women

Sometimes, even when we sincerely want to obey God, we come to passages in Scripture that make us stop.

First Timothy 2 may be one of them.

We read that men and women are equally heirs of salvation in Christ.

We know God values women.

We know Jesus treated women with honor.

And yet Scripture also teaches that wives are to submit to their husbands and that certain leadership and teaching roles in the church are reserved for qualified men.

So how do those truths fit together?

Can two people be equal in worth before God and still have different God-given roles?

Or does submission automatically mean that one person is less important than another?

Our culture has largely answered that question for us.

It tells us that authority means superiority.

Submission means inferiority.

And any difference in role must be unfair.

But is that the way Scripture defines those things?

And perhaps an even harder question is this:

Have we allowed the world’s definition of equality to shape the way we read God’s Word?

If God is good, if His Word is good, and if men and women are equally precious to Him, then we should be able to approach even difficult passages trusting that His commands are not designed to diminish women.

So today we’ll look at modesty, teaching, leadership, submission, equality, and why biblical submission does not mean that women are less valuable, less intelligent, or less useful in the kingdom of God.

We’ll also look at the boundaries of submission and why obedience to God always comes first.