God’s Design For The Church Series

If we approach our passage with these supporting foundational truths in mind, then we’re not going to have any problem at all with what Paul writes here. I think that Pastor John Piper is exactly right when he wrote these words:

Now the real test I think of whether we have grasped the biblical essence of manhood and womanhood and affirm it as true and beautiful - the real test is whether Paul's application of it to the life of the church surprises and offends us or not.

I think one of the biggest mistakes I made when I preached on this passage a couple years ago is that I didn’t do a good enough job of making the connection between this passage and both God’s original design for manhood and womanhood at creation and His design for the home. So hopefully I’ve done a much better job of that this time.

I also think that one of the reasons some people have a hard time with this passage is because we often tend to focus on what women are prohibited from doing in the church rather than on what they are permitted to do. So I’m going to try to avoid that approach to the extent it is possible.

So we need to begin by emphasizing once again that the same equality of value that applies to men and women in general also applies in the church. That is the point that Paul makes in another of his letters when he writes these words:

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

(Galatians 3:28 ESV)

Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for this verse to be taken out of context and used to try to argue against the clear teaching that is presented in the passage we’re looking at this morning. When Paul writes that both male and female are one in Christ Jesus, he is focusing on the idea that they both have equal value before God. But there is certainly nothing in that verse or the surrounding context that would suggest that Paul is in any way contradicting the clear teaching in the rest of his writings that describe the differing roles of men in women in every area of life.

Rather than diminishing the value of women in his culture, Paul is actually giving much greater worth to women than was found in the culture of that day. At that time Jewish women were forbidden to learn the law. In the synagogue they were seated in a separate section or in a gallery and were not permitted to have any part in the service. So the idea that women in the church were permitted to learn and otherwise permitted to participate in public worship greatly elevated the position of Christian women in that culture.

There is certainly abundant evidence in the New Testament that women had important ministry roles within the church:

• Spiritual gifts are given to both men and women and since those gifts are to be used for the building up of the body, the exercise of those gifts by both men and women is essential to the health of the body.

• The Scriptures record that women were allowed to prophesy and pray in the church services. However, there were clearly some limitations placed on those forms of ministry.