Sunday, September 13, 2009

Sovereign Grace Bible Church

Jim Kang, Pastor-Teacher

HOW IS A GODLY WOMAN KNOWN? – PART 3

1 Timothy 2:9-15

INTRODUCTION

There are six ways how a godly woman is known from this text: 1) the way she prays for others, 2) the way she clothes herself, 3) the way she worships, 4) the way she learns, 5) the way she submits, and 6) the way she bears and rears her children.

So far, we have worked through the first four points and started with the fifth point last Sunday. This morning I would like to restart with our fifth point.

V. The Way She Submits (vv. 11b-14)

According to verse 11, “A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness.” Or, literally “in all submission.” The Greek word u`potagh/| (hupotage) means submission in the sense of renunciation of one’s self initiative and refers to overcoming of a certain inner resistance.[1] Hence, the word is often translated obedience, subjection, and submission. In fact, in this verse the emphasis should be placed on the word all or entire.

Like any Christian, regardless of one’s gender, a Christian woman is to respect and submit to all authorities. However, the context in which our text is found refers to submitting to authorities in the church.

The people who generally cause problems in the church, or leave the church without any dialogue, or disciplined by the leaders all have this in common – failing to respect and submit to biblical authorities. Of course, I am not suggesting a blind submission to any leader or everything. The operative word is submitting to biblical authorities and fulfilling biblical duties.

When people often make issues in the church, it is typical to hear things like “I don’t need to submit to leaders or the pastor because my obligation is only to God,” as if submitting to God and submitting to God-ordained office or officers are in contradiction. According to the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith, which I personally subscribe states:

A particular church, gathered and completely organised according to the mind of Christ, consists of officers and members; and the officers appointed by Christ to be chosen and set apart by the church (so called and gathered), for the peculiar administration of ordinances, and execution of power or duty, which he intrusts them with, or calls them to, to be continued to the end of the world, are bishops or elders, and deacons (26.8).

Although it may sound so pious to say, “I don’t need to submit to any man but only God,” it is a false piety with one-sided interpretation and leads to all sorts of erroneous applications. Since the context refers to submission to church leadership, verse 11 points out how she is to learn from her church elders. Hence, there is no contradiction between submitting to God and submitting to God ordained office of elders.

To make the matter even more clear, verse 12 points out what God ordained office of elders looks like, namely the elders are men, and they have the teaching and leadership responsibilities, not women. Let me make a few observations from verse 12. First, this is a language of prohibition – i.e., “I do not allow [or permit]…” It is non-negotiable. In fact, the conjunctive word “but” indicates that this verse 12 is directly connected to verse 11. And this conjunction is not a positive conjunctive word like “and,” but negative, namely “but.” The idea is a woman must learn (v. 11), but she must not teach or have authority over a man. Again, this has a strong tone of prohibition and it is non-negotiable.

Second, notice the specific genders mentioned – i.e., “I do not permit a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man.” These are not terms for general humanity or non-specified gender. Rather, these are clear terms for specific gender and gender identity. The Greek noun for woman is gunh,, where we get gynecology from. The word refers to any adult female. Hence, in any biblical church there is no woman elder, woman preacher, or woman usurping the authority over man. To put it negatively, a church is unbiblical if they have a woman elder, woman preacher, or any woman usurping the authority over man.

If this is not clear enough, Paul hits this point again in 3:1-7 regarding the qualification of an elder. What is important to point out in this elder qualification is the specific gender usage. In fact, the usage of masculine pronouns is all over in 3:1-7.

Again, this is absolutely a non-negotiable truth. In fact, this is so important that churches have fought and church denominations have split, and I say, rightfully so! This battle is not over yet, though many churches have either succumbed to the pressures of our culture or that this issue isn’t much in the limelight anymore. Nonetheless, we have the light and we are a light to this world, hence we cannot cave or comprise this truth due to socio-political or cultural pressures. This leads to third observation.

Third, all four verbs in verse 12 are present active – of which, two are infinitives and two are indicatives. The point is, from the time that Paul gave this particular prohibition for the church, this non-negotiable truth remains consistently applicable, which includes our present hour. All that is to say, this particular truth does not change simply because we live in different era or different culture. The word of God is transcendent and his truth is universal at all times. If a general revelation such as 2+2=4 was true in the past, is true now and will be true tomorrow, why would a special revelation of God’s word change?

Hence, based on 1 Timothy 2 and 1 Timothy 3, you cannot make an exegetical argument for the ordination or installation of women for the office of ruling elder and/or teaching elder. There are a number of good materials that have been published in recent years about the very issue that I am discussing, one notably, Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood: A Response to Evangelical Feminism by John Piper and Wayne Grudem, which is an excellent resource to have in your shelf. That book strongly argues why the complementarian view of women is far superior over the egalitarian view of women’s role.

My final observation from verse 12 is this: the text does not make a blanket statement that a woman cannot teach or lead, period. Such notion is false because in Titus 2, the older women are to teach young women in the church. What needs to be qualified is that a woman cannot teach or exercise authority over a man.

A Brief Rebuttal To An Egalitarian Argument

I do want to point out one particular argument that feminists, egalitarians, or pro-woman ordination often make, that is, what about Deborah, a prophetess, in Judges 4:4, which says, “Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time”? Because this particular question or argument often stumps many Christians who affirm the biblical and traditional view of male eldership, I briefly want to respond to this argument. My rebuttal is largely that of hermeneutics. First, the book of Judges is part of a large OT genre of historical books. Since it is primarily a historical book, one needs to approach the book expecting many descriptive events, including one about Deborah judging Israel at that time. That is to say, one needs to discern the difference between that which is descriptive from prescriptive, or that which is indicative from imperative. Because the overall genre of historical book is descriptive, it merely indicates what happened, not prescribing, or commanding. Hence, the example of Deborah is not a prescription to follow but description of what happened.

Second, many OT scholars quickly point out that this is a rare exception, or a onetime event, as opposed to ongoing reality. In fact, after Judges Chapter 5, she is no longer mentioned. All that is to say, a onetime event or exception does not mean an ongoing or set reality. According to John Calvin, “Extraordinary acts done by God do not overturn the ordinary rules of government, by which he intended that we should be bound.”[2]

Paul’s Argument for Verse 12

Paul’s twofold arguments for verse 12 are in verses 13 and 14, namely creation order and consequence of sin.

Paul does not waste any time but goes directly to the heart of reason, that is, first, because of God’s creation order. The key words in verse 13 are “first, then.” Moreover, they are qualified with Adam and Eve. That is to say, Adam first, then Eve.

This refers to specific sequence of order or priority, and such order or priority often comes with responsibility. This truth is not hard to figure out. Just look at our own natural family, for example. Who generally carries more responsibilities, the first-born, the second or third? When you leave your house, which children of yours do you put the responsibility, the oldest or youngest? You see, the creation order carries responsibilities and respect. That is why in many cultures like Korea, showing respect to anyone who is older than you is normal ethos, and not to do so is abnormal and aberrant.

Here, the sequence of creation order means who is responsible to lead. Since God created the man first, God intends that man should lead his wife, not vice versa. Paul’s first argument for male leadership in the church and home is because of God’s creation order. Any attempt to reverse God’s created order is simply to go against God.

Paul’s argument for male leadership is not only because of creation order, but also due to consequence of sin. Paul is not taking a cheap shot at women here or playing a blame game but simply stating a fact in the redemptive history, that is, it was not Adam who was deceived but the woman. He is not saying Adam was guilt-free. He merely says he was not the one who was deceived by the serpent. In fact, the key verb in verse 14 is “deceived.”

Although English translations do not make any distinction between the two verbs, in Greek different verbs are used. Since Paul wants to convey a strong contrast between Adam and Eve, grammatically the second verb for “deceived” carries stronger force on the meaning of deception. That is why in the NET Bible, the verse is translated, “And Adam was not deceived, but the woman, because she was fully deceived, fell into transgression.”

Again, Paul is not blaming the woman for having sin entered into all humanity. In fact, according to Romans 5:12-21, Paul points out the individual who was responsible for the fall was Adam, not Eve. However, Paul’s point here in 1 Timothy 2 is to show the means in which sin entered. That is to say, how did sin come, namely, through a full deception.

• ^NAU Romans 7:11 for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.

• ^NAU Romans 16:17 ¶ Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them. ¹⁸ For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting.

• ^NAU 1 Corinthians 3:18 ¶ Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise.

• ^NAU 2 Corinthians 11:3 But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.

Therefore, as consequence of sin [because there is always consequences to sin] she would have pain in giving birth, not to mention her desire to reverse the creation role by usurping the leadership role.

CONCLUSION

So far, we have examined five ways how a godly woman is known from 1 Timothy 2:9-15:

1. the way she prays for others,
2. the way she clothes herself,
3. the way she worships,
4. the way she learns, and
5. the way she submits.

Please stay tune next time for this extended exposition in 1 Timothy 2:9-15 with our final point, namely the way she bears and rears her children.

---

[1] TDNT, 8:46.

[2] John Calvin, Calvin’s Commentaries, 22 volumes (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2003), 21: 67.