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| Q: | During a recent Bible Study at our church (WELS) we were directed to 1 Tim 2:11 that women should not have a say in the church. If I am expected to accept this, than I must also believe 1 Tim 2:15 where it tells us that women will be saved through childbearing--if they continue in failth, love and holiness with propriety. Does this mean that I must also believe that childless women are NOT SAVED. | ||||||
| A: | A person can make any phrase say something other than what it really means if the context is not taken into account. For example, if I should say "That's a beautiful fire!" it makes a lot of difference whether I am sitting by a campfire on a cool summer evening or whether I'm watching my neighbor's house burn to the ground. So also the phrase in 1 Tim 2:15 "women will be saved by childbirth." This phrase is part of a conditional sentence. Paul says this will be true if women also continue in faith, love, and holiness. Thus Paul is saying this is true only of women who by faith lay hold on the forgiveness of sins God provides us freely in Christ, who also have a living and active faith that expresses itself through love, and whose life is one of living according to God's holy will. But why does Paul add childbearing to faith, love, and holiness as the mark of Christian woman? That is explained by what precedes. In verses 11 and 12 Paul repeats the role that God has given to man and woman. In verses 13 and 14 Paul gives two reasons for what was said in verses 11 and 12: the order in which God created man and woman underscores the role he gave each, and the tragic results of Adam and Eve stepping out of their roles show the dire consequences of disregarding God's will in woman becoming a sinner. In Genesis 3:16 God spoke of childbearing in speaking of the chastening he would place on the woman to remind her of her sin. Childbearing, more than anything else, sets woman apart from man. If a woman recognizes this and treasures children as a precious gift of God, and if she willingly and gladly serves God in this unique function, in no clearer way can she show her acceptance of the role God has given her as woman. On the other hand, if she rejects this unique action God gave her, she shows her rebellion against God. In short, the matter of childbearing is introduced in this passage only because the Fall into sin is used by Paul in discussing the subject of the roles God gave man and woman at creation. God established these roles at creation by the order of man and woman's creation (1 Tim 2:13), the purpose of their creation (1 Co 11:9), and how they were created (1 Co 11:8). To state those roles briefly: man is to be a loving head like Christ who does everything in his relationship of woman for her happiness; and woman is to yield to the authority of her loving head just as every believer yields to the authority of Christ (Eph 5:22-33). For a more exhaustive discussion of this subject confer the booklet titled "A Bible Study on Man and Woman in God's World" which is available from Northwestern Publishing House in Milwaukee. | ||||||
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