Welcome to the Women’s Weekly Bible Challenge! I’m Lisa Ann Spencer. Thank you for joining me today as we conclude Part 4 of the series on WOMEN TEACHING.
Let’s move forward to the final verse in apostle Paul’s letters:
Titus 2:3-5
Let’s start in verse 1 and read the entire passage:
1 But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine: 2 That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience. 3 That the aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things: 4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, 5 To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.
That last phrase always hits me like a hammer! "That the word of God be not blasphemed." By the way, Jeremiah tells us that God’s word is like a hammer.
Jeremiah 23:29 Is not my word like as a fire? Saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?
BLASPHEMY is a serious offense against God!
Blasphemy refers to speaking against or resisting the word of God. In this passage, blasphemy refers to speaking against or resisting the SOUND DOCTRINE that Paul is teaching, which has been preserved for us in scripture. This should not be taken lightly.
I am not going to break down this verse in detail; we’ll save this passage for a future Bible Challenge. But today, let’s condense it down to what we can learn from this passage in regards to our topic of WOMEN TEACHING.
Paul is WRITING (Scripture) and instructing Titus (a Bishop or Elder) to speak and TEACH SOUND DOCTRINE.
Note the word "THAT" in verse 2, which indicates the purpose. Titus should teach SOUND DOCTRINE so THAT the aged men MAY BE…
- Sober
- Grave
- Temperate
- Sound in faith, in charity, in patience.
And v.3, LIKEWISE the the aged women MAY BE…
- In behavior as becometh holiness
- Not false accusers
- Not given to much wine
- Teachers of good things.
So when these aged women hear, believe and submit to Paul’s sound doctrine, it will make them able to BE these things.
It will also make them ABLE TO TEACH the younger women to BE these things:
- Sober
- To love their husbands
- To love their children
- To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands…
Q: Because of the use of the word "BE", does Paul mean teach only by modeling these things or teach with words?
This reminds me of a common quote: “Preach Jesus, and if necessary use words”, which is very much lacking in sound doctrine and should not be associated with Bible teaching in any way. This quote is reportedly attributed to St. Francis, who wrote in 1221 “the [Franciscan] Friars should preach by their deeds”.
How such a quote became popular with Christians is disturbing. What truly matters is, "What saith the Scriptures?".
A: We know it’s impossible to preach the gospel and sound doctrine without WORDS, for faith cometh by HEARING the word of God!
Paul does speak of “proving” what you SAY you believe by living it out.
We considered 1 Timothy 2:10 last week, But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.
Professing means openly declaring. We do that with our words, then we prove it by our walk.
Ephesians 4:1 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called…
5:8… walk as children of light…
Ephesians 5:10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.
I Thessalonians 5:21 Prove all things…
Based on my own experience as an AGED WOMAN who has taught my four daughters, I do both; I speak and I walk! Also, this passage does not appear to limit the teaching of the aged women to her own daughters, but to every young woman in her sphere of influence.
We know what AGED and YOUNG means, but a person can be old in years yet very ignorant of God’s word and unable to teach. A person can be very young in years, but extremely mature spiritually and able to teach women who are much older than herself. But you can see from the passage that the NORM would be for a women who is OLDER IN YEARS, and who has most likely “proved” this list of GOOD THINGS in her life, to teach the younger.
In the future, as a part of the Women’s Weekly Bible Challenge, we will return to this passage and deal with each point, but for now, let’s move on to the final New Testament hit on Women Teaching.
📔 NOTE: We are now moving beyond the Dispensation of the Grace of God. After Paul's letters we move into the prophetic letters addressed to the believing remnant of Israel which will be living in 'these last days' (Hebrews 1:2). The Apostle Paul's letters span from Romans to Philemon, and they all begin with his name. The letter following Philemon is HEBREWS, which is written to…
THE HEBREWS!
📔 NOTE: There are no Hebrews, Jews, Gentiles or Greeks in the Body of Christ. The gospel of the grace of God was sent out to a predominately lost GENTILE world. After a Gentile is saved, he becomes a member of the new creature, the Body of Christ. One way to rightly divide the word of truth is to notice the letters in the Bible that make a distinction between Jews and Gentiles; we can know that these are not written to the Body of Christ in this dispensation of the grace of God. (See James 1:1, for example.) The letters following Hebrews are written by Peter, James and John, which the Bible plainly tells us were sent to the CIRCUMCISION (See Galatians 2:7-9). After that, we find the little letter of Jude and the Book of Revelation. Hebrews through Revelation have to do with Israel in “these last days” that were prophesied in the Old Testament. We contrast this with Paul’s doctrine which was a MYSTERY; doctrine not prophesied in the Old Testament. (Compare Acts 3:21 with Romans 16:25 to see this for yourself.) This is why the dispensational layout of the Canon of Scripture is so important. The end of Paul’s letters mark the end of the teaching directed to the Body of Christ, which is culminated by our catching away in the rapture. After which, God resumes fulfilling all the promises that He made to the nation of Israel.
The final verse on women teaching in the Bible is found in the book of Revelation.
Revelation 2:20 Nothwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.
This book is written by Jesus, through the apostle John, to a future church in Thyatira. The language of Revelation confirms that this letter is written to Jews, to Israel in a future dispensation, which is called the 70th week of Daniel, the great tribulation, and the time of Jacob's trouble. We are back under the Dispensation of Law, and back to dealing with God’s wife of the Old Testament -- that same woman, called “backsliding Israel”, the “strange woman” and the “adulterous woman” by the Prophets and in the book of Proverbs.
We cannot apply this to ourselves doctrinally, but we can make application.
As a woman, we can choose to be a believer in God’s word. We can use our time and resources to:
(1) Teach others to believe.
(2) Teach others to eat -- to consume the word of God!
(3) Teach ourselves and others NOT to wrest God’s word to make it fit our worldview or our feelings.
My prayer is that this study on Women Teaching has been edifying to you. If you have any questions, feel free to comment below.
Today's Blog is covered in this YouTube Video:
Hi Lisa Ann. I have a question about women teaching. It is not because I disagree or that I'm being argumentative, but rather because I'm confused and would like clarification. I was taught early that women were to be silent and that men were to be the head. I have no problem with that whatsoever. What confuses me is the roles of women in the Bible like Priscilla, Phoebe (Phebe), Junia, Euodia, Syntyche, Chloe, and a few others. Some were referenced in Acts and I remembered what you said about Paul's letters starting with the Book of Romans. But then I read references to them being referenced by Paul in the Books of Romans, 1 Corinthians, Philippians, and once in 1 Timothy. They were mentioned by Paul as being his helpers in the ministry and having churches in their homes. It actually sounded, in one instance, as if he was referring to Junia and Andronicus as Apostles, who were working along side him in the ministry. Can you help me understand this? Again, not questioning you, just seeking an understanding.
ReplyDeleteThanks,
Bonita
Good morning Bonita! You said it best yourself; these women mentioned in Paul’s writings were “helpers”. God created women to be helpers, but not leaders. When Paul instructs women to be silent, it is always in the corporate church setting. What he means is that MEN are to be bishops (pastors) and deacons. These are church leadership, teaching and preaching positions. Women who stand in a pulpit are out of the will of God.
ReplyDeleteRegarding Junia (Romans 16:7), I have heard so-called women pastors claim that this passage indicates that Junia, a woman, was an apostle. I hope you can see that this is a lie and twisting the scripture to suit a woman’s desire to usurp authority. A careful reading of that passage in the KJB, makes it clear that Junia is “of note among the apostles”. This does not mean she was an apostle, but because of her help, the apostles knew who she was and that she should be publicly acknowledged, just as Priscilla and Chloe and many other women who risked their lives to help the apostles (feed the apostles, carry letters for them, etc.). God never contradicts Himself.
I hope this helps. If you have other questions, feel free to ask.
Good morning Lisa Ann, and thank you! I think this is what I was thinking as I read these scriptures. As much as I read, and re-read, I couldn't see, or be convinced, that Paul was saying that these women were actually deacons, ministers, or Apostles. As you stated, the Lord never contradicts Himself. He is not a man that he should lie. There has been so many different opinions about this over the years and I'm finally glad to have this explained where I can truly understand it, and throw it away to revisit it no more.
DeleteI want to ask one more question for my own personal reasons. In my church, there are few men and the ones who are there are not "good readers". Sometimes, the women (including me) are asked to help in the devotion, to read the scripture, AND, when we have Communion, I am asked by the Pastor to read the Covenant (the congregation is to agree saying Amen). Are either of these things wrong for me to do?
Bonita
Hi Bonita, I think that you are acting properly by reading aloud when asked by your pastor. That is acting as a helper, just as you should.
Delete