We are often asked how we feel about women teaching in the church and what their role in the church is….. We would like to take this time to answer that question as clearly as possible. The ongoing debate in some Christian circles is mainly over two “limiting” passages. Those being, 1 Corinthians 14:34-35, which says, “Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive, as the law also says. And if they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is shameful for women to speak in church.” And 1 Timothy 2:11-14, which says, “Let a woman learn in silence in all submission. And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.” Before going forward with these verses, we need to first understand that the New Testament is a compilation of writings that need to be viewed with a “3D” understanding or as a whole. What is written by Paul and by others is part of a story, the New Testament story. The New Testament story consists of a very consistent message…. One of the New Covenant. This Covenant is not an updating of the Old Covenant. It doesn’t include a new set of rules to replace the old set of rules. The Old Covenant contained a set of rules by which men and women were to live. It also drew sharp distinctions between people- granting special privileges to certain people. Some were worthy to be God’s people (Jews)… some were not (Gentiles). Among those who were worthy, some were given the honor of being nearest to God (priests). Others were not (the people). Some were given special ministerial functions (the Sons of Aaron)…. Others were given less important functions (the Levites)…. Still others were given no function at all (the congregation). When Jesus Christ entered the scene, all of this radically changed. Our Lord inaugurated a New Covenant which made the old one obsolete. The New Covenant did away with rules…. It did away with earthly distinctions….. and abolished special classes of people who possessed special privileges. Under the New Covenant, the law of God has been written on the human heart by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit has come to indwell all who call upon the Savior—including men and women, including Jew and Gentile, including slaves and non-slaves. All earthly distinctions have been abolished by the New Covenant. All ministerial classes have been wiped out. To possess the Spirit means to have access to God—no one excluded. Possessing the Spirit, means being granted the privilege to minister in God’s House. As Peter quotes the Prophet Joel in Joel 2:28-29, which says, “and it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your son’s and your daughter’s will prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.” Galatians 3:28 sums up the New Covenant nicely concerning sons and heirs; “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” From these scriptures they have granted all to receive the Holy Spirit and serve as priests in God’s House. That includes women. With that said, whatever the “limiting passages” mean, they cannot in anyway overturn the New Covenant. So the idea that women are excluded from speaking in God’s House is a horrific violation of the New Covenant. A Covenant that has done away with earthly distinctions and treats both men and women as co-priests in God’s Kingdom.
Posted on: Sat, 13 Jul 2013 13:35:49 +0000
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