1 Timothy Lesson #8

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RETURN TO SYLLABUS
1TIMOTHY 2:11-15
LESSON #8
WOMAN’S ROLE IN THE CHURCH — continued

MEMORY VERSE: JAMES 3:1

• THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN THE CHURCH: THE HISTORIC BACKGROUND
• WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND SOME HISTORIC BACKGROUND IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND WHY PAUL SAYS SOME OF THESE THINGS THAT APPEAR TO CONTRADICT OTHER PLACES IN SCRIPTURE.
• –IN THE EARLY CHURCH, THERE WERE NO CHURCH BUILDINGS. THE WORD “CHURCH” COMES FROM THE GREEK WORD, “ekklesia” WHICH MEANS = CALLED OUT OR TO SUMMON. IT CAME TO MEAN “THE ASSEMBLY” AND HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH ANY BUILDING. THE ASSEMBLY OF THE “CALLED OUT ONES” MET IN HOMES. IT WAS THE WOMEN WHO HAD THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR HOSPITALITY IN THE HOME. IF IT WERE NOT FOR THE WOMEN, WHO WERE WILLING TO SERVE THE LORD, THE EARLY CHURCH WOULD HAVE HAD A VERY DIFFICULT TIME GROWING BEYOND THE INITIAL STAGES OF EVANGELISM. THEREFORE, WOMEN HAD A MAJOR ROLE IN THE EARLY CHURCH. IT WAS NOT UNTIL MUCH LATER IN HISTORY WHEN CHRISTIANS BEGAN TO BUILD THEIR OWN CHURCH BUILDINGS IN WHICH TO WORSHIP THAT THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN THE CHURCH DECLINED. EVENTUALLY CHURCHES LED BY MEN BEGAN TO QUESTION THE LEGITIMACY OF A WOMAN’S ROLE IN THE CHURCH AND RE-INTERPRETED SCRIPTURE ON WHICH TO BASE THEIR PRE-CONCEIVED IDEAS. THE RESTRICTIVE LIMITATIONS ON WOMEN IN THE CHURCH BECAME ENTRENCHED IN CHRISTIANITY AS A REACTION AGAINST THE WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT AND THE WOMEN’S LIB MOVEMENT MORE RECENTLY.
• –IN THE EARLY CHURCH, WHEN CHRISTIANS MET TOGETHER IN HOMES, MEN AND WOMEN WERE SEPARATED DURING TIMES OF WORSHIP. MEN SAT ON ONE SIDE OF THE ROOM AND WOMEN SAT ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ROOM. THIS CULTURAL PRACTICE PROBABLY CAME FROM JUDAISM WHERE THE TEMPLE AREA WAS DIVIDED BASED ON MALE AND FEMALE AS WELL AS JEW AND GENTILE. REMEMBER THAT THE EARLY CHURCH INITIALLY CONSISTED OF CONVERTED JEWS AND LATER A MAJORITY OF GENTILES.
• WITH THESE IDEAS IN MIND, WE WILL SEE IF WE CAN GAIN A BALANCED VIEW OF WOMEN’S ROLE IN THE CHURCH BASED ON SCRIPTURE.

• READ 1TIM 2:11-12
• FIRST PAUL REMINDS US IN VERSE 11 OF OUR PRINCIPLE #19.
• SUBMISSION SHOULD BE A WOMAN’S ATTITUDE.
• THIS ATTITUDE OF SUBMISSION IS THE DETERMINING FACTOR BEHIND THIS WHOLE SECTION OF SCRIPTURE WHERE IT IS TALKING ABOUT WOMEN. WE SAW THIS PRINCIPLE IN RELATION TO WOMEN’S DRESS IN OUR LAST LESSON. NOW WE SEE IT HERE IN RELATION TO A WOMEN’S BEHAVIOR IN THE CHURCH.
• PAUL SAYS SHE SHOULD LEARN IN SILENCE. WHY DOES HE SAY THIS?
• THERE ARE SOME CHURCHES THAT TAKE THIS LEGALISTICALLY AND INSIST THAT WOMEN ARE NEVER TO SAY ANYTHING IN THE CHURCH. IS THAT WHAT PAUL MEANT? NO.
• READ ACTS 21:9
• PAUL DID NOT CORRECT THIS MAN FOR PERMITTING HIS DAUGHTERS TO PROPHESY.
• PAUL DID NOT MEAN WOMEN SHOULD NOT SPEAK IN THE CHURCH. THE WORD “SILENCE” MEANS PEACEABLE, NOT INTRUSIVE.
• REMEMBER THAT WOMEN AND MEN WERE SEPARATED DURING THE WORSHIP SERVICE.
• READ 1COR 14:33-35
• IN THE CORINTHIAN CHURCH, WOMEN WERE YELLING ACROSS THE ROOM TO THEIR HUSBANDS ARGUING OVER THE MEANING OF DIFFERENT SCRIPTURES. THEREFORE, THERE WAS MUCH CONFUSION DURING THE WORSHIP SERVICE WITH EVERYONE TALKING AT ONCE.
• PAUL’S ADMONITION TO SILENCE IS NOTHING MORE THAN TO REQUEST RESPECT FOR THE PASTOR, THE TEACHER, OR THE GUEST SPEAKER WHO IS LEADING THE WORSHIP SERVICE.
• “I SUFFER NOT A WOMAN TO TEACH…” (12)
• THOSE CHRISTIAN CHURCHES THAT RESTRICT A WOMAN TO TEACH USUALLY POINT TO THIS SCRIPTURE AS A BASIS FOR THEIR ACTIONS.
• THERE ARE MANY PROBLEMS WITH THIS KIND OF LEGALISTIC RESTRICTION: AS WITH ALL LEGALISM, WHERE DO YOU DRAW THE DIVIDING LINE BETWEEN WHAT IS APPROPRIATE AND WHAT IS INAPPROPRIATE?
• SOME CHURCHES SAY A WOMAN MUST NOT TEACH IF A MAN IS IN THE CLASS BUT THEY ALLOW WOMEN TO TEACH SUNDAY SCHOOL WHERE THERE ARE BOYS IN THE CLASS.
• SOME CHURCHES SAY A WOMAN MUST NEVER TEACH ANYTHING TO ANYONE. IF THAT IS PAUL’S MEANING, THEN HOW DO YOU COMPREHEND THE FACT THAT PAUL PERMITTED PRISCILLA TO TEACH APOLLOS?
• READ ACT 18:24-26
• NOTICE THAT AQUILA’S NAME COMES BEFORE PRISCILLA IN ACT 18. HOWEVER IN ROM 16:3, PRISCILLA’S NAME COMES FIRST.
• THE CUSTOM OF THE TIME SAID THAT THE PERSON MOST WELL KNOWN, MOST GIFTED, OR MOST CHARISMATIC, HIS OR HER NAME WAS PLACED FIRST IN THE LIST. AS THIS COUPLE STARTED OUT WITH PAUL, AQUILA WAS THE DOMINATE PERSONALITY. BUT AS THEY CONTINUED TO MINISTER TOGETHER WITH PAUL, PRISCILLA BECAME THE MORE DOMINANT TEACHER. THERE IS HISTORIC EVIDENCE THAT SHE WAS VERY CLOSE TO PAUL AND HE USED HER TO DO SOME WRITING FOR HIM.
• MUCH LATER IN ROM 16:3, THE NAME OF PRISCILLA IS FIRST.
• TIMOTHY WAS TAUGHT BY HIS MOTHER AND GRANDMOTHER (2TIM 1:5; 3:15)
• OLDER WOMEN ARE TO TEACH YOUNGER WOMEN
• (TIT 2:3-4)
• “…NOR TO USURP AUTHORITY OVER THE MAN” (12)
• THOSE WHO SAY THAT WOMEN SHOULD NOT TEACH FAIL TO CONSIDER THE END OF VERSE 12.
• WHAT DOES PAUL MEAN “USURP AUTHORITY”?
• THE WORDS “USURP AUTHORITY” MEAN = TO EXERCISE DOMINION OVER.
• IN OTHER WORDS, A WOMEN SHOULD NOT VIOLATE PRINCIPLE #19 BY HAVING AN ARROGANT ATTITUDE WITH THE GOAL OF DOMINATING MEN.
• WHAT IS THE GUIDING PRINCIPLE OF WHETHER OR NOT A WOMAN SHOULD TEACH IN THE CHURCH?
• AN ATTITUDE OF SUBMISSION IS THE GUIDING PRINCIPLE.
• GUIDELINES FOR THIS PRINCIPLE:
• 1. A MARRIED WOMAN SHOULD HAVE HER HUSBAND’S APPROVAL TO TEACH IN THE CHURCH.
• 2. A SINGLE WOMAN LIVING IN HER PARENT’S HOME SHOULD HAVE THE APPROVAL OF HER FATHER TO TEACH IN THE CHURCH.
• 3 A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE THE PASTOR’S APPROVAL, AND THE ELDERS’ APPROVAL BEFORE SHE CAN TEACH IN THE CHURCH.

• PRINCIPLE #21

FOR A WOMAN TO TEACH IN THE CHURCH, SHE MUST HAVE THE APPROVAL OF HER HUSBAND (OR FATHER), THE PASTOR, AND THE ELDERS

• PAUL GIVES US A BIBLICAL EXAMPLE AND EXPLANATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES OF SUBMISSION AND WOMEN’S ROLE.

• READ 1TIM 2:13-15
• THE EXAMPLE OF ADAM AND EVE:
• EVE WAS THE FIRST TO SIN. HOWEVER, SHE WAS DECEIVED BY SATAN. ADAM WAS NOT DECEIVED. HE KNEW EXACTLY WHAT HE WAS DOING. HE DELIBERATELY MADE THE CHOICE TO BE WITH EVE RATHER THAN TO BE WITH GOD.
• IN OTHER WORDS, WOMEN CAN BE EASILY DECEIVED BECAUSE THEY OFTEN ARE MORE INTERESTED IN THE THINGS OF THE SPIRIT. THE ROLE OF AUTHORITY WAS GIVEN TO MAN AS A PROTECTION FOR WOMEN AGAINST SPIRITUAL DECEPTION.
• THAT DOES NOT MEAN THAT MEN AND WOMEN ARE UNEQUAL BEFORE GOD. (GAL 3:28 SAYS WE ARE ALL EQUAL.)
• THE ROLES OF AUTHORITY AND SUBMISSION ARE GIVEN FOR THE PERFECTION OF ORDER.
• “…SHE SHALL BE SAVED IN CHILDBEARING…” (15)
• THERE ARE EVEN GROUPS THAT TAKE THIS PART OF THE VERSE AND INTERPRET IT LEGALISTICALLY. IF A WOMAN DOES NOT BEAR A CHILD, SHE IS NOT SAVED. HOWEVER THAT IS NOT WHAT PAUL MEANT.
• BECAUSE OF THE SIN OF ADAM AND EVE, EVERY TIME A WOMAN BEARS A CHILD, SHE BRINGS A SINNER INTO THE WORLD. WHAT A BURDEN FOR WOMEN TO CARRY BECAUSE OF THE FACT THAT EVE WAS THE FIRST TO SIN! HOWEVER, THERE WAS ONE CHILD BORN THAT WAS NOT A SINNER. THAT WAS JESUS CHRIST. SALVATION COMES TO US THROUGH THIS CHILD. NOTICE IT WAS NOT MAN THAT BROUGHT THIS CHILD, JESUS CHRIST, INTO THIS WORLD. IT WAS A WOMAN. IT WAS THROUGH THE CHILDBEARING BY MARY THAT SALVATION CAME INTO THIS WORLD.
• CONCLUSION:
• IF MARY HAD NEVER GIVEN BIRTH TO JESUS CHRIST, WOMEN (AS WELL AS MEN) WOULD STILL BE UNDER THE CURSE OF GEN 3. MEN WOULD FORCEFULLY DOMINATE WOMEN BECAUSE OF EVE’S FIRST SIN. HOWEVER, BECAUSE OF JESUS CHRIST (BORN OF A WOMAN), THE ROLE OF WOMEN HAS BEEN LIFTED TO VOLUNTARY SUBMISSION OUT OF LOVE RATHER THAN FORCEFUL DOMINATION BY MEN.
• UNFORTUNATELY MANY CHRISTIAN MEN DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE FREEDOM THAT COMES TO ALL OF US BECAUSE OF JESUS CHRIST. THAT FREEDOM COMES TO WOMEN IN THE AREA OF AUTHORITY AND SUBMISSION.

• PRINCIPLE #22

SUBMISSIVE WOMEN SHOULD HAVE THE FREEDOM TO BE WHOM CHRIST HAS CALLED THEM TO BE BECAUSE JESUS CHRIST WAS BORN OF A WOMAN