Women’s Ministry in the Church
Modern Christianity parades diverse models of church ministry to women. But what is biblical women’s ministry? Women’s ministries are popular, yet controversial in our day, partly because the term itself is vague, ambiguous, and does not appear in Scripture. One might ask, “Why are women teaching in the church, Sunday School, seminaries, and numerous other venues?” What kinds of experiences does the Bible call for to minister to women in the church? Jeff Pollard takes an exegetical approach to these questions.
The Sufficiency of Scripture and Women’s Ministries Part 1: Teachers of Good Things
the answer is often, “Titus 2 says that women should teach women.” But what does Titus 2 teach? God’s infallible and sufficient Word says that older women must be “teachers of good things.” What does God want them to teach?
The Sufficiency of Scripture and Women’s Ministries Part 2: Keepers at Home
The inspired, infallible, and sufficient Word of God says that older women should be “teachers of good things.” Among the seven good things that the Apostle Paul says that older women should teach young women is to be “keepers at home.” What did the Apostle mean by this? How should we apply it today? The answers are crucial for building healthy churches.
I will make one unusual request before we begin. I hope not to offend anyone with this request but before the Lord converted me I was in the music business and I lived for the praise and applause of men so if you would kindly do me the favor when I finish if you have found anything I've said edifying that you would just give a hearty amen and not applaud that would help me a great deal I would appreciate that that being said let's stand as we read the holy Word of God my text is Titus chapter 2 verses 1 through 5 brethren let us join our hearts together we have the the gift and the blessing of holding God's inspired, infallible, and sufficient word in our hands. Chapter 2, verse 1, let us hear the word of God. But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine, that the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience. The aged women likewise that they be in behavior as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things, that they may teach the young women to be sober to love their husbands to love their children to be discreet chaste keepers at home good obedient to their own husbands that the Word of God be not blasphemed.
Amen. Let's join our hearts in prayer. Oh blessed, holy, and good Father, how we praise and thank you for your wonderful love to us in Christ today we thank you for your eternal mercies for loving your people before the foundation of the world for sending your holy son to save them from their sins for sending the Holy Spirit to draw them to repent of their sins and believe in Christ, we thank you that he is even now ascended up to glory, interceding for all of his children. Oh, Lord Jesus, your intercession is so needed now. Meet with us as we open your blessed and sufficient word.
Speak to the hearts of your people and bring all glory to your holy name. Bless these precious ones that you have gathered encourage them build them up in the faith fill their hearts with the love of Christ and father may their their cup run over in joy unspeakable and full of glory. And may it all be to the exaltation of our great and holy triune God. In Christ's name we pray, amen. Please be seated.
In the inspired text that we have just read, Jesus Christ, the head of the church, makes his will known through the mouth of Paul. Paul had left Titus on Crete, the largest island in the southern part of the Aegean Sea, to set in order what was lacking in its churches and to appoint elders in every city. The teaching ministry of qualified elders was crucial because false teachers were subverting God's order in church and in family. Read Titus 1 carefully. Ancient historians, poets, and others confirm that the citizens of Crete had a notorious reputation for wickedness.
Paul even quoted the Cretan philosopher-poet Epimeneides, who said of his own people the Cretans are always liars evil beasts slow bellies that means lazy gluttons Paul therefore commanded Titus to preach and teach sound doctrine in order to restore God's order in the churches now why sound doctrine number one because the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is the power of God to salvation, to everyone that believeth. Romans 1 16. And number two, because only God's Word, empowered by God's Spirit, transforms God's people. If any man be in Christ, Paul wrote to the Corinthians, He is, He is, and she is a new creature. 2 Corinthians 5 and 17.
Now as the text here in Titus 2 reveals, Paul expected the gospel of grace and apostolic teaching to transform and reform to transform and reform the men and women old and young Faithful elders constantly preaching the doctrine of Christ would establish and preserve God's order for biblical manhood and womanhood and families for the generations to come. Why is God's order in the church so important? Because the Church of Jesus Christ is the focal point of God's eternal purpose of redemption. The church is the object of God's love in Jesus Christ. The church is the realm of God's holy presence and authority on the earth.
The church is the source of his worship and praise in history the church is the house that is the household the family of God the pillar and ground of the truth. Paul's great doxology in Ephesians 3 21 declares, unto him be glory, where? In the church. Unto him be glory in the church by Jesus Christ throughout all ages world without end Amen. Now God receives his glory in history and for eternity in the church through the redemptive work of Christ.
This is Paul's point. Christ's life, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension into glory intercession and second coming it is difficult to express my friends it's difficult to express in human language God's love for and the importance of his blood-bought church This church in which God gets his glory consists of two sexes only. Blood bought, spirit regenerated, men and women. Each of the sexes brings glory to God by walking in God's order for them in the church and in everyday family life. God gets his glory When instructed by the Word, converted and empowered by the Spirit, men live, look, and act like men, and women live, look, and act like women in the church and in the home now in light of this The sacred text we have just read reveals the sufficiency of scripture.
Titus preached sound doctrine. And it reveals a crucial women's ministry that preserves God's order for women, for each generation. Women's ministries are a popular, and I'm sure most of you know, a controversial matter in Christ's churches today. The term itself, women's ministry, is ambiguous and unclear. Now because of that, women's ministries sometimes become new offices in the Church of Jesus Christ.
This means that we're not simply talking about the distinctions between the sexes but ecclesiology the doctrine of the church that place those people where God gets his glory now this is a vast subject and two messages will hardly do it justice I'm quite sure I believe many of you disappointed because it will take me far more than two sessions to try to cover all the things that could be said about this important subject but I trust that if God will grant us the spirit of illumination we will see the Titus 2 is sometimes misunderstood misapplied and undervalued in churches today which obscures its vital message for the generations to come. Now may our beloved Lord Jesus grant us ears to hear His Spirit and Word. Let us begin by considering the component parts of the term not found in the Bible, women's ministry. What is a woman? Ministry.
What is a woman? I hold my breath as a man attempting to define the other sex. Do bear with me. But such a question may seem absurd, yet the perverse culture in which we live demands an answer, and a biblical answer. When we consult the dictionaries, virtually all agree that a woman is an adult female human being.
Now this is accurate, but it does not capture the essence of womanhood, does it? How many of you ladies are encouraged to know that you are defined around the world as simply a female human being If we consult the dictionaries for the word female we find a person who belongs to the sex that can have babies. Now that helps but it points more to what a woman does than what a woman is. When we consult the sufficient and infallible Word of God we read in Genesis chapter 1 verses 27 and 28. So God created man in his own image.
In the image of God created he him, male and female created he them. We then read, God said unto them, be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it and have dominion over every living thing that moveth upon the earth Now we read in Genesis 2 18 that God said a little later on, it is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him, I, the living God, will make for him one man I've created and help meet for him. That means a help that is suitable for him. That means there is purpose in God's creation for woman.
Evolution cannot give you purpose but the Creator has given us purpose both for men and for women and distinctive bodies and distinctive roles. Therefore, God put Adam into a deep sleep and he fashioned a woman from one of his ribs. Furthermore, God said to Eve after she sinned, listen carefully, In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children, and thy desire shall be unto thy husband, and he shall rule over thee." Genesis 3.15. Now taking these things together, I suggest the following definition, which includes something of the essence and the purpose of a woman a woman is a female person specially created in the image and bearing the image of God. Originally very good, but sinful by the fall.
Able to bear children her husband's helper if she has one and the co-regent or joint ruler with man in the outworking of God's eternal purpose. Now this definition drawn from the passages of creation and the fall should give us help in understanding God's purpose and ministry for women. And we'll see that, I trust, plainly laid out in Titus chapter 2, the passage we have just read, verses 1 through 5. Paul is simply reinforcing in his letter to Titus the creation order so then what does ministry mean that's a big word it's a popular word both minister and ministry are vague words that are not well understood in our generation. In secular terms, minister means a high officer of state, such as minister of foreign affairs or minister of state.
In modern evangelicalism, minister usually carries the connotation, one who is authorized to perform religious functions in a Christian church, such as preaching or teaching the Word of God. Now it may surprise us to learn that this is not the primary sense of the words minister or ministry in Scripture. First of all let's consider just a few words from the Old Testament. Bear with me for a little bit of technical work so that we can build on this and then run ahead. In the Pentateuch, the verb form of the Hebrew word translated minister means to serve.
It means to serve or to be an attendant to it usually refers to priests and Levites who serve the Lord in worship or who serve God's people on his behalf. And these were always men. God called Aaron and his sons to minister as priests. The child Samuel ministered to the Lord. The noun form is usually translated in the Old Testament, at least in the authorized version, minister, servant, assistant.
Joshua the son of none was the minister or the assistant to Moses. Solomon had many ministers or attendants in his court. Now there is one reference to a woman ministering in the Old Testament, and that is the young and beautiful Abishag who ministered or attended to the aged King David. This was simply personal service to him. This was not in any way connected to formal worship.
So the idea really is just being a servant of some sort. And when we find this idea of service and servant, minister and ministry in the Old Testament we basically find men ministering unto the Lord and women ministering otherwise primarily in the home now in the New Testament the Greek word translated minister which also has a verb and noun form, is also translated deacon. I'm sure you're familiar with that word. That term has become a very religious title sounding word for us, but originally it simply meant a servant if you go back and read acts 7 if you read the New Testament passages particularly in Acts you will find that this idea is simply men who were chosen for their godliness to serve various needs within the body of Christ. Deacon was not originally the title of an office.
It simply meant servant of the church, servant of God's people. Now angels ministered to Christ after his temptation. Christ himself came not to be ministered unto but to minister. He came to serve. The eternal Son of God become flesh came as a servant and to give his life a ransom for many Matthew 20 28 now when we find women connected with the word minister and we do they are not called ministers of the word as men are Luke 1 2 ministers of Christ 1st Corinthians 4 10 ministers of the New Testament 2nd Corinthians 3 6 minister in the Lord Ephesians 6 21 minister of God 1st Thessalonians 3 2 We begin to see something of a change in the New Testament as there begin to be certain functions within the body of Christ.
And the idea of a minister takes on the idea most of the time of being a servant of the word serving Christ by ministering the word to God to God's people and within the context within the teaching context of the church that's always applied to men normally a woman ministers or serves in terms of hospitality, of giving, of charity, of serving the saints. And they do minister. But they do not minister in the formal worship the Word of God while we find women ministering or serving in numerous ways we do not find them officially teaching the Word of God in the Church of Christ. Paul of course makes this specific in 1 Timothy chapter 2, 1 Corinthians 14, and in other places. Now having said that, If any of this is beginning to feel a little heavy to you, let's consider for just a few moments women's roles in the history of God's people.
As many labor today to reform the family from the ravages of feminism and other deadly isms, many of which we heard last evening, the vital role of women in the church and family is sometimes, in fact I would say most of the time, unreasonably minimized. We must remember the astonishing biblical record of women in the outworking of God's eternal purpose and there's no way to cover that in just a few moments. I'm going to miserably fail in attempting to encourage your heart here with a very quick summary, far too quick to be as encouraging as I would like for it to be. But in the Old Testament, Miriam, Deborah, Hulda were prophetesses in the Old Testament. Hannah, Ruth, Esther were great women of faith.
Throughout the Old Testament, women gave birth to God's elect. And in the New Testament, blessed Mary gave birth to our Lord and Savior. And the Word of God tells us that the whole world down through history will remember that woman and bless her as the mother of our beloved Savior who honored her and submitted himself to her and took care of her even in his dying gasps upon the cross of Calvary our Lord Jesus Christ taught women That was unheard of in Christ's day. This was astonishing public recognition of women. And he included them in his disciples.
He blessed women for all of history to see because they were made in his image as well as men Martha's sister Mary sat at Christ's feet which he highly commended again recorded in the eternal Word of God Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her. Luke 10 42 Jesus healed Peter's mother-in-law Jairus's daughter a woman with a 12-year flow of blood and an 18-year crippled woman in the temple and told her to give glory to God in the presence of all assembled. Again utterly unheard of. Blessing, honoring, and setting women as worthy and dignified before God. He forgave women and he often used women as positive characters in his parables on faith and prayer.
He praised women. The eternal Son of God opened his mouth while he walked on this planet and praised sinful fallen women of faith. To the Syrophoenician woman he said, O woman, great is thy faith. Matthew 15 28. Women financially supported Jesus, followed him, and tended him from Galilee and on in to Jerusalem.
They were faithful to Him at His crucifixion when the men ran away. They were faithful to Him in His resurrection. They were faithful to Him in His burial. They were the first ones there. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were the first to declare the resurrection of Jesus Christ to the unbelieving male disciples.
The book of Acts records that women were with the disciples in prayer on the day of Pentecost, Acts 1 14. Peter declared on the day of Pentecost that God said I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh and your sons and your daughters. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy Philip had four daughters virgins which did prophesy acts 2 21 9 Priscilla with her husband Aquila expounded unto Apollos the way of God more perfectly. Acts 18, 26. Euodius and Syntyche labored side by side with Paul in the gospel and he encourages them in the Philippian letter.
Created in the image of God and redeemed in Christ Women have always served God faithfully and mightily. That is overlooked far too often in our attempts to restore family. Unfortunately, most of us who are pastors are spending most of our time on block-headed men. And some of us have found out that that has been to the neglect of many of the women in our congregation. I've repented of that before my congregation publicly asking their forgiveness.
That brings us then to older women and their function in the passage before us. The Holy Spirit, by the way blockhead is a good puritan word. You'll read it in Richard Baxter regularly and he usually applies it to men. Good target. Being one myself, I can say it with great confidence.
Men are blockheaded without Christ. Matter of fact, I taught a wedding, I mean a marriage class, and on the first night I had all the men repeat after me, without Christ, without Christ, I am, I am, a blockhead. Quietly, a blockhead. And that's so. We need the light of Christ to be the husbands God has called us to be, and the fathers.
Now, older women and teachers of good things, Here's the heart of what we're driving for. The Holy Spirit empowered preaching of sound doctrine produces many precious fruits and one of them is godly older women. Paul says that the aged women must live as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, Teachers of good things. Teachers of good things. That is, they must be reverent in demeanor, self-controlled in their speech, self-controlled in their desires, and good mentors.
Why does Paul want older women to be of this character? Well, a grammatical clause called a purpose clause gives us Paul's reason. That, the Greek there means in order that or so that they may teach the young women. In other words once God's sound doctrine has taken root in an older woman's heart the Holy Spirit prepares her for a vital role the world doesn't have much use for older people they put them out to pasture and they worship youth, not the Church of Jesus Christ. Godly older women are one of the great treasures God gives to his people.
And I'm looking at some. May God bless you. In other words, once God's sound doctrine moves in this heart, Christ wants her to pass on God's order for women to the next generation. That's what he means by being a teacher of good things Paul does not say a few aged women or some aged women all aged women all older women if you don't like the King James aged, all older women should aspire to this very thing. This is not a suggestion from heaven.
This is a call, a requirement from heaven, and every younger woman and every girl here ought to desire with all her heart to be a godly, older woman and a treasure to the Church of Jesus Christ. Now what does teacher of good things mean? The first thing we must understand is that these four English words, teachers of good things, comes from one Greek word. Therefore, when we consider the word teacher, we must consider the following things, and there are three. First, when we think of the word teacher, Greek scholar William Mounts says the fourth and final characteristic is that elderly women must teach what is good.
Kalladidaskelos is the Greek word. Some think that Paul actually coined it because it has not found any other place in the New Testament. This word occurs only here in the Greek literature and may have been coined by Paul. Context shows that this refers not to an official teaching position in the church but rather an informal One-on-one encouragement. Now this is a vital point.
Many people run to this passage to build all kinds of organizations within the Church of Jesus Christ, often putting women in places of authority that many of us cannot legitimize by the scriptures. This is not an office. It is not an official title. It is a part of day-to-day living that is a vital function of the Church of Jesus Christ. This vital point, brethren, is a one-on-one encouragement that leads to the word mentoring.
That's the idea contained in this passage. So what is a mentor? A mentor is a wise and trusted guide, advisor and teacher. Mounts says this passage pictures the older women, those who were experienced in life, marriage, and child rearing, taking the younger women in the congregation under their care and helping them to adjust to their responsibilities. Why do they have to adjust?
Because these responsibilities do not come naturally to the heart of fallen women. Just like biblical manhood does not come naturally to any man, you must be born again, led of the Spirit, and informed by the infallible and sufficient word of God. Now that said, when we consider that older women, and when we consider what older women, are to teach the younger women to love their husbands, to love their children, and all the rest that are listed here, it should become clear that the older woman is a spiritual mother. The idea of mentoring here once again is not some stale, dry, dusty, doctrinal thing that often comes up in the mind when we hear certain words. The idea is spiritual mothering.
Experienced women who have run the course and now sanctified in Christ know how to take a younger woman under her wings and encourage her as she faces the very same trials that she herself has been through and has found in them Christ to be faithful. The nature of the things older women are to teach speaks of a nurturing mother-daughter discipleship. And here we see the older women of faith, women of holiness, self-control, maturity, entering into relationships with young women so that they may know how to walk in God's design for womanhood. That's a blessed and special thing. Our culture says, you know, women are basically men in a girl suit.
We're all basically saying there's just a few plumbing differences. That is not true. You are specially created. You were the last created in the crown of creation men were made out of dirt you were made out of man you were specially created to walk with man womanhood is glorious thing in Christ Jesus now the term teacher of good things then contains the elements of teaching, mentoring, and mothering. And as Mounts says, it leads into the next section on young women as verses 4 and 5 spell out what the older women are to teach the younger ones.
Let me put a footnote to this. Today in most evangelical, and I realize that's a word that's fairly useless now, but in most professing evangelical churches we have women doing all kinds of things, having all kinds of so-called worldwide ministries, and when you ask why are they doing this they usually say Oh Titus 2 is the legitimation. But most of the things they're doing are not Titus 2 things. What we have set before us in the infallible and sufficient Word of God is the curriculum that older women should be conveying to the next generation. The Holy Spirit wants it clear to us and so he has made it so.
Now a teacher of good things in this context then means that a mature experience older Christian woman and older in the scriptures usually meant between 50 and 60 and above. An older Christian woman transformed by sound doctrine helps a younger woman to understand and live God's vision of womanhood. That's what's happening here in this passage. Now I want to consider for a few moments the domestic focus of this teaching. There are seven things listed here.
I will try to go through them unfortunately hurriedly in the next session. But in our sacred text, Paul plainly declares the content of the things an older woman is to teach. To love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands. Almost all major commentators, feminist, egalitarian, or complementarian, patriarchal, agree that the teaching Paul describes here regards domestic life, even though this passage is used to justify virtually any and everything else. Women do.
I'm personally not convinced with that use of this passage. I think Paul had something clearly in mind by the power of the Holy Spirit. He states it and that he wants to see this vitally functioning in the churches of Jesus Christ. In this passage we can easily support the idea of domestic responsibilities and personal holiness consider the following comments The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament says, in these the elder women have the duty of exhorting the younger to family life as Christians. Anyone that knows the theological dictionary of the New Testament knows that it is not usually considered conservative.
Dibelius and Conzelmann say, Teacher of all good things, which occurs here for the first time, seems unusual at first in light of the position taken in 1 Timothy 2.12, where Paul forbids women to teach men in the church or to usurp authority over them. But, they say, it is explained by what follows, the seven things regarding domestic life. And what follows are glorious things that all pertain to womanhood and family life. Andreas Kostenberger says, such training involving private rather than public instruction is to focus squarely on the domestic sphere. By the way, if you do not have Andreas Kostenberger's Women in the Church, I highly recommend it.
It is a academic work. It is not easy reading, but it is one of the most careful handlings of a biblical text I've ever read. Now Hughes and Laney in their commentary write, Paul not only gave the mature Christian woman the responsibility to teach, he also assigned a specific curriculum. I Howard Marshall says that older women are to teach the younger women concerning their duties at home, their personal piety, and their sphere of activity in the home, followed by characteristic submission to their husbands. And this man is an egalitarian, honestly handling the text.
We could multiply comments like this, but the point here should be clear I trust Christ wants older women godly older women to mentor and advise young women regarding God's domestic centered design for women remember our definition Now we should not be surprised that many in our day leap from this passage, as I alluded to a moment ago, to women teaching Sunday school, an institution that itself is a little difficult to support from Scripture, women teaching, systematic theology, women teaching, women in seminaries, which often leads to women teaching from the pulpit. Now I'm not saying that every single one of these items is by default wrong. I'm not saying that. However, let me illustrate my concerns with a personal anecdote. The Lord recently granted me the privilege of spending some time spending part of an afternoon with one of the greatest exegetes of our day.
I had the highest or I have the highest respect for this brother. His books and his teaching have powerfully influenced my own ministry for good. He will remain unnamed because it was a private conversation. But when I asked him what passages he would appeal to exegetically, that's his forte, what passages he would appeal to exegetically to establish women teaching women systematic theology, getting their degrees in teaching biblical languages, Old Testament and New Testament introductions, in seminaries, etc., etc. He quickly replied.
He didn't even have to think. He said Acts 18, 26, in which Priscilla and Aquila teach Apollos and Titus 2. Now when I pointed out that the content of Titus 2 was entirely domestic focused, He replied, do you think the older women are just supposed to teach the younger women to bake cookies? Now one of the ironic things about my beloved and respected brother's comment is that the passage says nothing about cooking or baking skills or sewing or knitting to which he relegated it. Rather it plainly lists fundamental elements for preserving marriage.
How important is that? For women loving their children and walking in biblical parenthood. Is that important to anybody here? Sexual purity, modesty, personal holiness. Such holy spirit wrought qualities establish God's order, preserve biblical womanhood, and promote healthy churches and families, and they glorify our Lord and Savior in his eternal purpose.
Reducing these essential things to baking cookies not only minimizes what Christ commands older women to teach, but it inadvertently emphasizes and exalts teaching positions, offices, and titles that are nowhere clearly stated in scripture. Let me try to make the point as clearly as possible. Many use this passage to justify women doing all kinds of things including teaching the Word of God in certain functions within the Church of Christ and yet they exclude the clear command of this passage which in my estimation is more important than the things that get all the news. I trust that you will think that through very carefully. The tragic result of this is that many often emphasized, or many, this particular thing so often over emphasized so-called women's ministries that are difficult to legitimize at the cost of Spirit inspired ministries recorded in the sufficient Word of God.
I am stunned at how many of the books that I've read that deal with Titus 2 repeat this over and over. We need godly older women, even commentaries that don't usually make social comments say all that there were more godly older women in the congregation mentoring encouraging building up younger women helping our churches to be healthier and yet the very passage they use to legitimize all these other difficult to legitimize ministries is the very thing needed and the very thing neglected and minimized even as just baking cookies by a great man. Whether or not we can establish women teaching women expositions of Romans or theology in seminaries from other passages of scripture, this sacred text promotes and preserves biblical womanhood and, obeyed in the power of the Holy Spirit, preserves like the salt and light Christ calls us to be, womanhood in every generation Paul does not say Titus teach sound doctrine so that aged women may become elders or preachers or officers or official teachers in Christ's churches so that the aged women may become functioning elders in the church or so that they may earn degrees and doctorates and teach young women in seminaries Bible colleges parachurch organizations and other menus and if you can in your mind biblically justify those things that's fine but my point is to say are you especially pastors but are you women aspiring to what the Word of God in plain and clear language calls you to minister in God's Church.
I would say thousands of godly older women would do more good than all of the ministries that teach women expositions of Romans. And I think Romans is important. But you've got elders to teach you expositions of Romans, and husbands, and fathers. Christ, through the mouth of Paul, clearly expects older women to mentor young women in foundational and indispensable qualities of biblical womanhood. While this list of course is not exhaustive, its focus is the domain of the home.
That is why we will give a good portion of the next message to those seven things. These things bring glory to God in feminine family responsibilities and personal godliness. An older woman serving Jesus Christ by mentoring young women is God's ordained purpose. Whatever else we may quibble about, this is what the Word of God plainly tells us. An older woman is a blessing and a treasure to the Church of Jesus Christ, and she plays a crucial role in preserving healthy churches and healthy families.
Healthy churches and healthy families. That is a ministry of extraordinary magnitude. Now as a footnote to this, I will say one of the reasons that this passage is used as a springboard for something else is that so many commentators argue that the behavior Paul commands here is not universally required. Many commentators, many of them that would profess to be solid evangelical interpreters of Scripture would say, well the things going on here are culturally bound to the first century Greco-Roman society. They also argue that the ground for this behavior is to avoid offending the pagan culture.
They're saying that the culture around you is pagan and patriarchal. Greece was powerfully patriarchal but pagan patriarchy. And these men say, well now Christian women act liberated in front of these pagan men it'll bring a bad name on Christ that I say to you brethren is not Paul's point Paul roots this behavior in sound doctrine, not pagan culture. And it is therefore, as sound healthy instruction from heaven, to be practiced in every generation. We do not bow to cultural norms in order to be men and women.
We seek what God created men and women to be in his infallible and sufficient word. Jesus never called us to use the world as the model for our behavior. So our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the blessed mediator, prophet, priest, and king loved his bride, the church. He loved her before the foundation of the world. He loves her now and He will love her for all eternity.
He bled and died upon Calvary's cruel cross, and He rose again to secure for her everlasting life. He not only showed His great love for His bride by His crucifixion and His resurrection, but also by his good and great gifts to his church and one of those rich precious invaluable treasures is godly older women I will give Charles Spurgeon the last word. And how beautifully can an aged Christian woman by her kindly example be a teacher of good things. There is no more charming sight under heaven, I think, than that of an elderly Christian lady whose words and whole life are such as become the gospel of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Father in heaven, I pray that your Holy Spirit would fall upon all of us here, that we would be Berean and search these things to see whether they be so. And where we find your truth, may your Spirit grant us the heart to love and embrace it and to pursue it with all of our hearts, to the glory of Christ, to the preservation of womanhood, and to the great health of the churches of our beloved Savior in whose name we pray amen. For more messages articles and videos on the subject of conforming the church and the family to the Word of God and for more information about the National Center for Family Integrated Churches, where you