Professing Godliness, Practicing Good Works

We're in one of those challenging passages in the Bible dealing with ministry. Open with us to First Timothy, chapter 2, and follow along as you see what the Scripture says.

Good morning! While you're standing, take out your Bibles with me and open them to the book of First Timothy. If you don't have a Bible, you can raise your hand, and one of our ushers will bring you one. First Timothy is near the end of your Bible. Open to the very last book, the book of Revelation, and then turn to the left. You will ultimately find the little book of First Timothy.

We're in chapter 2, and we are going to pick it up in verse 8. We are going to go through this passage. I know a few people a couple of weeks ago thought I dodged this passage; apparently not, so here we go.

First Timothy, chapter 2, verse 8 says, "I desire therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting. In like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but which is proper for women professing godliness with good works. Let women learn in silence with all subjection. Nevertheless, she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness with self-control."

Father, we pray for your wisdom. We pray for your Spirit to guide us in all truth and to teach us all things. We pray this in Jesus' name, and all those agreed said, "Amen." You can be seated.

I've had the privilege now for my entire adult life thus far to live and work in an environment with coworkers who are seeking to live their lives in a way that is in line with the Scriptures. They are seeking to live their lives in a way that fulfills the teaching of the Scriptures. None of us do that perfectly.

We are all aiming at a target, and while we certainly miss the mark at times, we seek to live according to the pattern of the Scriptures. Therefore, we strive to treat each other as equals, as the Scriptures declare that we should treat one another as brothers and sisters.

We live and work here at the church in an office that feels somewhat like a shelter from the outside world. I realize that the rest of the world is not as we have it here, and I count it as a privilege. What we have seen in the news over the last month regarding workplace harassment, sexual harassment, and mistreatment due to gender is something I have thankfully never had to navigate. I am grateful for that. In fact, I do not have to hear explicit stories or put up with dirty jokes or foul language. It is a privilege to not be in that environment; it is not my world, and I am thankful for that.

However, I am not naive. I understand that this is not the experience of many people in their workplace environments. What I have experienced as normal is not normal for our society. The events that have come to light in the last couple of weeks through the #MeToo movement are a sad testimony to our culture. It is shameful when we see the things that emerge in the news.

These events remind us that, although we live in a relatively equal society and have made significant strides over the last several decades, we still have a long way to go in achieving true equality and moving away from any form of mistreatment. While we may be light years ahead of some cultures and societies, I certainly do not want my daughters to ever feel the need to use the hashtag #MeToo. That is not the world I want them to grow up in.

In saying that, as many of you know, my wife works in a secular environment within a corporate hospital.

To a UC school, she has experience. She shared stories with me—experiences where you go, "Yeah, that certainly could be classified and would be classified as harassment." Those things go on regularly in a lot of these places. Unfortunately, a lot of times, those things that would be classified as harassment are often just kind of laughed at and shrugged off because people know that's the way it is.

As she shared with me before, it's not just men against women; that's certainly not the case. These things go on, and it's a sad blight on our culture. It reveals the pulse of our culture, the inequality, the inequity. Sometimes, people just kind of put up with it, saying, "Well, I guess that's just the way it is." It's a sad reaction for us to accept that as the norm.

Now, whether it's the things my wife has shared with me, the things other people have shared, or the things we've all read or seen in the news in the last several weeks, when we observe these kinds of issues in our world, it causes two considerations to come to mind. First is the realization that, just as the Bible says, we live in a broken world. We live in a world that is broken because of sin. A reader of Scripture, a student of the Bible, understands that we see this very clearly beginning in Genesis chapter 3. The entire world is under the curse and fall of sin, and we experience the brokenness of it.

However, in light of that brokenness, there is a hope that we should have. The Bible declares there is coming a day when the King of Righteousness will rule and reign with true justice. We should all look forward to that. Amen. We have an optimistic vision of the future when the King of Kings and Lord of Lords comes and establishes His righteous rule. There will not be inequality, there will not be inequity, and there will not be indignities. That is what we have to look forward to.

Now, the difficult part of all this is that it just so happens we find ourselves in the teaching schedule at this passage of Scripture at this time in our culture, with all the stuff that's been going on in the news. It makes going through this passage all the more difficult as I've been spending time studying the section of Scripture that is before us.

We are right in the middle of this passage of Scripture that some people in our culture look to as the reason for mistreatment, inequities, and indignities. There is a vocal, albeit maybe a minority, group of people who view this passage and others like it, such as in 1 Peter chapter 3 and Ephesians chapter 5, as the cause of the mistreatment we see in our society today. Of course, I would push back against that. I don't think this is the reason for such issues in our world.

When we look at the world overall, even in places where the Bible does not have influence or is not dominant, we still see mistreatment and indignities. Therefore, I don't believe the Bible is to blame. However, as I shared a couple of weeks ago when we began to go through this passage, there are two things we need to take into consideration when approaching a passage like this.

First, we need to consider our assumptions. What assumptions do we bring to the Bible? Every single one of us has them, and I think those assumptions fall into four basic categories.

The first is to approach the Bible and a hard passage like this with the mindset that the Bible is good, and any disagreement I might have with it is based on a misunderstanding or perhaps a misuse of the passage. That is one way to approach it.

The second way is to say that the Bible is mostly good, but those who wrote these things down—holy men of God who were inspired by the Holy Spirit—were unfortunately also overly influenced by their own culture. We can see the influence of their culture in some of the things they wrote, and therefore, we might feel justified in dismissing certain parts. This is a dangerous mindset, but we should recognize that many within what is called the Christian Church today fall into this category. They believe the Bible is mostly good, but there are some parts we can push aside.

The third assumption is to approach the Bible and say that it is just an example of an ancient understanding, making it mostly unhelpful and not very useful for us today.

Finally, the fourth view is to assert that the Bible is wrong in its teachings and even dangerous. This perspective holds that we have progressed far beyond any need for the Bible, so we simply don't need it.

There is a small, very vocal minority in our culture today that is championing the position that the Bible is dangerous. One of the prominent figures in this group is Richard Dawkins, an atheist. His view is that if you are a parent and you teach the Bible to your child, you should be guilty of child abuse.

We all come to the Bible with certain assumptions, and I assume that the Bible is good. Therefore, any disagreement I might have with a passage of Scripture would stem from a misunderstanding or a misuse of that passage. I approach the Scriptures wanting to understand what is being said, believing that this is the message of a good God who has written it for our benefit. That is my default mindset when I engage with the Scriptures.

However, we must honestly acknowledge that there have been people throughout church history, over the last 2,000 years, who have misused passages like this. Whether out of ignorance or malintent, they have used these passages to justify the mistreatment of certain segments and groups of people. While it is true that some have misused the Bible, we should also look at the history of the church over the last two millennia objectively. Predominantly, where the Bible has been embraced, it has brought freedom and liberty, setting free various categories of people, including different races, socio-economic classes, and genders. We have witnessed the leveling of so much liberty because of the teachings of Scripture.

Because we see both a negative and a positive side, we can conclude that it is not necessarily the Scriptures themselves that are at fault. Instead, it is people who misinterpret, misunderstand, or misapply some of the teachings of Scripture, either ignorantly or intentionally. This reveals an important point: nothing good can come from a bad heart. If a person has wrong motives and a heart that has not been transformed by the grace of Jesus, then their actions will reflect that.

Christians can take the good scriptures and twist them in a way that will not have a good outcome. Nothing good can come from a bad heart. This is why the work of the gospel in our lives is so important. Two thousand five hundred years ago, God, speaking through the prophet Ezekiel, said, "Behold, I will give you a new heart." That is what we need—a new heart. Jesus, through the gospel of grace, comes in and transforms us. That transformation begins on the inside and begins to move out through our lives. His saving work starts by giving us a new heart, which begins to transform who we are.

However, nothing good can come from a bad heart. When approaching a difficult passage, we need to first acknowledge our assumptions. What are our assumptions when we come to the passage? Secondly, we need to understand the context. What is the context of this passage? The context for this passage is found in 1 Timothy 3:14-15. If you turn one page to the right, you will find it.

In 1 Timothy 3:14, Paul writes, "These things I write to you, though I hope to come to you shortly. But if I am delayed, I write to you so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the Church of the Living God, the pillar and ground of truth." These things are written so that we would know how to conduct ourselves in the church. If you are a Christian today, if you are a follower of Jesus, this is written so that we would know how to live our lives as followers of Jesus in the context of the church when we gather together as the people of God.

What we have seen so far in the several weeks that we have been in 1 Timothy are teachings that instruct the church and the pastor of this church, Ephesus, a man named Timothy, on how he should set in order things in a church that was out of order. They were off course. Paul says he wants Timothy to get them back on course so that they would live according to right conduct and teach sound doctrine.

That is what we saw in chapter one: the priority of teaching sound doctrine. Then, in chapter two, we saw the priority of prayer in the opening verses. Two weeks ago, in verse 8 of chapter 2, we learned that there should be proper conduct for men in the church. Specifically, the principle that emerges from verse 8 is that Christian men in the church should exhibit a certain kind of conduct when they gather together.

The church needs to conduct itself properly in the workplace, the marketplace, and the home. Wherever they are, if they live according to a certain godly conduct in the church, they should live by that same godly conduct in the world. There should not be duplicity; they should not be hypocrites, as Paul is saying.

Now, he turns his attention to the women in this passage. We move to the proper conduct of women, specifically what is proper for women professing godliness. He says in verse 10 that this is a specific exhortation to women who are professing that they are Christians, saying, "I am following Jesus." If that is you today, then this message is for you, just as there was a message for men.

If you desire to be a woman of godly conduct, it brings us to this very important point. This is not only for women but also for men: we seek to please God more than ourselves or our society. As Christians, if you are a follower of Jesus today, there is a transformation that takes place in you when God gives you a new heart. We seek to please God more than ourselves or our society.

Before you were a Christian, your desire was to please yourself. However, when you become a Christian and God gives you a new heart, one of the things that comes with that new heart is new desires. Among those new desires is the desire to be pleasing to God.

We all know that if you have been following Jesus for any length of time, the desire to please God is present, but you do not always fulfill that desire. That is why Paul, in Romans 7, would say, "The good things I want to do, I don't do; the bad things I don't want to do, that I practice. Oh, wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from the body of this death?"

If you have been a Christian for ten months or more, you have had that experience. You have a desire to obey God, yet you find yourself, in and of yourself, unable to do that without the Spirit of God helping you. Thus, we have this desire to please God more than ourselves, but also more than our society. We live in a society that says your entire life is about making yourself happy. Have you noticed that? It is the cultural drumbeat of our time.

The 21st-century American culture, especially here in Southern California, emphasizes living to make oneself happy. That's the cultural drumbeat and the prevailing mindset. However, when God indwells your heart by faith, there is a transformation. The Christian's desire should be to please God more than ourselves or our society. The more we walk with Jesus, the more this desire will become our aim.

Paul is writing to a group of people who are seeking to follow God and professing godliness. In verse 8, he states, "I desire therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath or doubting." We considered this two weeks ago, and you can find it on our website, lifeinconnection.com. In like manner, verse 9 continues, "also that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but which is proper for women professing godliness with good works."

Notice that Paul begins this by saying, "in like manner." Men are to conduct themselves as the people of God in the Church of God in this way. Women, in like manner, are to conduct themselves as the people of God in the Church of God in this manner.

Now, why is Paul even writing this? Well, because 2,000 years ago, Paul visited the church in a city called Ephesus. When he got there, he saw that the church was not doing what it should be doing. Specifically, he found that the women, when they gathered together as the Church of God, were not walking in good, godly conduct. They were not exhibiting moderation, modest apparel, or propriety. Apparently, the women of the church in Ephesus were not conducting themselves in a way that honored God. Therefore, Paul says that his exhortation and desire is for women professing godliness, when they gather together as the Church of God, to wear modest apparel and come in propriety with moderation.

These three things beg the question: where in 21st-century culture today is there any place that values modesty, propriety, or moderation?

As decorum goes, the way you present yourself is just not the culture we live in. Let me tell you, it was not the culture that Paul was writing to in first-century Ephesus, 2,000 years ago. Sometimes we think that we have progressed so far beyond that, that they were just totally repressed and oppressed, a kind of moisture of people who were so pushed down. This was a very free society.

If you think 21st-century Western culture is a free society, go study the history and culture of Rome in the first century. It was just about anything goes in that culture. Paul was writing to a culture that is much like our culture philosophically. Yes, we have progressed in science, medicine, and technology; they did not have iPhone tens or that sort of stuff, but they had the same kind of worldview that is present in our day.

We do not see in our culture today any sort of area where there needs to be modesty, propriety, and moderation. In fact, the mindset in our day is really that the only thing that is out of bounds in 2017 Southern California is for you to say something is out of bounds. How dare you assume to tell anybody how they should live their life? That's what is out of bounds in our day. Everything else is free.

As the song from the 90s says, "I'm free to do what I want, any way that I want, any old thing." Right? Free to do as I choose to get my booze. One of the lyrics even says, "I'm a new creation." Where does that come from? The Bible is using a verse from 2 Corinthians 5:17 to say, "I'm a new creation; I can do whatever I want, no restrictions." This is what is given to our culture constantly.

I challenge you to go listen to the song from the hit movie Frozen a few years ago, the song that Elsa sings. I forget the title, but it’s "Let It Go." Go listen to the lyrics. I was listening one day while my daughters were sitting in the backseat, singing, "Let it go, let it go," and then it says, "No one's gonna hold me back, I'm gonna do my thing." I thought, wait a minute, my five-year-old is like, "Yeah, do...".

My thing is that no one should tell me what to do. Maybe I should rethink this song. Our culture is 100% focused entirely on the external.

Point number three on your outline teaches us that godly women are more concerned about inward beauty than outward beauty, or at least they should be, especially when we appear before God in His church. This is not to say that godly women are not at all concerned about outward beauty. Our God is concerned about beauty; look at the creation He made. My wife and I just had the wonderful privilege of spending a week in Maui, and when you look at the creation, the sunsets, you realize our God is into aesthetics. He makes things beautiful.

So, our God is interested in beauty, and He is not telling us that godly women cannot be interested in external beauty. Gals, listen: godliness does not equal ugliness, and holiness does not equal homeliness. I say that because there have been certain Christian traditions that have suggested that if you are going to be a godly woman, you cannot, in any way, look pretty. That is not what Paul is preaching here; that is not what he is saying in this passage.

I would like to say that I think my wife is a righteous babe, and I am perfectly good with that. You know what? She reserves her beauty for me, and if she were showing it off to everybody else, I might be a little bit concerned. But she is a righteous babe, and she is totally embarrassed right now.

It is not to say that you cannot have any focus on external beauty; it is to say that you should spend as much, if not more, energy and time on inward beauty as you do on external beauty. If you are more concerned about applying makeup than applying God's Word, it will show.

Paul will show that if you spend more time on your hairdo, outfit, and all the things that look good on the outside than you do on time with God to transform the inward beauty, it will be apparent and seen. There should be a concern about inward beauty.

The immediate objection to this statement and passage is to say that Paul was speaking out of his own cultural repression. He was in the first-century Jewish world that had repressed women, and he was addressing a Greek culture with that mindset. However, historians tell us that this is not an accurate representation of the first-century Ephesian world that Paul was speaking into.

In that culture, women were highly exalted and revered. This was the culture from which the legendary race of female warriors, known as the Amazon women, emerged. The Amazon women were not simply girls who could shop well online; they were highly respected. The most dominant structure in the city of Ephesus was the temple to Diana, or Artemis, the Greek goddess of war. All the priests and overseers of the pagan religious system in Ephesus were priestesses, who held a very high and prominent position in the culture of that day.

To say that it was a repressive culture for women is not true and does not align with what historians tell us about the popular culture. So, what is Paul doing here? It is very clear. He is addressing a culture that had thrown off all restraint, had zero moderation, and no propriety. There was no focus on inward beauty in the Temple of Artemis. Paul is speaking to that culture, emphasizing that among the people of God, there should be a difference.

He stated this clearly about ten years earlier when he wrote to the church at Ephesus in Ephesians chapter four. He said, "I say therefore and testify in the Lord that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles." He was reminding the church that their conduct should be different.

Than the rest of the world, both for men and for women, the cultural norms in your culture for men are not culturally normative for God's people. The cultural norms for women in your culture are also not culturally normative for the people of God in the church. If you are a part of the church, He would say, as He did to the Corinthians, "Come out from among them and be separate; be set apart."

For you were once darkness, as stated in Ephesians 5:8, but now you are light. Walk as children of light. He says that women should adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation. This was not the cultural norm of Ephesus in the first century. However, it should be different for you in the church. Godly women should be more concerned with inward beauty than outward appearance.

Paul writes that adornment should not be with braided hair, gold, pearls, or costly clothing, but rather with what is proper for women professing godliness: good works. So, what is he saying? Your adornment should not be purely external—gold, silver, pearls, and so on—but your adornment as a woman professing godliness should be good works. The primary adornment that is beautifying is good works.

There is a certain decorum for men and women following God. Even though we live in a culture where this is just kind of normal, he says that especially when you gather together as the people of God in the Church of God, there is a certain way that we carry ourselves. There is a certain way that we come before God and before one another.

About five years ago, I was asked to do a wedding for a friend of mine, and it was going to be in Ireland. The groom flew my wife and me to Ireland, and we stayed at this beautiful castle called Ashford Castle in western Ireland. One of the nights we were there, the bride and groom said, "Hey, let's get dinner together." We went to this beautiful restaurant in the castle.

As we approached the door, we were standing at the little booth getting ready to be seated when the groom and I were pulled aside by the host. He said, "Excuse me, gentlemen, where is your dinner jacket?" We replied, "We don't have one." He responded, "Okay, well, we will lend you one."

They took us into a room, gave us these blazers, and we put them on. The most awesome part about this whole experience was that we walked through with our dinner jackets on, walked about 30 feet to the table, and then the hostess helped us take off the jackets and fold them.

And put it on the back of the chair. What was the point of that? You can't come in here without the dinner jacket; there's a certain dress that's required for this place. Now, I get it. We live in San Diego, California, at Cross-Connection Church. I sometimes wear shorts and sandals. This is specifically about our motivations and what we seek to accomplish in the way that we look. Are we seeking to direct attention to God or to ourselves? That's the gut check here.

When we, the people of God, gather before God, we should understand that there is an adorning that is proper for women and for men who profess godliness. It is an adorning with good works. Continuing on, in verse 11, let’s kick it up a notch: "Let a woman learn in silence with all subjection." What? Are you kidding me? This is really what you're going to study here? Well, we have to break it down.

What does he say? He says, "Let a woman learn." Now, this is intriguing because you need to understand that Paul came out of a Jewish background. There were Jewish rabbinical teachings and the Babylonian Talmud during the time that the children of Israel were exiled in Babylon, about 2,500 years ago. This is when the Jewish people began to gather together on the Sabbath in what they called synagogues; they never did that before.

When they gathered together as the people of God in the synagogue for the reading of the law, the rabbis started to put together their comments on the law and to say, "This is how we are to do this." The Babylonian Talmud stated that a Jewish woman could come to hear the reading of the law, but she could only listen; she could not learn. However, notice what Paul says here: "Let a woman learn." There is an equality that he is speaking of here that was not normal in the Jewish religion under the Babylonian Talmud.

Talmud point number four on your outline: godly women are learners of God's Word and ways. Within the Church of God, godly women are learners of God's Word and ways with men. That doesn't cause any problem, does it? No, that's a good thing. Many, if not most, of you women here gather with us to learn the Scriptures and the ways of God, as it should be.

However, he goes on to say, "Let a woman learn in silence with all subjection." This is the way that He desired and designed, and so He set it in place. One of the good works that adorns the women of God within the Church of God is that they willingly subject themselves to that which we learn from God's created order. He has ordered a way in which the home is to be governed, and He has ordered a way in which the church is to be governed. The church is the people of God, the pillar and household of truth.

He says, "I have set up a created order." We can acknowledge that being in our 21st-century culture, this created order is difficult. Our fallen nature doesn't align very well with God's created order. That's the whole reason we're fallen; we live by nature contrary to God's created order in virtually everything that we do.

When He calls us to be His people, He calls us out of a culture that is going against the things of God. Now He says, "I want you to walk in line with my order." Can we accept that? Yes, it's difficult because our nature doesn't easily step into that. We are fighting against our nature and against a culture that is fighting against God.

First, we acknowledge the difficulty. Second, we have to come before this.

Following Jesus as students of the Scripture, we believe that God is good. Therefore, if God is good and He has revealed His message to us in the Scriptures, then His word is good and it is for our good. That is the assumption I come to this with. He is telling us this truth because He knows what is for our good.

However, my nature doesn't always agree with this. My nature doesn't like this, and my culture doesn't like this. So, how do I wrestle with this? Can you accept that the philosophy of this world, which you have been pressed into for your entire life since birth, may actually lead to more bondage and death than the philosophy that God is giving? He is the one who comes to us and says He wants us to have life and to have it more abundantly.

There is a cultural philosophy that all of us know really well, which reacts to this biblical philosophy and says, "I don't like that." But we have to ask the question: Where is the cultural philosophy leading? Look at our society. Does it seem like it is leading to a much more progressive area, a wonderful utopia where everybody is free and happy, or does it seem like it is leading to devastation and chaos? I would suggest to you that if left to its own devices, it descends towards chaos. Just read the rise and fall of the Roman Empire; they kind of let off all restraint and see where it leads.

God calls women professing godliness to a quietness and submission ordained by Him, and He says that this is a good adorning work that women professing godliness put on to beautify themselves. You might say, "Wait a minute, this is a beautifying thing?" Let me read to you quickly from 1 Peter chapter 3, where Peter says something very similar. He writes, "Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they without a word may be won by the conduct of their wives when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by reverence. Do not let your adornment merely be outward—the arranging of hair, the wearing of gold, or the putting on of fine clothing."

Clothing should not be the focus; rather, let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. In this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted God also adorned themselves, beautifying themselves by being submissive to their own husbands. This submission, the Bible says, is a beautifying characteristic for a godly woman. Therefore, men should not be quarrelsome and harsh.

Verse 8 states that women are called to an inward adornment. However, let's make it more difficult. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. If there ever was a fight in the church, this is the fight. There is a website called GotQuestions.org, which is one of the largest and most frequented Christian websites on the internet, where people go to ask questions and receive strong theological answers. Their number one question, among the top 20 questions over the last five years, has to do with women and ministry.

So, what is it? There are obviously different views within the church. I believe, though I don't have a lot of time to parse all of this out, that we will see it more when we get into chapter 3, as it goes in context with this passage. When you analyze this between 1 Timothy and other passages of Scripture, what you find is that Paul is saying that teaching and having authority go together. Therefore, there is an office in the church. Remember, he is talking about conducting yourselves as the Church of God.

There is an office within the church that is for men only, and that office is the office of the overseeing elder—those who teach and have authority together. He is not saying here that women never teach or that they never teach even over men. He is saying that they do not occupy the office of teaching and having authority within the church.

Therefore, it is our position at Cross-Connection, and it has been and will continue to be a complementarian position, where we say all ministry is open for all believers except for the office of the overseeing elders, because we are following the created order that God has given.

Point number five: godly women yield to God's ordained order as an act of worship and good works.

Of worship and good works, you say this is an act of worship. Yes, Ephesians chapter 5, verse 22 says, "Wives, submit to your own husbands as to the Lord." Your submission in the household and in the church is as worship to the Lord, and worship is offered willingly; it's not forced. We do this as to the Lord.

Again, the objection to this is that Paul is speaking from a male-dominated culture in the first century. However, that doesn't stand up to what historians say. Notice he is not appealing to culture. In verse 13, he states, "For Adam was formed first, then Eve, and Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived fell into transgression." He is not appealing to culture; he is appealing to creation. This is exactly what Jesus did when he spoke on marriage, and it is exactly what Peter does. They appeal to creation. God, who is the Creator, has set up a creative order. My fallen nature might fight against that order, but if I believe that God is good and that He is writing these things for my good, then I can step out in faith and say, "I'm going to trust You, God, and I'm going to do this as unto You because I believe You have my good in view." It is a step of faith.

Well, of course, we get to what is considered by many to be the hardest verse in the whole Bible: verse 15. "Nevertheless, she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness with self-control." What on earth does this mean? If you get 25 Bible commentators, the 25 top Bible commentaries on this passage, you will probably get 50 different opinions, which means there is very little agreement on what this means dogmatically. So we cannot say, "This is what this means." We can say, "Well, this might mean this; it might mean that." Typically, this is what you're going to hear when people teach or preach on this passage.

I'll give you the two most common interpretations of "Nevertheless, she will be saved in childbearing." The first interpretation, which is the most common, is that this is a reference back to the Old Testament, specifically Genesis chapter 3. The very first prophecy given in the Bible, the very first prediction about the coming of the Savior, Jesus, is found in Genesis chapter 3, verse 15, where it says that the Savior is going to come of the seed of the woman. The salvation that God desires for His people is...

It is impossible without the seed of childbearing, and so the Savior would come through the seed of the woman. That's one interpretation. Paul is speaking of a salvation that would ultimately come through the line of a woman; Jesus would come.

Interpretation number two, which is the most common, is that women are not called by God in His created order to be overseeing pastors and teachers over a church. However, this desire is satisfied, or in some way fulfilled, through motherhood and childbearing.

In this respect, I think it's really important to point out a sad reality: in 21st-century progressive culture, particularly in Western Europe and the United States, motherhood has been diminished. It is often seen as a detriment to a woman's potential, but that is not what the Bible says. Children are a heritage from the Lord, and to be a mother is an honorable and high position—an awesome calling of God.

There is a group among the elites of the progressive parts of our culture that claims motherhood is bad and that children are a burden. The Bible does not teach this; it teaches that motherhood is good. Many Bible teachers believe that in motherhood, there is a satisfaction of the desire for leading and overseeing that women are especially gifted for.

I see this in my wife; she is especially gifted to be a mom. I would be a horrible mom; I would be a terrible "Mr. Mom." I do dad okay, but as a "Mr. Mom," the kids would starve, the house would fall apart, and everything would be a mess.

What we find in God's created order is that there is one place set aside for male leadership: the office of overseeing teaching pastors. Do you realize there is one area in all of God's created order that is only for women, and no man will ever be able to fulfill that role?

Childbearing is an honored position, and both roles should be accepted as being honored and highly lifted up. Here’s the devastating part: just because you’re not called to be in the overseeing pastoring position, you don’t have to receive the emails about this message, so that’s good for you.

Is this a challenging passage? Yes, but here’s the thing: God has called and gifted all of us to serve within the body. There is just one area where He says, “I’ve set this aside in my created order for male leadership,” but everything else is open for women to serve in every capacity. God has gifted and called for this.

We live in a culture that has a problem with this, but this is an issue of worship as we are learners of the Word and ways of God. May we take the step of faith and say, “God, we trust.” Though we may not perfectly understand all things, we trust that You have our good in view, and we seek to follow You by faith. Amen.

Would you stand with me as we close in prayer? God, we read in Hebrews that Your Word is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. It cuts deep and is challenging. This inspired scripture was given for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that the man or woman of God would be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Lord, sometimes when we are challenged, rebuked, or corrected, it’s hard. I pray, God, that You would help us to approach Your Word, this passage, and every other passage with the mindset that You have written this for our good. We want to know You and Your ways, and we desire to live in a way that honors You and is the most satisfying for us.

So, God, I pray that You give us humility in approaching Your Word. Would You teach us by Your Spirit so that we would know You more fully and know how to walk with You as You have ordained? We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

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