God’s Glorious Church
Role Distinctions in the Church
Galatians 3:28
Woodlawn Baptist Church
May 29, 2005
Introduction
(see footnote)
Today we come to the last of the four messages I want to preach about women and their roles in the Lord’s New Testament churches. It has been a joy for me to study these passages and subjects and share them with you, and it has been a reminder to me that no matter how long we are saved there are still many things we need to learn.
In today’s culture, it is clearly difficult to talk about God-given differences between men and women. On the one hand we don’t want to be attacked or mocked by others. Perhaps we fear that someone will take offense if we talk clearly about God-given differences between men and women. Others simply turn a deaf ear to talks about our differences, as some did last week when they told me and others that they had been hearing this stuff all their lives and didn’t need to hear it again. That sort of statement reveals hurt and woundedness, or perhaps pride and spiritual arrogance. When I preach salvation or heaven or many other subjects that have been preached all your lives it is okay, but to talk about male headship in the home or church puts a preacher in troubled waters.
I must admit that to a large degree, we have a wonderful church in that I am given great freedom to preach and teach the Word of God. I believe I am given that freedom because you pray for me and for God to lead us. I am given that freedom because you want to know what the Bible says and how it applies to every area of our lives, whether it be our personal lives, your marital relationships, or our church life. The freedom you give me to preach reveals much about our church and our desire to be first and foremost biblical in all we do and believe.
Now, let’s continue our discussion of male headship and women’s roles in the church as we read Galatians 3:28. I want to preach from this verse because it has served as one of the chief verses of those who deny that the Bible teaches role distinctions. That is, there are many Christians today who claim to have a high view of the Bible, but also believe that the Bible does not teach that there are role distinctions between men and women. Since this is one of the verses that these people go to, let’s read in Galatians 3:28 God’s Word which says…
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Before we continue, let’s review what I have preached so far:
• God places great value on women, and this high value has been demonstrated throughout history.
• Jesus demonstrated great value for women
o By His treatment of them
o By the way He spoke to them and about them
o By ministering to them
o By engaging them in ministry
• When God created man and woman, He instituted male-female equality
• In the institution of marriage and the church, God’s design is for male-headship
• In the context of the church, women are vital and important members of the church who can and should be involved in many areas of ministry and responsibility, but they are not permitted to exercise authority over men as teachers or preachers.
Now, the argument that is usually given is that when God created Adam and Eve, He created them both as equals in terms of their roles and functions. There was no headship for Adam; there was no submission for Eve, and that these ideas only came into the world after the fall. The argument goes on to say that in redemption in Christ, male and female are restored to the original created relationship which has no male headship, no male authority in the church or in the home. Galatians 3:28 is one of the verses used to prove this idea. “See, here is what the Apostle Paul says, that there is no male or female in Jesus Christ.”
Just last week someone said to me, “Brother Kevin, you said that women should not exercise authority over men, but Paul said that in Christ there is neither male nor female. Men and women are equals now, so that stuff you said about women not teaching men doesn’t work because we are all equals.”
Here’s how we’ll approach our subject: first, let’s see if the New Testament teaches role distinctions. Second I’ll share with you three popular arguments against the Bible teachings, and thirdly I want to give you the proper responses to those arguments.
What Does The Bible Say?
If you have your sermon notes, you can see our list of Bible passages. First is the passage we studied last Sunday: 1 Timothy 2:11-12.
“Let the women learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.”
Now Paul is clearly making an assertion of role distinction in the church. Some of you like to ask hard questions, so you might back up to verse 9 and wonder why we don’t make women unbraid their hair or take off their gold and pearls at the door. Do we stand by that teaching as well? I’ll deal with that question in a minute, but it really isn’t the central issue. The fact is that in this passage Paul teaches a distinction of roles in the church. Now go to 1 Corinthians 14:34-36.
“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 anything, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church. What? Came the word of God out from you? Or came it unto you only?”
Once again there is the prohibition that we found in 1 Timothy, and again, a distinction in roles between men and women in the church. Now look with me at 1 Corinthians 11:3-5.
“But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoreth his head. But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoreth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven.”
There are surely some interesting questions that will arise from this passage, but don’t forget our concern here is whether there is a distinction of roles between the man and woman. Here there are distinctions given both in the home and in the church. In Ephesians 5:22-23 we see the husband and wife relationship again.
“Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the savior of the body.”
In Colossians 3:18-19 is a similar passage.
“Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.”
In case someone thinks that Paul stands alone in these teachings, Peter wrote,
“Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives…for after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands; even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.”
In Titus 2:2-6, Paul teaches the older women to teach the younger 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…”
Then in 1 Timothy 3 are our instructions for men who desire the office of bishop. They are to be the husbands of one wife, and that passage says they are to rule their homes well. The only way for a man to rule his household well and to be held responsible for how it was managed is for him to be the head of it.
Now, in all these passages, Paul and Peter both explicitly say that there are role distinctions between men and women both in the home and in the church, but in spite of what are obvious and clear teachings of Scripture, people still argue that there is no such thing as male-headship in the home or in the church.
3 Common Arguments
Basically there are three arguments against the testimony of the Scriptures we have just read.
The Bible is wrong
There are a lot of people in the world today who would say that the Bible is wrong, but there are probably not many Christians today that would come right out and say that it is wrong. If I came out one Sunday to preach a message and read the Bible passage and then announced to you that the Bible was wrong, you wouldn’t keep me around long. Even among liberal Christians it isn’t popular to say that the Bible is wrong.
However, the more popular thing to do is to say that it is wrong on this issue or that issue. It is wrong about male-headship or homosexuals or whatever you want to talk about. So the first argument against male headship in the home or church is to say that the Bible is wrong on those subjects.
The Bible has been misunderstood
The more common argument today is this, “It’s not that the Bible is wrong about this subject, but that your interpretation is wrong.” That’s what is going on in the passages we’ve read this morning. Most people won’t come out and say that the Bible is wrong about male and female role distinctions, but they will come out and say that the Bible has been misunderstood. “Brother Kevin, if you would just study it some more…or if you would come to see it properly, then you would understand that it really doesn’t teach what you think it teaches.”
My experience tells me differently
The third way to argue what the Bible says is to appeal to our experiences. “Well, I just have a hard time accepting male headship because I have a dear friend whose husband abused her. I have a hard time accepting the idea of male headship because I had a pastor once, a senior pastor, and she was wonderful – one of the best pastors I ever had. How could you say that was wrong? She felt like she had a call from God.”
Now, there are three arguments: the Bible is wrong, it has been misunderstood, and the argument from experience. What do we do with these? Because they are all arguments that we face on a daily basis. I want you to pay attention to what I’m about to tell you because whether we’re talking about male headship or some other subject, these same three arguments pop up very often and your responses to them will be the same in every situation.
The Proper Responses
Because the people you meet who say the Bible is wrong are generally not Christian people in the first place, we’ll skip this argument – it is one we will spend more time with later. More often than not, the people you will deal with are friends or family members who look at you and say, “But I feel that this is right.” Or they tell you that you have misunderstood the Bible. That is when it is hard to respond. In your outline, the first three responses have to do with the argument that says we’ve misunderstood the Bible. The last response has to do with experiential arguments.
That’s just your interpretation
How many times have you ever heard that said? It seems like whenever we take a stand on an issue and it differs from someone else, they like to say “that’s just your interpretation.” How do you respond to that? There are two ways. The first way is to go back and look at how Christians through the centuries in various cultures have interpreted a passage. When you look back over the last 2,000 years, almost all Christians in almost all places have agreed that there are role distinctions in the home and church. That’s not just my opinion; it’s the opinion of 2,000 years of Bible believing Christians.
The second way to deal with it is to remember that Peter himself said that “no scripture is a matter of private interpretation.” Why? Because God has inspired the Scriptures and He meant for them to be understood. God didn’t write His Word so that only the spiritually elite could figure it out. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that when God gives you text after text demonstrating that there are role distinctions in the home and church He meant for us to accept it. How many passages of Scripture would the Bible have to contain demonstrating role distinctions in the home and church for people to simply accept them?
What about catfish?
Again, people say we misunderstand the Bible because we pick and choose what we want to believe and apply. A legitimate example of this would be the man who says a woman must wear a dress to church and then quotes from the Old Testament Law to prove it. If he is going to place himself under that Law then he must also place himself under the next few verses that say you can’t eat catfish burn a fire on the Sabbath.
Well listen, we are free from the Old Testament ceremonial law, so it is not difficult to demonstrate that it’s okay to eat catfish and that sort of thing, but are we guilty of picking and choosing from the Bible? You see, if you will think with me about our passage in 1 Timothy 2, we say on the one hand that Paul prohibits women from teaching and preaching to men. But what about what he says about women braiding their hair and wearing gold? You see, that can be a difficult argument to deal with, but the proper response is that the principle that Paul was speaking about in 1 Timothy 2:9, about the way women adorn themselves, is indeed still in force. You see, the principle of modesty and humility in a woman’s dress is just as in force today as the principle that women should not exercise authority over men.
Galatians 3:28
The third interpretation argument regarding Galatians 3:28 simply says that when Paul said “there is no longer male and female,” he meant that there are no longer distinctions between men and women in the church or home because of what Christ has done. However, any honest study of that verse, it’s immediate context and the context of the book in general demonstrates that the sense in which men and women are equal in Christ is that they are equally justified by faith, equally free from the bondage of legalism, equally children of God, equally clothed with Christ, equally possessed by Christ, equally heirs to the promises of Abraham. Salvation, God’s love and acceptance, forgiveness and freedom are available to all people, regardless of race, color, sex, age, economic or social standing.
Galatians 3:28 has nothing to do with role distinctions in the church – but with our absolutely equal standing before God in relation to Him.
This is what I feel is right
What do you do with an argument based on experience? You don’t debate it. We base our actions and beliefs on the Word of God, not on our experiences. If you can decide your actions based on your experiences, then you are the lord of your own life. If someone does this to you, you can’t tell them, “No, your experience is wrong” – even if it is wrong. They are going to think their experience is right no matter what you say, so if you try to debate them, it will be pointless. When people do this to you, probably the best thing to say is something like this: “Look, I am not interested in undercutting the value of your experience. I am simply trying to be Biblical.”
Are there women who are pastoring and teaching who are ministering to people today? Are they efficient and productive? Sure – but remember, it doesn’t matter how wonderful, how talented, how gifted or able that person is. If the Bible says it is wrong then it is wrong. If it comes down to your experience verses the Bible, then the Bible had better come out on top, no matter how sincerely someone believes their experience, no matter how strongly they feel about it.
Some ladies have asked me about times when they have been in churches where they taught men. God seemed to bless their ministries, the Word was taught, they were blessed, so with all the good fruit coming from what they were doing, how could it be wrong? Let me say this carefully because it is not my intention to diminish the value of what you did: Scripture says it is wrong, just as it is wrong for a woman to be the head of her home. I understand that there are circumstances that place women in positions they should not be in. How many Christian women are having to run their homes because of an incompetent or passive husband? You see, that woman’s experience does not change the fact that God’s desire is for male headship.
Conclusion
Now I don’t know where you personally stand on the issue of male headship in the home and in the Lord’s churches, but it is and has been my prayer that you would accept the Word of God as it has been presented to you. I cannot make you believe the Bible, that is a choice you must make for yourself. It is not a matter of interpretation. What I’m talking about today is not a matter of me believing what I want and you believing what you want: it is a matter of us all believing what God has said very clearly in His Word – that He has made certain distinctions among us. Those distinctions are good; they are fair; they are beautiful, and they are Biblical.
Just as beautiful is the fact that as we stand before God this morning as men and women, God is not seeing male or female as it concerns our relationships with Him. I want you to imagine with me for a moment that there is no church, no home, no family, no one else at all even. You are standing alone before God, and there is no one and nothing else.
What is your relationship like with Him this morning? Do you have one? You see, God does not see you in that position as male or female, black or white or brown, rich or poor or by any other distinction. As you stand before Him, He simply sees you as lost or saved. Have you trusted in Christ or not? That is the heart of Galatians 3:28. There is no difference at all among us, because we all stand in need of a personal relationship with Christ.
Many of you have trusted Him as your Savior, but some of you have not. What will you do with Christ this morning? Will you place your faith in Him? Call upon Him to save you?
Work cited:
This message was adapted from a message titled, "Male Authority & Female Equality in Light of Galatians 3:28," by Ligon Duncan. The message can be found at http://www.cbmw.org/sermon.php?id=26, the website for The Biblical Council on Manhood and Womanhood.
