“But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence,” 1 Tim.

2:12.

First, she is not allowed to usurp authority over the man.

Obviously, then, she can never hold a position such as pastor. In contrast to this biblical restriction, we
have churches today, such as the Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul, Korea, pastored by David Yonggi
Cho, and Willowcreek Community Church, which have woman pastors.

One of the qualifications of a pastor/elder is that the officeholder be “the husband of one wife” (1 Tim.
3:2, 12).

Second, the woman is not allowed to teach men.

This does not mean that a woman can never talk to a man about the Lord. I do not believe it is wrong for
a woman to give her testimony and to share Christ with men in a casual setting. Not long ago I received
an e-mail from a woman who wanted to talk to her father-in-law about the Lord, and she asked if I
thought that would be appropriate. I told her that she should definitely talk to her father-in-law about
Christ.

The women who arrived first at Christ’s empty tomb were told to go and tell the male disciples that
Jesus had risen (Matt. 28:7-8). This does not mean we can ignore plain restrictions in other passages,
such as 1 Timothy 2:12, but it does tell us that women can testify to men under certain conditions.

What 1 Timothy 2:12 means is that the woman cannot teach with authority. That is the context.
Examples of this would be teaching from the pulpit, teaching mixed Sunday School classes, teaching in
Bible conferences to mixed crowds of men and women, and teaching at mixed Bible college classes.
When a woman stands before a mixed crowd that includes men and opens the Bible and preaches or
teaches, she is taking authority. There is not a more authoritative thing in the world than to teach and
preach the Bible, and God’s Word forbids a woman to do this.
3. God tells us the reason for these limitations (“For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was
not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression,” 1 Tim. 2:13-14).

First, the order of creation requires these limitations (v. 13). The woman was created after the man to
be his helpmeet and not his head.

Second, the nature of the woman requires these limitations (v. 14). The woman was not created to lead
but to serve, and she was given the equipment to do the latter, not the former. As a result, she is more
easily deceived, as Eve was.

4. God’s Word describes the woman’s greatest sphere of influence (“Notwithstanding she shall be saved
in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety,” 1 Tim. 2:15).

In this verse Paul exhorts the women saints not to be discouraged because of the fall but to know that
they have a very important role in the world and in the church.

It is possible that this is a faint allusion to God’s promise to Eve that her seed would bruise the head of
the serpent (Gen. 3:15), the prophecy of Christ’s coming as man’s Saviour. It is a great encouragement
to godly women to remember that though the woman was the first sinner, the woman is also the
instrument that God used to bring the Saviour into the world to redeem sinners.

Consider what this verse does not teach:

The verse is not saying that women obtain eternal salvation through child bearing. Salvation is not by
faith and charity and holiness with sobriety. That would be a works salvation, but we know that the
salvation of the soul is by God’s grace in Christ through faith without works (Eph. 2:8-9).

1 Timothy 2:15 also does not promise escape from the pain of childbirth. Godly women usually suffer as
much as others in childbearing.
Further, the verse does not promise that a godly woman will never die in childbirth. Many godly women
have died while bearing children.

Bible words must always be defined by their context, and here the term “salvation” is used in the sense
of fruitfulness and fulfilling God’s purpose in this world. The main teaching of this verse is that the
woman’s primary sphere of blessing in this world is the home and involves the work of bearing and
training children. She shall “be saved” through the instrumentality of bringing up children and guiding
the home, through the faithful performance of her duties as a wife and mother. “She shall be saved
from the arts of impostors, and from the luxury and vice of the age, if, instead of wandering about, she
remains at home, cultivates modesty, is subject to her husband, and engages carefully in the training of
her children” (Wetstein).

The pronoun “they” refers either to women in general, to the woman and her husband, or to her
children.

Women will be fruitful in this world if “they” continue faithfully in the things of God.

If she and her husband continue in the faith in a godly manner, they together will raise godly children.

Likewise, if the children continue in faith in a godly manner, they will be the woman’s “salvation” (Prov.
22:6).

We see an example of this in Timothy’s mother and grandmother (2 Tim. 1:5; 3:15). Because of their
faith in Christ and godly Christian living and because they taught Timothy the Word of God, Timothy
went on to serve Christ, and God’s blessing was upon all of them as a result.

This should be an encouragement to all women. Even single women and women who have no children
can teach and influence children by their relationship to children as aunts, cousins, in laws, etc., by
Sunday School and Bible clubs and other children’s ministries.

1 CORINTHIANS 14:34-35
“Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are
commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask
their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.”

This is referring to teaching and prophesying, which is the context. The woman is not allowed to speak
out in the church services in the sense of teaching or preaching. She is forbidden to teach men or to
usurp authority over men (1 Tim. 2:12). I do not believe it is appropriate for a woman to lead in public
prayer in a mixed congregation. 1 Timothy 2:8 says it is the men who should lead in prayer (1 Tim. 2:8). I
do not believe that it is appropriate for a woman to lead the singing in a mixed congregation or choir.
She should not be put into a position whereby she is exercising authority over men.

This passage also forbids women to speak out and disturb the meetings with their questions and
comments. Recently I heard from a pastor who was troubled about two women in his church who have
the habit of speaking out during the teaching and thereby cause disturbance in the church. This is
forbidden in 1 Corinthians 14.

This does not mean, though, that a woman can never say anything in the congregation. She can sing and
testify in due order. A woman can testify about what God has done in her life without getting into a
teaching mode, but she must be very careful that she limits herself to a proper capacity. If there is an
open question and answer time, women can participate, but she is not to blurt out questions in a
disorderly fashion in other contexts.

What Paul is talking about in the context of 1 Corinthians 14 is orderliness and the exercise of ministry
gifts in the church services.

THE BLESSING OF THE WOMAN’S MINISTRY

Though there are restrictions upon the woman’s ministry in the Word of God, there are also many
encouragements for the woman to serve the Lord. Women are exceedingly valuable in this world and in
the service of Christ.
“... if women have mastered men for evil, they have also mastered them for good -- we gladly make
declaration that some of the fairest and most fragrant flowers that grow in the garden of God and some
of the sweetest and most luscious fruit that ripens in God’s spiritual orchards are there because of
woman’s faith, woman’s love, woman’s prayer, woman’s virtue, woman’s tears, woman’s devotion to
Christ” (R.G. Lee, Payday Someday).

Consider some of the ways that God has used women:

• It was a woman who brought Jesus into the world.

• Many women assisted Jesus during His earthly ministry (Lk. 8:2-3).

• It was a woman who anointed Jesus for His burial prior to His death (Mat. 26:6-13).

• It was mostly women who stood at the cross (Mat. 27:55-56).

• It was women who observed Jesus’ burial and who came to anoint Jesus after He was dead (Lk. 23:55-
56).

• It was women who first came to the empty tomb and first believed the resurrection (Mat. 28:1-6).

• It was women who first reported the resurrection (Mat. 28:7-8).

• Women were waiting with the men in the upper room for the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:14).

Women are very, very important in church work, too (Romans 16:1-5). Many of the first Christians were
women (Acts 17:4, 12), such as Lydia the first convert of Asia (Acts 16:14).

• Women can teach other women (Titus 2:3-5).

• Women can teach children. Women such as Lois and Eunice trained up young workers for the Lord (2
Tim. 1:5).

• Women can witness and bring sinners to Christ (John 4:28-30).

• Women are essential in the work of building strong spiritual homes so that the church is thereby
strengthened in the Lord.

Consider three Bible examples:

Lydia is an example of a godly woman who is a blessing to the work of God (Acts 16:12-15, 40). She was
the first convert in Philippi. She then influenced her entire household to trust Christ. After she was saved
she begged Paul and Silas to stay as guests in her home. The Bible says “she constrained” them. This
means she was a very persuasive woman! The church at Philippi started in Lydia’s home. In Acts 16:40,
when Paul and Silas were loosed from jail they came first to Lydia’s home and there they “comforted the
brethren.” It is obvious that this is where the church was accustomed to meet. This godly
businesswoman was a very important member of the early churches.

Phebe is another example (Rom. 16:1-2). She was a servant of one church, the church at Cenchrea,
which was near Corinth. This teaches us the importance of church membership and the importance of
faithfulness to the church. We serve the Lord Jesus Christ, but we serve Him in this world through the
church. Those who despise the church today despise the work of God. When we see her in Romans 16,
Phebe was doing the work of the Lord. She was on business pertaining to Paul. Many believe that she
was carrying the Epistle of Romans. Paul instructed the believers to treat her with respect and to give
her whatever assistance she needed.

Priscilla is another example. She worked with her husband in starting churches (Romans 16:3-5). She
assisted her husband in instructing Apollos (Acts 18:24-26). In some passages Paul mentions Priscilla
first, before her husband (Acts 18:18; Rom. 16:3). This might mean that she was the more zealous of the
two, or it could mean that her husband spent more of his time with the tent business while she spent
more of her time in the spiritual ministry, or it could mean that Paul was closer to her. Whatever the
reason, it is a fact that Paul honored her and valued her as a servant of the Lord.

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