Objections to Sexual Identity, Part 1

Review of Biblical Foundations for Male and Female Identity

0:02 This adult Sunday school class was held on August 7th, 1988, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey.

0:12 Now, for the sake of our visitors particularly, and for the benefit of our own regular attenders, we do want to review what we have been studying for the last two Lord's Day mornings. We've had the privilege of having the needs of the wider concerns of the Kingdom of God set before us with the visit of our brethren from overseas who have spoken to us and sought to impart something of an enlarged vision. But now we return this morning to our series of studies under the broad canopy of this title, Crucial Issues Facing the People of God, and using Romans 12, 1 and 2 as the framework of our approach to this matter of crucial issues facing God's people. We have, for a number of weeks, been addressing the first of these crucial issues, namely, the matter of male and female identity, roles, and relationships. And what we have seen in our study of the Scriptures together is, and this we discovered primarily from Genesis 1 and 2, the areas of equality between men and women in created dignity, responsibility,

1:31 and accountability, and then the areas of equality in redemptive standing and privilege. And any approach to the subject of male and female identity, roles, and relationships must begin on that solid biblical foundation of the areas of their equality in created dignity, responsibility, and accountability, and their absolute, and undiluted equality in redemptive standing and privilege. In Christ Jesus there is neither male nor female. However, built upon that broad biblical foundation, we saw from the creation account itself before sin ever entered, before cultures were ever formed, that God, the Creator, made some fundamental distinctions, in the position and function of the male and of the female. And then we saw that in the event of the fall, God was very careful to give some details that indicate that the man had a peculiar responsibility in the fall, and so did the woman, and those facts relate to the present expression of the will of God

2:58 for male and female roles, relationships, and functions. Now then, we turn to the Word of God to look at what I regard as the key passage establishing male headship and female subordination as the divinely instituted framework of the relationship between men and women. Will someone tell me what that pivotal passage is? Give me its location, if you will, please, by a raised hand.

3:34 That pivotal passage of all passages that clearly establishes male headship and female subordination. All right, Mike? All right, 1 Corinthians 11 and verse 3. In this passage, we are told that the head of Christ is God, that the head of the man is Christ, and that the head of the woman is the man.

3:59 Therefore, any tampering with this dimension of male headship and female subordination must of necessity be an attack upon the relationship that exists between Christ as the incarnate servant of Jehovah who in that position is subordinate to his Father, doing the will of his Father, doing the things that please his Father. And so, that passage, more than any other, in a very succinct way, sets forth the teaching of the Word of God with respect to male headship and female subordination. Then we sought to see how this relationship works itself out in three major categories. Someone tell me what was the first category that we saw. Right, Sandy? In the domestic realm, or in the family, and the key passages are, of course, Ephesians chapter 5, the parallel passage in Colossians 3, and 1 Peter 3, verses 1 to 7.

5:15 So that in the realm of the relationship within the family, male headship and female subordination is explicitly addressed in those key passages. All right, what was the second area in which we saw that this divinely established hierarchy is to obtain, and manifest itself to the end of the age? What's the second major area? Someone tell us?

5:45 All right, Louise? All right, in the church. And within the realm of the church, the divine order is not to be cancelled. The very church in which male and female stand on equal ground in terms of redemptive privilege, a woman is not less regenerate than a man, she is not less justified, adopted, an heir of all the blessings of God in the new covenant.

6:10 They stand on absolutely equal ground in Christ. But the same Bible that teaches that says that in the outworking of the function of roles and relationships in the church, male headship and female subordination still is the will of God. And what are the key passages that teach this? And here I'm going to ask you to give them to me rather than the quote.

6:36 All right, what are the key passages that teach this? There are at least two passages that teach this. There are two that ought immediately to come to your mind. All right, first one.

6:46 All right, Nate? First Corinthians 11. That's not our major passage. That would be a subordinate passage, but two major passages that address this issue.

6:57 All right? All right, Paul? First Timothy. All right, First Timothy 2, 8 to 15.

7:05 That's your first-rank passage. That is, to this dimension of the subject, what First Corinthians 11, 3 is to the concept of male headship and female subordination. Every one of you ought to have that right at your fingertips to turn immediately to First Timothy 2, 8 to 15, particularly verses 11 and following, in which the women are forbidden to teach or to exercise authority over the man in the context of the ordering of the life of the church. Then the second-rank passage is found where?

7:45 All right, Ron? First Corinthians 14, 33b through 38. In the context of dealing with the exercise of gifts in the church, Paul says, as in all the churches, let your women keep silence. It is not permitted for them to speak, and so he deals with the subject explicitly in a context dealing with the exercise of spiritual gifts in the gathered church.

8:19 There are others. There are subordinated passages, but these are the key passages. Then in our session together three weeks ago, three Lord's Days ago, we addressed a third area. This matter of male headship and female subordination is to be manifested and expressed not only in the domestic realm, in the realm of the church, but also in what?

8:43 Not another realm, but another category. Anyone here three weeks ago when I stood up in my baron as an object lesson? All right, Rich? All right, invisible aspects, I called it general appearance and demeanor.

9:04 There are within every culture those external symbols of masculinity and femininity, of male headship and female subordination. And according to First Corinthians 11, and you remember we read through the passage and saw that all of these references to veil, covering of head, head shaven, head shorn, doth not nature itself teach you about long hair, short hair. Whatever the passage teaches, it is teaching that there are external visible symbols of this divinely instituted relationship. And it is not spiritual to ignore those symbols. In fact, Paul says it's shameful. And as we then were drawing the class to a close, I asked what was in our own lifetime one of the major indications of the so-called feminist movement and its determination to throw off its symbol of subordination. And one of the men immediately answered, the bra burning of the late 60s and early 70s in which feminists were saying, by discarding that piece of undergarment, we throw off the symbol of our subordination, and also of our modesty.

Introduction to Objections and the Elder's Duty to Refute Them

10:27 And so there are cultural manifestations that differ from culture to culture, we fully acknowledge. Nonetheless, according to the word of God, we in our external appearance are to underscore and highlight our masculinity and our femininity, and particularly in the desire to make it evident that we are comfortable with God's order, that we are comfortable with God's order, of male headship and female subordination. Now then, today, and next Lord's Day, we shall discuss what I am calling major objections to this teaching and their biblical refutation. We've looked at the teaching. We've covered the major passages, particularly in the New Testament. We've alluded to some in the old, especially the creation and fall accounts, but now we must take up the subject of major objections to this teaching and their biblical refutation.

11:34 And my first question to you as a class is this. Why must I, teaching you as an elder and a shepherd in this flock, why must I now take up the subject of major objections to this teaching and their biblical refutation? Why must I do this? Now, the answer that, well, you've got a negative streak in your personality doesn't count, all right?

12:05 Why must I do this? And I want you to prove your answer from the Bible, because if you try to bind my conscience with anything but the Bible, you're in big, bad trouble. All right, Randy? All right, before you read the passage and tell us its basic significance, Randy, let's all turn there to Titus chapter one, in which the requirements for an elder, are being given.

12:39 Verse five, notice the context. Paul says that he left Titus in the island of Crete to set in order the things that were lacking and to appoint elders in every city, if any man is blameless. So the subject being dealt with is the requirements for an elder. All right, now, Randy, you want to read the passage and then tell us its significance in relation to my question.

13:04 Verse nine says, holding fast the faithful word as he has been told, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers. All right, and what's the basic significance then? Why did you use that passage to answer my question? Why must I take up major objections and their biblical reputation?

13:26 Well, because, first of all, you've already laid forth the sound doctrine in a positive manner, and that's a positive element of the work of the ministry. But the verse also says, if there is to be the convincing of the gainsayers, those who would oppose the sound doctrine must be also by that sound doctrine convinced that they are wrong. All right, so there must be then a refutation of any unhealthy or unsound doctrine in this area. Now, are there people who oppose what we've laid out by the healthy teaching from Genesis right through the Epistles?

14:03 Is there any opposition to that teaching in our day? All right, are you exposed to it? All right. Then if I'm to do my job as an elder, this passage demands it of me.

14:15 I would not be faithful to my calling did I stop short of convincing, that is, bringing forward such convincing arguments from the Word of God that unless a person is given up to judicial blindness and hardness, they will be at least convinced in their consciences, though they may not admit it, that their position is wrong according to the Word of God. All right, another passage in that same area that makes it plain that I must do this. Can you think of another passage? I'll give you a little hint.

14:52 It has to do with the duties of elders being laid upon their consciences by an apostle in a historical setting, somewhere in the Book of Acts. In the chapter that you locate when you multiply two times ten.

15:18 Now, at least if you know a little arithmetic, you're in Acts chapter 20. All right? Acts chapter 20. Now, having said that, will someone tell me the verse that makes this my responsibility?

15:33 I must do what I've said we're going to do. Verse or verses. All right? Nancy.

15:41 All right? All right, verse 28. All right, look at verse 28. And when they, I'm sorry, Acts 20 and verse 28, take heed unto yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you bishops or overseers, to feed, better rendering, to shepherd the church of the Lord, which he purchased with his own blood.

16:07 Now, what does a good shepherd do in shepherding his sheep? Verse 29. I know that after my departing, grievous wolves shall enter in among you, not sparing the flock, and from among your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after them, wherefore, watch ye. So, in shepherding the flock, Paul says you must keep in mind that there are wolves from without who would devour the flock and perverse men from within who would divide the flock.

16:50 And what does a shepherd, do when he knows that? Well, a good shepherd, according to John chapter 10, will say to any wolf that is encircling the flock, Mr. Wolfman, you're going to get to one of my sheep over my dead body. You've got to get to me first and tear my flesh from my bones before you get to one of my sheep. Isn't that what Jesus said? A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. It's the hireling who runs and says, man, wolves, wolf packs, fangs, that's dangerous business. Time for a vacation. Let the sheep fend for themselves.

17:30 And under the guise of being positive, that's exactly what a lot of gutless preachers do. Lay out the positive teaching and say, well, I'll trust the Holy Spirit to immunize the people of God. What a carnal, super-pious cop-out. But they don't have the courage to face the wolves and be willing to have some of their own flesh torn off their bones to protect the sheep. But then he says, not only wolves from without, but look, it says, perverse men from within. He said, from among your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to do what? To draw away the disciples after them. Here are false shepherds who want some of their own flesh. They don't have

18:18 some sheep. So they say, we'll divide the flock and get our sheep. And though I do not know of anyone who is actively promoting and undermining of this teaching within our assembly, I'm not so naive to think that some who may eventually attempt it are sitting here this morning. You may be sitting right here. You may not yet be one of those perverse men.

18:39 But as your conscience begins to be hardened to some little area of sin that you're playing with, and you begin to reject some of the implications of this, you're not going to know what's going to happen. Some of the so-called feminist arguments are going to begin to appear very plausible to you. And to justify your own sin, you're going to believe them. And then to give you comfort, you want to have other people to believe them, you'll be one of those perverse men seeking to draw away sheep after yourself. I'm not so naive to think that because the devil sees the sign out front, Trinity Baptist Church, he says, oh, I can't mess around there. Oh, no. So, you see, the duty that I and my fellow elders have is clear from the Word of God. Oh, this is our God-given charge. We must do this. We have no choice, since our consciences

19:26 are bound by the Scripture. And then one text from the Old Testament, we'd be all mourning if I tried to guide you into it, because it's not one that we're very familiar with, but I couldn't help but think of it in my preparation. It's in Isaiah 56. So, in answer to the question, why must I take up the subject of major objections to this biblical teaching?

19:50 And it's biblical reputation. Look at this terrible indictment God brings upon the prophets of his day. Verse 10. His watchmen are blind. They are all without knowledge. They are all dumb dogs. They cannot bark, dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber. What a horrible point. What a horrible picture. Here's a man, puts out money, buys a watchdog, trains him, and lo and behold, the very night when the prowler comes, the dog is sound to sleep, and when he wakes up, he opens his mouth, but his vocal apparatus won't work. He's a dumb dog that cannot bark. And that's what God called the watchmen of Israel. And you see, the shepherds of Christ's flock, New Testament elders, are, in a very real sense, the new testament elders.

20:54 They were the new testament counterpart of this dimension of the old testament prophetic office. They were the watchmen of Israel. And that whole concept of being a watchman is brought over into the new testament doctrine of the eldership. That's why Paul says watch, and then he speaks later on about being pure from the blood of all men. That's language taken right out of Ezekiel 3, where God says, if you do not warn the wicked, their blood will I require you to do. And that's what God is doing. And that's what God is doing. So it would be a terrible thing for me to be a dumb dog who did not bark when the horrible influence of very subtle teaching is seeking to undermine this positive biblical instruction.

21:42 So, if someone asks you, and that's why I've taken this time, that you might see what passages constrain me as one of your elders, and when people say, well, I've heard about that Trinity church. And I've heard that the preaching is, I mean, they're just dealing with sin all the time. And I've heard this. Well, I hope you'll be able to sit down with your Bible and say, well, I don't know what you've heard, but I'm there week by week. And I know that the teaching is not all negative. Well, I know in our Sunday school class for 16 weeks, we had positive biblical foundational instruction on the subject of male-female roles, relationships, and why we ought to think a certain way. Only then did we take up for two or at the most three weeks the objections. And according to the scriptures, if our elders didn't do that, they would be unfaithful to their God-given task. And then turn them to what passages? Titus chapter 1, Acts chapter 20, and Isaiah

22:45 56 and verse 10. All right? And notice this. Don't move away from Acts 20. What are the two areas from which the negative influence of the Bible is going to affect us? Well, two basic influences would impinge upon God's flock. Two basic areas or directions. If this is the flock, some of the trouble would come from where? From without. Wolves without and the other perverse men within. And I'm going to use that outline then in taking up the objections to this biblical teaching. The objections that come from without. That is, the thinking, the speaking, and the action.

Categorizing Objections: From Without and From Within

23:28 The actions of those who make no profession of the Christian religion. In fact, they are determined to impose their perspectives upon anyone who's foolish enough to be guided by the Bible in these matters. And so we want to take up the objections of those that are without. And there are four major objections. That's why I have one, two, three, four. And then we're going to take up the objections of those who are within. People who claim to believe the Bible. Who claim to be, and some of them I have no doubt are, true Christians. Yet they oppose to varying degrees and in various areas the teaching we've established. For example, someone

24:13 of the tremendous stature of a Dr. J. I. Packer has recently written, and though this is a paraphrase, I am properly representing him, that the onus is now upon those of us that he calls exclusionists.

24:28 That is, those of us who say the offices of elder and deacons should not be given to women. He said the onus is now on us to prove our case. Whereas for centuries the onus was upon those who took the contrary position. A man of such stature as Dr. Packer has shifted ground. And there are others that I could quote. And I don't say that, that you won't ever buy a book by Dr. Packer, or because I have ill will to the man. But to show you that there are those who believe in the Bible, and those who believe in the Bible, and those from within that must be addressed, who are waffling on this issue. And you and I must be well established in our biblical position, so when those specious arguments are brought before us, we are well equipped to deal with them. All right? So now we're going to start with objections from without. Now this is not an

25:23 exhaustive list, but as I've tried to analyze the objections in the material that I've read, in what I observe and listen to, and I do try to subject myself to enough to be in touch with this real world. For example, there was recently a program on public television about women in the ministry. And I even videotaped it, so I could go back over it. And there was in that particular program an extensive interview with a young woman who has broken ground in an Episcopal church and become a Christian. And I've tried to subject myself to a female priest, and the interviewer asked her why it was that she had this ambition, et cetera. And there is much of this that is going on, and so I trust that I do not present caricature. I don't spend 50 hours a week reading feminist literature, but I do try to read enough that I hope I'm presenting an accurate picture. All right? Objections

Refuting the Evolutionary Argument (Part 1: The Argument Itself)

26:24 from without. And I've said there are basically four categories. I'll name them, then we'll go back and take up as many as we can cover this morning. There is first of all the evolutionary argument, and then the inferiority argument, then the religious repression argument, and then the individual liberty argument. All right? Let's take up, first of all, the evolutionary argument. And the evolutionary argument is basically this, that any present fixed identity of the sexes in a peculiar way, in a particular way, in a particular way, in a particular relationship, in a particular role relationship and functional relationship, is just a phenomena in the evolutionary process. Everything started way back who knows when, and who knows how, and their theories constantly change. And just when one theory that gets popular with

27:27 the experts gets embalmed in printer's ink, that theory is being debunked in conferences and online. of the experts, and by the time they get their heads together enough to debunk the present one, somebody's already debunking their debunking process, and that's not caricature. That goes on all the time. But basically, when we speak of the evolutionary objection, it's the idea that back here somewhere, somehow, when life began, it began in its simplest form, and then over many millions of years, without any God who is personal, and who works by design, and by wisdom, and by fixed decree and purpose, simply time, plus space, plus chance, operating upon matter, what happened? Well, somewhere along this, you and I came into being, okay? And somewhere...

28:37 Somehow or other, we came into being with two sexes, not three. Isn't that amazing? But it happened. Now, why it happened, it just happened, all right?

28:48 And along the way, from the initial seasons of grunting in the cave, when the man, for one reason or another, had broader shoulders and stronger arms, and he became the hunter, and the woman had womb and breasts, so she became the mother and the domesticated one, and there were, of necessity, at that stage in the development, at least, some general roles assigned to the man as the aggressor, the strong one and the hunter, and the woman as the protected, domestic carer of the home. However, that was simply an accident, simply a happening in the evolutionary process, and now, picking up the line here, we've come a long way, baby.

29:38 Right? You see, there's tons of bad theology in that little phrase. We've come a long way. How many of you live in a cave?

29:49 How many of you men need strong arms to pull a bow and possibly wrestle to the ground a boar and strangle it with your hands in order to have pork chops for meal this afternoon?

30:05 So you don't need to be the strong hunter anymore. You don't need strong hands. You don't need to pull a boar. You don't need to strike.

30:12 And how many of you women? How many of you men need to be domesticated? And we've got Enfamil and other good products. You don't need to be tied as a lactating mother, get dried up a few days after you've born your child, and anyone can stick the bottle in the baby's mouth.

30:32 A man can do that no matter how weak he is and no matter how strong he is. So why have any fixed roles? You see, that's simply something that was a necessity in the evolutionary process, but we've come a long way. And now it is the part of advancing this process, which, by the way, is always moving toward something better.

30:57 That's another part of the faith position of the evolutionary hypothesis, that we now need to shed everything that pertains to this and face reality, that we are no longer in those circumstances as one who espouses this position has said. And I quote, The only difference between men and women that makes a difference is that no man can bear a child. End quote. The only difference between men and women that makes a difference is that no man can bear a child.

31:42 And in pursuit of a day when even that difference won't matter, there is a passionate, with, in the scientific community, to take the whole process of conception, gestation, bringing a child to viable position of life, and what we would call birth, totally without the mother's womb even being involved. And don't think that this whole matter of test tube babies and not just conception outside the womb and implantation, that that's...

32:23 It's just all innocent, scientific, benevolent investigation, friends. It isn't. I could quote stuff to you that would make your spine chill, that there is a passion behind all of this in much of the medical community, not all, but much of the medical community, to just carry on that process of ruling God out of his world, even in the whole matter of the birthing process. Because if in our ongoing development...

32:52 We can't. We can get to the place where the woman no longer even needs to be burdened down with this great weight, that from the fifth or sixth to the ninth month becomes such an insufferable burden to her, then let's grow beyond it and do it another way. Therefore, any concept of fixed roles, fixed relationship, is rooted in something purely culturally conditioned or conditioned by something in the evolutionary process. All right, what is the biblical answer to this?

Refuting the Evolutionary Argument (Part 2: Biblical Refutation)

33:29 Well, I ask you, what is the biblical refutation to the evolutionary argument against male headship and female subordination, specific identity of maleness and femaleness in roles and relationships? What is the biblical answer to the evolutionary argument against these things? Does someone want to tell us? All right, Doug?

33:56 All right, the Bible's teaching on creation.

34:19 All right, so Doug is saying we just need to come back to the simple, straightforward, biblical account of creation. If we don't come back to that, and if we try to just start with a so-called neutral place, we'll end up cutting our own throats. Well, I'm sure, again, we could fish it out of you. I'd like to suggest that that is the second part of the argument.

34:47 The first is to say to anyone who argues... Who argues this way that his whole system of evolution is a faith system, dare to tell an evolutionist that his system of assuming that way back here somewhere, somehow, life began and developed this way is purely a faith system.

35:13 It is not a scientific system based upon fact and the scrutiny of observable data. Science is supposed to deal with observable data, to subject it to criteria that can objectively assess what it's dealing with. How in the world can evolution be considered scientific when it talks about things millions and millions of years ago, and it has no certain knowledge that things existed for millions of years? The very basis upon which they...

35:52 talk about millions of years is a system of dating and assumptions all hung on a sky hook. When we did construction work and we didn't know where to put something, the boss would say, I'll go hang it on a sky hook. Well, of course, it's a kind of a sick joke. You can't hang anything on a sky hook. A hook has to have something. But you see, much of what the evolutionists work with, he hangs upon a sky hook. His system of dating hangs upon the sky hook that what he has observed within a period of X number of years has always been true, that one can trace the carbon in a given substance or the loss of certain substances. Because it's true here, it must have been true that way forever backwards. Well, who says so?

36:47 How does he know that there were not factors present back here that have radically changed the process that he observes here? He doesn't know that. He has a system full of presuppositions that he accepts by faith. I should say that he accepts in his determination, Romans 1.18, to put down the knowledge of God. When I just look at a flower, I say to myself, Lord, I wish I could have the flower. I wish I could have the flower. I wish I could have the flower. I wish I could have the flower. I wish I could have the flower.

37:18 I wish I could have the flower. I wish I could have the flower. I wish I could have the flower. I wish I could have the flower. I wish I could have the flower. I wish I could have the flower.

37:19 I wish I could have the flower. I wish I could have the flower. I wish I could have the flower. I wish I could have the flower. I wish I could have the flower. I wish I could have the flower.

37:19 I wish I could have the flower. I wish I could have the flower. I wish I could have the flower. I wish I could have the flower. I wish I could have the flower. I wish I could have the flower.

37:19 I wish I could have the flower. I wish I could have the flower. I wish I could have the flower. I wish I could have the flower. I wish I could have the flower. I wish I could have the flower.

37:19 believe that this all just happened, and then exercise that strong faith as a Christian. I wish I had the strength of the faith of an evolutionist, and then exercise it as a Christian. And so we must not be afraid to tell the evolutionist that he has a faith system. Yes, we acknowledge our system as a faith system.

37:42 We're not embarrassed about that. He that comes to God must believe that he is. And we with all men acknowledge that we know there is a God, and we know that we've been made by that God, and we're accountable to that God, and the most loud-mouthed, aggressive evolutionist knows it as well. And you need to tell him that you know that he knows it, no matter how much he may seek to suppress it, Romans 1, 18 and following.

38:07 So our answer is to say, without hesitation or equivocation, the evolutionary theory on which he bases his rejection of the biblical theory. The biblical doctrine of male and female roles in relationships is a faith system and is not a scientific system. And then secondly, as Doug has suggested, to say that the creation account, in its exquisite simplicity, is the basic answer. We are Christians, and when Jesus was dealing with such fundamental questions as marriage and its permanence, what did our Savior and Lord do?

38:46 In Matthew 19, he went right back to the creation account and put his imprimatur upon that account as being a record of fact. Notice what Jesus did in Matthew 19. There came unto him Pharisees, verse 3, tempting him and saying, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? And he answered and said, Have you not read that he who made the Bible is the one who made them from the beginning, made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh?

39:31 So our Lord Jesus Christ believed in the Genesis account of creation as fact, and he believed that fact that the Creator from the beginning made them male. And Jesus said, Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation of him, so shall the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory. Mark 8, 36. You see, in certain communities, to bear the reproach of Christ means that you must be willing to say, I accept and face down the Genesis account of creation because my Savior did.

40:17 And I cannot. I cannot cling to my Savior and not cling to his assessment of Genesis 1 and 2. I'm a Christian. I have no choice.

40:28 Jesus Christ is not only my priest who died for me and intercedes for me, my king who rules over and defends me, he is also my prophet who teaches me. And I view all of his ideas as ultimate and absolute truth. Therefore, when he says, He who made them from the beginning made them male and female as a Christian, I can do no other than to stand in the exquisite simplicity and beauty of the creation account and say, No, maleness and femaleness are not accidents happening in a setting of time plus space plus chance operating upon matter that came from who knows where. But rather, it is resting upon this glorious reality that a living, personal God who said, Let us make man in our image and after our likeness, made them male and female. And in that context gave us the account upon which, you'll remember, the New Testament writers then built. When Paul is dealing with ecclesiology, why should women not?

41:47 Have authority in the assembly of God's people? He says it's contrary to the order of God in creation. It is contrary to the circumstances of the fall. Why should husbands lovingly rule and give headship and direction and leadership to their wives and wives joyfully submit?

42:09 That's the pattern of redemption as well as, Ephesians chapter 5, the very institution of the law. The law of creation. All right, any question now or further comment on the first argument of those that are without, the evolutionary argument that would seek to batter down the biblical concept of male and female roles and relationships? Any question or additional comment that some of you perhaps have wrestled with this would like to make?

Introducing the Inferiority Argument

42:41 All right, if not, let's take up the second argument from without, get all these scratchings off the board. It's what I'm calling...

42:51 I'm sorry. The inferiority argument, and it goes something like this.

43:01 All efforts to assign distinct roles to women are an attempt by male chauvinistic pigs to dominate women.

43:15 Particularly the idea that a woman is to be a keeper at home, living as a helper, answering to her husband's needs. And this is the cruncher. The whole idea that the woman's identity needs the man for its completion is an abomination to modern feminism. The whole cry is, I want to be a woman, I want to know what a woman is, as though men never existed.

43:49 Why do I have to have my identity in any way related to a man? Yes, I don't want it, I don't like it, I'm not going to have it. Why? Because it makes me inferior.

44:02 If I can't be my own what? What's the N word? If I can't be my own person, based on what I am, simply as a woman without any reference to men, then you're putting me into an inferior category. Well, if that's so, then man's inferior too, because if the woman was made for the man, she was made for the man because he wasn't complete without her.

44:26 God says it's not. It's not good for the man to be alone. So if it demeans the woman to be a helper to the man, it demeans the man to be one complete without the woman. So it's a wash.

44:38 Isn't it? But that's the inferiority argument. The idea that the woman should be the keeper at home in submission to her husband has woven into its very texture the effort of men to define women's roles and in so doing to keep the woman in and out. An inferior position, which is tantamount to bondage, therefore, the efforts to get rid of the biblical concepts is called an effort at what?

45:15 Liberation. You see, you don't liberate a free man, you liberate a slave. And that's why I won't use the term women's lib. I don't like to use the term feminist either.

45:26 Because you see, they've already given, you've given away the case. If you use their term. The whole idea is, until you adopt their perspectives, you haven't truly attained to femininity. Feminist movement.

45:40 The indication is, until you are on the bandwagon, you're unfeminine. If you're not on the women's lib bandwagon, you're not liberated. Well, I'm not going to give up the case and say that God's order is bondage and non-feminine.

Refuting the Inferiority Argument (Part 1: True Liberty Defined)

45:58 But that's the inferiority argument. And what is the answer? Well, the answer is, and in the light of the fact we've only got five more minutes, six minutes, let me, rather than pull it out of you so I can complete this second one, give it to you. It is the biblical concept of the true nature of true liberty.

46:21 You see, the inferiority argument is that if the woman has a position of subordination to the man, if the woman's role is one, one of dependence, one of following, it must of necessity be inferior. True liberty can only be found where the female stands on an equal plane with the male in the marriage relationship. So then you have what's called egalitarian marriages, where you have no headship by the husband or the wife, you just divvy up the leadership in areas according to a set of rules that you both find acceptable, etc., etc.

47:01 Well, the answer to this whole argument, is the biblical concept of the nature of true liberty. Remember back in the garden, Adam and Eve were perfectly free. They were in bondage to nothing. But God said to them, in essence, your true liberty will remain so long as you remain in the posture of dependence and of obedience.

47:27 In the posture of dependence, I will take the initiative to reveal everything you need to know. And you must maintain that. Maintain that posture, both of dependence and obedience. So God set the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the midst of the garden, and said, of all the trees you may freely eat, but of that tree you may not eat.

47:48 In the day that you eat, you die. Your liberty is in your dependence and in your obedience. The devil said, your freedom is in your independence and in your disobedience. He says, God knows, in the day that you eat, you will come to, to knowledge directly that God is not giving to you.

48:11 You shall know good and evil. You shall be as gods. You will reach a level of independence. And with that independence will come liberty.

48:22 You need not be boxed in to your posture of dependence and obedience.

48:30 Well, we know what happened. Pursuing that so-called liberty at the instigation of the tempter, they came into the horrible bondage, that sin is to every son and daughter of Adam. No, the biblical doctrine of freedom is this. Freedom is being able to do and be what you were created to do and to be, and to do it with joy.

Refuting the Inferiority Argument (Part 2: Squirrel Analogy)

48:59 That's freedom. Freedom is being able to do and to be what you were created to do and to be, and that's freedom. And to do that with joy. What was freedom for the first squirrel that God made in the Garden of Eden?

49:18 Scurry up and down the tree, find an acorn and bury it, even though it meant tearing up Adam's lawn like the dumb squirrels do to our lawn. You go out and it looks like a little battlefield with all kinds of potholes. We've got a pin oak with just a plethora of acorns and the squirrels spend all their time. And I really have problems of conscience.

49:42 I say, Lord, put it into the disposition of that squirrel to hide the nuts for the wintertime. So that's your work. And yet he's doing it at the expense of my lawn looking like a mess. And I want to have a good testimony before the neighbors.

49:54 Lord, what do I do with the squirrels? I still haven't resolved the problem. But anyway, in the Garden of Eden, the squirrel was free when he could scurry up and down the tree, when he could pluck off an acorn or if one fell upon the ground, he could bury it. His freedom was in chasing his fellow squirrels throughout the garden and Adam and Eve laughing at them.

50:16 That was the squirrel's freedom. Now suppose Adam came along and said, you know, little squirrely, I think you're getting awfully bored with running up and down trees and chasing the bushy tails of your fellow squirrels. And I've got a sneaking suspicion you're jealous of that 14 inch bass that you saw break out of the water and catch a fly over there in that pond. And I'm just going to take you out and let you share the freedom of the pond with that bass.

50:45 Now I'm going to make sure that we retrieve you, so I'm going to put a little noose around your neck. But to make sure you really know what it's like to be free, to dive down to the depths and into the weeds and into the cool places and forage around a bit, I'm going to put a stone around your neck and let you stay down for at least five minutes. Now you say, Pastor, you're really getting ludicrous now. What did you have for breakfast?

51:08 Well, do you see what I'm driving at? Is that freedom for the squirrel to put him in the position of the bass? The bass in the pond in the Garden of Eden? Would it be freedom for the bird that splits the air with its wings and joins its fellow birds in the treetops to say, you know, you must look down at those squirrels and think, you know, they've really got it, can run up and down and try to make the bird function as a squirrel?

51:37 No, that would not be freedom. It would destroy the very squirrelness of the squirrel and all of its God-given liberty. No, the squirrel is free when he's free to be what a squirrel was made to be and to do, and to do it with delight. And men and women are free only when they are doing what they were made to be, and that's freedom.

Refuting the Inferiority Argument (Part 3: Application to Humanity)

52:07 That's why the Psalmist would say, I shall walk at liberty when I have respect unto all thy commandments. When I'm doing what I was made to do. When I'm being what I was made to be. In the strength and power of the grace of God, that is freedom.

52:29 That's why Jesus said, He who commits sin is the slave of sin, but whom the Son sets free is free indeed. And there's nothing more beautiful than a man freed to be a man, and a woman free to be a woman. To see a woman with joy taking her position of subordination to men in the proper categories that we've already seen, finding joy and delight in being what she was made to be and to do. Not some man's chattel, not the sinful abuse of male headship, but in that proper biblically balanced perspective of dependence and of submission in the home, in the church, in the church, in her general demeanor and bearing, it is a beautiful thing. Why? Because the woman is being and doing what she was made to be and to do, and therein is her liberty, and therein she glorifies God. And likewise, when men become, and I don't know who gave me the book, I probably, Rob, you stuck it in my folder.

53:48 The title fascinated me. And I've been rooting around it. It's a book on Christian manhood, and the title of it is Men of Steel and Velvet. It was a term Carl Sandburg used of his great hero, Abraham Lincoln, said he was a man of steel and of velvet, and he deals with the qualities of steel in true masculinity, and the qualities of velvet.

54:12 Well, when you see a man liberated by the power of the Spirit and the grace of God to be a man of steel. To be the leader he ought to be, bearing the burden of his masculine headship and leadership, and yet a man of steel and of velvet, manifesting the graces of understanding and sympathy and gentleness and tenderness and all those other graces, that's a free man. That's a man. He's free to be what God made him to be.

54:44 So this inferiority argument is a lot of nonsense. The bird is not inferior because it cannot speak. It is free to be what God made him to be. It cannot swim in the depths of the ocean.

54:54 The porpoise is not inferior because it cannot split the air with its wings and fly to the South Pole in its migrations. The porpoise is free when he's in those places of the water where he was made to be doing what God made him to do. And that's our answer to the inferiority. The porpoise is not inferior to the crane, nor the crane to the porpoise, each in his place.

55:22 And it is free when it's free in the strength of the little helpless thing, which are not always free to be who they are. It is free when the little helpless thing is not free. It is free when the little helpless thing is not free. So, with regard to male and female, it is not a matter of inferiority but of distinct, different, and glorious roles assigned by God.

Conclusion and Prayer

55:41 Well, our time is gone, so we must stop there. God willing, we'll take up the religious repression argument next week, and then the fourth argument that I call the individual liberty argument. individual liberty argument. Let's pray and ask God to write these things upon our hearts.

56:04 Our Father, we cannot help but grieve as we see a generation that has been sold a bill of goods, and we begin to see the fruit of that horrible teaching. With all the vaunted liberty of the so-called women's lib movement, we see the breakup of the family, we see children turning to drugs and sex before they're hardly out of their cradles because they don't know who they are. And, O God, our hearts break, and we can only cry that you'd have mercy upon this arrogant generation that has cast off the yoke that you have made for our good. Lord, have mercy, O have mercy upon those who've been at the vanguard of these alien and anti-biblical thoughts. Help us by your people, as your people, to be immunized by the word against all of these insidious influences, that we may see clear through them for what they are and utterly reject them, that we may not be conformed to this present age, but transformed by the renewing of our minds. Lord, bless the truths we've studied together, and may we not be selfish with them, but having such a glorious message.

57:28 Make our message of true liberty to proclaim to men and women, make us bold to proclaim it, and make our witness effectual to the liberation of those who call their chains their blessing, that they may be set free for the liberty that is in Christ. Hear us, we pray, in Jesus' name. Amen.