Lesson #15

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1 – 2 Corinthians

September 21, 2015

Lesson #01

January 16, 2010

Lesson #02

January 16, 2010

RETURN TO THE SYLLABUS

1CORINTHIANS 11:1-16
Lesson #15
THE GENDER PRINCIPLE

• Memory Verse: Eph 5:24

• On the surface of this chapter it seems that Paul moves to topics that are even more personal like women’s clothes and men’s hair styles. Even though the styles of women’s clothes and men’s hair styles change every year and are different from one culture to the next, there are some basic principles that we can learn from Paul.
• More seriously, the people of Corinth, who have now come to Christ, are free in Christ. However, as Paul told them, they should do all things to the glory of God so as not to hinder the gospel or cause other Christians to fall in their faith. Chapter 11 deals with situations in the Corinthian church where Christians were living too freely. The evidence of this was in the covering of the head and hair styles.
• Also, in the context of this chapter, we see the roles of men and women in the church.
• In a church, that had everything upside down as concerning the things of God, it is not surprising that Paul had to speak to the Corinthian church about the proper order between men and women in the church.
• Read 1Cor 11:1-3
• Paul praises the Corinthian church
• Up to this point in the book of 1Corinthians, Paul had nothing good to say about that church. However, here in chapter 11 we see the first praises.
• The Corinthian Christians were praying for Paul.
• The Corinthian Christians were keeping the ordinances that Paul taught them. What ordinances?
• There are two Christian ordinances commanded by Jesus Christ:
• =1= The ordinance of water baptism that demonstrates publicly a believer’s personal identification with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is his personal testimony that he has received Jesus Christ into his heart and is born again. (Mar 16:15-16)
• =2= The ordinance of holy communion that periodically remembers and renews for the believer the new covenant in the blood and body of Christ. (Mat 26:26-28)
• The principle of authority to achieve order
• As a means of putting the Corinthian church in order, Paul began with a very important general principle:
• A church cannot have order without a hierarchy of authority and responsibility.
• Many years ago in the 1960’s and 1970’s I took on the task of organizing a youth group in a church. Those were the years of outward rebellion by the youth with university demonstrations of violence. In our first meeting of the group, I let the youth talk about what they wanted for their group. The feeling was unanimous and strong that they did not want a leader. They did not want anyone to have authority over them. I decided to let this be a teaching experience to show them the folly of their decision. At the next meeting, everyone sat in painful silence waiting for me to tell them what we were going to do. Finally someone asked me, “What are we going to do?” I said that I did not know. With puzzled looks they asked me, “Why did you not plan something? I told them that I was not their leader. I was their advisor. In desperation, they finally began to understand. They asked me as their advisor, what I would suggest. I suggested that they choose a leader because unless there is a leader and a hierarchy of authority, there is no organization. They got the message.
• Paul gives us the model of authority in the church:
• =1= God is the ultimate authority. (3)
• =2= Christ is the authority of the church. (Eph 5:23)
• =3= Christ is the authority of every believer (3)
• =4= The husband is the authority over his wife (3)
• Paul already explained to us in 1Cor 7 that men and women were equal before God. (Gal 3:28)
• Men and women are equally sinners before coming to Christ.
• Men and women are equally redeemed by the blood of Christ.
• Men and women are equally indwelt by the Holy Spirit.
• Men and women are equally baptized into the body of Christ.
• However, there are different positions of authority and responsibility for the purposes of making decisions and the running of the organization of the household as well as a church.
• Notice that the purpose of the hierarchy of authority is to produce order. That is what that church lacked, order. (11:34)
• An important truth for churches:
• Churches must be careful to have just enough hierarchy so as to accomplish the mission of the church and not too much so that the hierarchy becomes a cumbersome burden.
• In other words, the hierarchy of organization must be to serve the church. If there is too much bureaucracy, its purpose is not to serve but to maintain itself. In this way, the church is not served and neither is the cause of Christ.
• There should be just enough leadership organization to facilitate the smooth function of the church.
• The significance of the word, “head”:
• Paul mentions the word, head, ten times in 1Corinthians and nine times in this chapter alone.
• The significance of the word, head, is that part which gives direction and has a sense of responsibility.
• The physical body has a head. That is where the thinking mechanisms are located. It is where responsible decisions are made for the good of the body.
• If we consider the hierarchy of authority that Paul has given us in verse 3 along with the idea that the head gives direction, we can see what Paul had in mind.
• =1= God is the ultimate authority. (3)
• It is from the mind of God that all direction and guidance must come for the good of the church and for the people in the church.
• Jesus Christ and God, the Father, are one. (Joh 10:30) However, Jesus said, “…for my Father is greater than I.” (Joh 14:28b)
• The two are equal, but in the hierarchy of authority, Jesus Christ humbles himself under the authority of God, the Father. (Phi 2:5-7)
• =2= Christ is the authority of the church. (Eph 5:23)
• The church is the body of Christ, and He is the head or the authority over the church. Jesus Christ purchased the church with his blood. Therefore, the church exists for Him and by Him.
• =3= Christ is the authority of every believer (3)
• Jesus Christ wants to be the head over every area of our lives. He wants to be the Lord and master over everything in our lives. The believer has the mind of Christ in him (1Cor 2:16) by which He gives us direction.
• =4= The husband is the authority over his wife (3)
• In the decision making process in the home, the husband is the final authority. He has the responsibility to give direction and guidance to his family. If the husband is a Christian, he has the mind of Christ, and that direction comes from Christ.
• Read 1Cor 11:4-16 The Gender Principle
• The example of the principle of authority: the covered and the uncovered head
• Background:
• In the city of Corinth, the prostitutes did not wear a veil. Their head was uncovered. Many of the prostitutes shaved their heads especially those in the temple of Aphrodite.
• The Jewish Rabbis taught that a man must cover his head. However, Paul indicates that the old Jewish Rabbis misunderstood the veil of Moses.
• This tradition came from the experience that Moses had on Mt. Sinai in the book of Exodus. (Exo 34:33-35)
• Moses came down the mountain from the presence of God with his face shining. The people complained that they were blinded by the light. Therefore, Moses put a veil over his face. As a result, the people could not see the glory on Moses’ face, nor could they see when that glory faded.
• Instead of covering their head, as the Rabbis taught, Paul says that men should not cover their heads (4) because it dishonors God.
• The uncovered head of a man is a symbol that indicates the believer’s freedom through redemption.
• When he is praying with an uncovered head, the male believer is exercising his freedom to come to God directly through the blood of Jesus Christ, and the temple veil, that represented Christ’s body, which was torn that we might have direct access to God.
• Prayer is man speaking to God.
• When he is prophesying with an uncovered head, the male believer is expressing the words given to him from God. The lack of a head covering signifies that the message is not to be hidden or changed. The people can judge in the open if the words are truly from God with nothing hidden.
• Prophecy is God speaking through the believer to the congregation.
• However, the woman is to have her head covered when she prays or gives a word of prophecy so as not to dishonor God. (5) (13)
• Many churches take this verse literally making women wear veils without understanding the context of the principle or the complete example given in chapter 11 in light of that city’s culture.
• Because the uncovered head of a woman in Corinth culturally indicated that she was a prostitute, Paul told women to wear veils to cover their heads.
• Read 1Pet 3:1-5
• Notice that Peter does not say anything about veils. He speaks about braided hair, gold, and jewels that were the style for immoral women in Peter’s location.
• What is the guiding principle for Christian women?
• Christian women should dress modestly without calling attention to their bodies in a sexual way. They should express the purity of holiness in Christ.
• In other words, they should not dress like the prostitutes who did not wear veils in Corinth or who wore braided hair and expensive jewels paid for by their patrons.

The Gender Example

The Male Believer	Significance	The Female Believer	Significance
The uncovered head	Freedom through redemption to approach God	The covered head	The purity of holiness in Christ.
	To express the image and glory of God (7)		To express honor to her husband as a helper (7)

• Paul gives us the reason for this gender difference from nature: (8)
• The woman was created out of man. God took one of Adam’s ribs and created Eve.
• Eve was created for Adam to be a help to him. (9)
• “For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels.”

(10)

• Why are the angels interested in the gender principle?
• The angels had a close relationship with God from the beginning. They knew their place in the Kingdom of God. They knew God’s authority. However, some of them rebelled against God.
• When a Christian woman, with authority over her, understands her position in the body of Christ and the Kingdom of God as equal with men, and yet submits to her husband’s authority and to her pastor’s authority in the church, gains power in the Kingdom of God. Why?
• A submissive woman has a greater understanding than the angels that rebelled.
• There is power in voluntary submission. Jesus Christ demonstrated this fact when He submitted to God’s will of the cross in the garden of Gethsemane.
• The world’s thinking is just the opposite. In the world view, submission is an acknowledgment of an inferior position.
• In the Kingdom of God, submission is the position of power because with submission comes unity and with unity comes power. The voluntary action by her gives her power.
• A woman in submission to her husband and to the pastor, have the power of protection over her.

• “…neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord.”

(11)

• What is the Gender Principle?
• For order in marriage and order in church, each gender has its position and area of responsibility under the authority of Christ.
• The gender principle gives us the order of authority in Christian marriage:
• You cannot have a Christian home where there is order unless you have a hierarchy of authority.
• The man needs the woman as a helper.
• The woman needs to submit to her husband for there to be order.
• This hierarchy of authority has been carried down through history by this gender principle from the beginning with each gender having its own position and exercising its own role.

• “For as the woman is of the man…”

(12)

• Eve came from Adam’s rib.
• “…even so is the man also by the woman.”

(12)

• All men are born from a woman.
• The example of the Gender Principle — long hair and short hair:
• Men with long hair bear a shame to their manhood. (14)
• Didn’t Jesus have long hair?
• Paul refers to really long hair, and not the collar length hair that Jesus and the other disciples had.
• Why is very long hair a shame to a man?
• In the Old Testament God gave the Jews a vow called the Nazarite Vow. This vow was a dedication of a person to the Lord. Usually the Nazarite Vow was made by parents for a new born child. One of the conditions of the vow said that the person must never cut his hair. (Num 6:5) Two men in the Bible that had this vow from birth were Samson and John the Baptist. Samson lost the strength of the presence of the Lord when his hair was cut.
• The long hair of the Nazarite vow indicated that a person was willing to bear the shame of men for the sake of his dedication to the Lord.
• The Nazarite vow was part of the Old Testament Law of Moses that Jesus Christ fulfilled. Therefore, men today can have the same life dedication to the Lord without the symbol of long hair.
• Notice that Paul says that nature teaches us that long hair on a man is a shame to him. (14)
• Women who have long hair are not shamed by it.
• Instead it is glorious for her.
• The point is that the length of the hair is not the issue. Paul brings it up to prove that men and women naturally know there is a difference between males and females. In other words, we can be equal in the eyes of God, and still recognize the need of different positions and responsibilities in the home and in the church.
• Notice that Paul says the church should not make rules concerning clothing and the length of hair because that will only lead to further arguments, judging, and divisions among them. (16)
• These were things Paul already told them to stop.
• Instead, the believer should let the Holy Spirit guide him in these physical matters.
• The important thing is the principle laid out in this chapter for order in the home and in the church.
• The principle is the hierarchy of authority where, according to the gender principle, men and women have their different roles of responsibility within that hierarchy.
• Summary and Application:
• We have discussed the gender principle that says men and women were created differently and have different roles or positions in nature, in the family, and in the church.
• Because of these differences, we should be content with the positions and responsibilities that God gave us because these differences work together to make a successful marriage and a successful church.
• Read Eph 5:21-33 The parallel between marriage and the church
• What does the passage in 1Cor 11 tell us about the role of men in the church?
• Men express the image and glory of God. (7)
• Ephesians explains to us what this means. The husband is the head (the authority) of the wife:
• To love her, to protect her, to sacrifice for her, to encourage her in her walk with the Lord. (All of these responsibilities of husbands are expressed in Eph 5.)
• What does this passage tell you about the role of women in the church?
• Women express honor to their husbands. (7)
• Ephesians explains to us what this means. The wife expresses honor to her husband by her level of submission to him:
• In everything, (Eph 5:24) so that she comes to express the beauty of holiness and purity in her life.
• When husbands and wives in the home work together according to the gender principle, they form Christian homes where children are nurtured in the ways of God, teaching them by example the relationship between Christ and His church.

HOMEWORK
1CORINTHIANS 11:17-34
This is a self-study. Please do not send homework answers to the teacher for correction.

• Application of 1Cor 11:1-16
• In which areas of your life does the gender principle change:
• Your thinking?
• Your actions?
• Your relationships?
• Which areas of your life need more work?

• Preparation for 1Cor 11:17-34
• Read 1Cor 11:17-22
• What specific abuses in the Corinthian church does Paul mention in this passage?
• Read 1Cor 11:23-34
• What is the meaning of verses 27 and 29-30?
• What was the solution of the abuses in that church?

• Memory Verse: 1Cor 11:31