And I do not permit a woman to teach
or to have authority over a man,
but to be in silence.
(1 Timothy 2:12)
LORD Jesus, we praise You, for You are Master and the greatest Teacher of all. Forgive us, O LORD, we ask, whenever we are quick to teach and judge. Help us to receive and understand the instructions that are coming from the Bible. Enable us to be good hearers as well as doers of Your Word. Keep us on the right path, no matter how narrow it becomes. Let us stand firm and believe the Truth, for the Truth makes us free indeed. Hallelujah! In Jesus’ mighty name we pray. Amen.
What happens as we read today’s verse? Do we tense up? I mean, how do these words of Paul sound to you? In the next few blog posts we will see that the argument is not based on the culture of Paul’s day back then. Let’s stick to today’s verse for now.
Reading this verse in its context reveals what Paul is talking about here: the role and the behavior of the women during the worship service.
Let’s READ the verse again:
And I do not permit a woman to teach
or to have authority over a man,
but to be in silence.
ENGAGE — What does the verse say?
What are the three things a woman needs to remember when the church gathers on Sunday? (Fill in the blank)
A woman is not permitted to _____
She is not to have _____ over a man.
She needs to be in _____ .
APPLY / DO
There is no need to get upset over what God commands us to do here. This has absolutely nothing to do with our spiritual standing before Him, for we are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28).
Instead, we should look at this as a matter of obedience and doing what God is asking us to do. We are not above the LORD Jesus who is our Master and Teacher (Matthew 10:24) who submitted to the Father’s will in so much more than we are asked to do.
And being found in appearance as a man,
He humbled Himself
and became obedient to the point of death,
even the death of the cross.
(Philippians 2:8)
Let’s keep silent to motivate our men to speak up in the church today.