answer to that question, I'm going to ask you to help. What are the pivotal passages that address this subject, and which must be consulted carefully, if we are to have anything that approximates a biblical answer? All right, Jerry? All right, 1 Timothy 2.

8:13 Sorry, 1 Timothy 2, 8 to 15. All right, what's another passage that must be brought into the field of discussion? All right, Jerry? All right, 1 Corinthians 14, and what particular reference?

8:42 33b and following. Okay. 33b through 37 or 38. All right.

8:52 Any other passage that is pivotal in addressing this question? Well, I think you're right in saying these are our two front-ranked soldiers. What would you put as secondary and perhaps powerful and helpful, supported material? Anyone have a suggestion?

9:17 All right, Nate? 1 Corinthians 11, as a buffering passage since that establishes the framework, but since we're assuming that that hierarchical structure obtains in general and are now concerned to see does it apply in particular, that's always in the backdrop. All right? Yes, Norman?

9:40 1 Timothy 12. Okay, so the specific requirements for elders and deacons in 1 Timothy 3, and then for elders in Titus, chapter 1, the specific requirement for those who are the recognized teachers, leaders, governors, shepherds, overseers, guides of the church, will give us some indication as to whether or not the head of the church envisions women holding the official offices of teaching and ruling. So these passages then are indeed helpful as supportive of the teaching set forth in the others. Well, it came out better than I thought. I was going to ask the next question, if you had the materials all jumbled up, in what order should we place them that you brought them out in the right order so I can pass over question number 2.

Why 1 Timothy 2 is the Most Crucial Passage

10:45 All right, so that then brings us to an examination of what is the most pivotal passage of all, 1 Timothy chapter 2. Now let's turn to 1 Timothy chapter 2.

11:01 And I want you to do some work again with your heads. Why do you think I have said that this is the most crucial passage in addressing the question concerning male headship and female subordination in the life and ministry of the church? Have I arbitrarily chosen that passage and said, well, I particularly like that one, so I'll assign it the place of front rank? What do you think lies behind the assertion that this is the most crucial passage?

11:35 All right, Jonathan. All right, the directives given are rooted in what, Jonathan? All right, and not only in their fall, but what else? In creation.

12:02 All right, so you'd say it's most pivotal because it rests down upon the realities of creation and the fall. All right. Someone else want to suggest why it's pivotal? You two deacons fight it out who's going first.

12:14 All right. All right. Cliff? The church first, he is addressing the church in particular, families or general society or individuals, and then he goes on to speak of how behavior in the church where he says, I do not permit a woman to speak, and then he goes on to speak in chapter three of continuing in the context of the church how a man ought to discharge the responsibility of an elder.

12:57 Okay. You're coming close to it. He's dealing specifically in the very language the language points us to women, to men, and to specific functions within the church. Getting closer.

13:11 All right, Chuck, were you going to say the same thing? Ah, there we are. Okay. Now, look at his purposes, verses 14 and 15.

13:24 This is what makes this passage so pivotal and the most crucial passage. At least with reference to chapter two and verse one up until this point, if not in a broader sense, Paul himself tells us why he wrote this section of the epistle. These things write I unto you, hoping to come unto you shortly. Paul had left Timothy at Ephesus while he himself went on into Macedonia.

13:57 We know that from chapter one in verse three, as I exhorted you to tarry at Ephesus when I was going into Macedonia. Now, here he tells Timothy specifically why he is writing what he's writing. Though he could not be there, he said, I write these things hoping to come unto you shortly, but if I tarry long. He had no direct revelation from God concerning if he would be able to return to Ephesus and if he would return, when.

14:31 So he said as a stopgap measure, if I tarry long, that you may know how you or how men ought to behave themselves in the house of God. So the specific subject matter in hand is how men ought. And that little particle, day, is a particle of tremendous necessity. How it is obligatory for men to behave themselves in the house of God.

15:11 So the specific subject matter in the mind of the apostle when he sat down to write or to dictate this part of the epistle was behavior in the house of God. And he's not thinking of the household of God as a general description of God's people in some broad, undefined way. But notice he goes on to define precisely what he means, the house of God, which is the church of the living God. The pillar and ground of the truth.

15:47 So this passage is indeed the most crucial because the explicit purpose of this section of 1 Timothy is to define the kind of behavior in God's house that God himself mandates through apostolic authority. Do you all see that? You see how crucial that is then? Yes? No? Do you all see that?

Directives for Men in the Church (1 Timothy 2:8)

16:14 All right. That being so, let's turn now to this pivotal section. Now in verses 8 through 15, how much do men come into the picture in this passage? Look at the passage and then when you think you have the answer, raise your hand.

16:36 How much do men come into the picture? That is, males. Someone ready to venture an answer? All right, Louise.

16:50 Once in verse 8, I desire therefore that the men pray in every place lifting up holy hands without wrath and disputing. So he's addressing the men. He's not using the general term for mankind but the specific term which refers to the male of the species. It's a word also used, some places translated husband, but it's on air.

17:20 And he says, I desire that the men, that is, the males of the species, pray in every place lifting up holy hands. He's alluding there to the common practice that when men would lead in prayer, they would raise their hands. Here you have a beautiful example of a cultural element and then a non-cultural and moral and ethical element without wrath and disputing. That is, in a context of present acceptance with God without unconfessed sin and ill will in their hearts.

Four Directives for Women's Behavior in the Church (1 Timothy 2:9-12)

17:56 Then in verse 9, in like manner, that is, in the same way I will that women, and then he uses the term that means the female or females of the species, and he uses it in the plural, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel. Verse 11, let a woman learn in quietness. I permit not a woman, verse 12, and then verse 15, but she shall be saved through her childbearing. So from verse 9 to the end of verse 15, it is women that are in focus.

18:38 Now, looking at the passage, and the plain and obvious sense of the words, and we'll not try to untangle verse 15 because that's not so plain and so obvious, I want you to tell me what are the three things that are said, or four things, that are said about women in terms of their behavior in the church. All right? We've got four things that are said concerning women and their behavior in the church. What's the first thing that's said about that?

19:19 All right, John? All right, verse 9. In like manner that women adorn themselves in modest or befitting apparel with modesty and sobriety, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly raiment, but which becomes women professing godliness through good works. So when women come into the assembly, they are to make it evident that they are not there to use the congregation as a professional model used as the people gathered at a fashion show.

19:59 Now, when people come to a fashion show, they come to look at the model. Okay? He says, now the church is not a gathering of clothing purchasers who are looking at the latest styles. And when women appear in the house of God, their whole external demeanor should reflect that they are there as women committed to a life of godliness.

20:27 That's the bottom line of what he says. Now, he doesn't say that that means you must wear no color on the spectrum from bright yellow to black, nothing but that which is browns, purples, and blacks. And any church that tells women they must wear dark-colored clothes is imposing rules that they have no right to impose. Doesn't say that they must wear no lipstick, no earrings.

20:56 Doesn't say that. Doesn't say that at all. When Paul gets to specifics, he is underscoring those things which would have been, in that particular context, the indications of godliness and ostentatious dress. And reading some of the commentators, it's fascinating when they describe what some of the women of that day would do with their hair.

21:22 It would be like a triple beehive hairstyle all piled up and just loaded down with all kinds of ornamentation. You couldn't help unless you were blind, but not looking, if for no other reason the very bizarre nature of it would turn your head. Well, he says, the women are to adorn themselves in befitting apparel with modesty and sobriety, not with this kind of quaffed hair that is excessive and gold or pearls or costly raiment, but, in contrast to that, they're to dress in a manner that is consistent with their profession of godliness, and they are to be far more concerned with appearing in the house of God clothed in God's eyes, as it were, with all the finery of their commitment to a life of good works, works done according to the will of God, done out of love to Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit. So that's the first thing he says about women and their behavior in the church. And I would say to every woman here, you must make that a matter of conscience before the Lord. And you must not err on either side.

22:39 Notice, he says, you're to adorn yourself in befitting apparel. Are you going to a funeral when you come to the house of God? No. So the idea that you ought to wear black in worship and come all pasty-faced and looking like someone just lifted you out of the morgue.

22:57 No. No, not at all. Where do people get that notion? If in the original creation God made Eve in such a way when Adam saw her, he didn't go, yuck, what an old hag.

23:09 He said, this is bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh. God made a creature that was attractive to Adam. Then in the new creation, it's perfectly proper that Christian women should add a little color if they need it so they don't look like death warmed over unless it violates their conscience. No, there's nothing in here to indicate that kind of ascetic nonsense.

23:34 You see, you can attract as much attention to yourself by being a plain Jane as by being dressed up like a circus clown. And there's some people who in their desire to be modest, they become so outspoken and out of touch with current styles and the rest that they attract attention to themselves. And the whole issue is when you come to the house of God, you don't attract attention to yourself. It's God's house.

23:59 He's the center of attraction, not you. So you don't attract attention to yourself either by your gaudiness or by your excessive and morbid plainness. No, you're not to do that. All right?

Women's Learning in Quietness and Subjection (1 Timothy 2:11)

24:11 Well, we don't want to get sidetracked, but that's enough. Second thing. What's the second thing he says about women? First one is a direction concerning their dress.

24:20 What's the second? All right? Tim? All right?

24:27 Their learning. What makes you say that?

24:36 All right? And what is the main verb in verse 11, Tim? What is the thrust of verse 11? You've caught it by saying what you did.

24:47 Now, that's the manner, but the main emphasis is let a woman learn. That's in the imperative. Let a woman learn. So a woman is to come to the house of God in order to learn.

25:04 So when people say Paul was reflecting rabbinic prejudice when he said women were not to teach, etc., well, if that were so, the rabbis didn't have a very high view of whether a woman could even learn. She was just this mindless machine that produced babies and kept the home. No, Paul is not speaking as a prejudiced rabbi.

25:23 He's speaking as an inspired apostle and he says let the women, even though they must come out of a context where they may be harried and worn and pressured by giving themselves to their domestic responsibilities, nonetheless, when they come to the house of God, God has given them gray matter like he's given to men. They are to grow in grace and knowledge as men are, so they are to learn. They are to come in the posture of learners. But now he says, there are two qualities to their learning.

25:57 They are to learn in silence and in all subjection. Now this word silence, I want you to look at a couple of verses where it appears in this noun form. Acts chapter 22 and verse 2. They are to learn in quietness.

26:24 Acts chapter 22 and let's start at the beginning of the chapter and it's verse 2 where our word occurs. Acts chapter 22 and we start in verse 1. Brethren and fathers, hear the defense which I now make unto you. And when they heard that he spoke unto them in the Hebrew language, they were the more quiet.

27:06 There's our word. They were the more quiet. They quieted down. Those that were greatly disrupted are now quieted.

27:18 And then in 2 Thessalonians 3 and verse 12. 2 Thessalonians 3 and verse 12. Have another use of the word. Now them that are such, and who's he referring to?

27:34 Some disorderly people who go around as busybodies. Verse 11. We hear some that walk among you disorderly that work not at all but are busybodies. Now them that are such, we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ that with quietness they work.

27:51 The opposite of being a busybody. They need to get their bodies busy so they stop being busybodies. See they weren't working but their tongues were working. He says you have them get to work and then their tongues will take their proper place and they will work.

28:08 And they will in quietness work and eat their own breath. Now it's used in the verbal form in a couple of places in the New Testament just to get a feel for the emphasis of the word. Let's look at a couple of these references. It's Hesu Kadzo and you'll find it in Luke 23 and verse 56.

28:29 Luke 23 and verse 56. Very interesting use of the word. And on the Sabbath, the last part of the verse, they rested according to the commandment. On the Sabbath they rested.

28:53 They were in quietness on that day. Acts 11 and verse 18. The men report what happened in the household of Cornelius when the Spirit of God came upon Gentiles as they believed the gospel. Verse 18.

29:10 And when they heard these things they held their peace. They were quieted. All the tumult and disruption over this matter of Peter going into the house of Gentiles, eating with them, preaching to them, all of that tumult is silenced. And then it's even used in its adjectival form.

29:34 Hesu Chios. 1 Timothy 2.2. Very interesting.

29:38 He's already used it in another form as an adjective. In 1 Timothy 2 and verse 2, what are we to pray for? For kings and those in high places that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life. The opposite, you see, of the disruption that comes with anarchy and rebellion and these kinds of disruptions in society.

30:01 And then in the well-known text in 1 Peter 3.4, the adornment of a meek and a quiet spirit. So that gives you a feel for the use of this word in the New Testament. The woman must learn in silence.

30:19 She is to come with the disposition of a quiet spirit prepared to be instructed by others. And then it says, joined to this matter of silence is to be submission or subjection. And let's just look at a couple of references where this word is found. 2 Corinthians 9 says, verse 13.

30:46 And by the way, this is the noun form of that word we studied last week, cupultasso, that verb to be ranged under, to be submissive. This is the noun form. 2 Corinthians 9 and verse 13. 2 Corinthians 9 and verse 13.

31:07 Seeing through the proving of you by this ministration they glorify God for the obedience of your confession unto the gospel of Christ. He speaks of their obedience to the gospel of Christ. Their submission. These were people who had rested the weight of their souls upon the word and promise of God in the gospel.

31:35 And then in Galatians 2 and verse 5, referring to these Judaizers who wanted to have Titus forcefully circumcised, to prove their point that you are not fully saved unless you become ritually a Jew and keep the Mosaic law. He says concerning these people, verse 5, to whom we gave place in the way of subjection. There's our word. Know not for an hour that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.

32:08 And then the familiar verse, 1 Timothy 3, 4, regarding the requirement for an elder that he have his children in subjection with all gravity. So the woman is to learn then in a context marked by quietness. Second thing that he says, we're just letting the word of God speak its own message, right? Now what's the third thing he says about the women?

Women Not to Teach or Exercise Authority in the Church (1 Timothy 2:12)

32:38 Behavior in God's house as far as women are concerned, touches their breasts. They need to learn and to learn in a context or climate of quietness, in submission. What's the third thing he says about woman's behavior? Rob?

32:54 All right, verse 12. But I permit not a woman to teach. Permit not a woman to...

33:08 In no circumstances, in any place, a woman is never to teach another person. Is that what it says? Is that what it means? Norman?

33:23 That's what it says. I permit not a woman to teach. Are you a woman? Not you, Norman, but are you a woman?

33:31 God says you're not permitted to teach. Now that's what the Bible says and the Bible means but it's not to teach in any circumstance, right? Oh, that's right. We've got a problem.

33:44 So the Bible contradicts itself. Now where does it say women are to teach? You missed it by a chapter. All right.

33:59 Titus chapter 2, verse 4. The aged women, verse 3, are to be teachers of that which is good. They are to train the younger women to love their husbands, etc. So older women are to be teachers.

34:17 And where did Timothy learn the gospel? From some marvelously sanctified, mature models of Christian manhood. Where did Timothy learn the gospel? His grandmother and his mama.

34:33 Where do you find that? Prove it. Chapter and verse. When you've found it, raise your hand.

34:44 All right, Doug. All right. Second Timothy chapter 1, beginning with verse 5. Having been reminded of the unfeigned faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother, Lois, and your mother, Eunice, or Eunice, and I am persuaded in thee also.

35:03 There he traces his pedigree, but does it say that they actually taught him? All right, Doug. There we are. Okay.

35:12 Second Timothy chapter 3, verse 14. Abide in the things which you have learned and have been assured of, knowing of whom you have learned them, and that from a babe you have known the sacred writings which are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. From his infancy, from being a nursing babe, he had learned the scriptures, and Paul did not enter his life until much later in life, and we have every reason to believe that it was his godly grandmother and his mother who taught him the word of God. Now, what limits then our interpretation of these words, I suffer not a woman to teach? What limits it? Anyone? Jerry?

36:06 All right. That helps to qualify in what sense she's not to teach. Yes? Rob?

36:14 The context. The context. What is Paul concerned about in this section of the epistle? Behavior in the house of God.

36:22 Do you see that? Now, when someone takes a verse or a phrase and says, Look, that's what it says. That's what it means. Believe the Bible.

36:29 You say, but wait a minute. Wait a minute. That was not said in isolation from a train of thought and from a larger context, and unless we continually ask ourselves that, this is why we take so much time, we who preach to you, constantly trying to remind you of the thread of thought, the overall structure, the context. Why?

36:54 We want to arm you with the tools of intelligent, profitable Bible study. We don't want you to be vulnerable to those who twist the Scriptures to their own destruction and then, twist them and destroy others spiritually. So the woman is addressed with regard to this matter as she is not to teach. That is, she is not to assume a position of official instruction in the gathered assembly of God's people.

37:25 We're not addressing now in detail where may she teach, under what circumstances, what examples do we have that would take us into such matters as Priscilla and Aquila, a husband and wife, in the privacy of a home, teaching Apollos, a man, miting in the Scriptures, and yet, here was a husband and a wife, and the Scripture says that both of them were engaged in teaching another man. But it was not in the gathered assembly of God's people. There's no shred of evidence that Priscilla ever functioned as an official teacher in the gathered assembly of God's people. Obviously, in projecting the structure of the home where women have a responsibility to train their children, you read the book of Proverbs. My son, give ear, not only to the law of your father, but he says, to the law of your mother. Your mother. Clearly indicating that the mother taught authoritatively and clearly and consistently and powerfully in the training of the child.

38:28 But with regard to behavior in the church, I suffer not a woman to teach. Therefore, a woman is not to take a teaching role in the mixed assembly of the people of God. May a woman teach other women under the canopy of the scrutiny and approval of that. Those are questions that we could discuss for hours, but I want us simply to catch the major thrust of this passage, so we'll pass over them.

38:57 All right? Now, what's the fourth thing that is said about women in this passage? She's not to teach. All right, Doug?

39:10 The whole matter of tying together exegetically the precise relationship of the phrase through good works is really a part of her dress. It's not to be this, but it's to be something else, and in the description of that, I believe, is subordinate to this whole dominant concept. All right? Now, what's the fourth thing that is said about a woman? Right there, very plain in the text before you. Yes, Elaine? She's not to have dominion.

40:02 All right. But I permit not a woman to teach, nor to have dominion over a man, to be in quietness. But to be in quietness. And then we come back to our word again, to be in quietness, so that, in a sense, Paul himself interprets for us what her quietness means in the overall life of the Church.

40:33 She is not to teach, nor is she to exercise authority. She is not to have dominion. And probably a better way to translate that word is, she is not to exercise authority. She is not to have dominion.

40:54 The word does not mean, and Dr. Knight has done an extensive study, of 127 usages of this word in secular Greek literature, and we have to do that in trying to ascertain the precise meaning, because it's only used here in the New Testament. So we don't have other New Testament usages with which to compare it. And it's his conclusion, and he's set this forth in a monograph, that never does it have the idea of a sinful kind of domineering, so-called Christian feminist, as we'll see in subsequent studies have said, what Paul is doing here is forbidding women from rising up and having a kind of a coup, and throwing over male leadership, and assuming it forcefully.

41:38 But if the men want to give it to them, that's all right. Well, the word, authenteo, yes, authenteo, does not mean to domineer, but it means to exercise authority over, or to have dominion in that legitimate sense. So a woman is forbidden to teach, and she is forbidden to rule or to exercise authority in the house of God. So those are the four things that are set forth with regard to women.

The Rationale: Creation and the Fall as Foundational (1 Timothy 2:13-14)

42:12 One points to her dress or appearance, the other to her activities. Positively, she is to learn. Negatively, she is not to teach, she is not to rule. Now, when Paul comes to give the rationale for these directives for women's behavior in the church, as the old Puritans would say, on what does he bottom it off?

42:39 When you read in the old Puritans, they bottom it. On what does he make it rest? And it's a foundation that has two major granite blocks. What are they?

42:52 Someone want to tell me the first one? Notice verse 13, four. He's given the directives, now he's going to show the foundation on which they rest. Four.

43:05 And what's the first block? Alright, the order of creation for Adam was first formed, then Eve. Now, what is the inspired commentary on the significance of that fact that Adam was first formed, then Eve? Do we have anywhere else in the New Testament inspired commentary on what that means?

43:34 That priority of creation, do we have any place that tells us more fully what that means? Jonathan? That's right. So, as Nate said earlier, against the backdrop of all of this is what is established in 1 Corinthians 11.

43:52 Let me just remind you of that. 1 Corinthians 11, and in particular, verses 8 and following. For the man, is not of the woman, but the woman of the man. You remember God took a rib, and of that rib He made a woman and brought her to the man.

44:14 For neither was the man created for the woman, but the woman for the man. So here is a Spirit-inspired, apostolic commentary upon this pregnant phrase in 1 Timothy chapter 2, the order of creation. The foundation is the first foundation block that establishes male hierarchy and headship and female subordination. And then what's the second foundation block on which he makes it to rest here in Timothy?

44:51 Chuck? All right. The order or the circumstances, we might say more accurately, of the fall, but the woman being beguiled, fallen into transition. So you have the order of creation, and then you have the circumstances of the fall.

45:12 And you remember when we studied the fall itself, we saw that in a very real sense, the first tragic role reversal is seen in the manner in which the fall itself occurred. When Eve acted independently of her husband, began to make judgments about ultimate reality apart from her husband, apart from her husband's headship, God had directly revealed to Adam the matter of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam was to Eve, as it were, her divinely appointed prophet. And when she cut herself off and began to enter in to liberated rights, to deal directly with the tempter, then the scripture says, and there's a play or a shade of difference in meaning in the two Greek words, for Adam, and Adam was not beguiled, but the woman being utterly beguiled, that's more intensive, utterly duped, hath fallen into transgression. She was not made to lead, and she took the lead in an area that resulted in her own fall and the fall of her husband. So whatever the exact relationship of that may be, this much we know. It has forever followed

46:36 and fixed her relative role not only in general and in the home, but in the church. And the thing that's important to remember in the midst of all of the nonsense being proliferated in our day is that both of these realities, the order of creation and the circumstances of the fall, predate the formation of any culture of whatever time in any place. So when anyone tries to tell you this is all culturally relative, the basis predates culture. Hebrew culture, Greek culture, Roman culture, American culture, it predates any of those things. It rests down firmly upon these realities. And let me state it this bluntly. Until God comes back and rewrites the first three chapters of Genesis, this arrangement is never going to change this side of the consummation.

Support from Qualifications for Elders and Deacons (1 Timothy 3)

47:44 Alright? It's just that fundamental and foundational. Now, if this is the proper understanding of the passage, then in the same letter where Paul gives specific directions for those who will occupy the teaching and ruling offices, what should we expect to find? Anyone?

48:16 What should we expect to find? If women are precluded from the teaching and ruling positions in the church, when Paul gives the requirements for those who will take the office of teachers and rulers in the church, what should we expect to find? Alright? Yes, Paul.

48:35 That they should be men. And lo and behold, that's exactly what we find. 1 Timothy chapter 3. Faithful is the saying if a man seeks the office of a bishop or an overseer, he desires a good work.

48:56 Now, here the word man is not the word on air. If anyone seeks the office of a bishop, he desires a good work. The bishop, therefore, must be without reproach. Now, notice the things that are exclusively male-oriented.

49:14 The husband of one wife. You see, if males and females are contemplated as legitimate office-bearers, overseers, bishops, then Paul would have said, the bishop, therefore, must be without reproach of marital integrity. He would not have locked it in this way. If he is a married man, he must be the husband of one wife.

49:42 Temperate, sober-minded, no brawler, no striker. Verse 4. A man that rules well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity, but if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God? So, in these requirements for the overseer, they are exclusively aimed at the male of the species.

50:15 And you find the same thing in Titus, and you find, amazingly, the same thing with regard even to deacons. Though the diaconal office is not a ruling or a teaching office, it does involve administrative decisions and responsibilities within the church. And if you'll look, please, at chapter 3 and verse 8, it's clear that he thinks of males alone in the office of deacon. Deacons, in like manner, must be grave, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre, holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.

50:53 Let these first be proved, then let them serve as deacons if they be blameless. Skip verse 11 for a moment. Let deacons be husbands of one wife. Now, some have tried to prove a case for female deacons because Paul says in verse 11, women in like manner.

51:12 Well, it's obvious, whatever he's thinking about when he says women in like manner, or wives, it's that Greek word that is used for both women and wives, gune, from which you get gynecologist. He says that the deacons must be men who rule their children in their own house as well. He comes back to the subject of deacons. So whoever these women are, they aren't deaconesses.

51:38 They may be deacons' wives. They may be deacons' assistants who must be, and there are just three requirements given, they must be grave, not slanderers, I'm sorry, four, temperate, faithful in all things. In other words, if the deacons bring women to assist them in their task, then they ought to be women of known spiritual stature in the assembly, but the deacons themselves are conceived of in terms of descriptions of males and not females. All right, do you see that now?

Conclusion and Homework Assignment

52:14 Do you see how pivotal this passage is? And I hope our study together in it this morning, and our time is just about gone, is such that without getting into the whole question of verse 15, she should be saved through the childbearing and all of the details, you'll be able to think your way through the passage and be able to sit down with someone else in answer to this question. Is it the will of God throughout the entire age until the coming of Christ that this arrangement of male headship and female subordination be reflected not only in general male and female relationships and in the home but also in the church, that you would be able to turn to 1 Timothy 2 as you've done this morning and open up the passage. I've just tried to guide you as you've expounded it sitting here together with our Bibles open. Now your homework assignment for next week is to at least read through and try to do the same thing, anticipate the kind of questions I'll ask with regard to the second major passage, 1 Timothy, 1 Corinthians 14, 33b through 38. Look at the context, then look at the specific things that are commanded and forbidden and we'll try to just lay them out this way so that you'll have a good handle on these two pivotal passages addressing this vital question.

53:37 Well, let's pray and ask the Lord to write his word upon all of our hearts. Our Father, we thank you for your holy, for your infallible, your inspired word. We are so grateful amidst all the din and cacophony of the voices of men and women screeching and howling and accusing you and your word and your ways of being unfair and unwise or outdated and outmoded. We're so thankful that you've given us a sure and a certain word which is a lamp unto our feet and a light to our pathway. And we ask that in this house that belongs to you, this church that is your church, O living God, may your order not only be respected but loved. May your order be embraced from the heart and may you be pleased ever to grace this assembly until the coming of Christ with competent, biblically qualified men to teach and to rule and ever adorn this assembly with godly women clothed with the adornment of good works and modesty

55:05 in whose external appearance speaks forth the winsomeness and the power of the gospel. O our Father, we plead with you that you would help any who may be struggling today with this world's thoughts, with this world's thought patterns that have infected them in the depths of their souls. We pray that they may be transformed by the renewing of their minds and that you by the Spirit would make us all to be a people who love your word and your ways. Thank you again for your precious word.

55:43 Give us grace to walk in its light. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen.