Different by Design (Part 1)

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Different by Design (Part 2)

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Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.
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No Compromise Radio is a program dedicated to the ongoing proclamation of Jesus Christ based on the theme in Galatians 2, verse 5, where the
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Apostle Paul said, But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.
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In short, if you like smooth, watered -down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn't for you.
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By purpose, we are first biblical, but we can also be controversial. Stay tuned for the next 25 minutes as we're called by the divine trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and glory of her
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King. Here's our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth. Well, good afternoon, and welcome to No Compromise Radio.
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My name's Steve Cooley, and I'm sitting in for the host of this program, Pastor Mike Abendroth, who's off on vacation.
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It's the first Wednesday in August, and it's my privilege to be here with you today.
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You know, I spend a lot of time talking to people about the family, and I thought, you know what,
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I'm going to talk about that today, but I'm going to kind of get into it in a different way.
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I want to talk about feminism and feminism in Christianity and specifically even how it might impact the ministry and the local church and the ability of women to be pastors and then kind of go into it from there.
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But I want to read something that I picked up from a website about so -called
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Christian feminism, and I want to say so -called because if we understand what the feminist movement is all about, we would never associate feminism and Christianity because what feminism ultimately says, and I probably already offended somebody, but what feminism ultimately says is that there's no difference between men and women.
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And I can assure you that men and women are designed by God to be different.
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And you know what? It doesn't take a PhD to figure that out. If you look at men and women, you can see a difference.
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If you talk to men and women, you'll notice a difference. There are differences between men and women, and I, for one, am quite thankful for them.
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But let me just read you here what this woman, her name's Latha Dawson -Skanzoni, and I apologize to her if I've mispronounced her first name there.
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But she writes in part, talking about Christianity, it's a message of freedom from all that would oppress us, all that would block us from living up to our full potential, all that would keep us from being all that we were meant to be.
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And my question, this is right after she talks about the gospel, and this is what she says the gospel is.
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My question to you is, is that the gospel? Does the gospel block or does it remove everything that oppresses us, everything that would block us from living up to our full potential?
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Is that the gospel? Is that the good news? I'm reminded of the words of Jesus in Luke 9 23, and he said to all, everyone who was listening to him, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
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That's Luke 9 23. Now, does that sound like, you know, I'm here to make sure that everything in your life is peaches and cream, that there are no roadblocks in your way, that everything that oppresses you is removed.
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In fact, the entire book of first Peter was written to a group of Christians in Asia minor.
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And Peter's message was this, listen, oppression is coming. Persecution is coming.
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And when it comes, here's what I want you to do with it. Here's how I want you to deal with it. He didn't say, listen, you're not going to have any problems.
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Life is going to be wine and roses, and you're never going to have to worry about anything because you're in Christ Jesus.
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And again, Jesus said, what? Take up your cross daily and follow me. The picture of the cross was offensive in the ancient world.
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It was, as he says in first Corinthians, as Paul says, you know, it was an offense.
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It was a stone of stumbling. Nobody wanted to have anything to do with someone who was going to be crucified.
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And he says here, listen, Jesus does listen. If you want to follow me, you need to be willing not only to lay down your life, but to not even as John MacArthur said, to disassociate yourself with your past.
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You need to no longer want to be the person that you were. There needs to be a radical transformation in your life.
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And it's not about having obstacles removed that keep you from being everything that you can be.
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She goes on, does Miss Ganzoni, to say this, the goal of being all that we can be is what feminism is all about too.
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So you see, they both have this in common. Well, I think it's a misunderstanding of the gospel.
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The gospel means that you're going to be all that you can be in heaven. It means that you're not going to have any obstacles to getting to heaven.
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It doesn't mean that life here is going to be easy. In fact, we're pretty much promised from Genesis 3 that life is going to be difficult.
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Adam was told that he was going to have to work for his food. Instead of just being able to walk around the garden and pick things up, he was actually going to have to work for it.
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She goes on to say, you know, there's this mistaken notion that being a feminist is anti -male, anti -family, and even anti -God.
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It amazes me when I talk to Christian couples to see how much they've bought into the feminist revolution of the last 50 years or so, where really men and women are expected to both work.
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They're both expected to have the same amount of hours with their kids or whatever. This is all about really being programmed to be anti -family.
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If both parents are working, and I know that there are some situations where that's inevitable, at least for a short period of time.
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But when both parents are working, who is taking care of the kids? You know,
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I said earlier that there is a difference between men and women, and we know that. How do we know it? Because in 1
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Corinthians, Paul writes that man was not created for the woman, but woman for the man.
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And that's exactly what we see in Genesis. All the creatures of the earth were brought to Adam, and no suitable helper was found for him.
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And so God made Eve to be his helper. Eve didn't exist first, and then he created
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Adam to be her helper. That's not what happened. They have different roles, and people object, and they say, well, you know,
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Steve, that's just patronizing, and you're discriminating, and you're putting women down.
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No, no, I'm really just reflecting the God -given order of reality.
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This is the way the world is, not how, you know, some people might imagine it. And at NoCompromiseRadio .com,
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we want to give you the straight scoop. We want to be biblical first. Of course, we're going to be controversial because the word divides.
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People don't like the truth. Let's just go to the
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Old Testament for a moment, and this doesn't have to do with women initially and men, and so you'll just go, I don't really understand this.
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I don't even know why you'd bring this up. But Isaiah 48, 16, and this is, and you can look this up in context.
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You don't have to take my word for it. I would invite you to look it up and even send me an email if you want to. But here's what
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Isaiah 48, 16 says. Draw near to me, hear this, from the beginning
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I have not spoken in secret. From the time it came to be, I have been there.
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And now the Lord God has sent me and his spirit. This is a pre -incarnate Christ looking at a time where he would be on the earth, and he says, listen, the
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Father sent me and his spirit. What did Jesus say over and over again during his ministry?
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John 6, 38, perfect example, for I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.
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Well, who sent him? The Father sent him. Does that make Jesus less than the
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Father? Is he less God? Is he less of the
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Trinity because the Father sent him? The Father also sent the spirit, and you know, if we were to get into it, the
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Son also sent the spirit. So is the spirit less God? No, they just have different roles.
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And when I say that a woman is made for a man and not the opposite, am
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I making a woman inferior? Is she inferior in any way? No, it's just a biblical reality, a created reality that men and women are different.
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And that's all that is. Again, different roles, but fully equal.
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There's no problem with that. Now, I said I was going to say a few things about women in ministry, and I think it's so important because it touches on this issue about the differences between men and women.
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And I just gave a sermon on it, and it's amazing. When you look at 1 Timothy 2 verses 8 to 15, there are several differences listed.
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I mean, there's no two ways about it. Paul says that he wants the men to pray. Well, why not the women?
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Because it's not their God -ordained role. He'll go on in chapter 3 to talk about men being in leadership and not women.
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Why? Did Paul not like women? No, it's because there are different roles.
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Adam was supposed to lead in the garden. He failed to lead. Eve led. All of the earth was therefore plunged into sin, and Adam fell right with him, right with it.
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He followed Eve's lead. And part of the consequence of that, as we would read in Genesis 3, is
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Eve's desire is going to be to rule over her husband, as it were. And that's her issue.
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Adam's issue is going to be that it's going to be hard to make a living. It's going to be hard to get enough food to put on the table, so to speak.
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But there are differences in roles. Now, I found another thing on the internet. You might think I spent all my time.
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No, but when I'm getting ready for something like this, this is what I do. I find things on the internet. And a man named Pastor Keith Smith said this.
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He had several points. One is, he says, there's not one scripture in the Bible that forbids women from preaching.
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And when I read that, I thought, well, you know what, Pastor Smith, I have to agree. There isn't one scripture. There are multiple scriptures that would say that.
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Now listen, 1 Timothy 2, verse 12. And again, I would invite you to look at the context.
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I don't have time to go through all the context. I did a sermon. I'm sure you can link to it, Bethlehem Bible Church, the website, and listen to it.
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But the context is very clear. 1 Timothy 2, verse 12,
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I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man. Rather, she is to remain quiet.
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Now this pastor, Mr. Smith, goes on and says, well, you know what, he says,
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Timothy was writing, or Paul was writing Timothy in a specific situation in Ephesus. And he says, listen, in chapter one,
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Paul was warning Timothy about false teachers, which is absolutely true. That's what he was doing.
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And he says, listen, there are some men that you need to be blunt about it.
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He told Timothy to get these men to shut up. It's not a direct quote. That's just the
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Steve Cooley translation. But he wanted to stop the mouths of these men, to stop them from teaching.
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And he specifically named two of them at the end of the chapter, Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom he says he had turned over to Satan, meaning he had kicked out of the church as an apostle of God.
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But this man, Pastor Smith, goes on to say, listen, Paul wrote
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Timothy in Ephesus about a specific situation. And he specifically wanted him to stop these false teachers, but it had to do with women spreading false doctrine.
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And he says that evidence of that is given in chapter five of 1
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Timothy. He says that this is evidence, but it's ironic because, or it's contradictory.
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It's not really ironic if you look up ironic. It's not ironic at all because he says, listen, he goes, it's in 1
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Timothy chapter one that he's talking about these false teachers and the doctrines that they were teaching. And he says, well,
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I happen to think that it's women. And he cites verses 11 and following there in chapter five as evidence of the fact that it was women.
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But let me just read verses 11 and a few verses after that, and let's see if that really is the case.
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In fact, let me back up to verse nine so we get the better context of chapter five, 1
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Timothy. Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than 60 years of age, having been the wife of one husband and having a reputation for good works.
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If she has brought up children, has shown hospitality, has washed the feet of the saints, has cared for the afflicted, and has devoted herself to every good work, but refused to enroll younger widows, this is verse 11, for when their passions draw them away from Christ, and that must be where he gets the idea of false doctrine, they desire to marry and so incur condemnation for having abandoned their former faith.
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Besides that, they learn to be idlers going about from house to house and not only idlers, but also gossips and busybodies saying what they should not.
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Well, gossips and busybodies, that has to do with meddling in other people's affairs and spreading false rumors.
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Verse 14, so I would have younger widows marry, bear children, manage their households, and give the adversary no occasion for slander.
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For some have already strayed after Satan. If any believing woman has relatives who are widows, let her care for them.
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Let the church not be burdened so that it may not care for those who are truly, or so that it may care for those who are truly widows.
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The whole context of this is taking care of the widows in the church.
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In fact, back in verse 3, honor widows who are truly widows. This has nothing to do with teaching or false doctrine.
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He imported that because his presupposition, in other words, his prejudice, his predetermined outcome was that 1
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Timothy 2 can't be forbidding women from teaching. So he's just looking for any fig leaf to cover up his prejudice, his preconceived idea.
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And it's just absolutely false. Some other verses that show that women cannot teach, 1
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Corinthians 14 verses 34 to 35. The women should keep silent in the churches for they are not permitted to speak.
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Well, it's pretty hard to preach if you're not allowed to speak, but should be in submission as the law also says, if there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home, for it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.
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That seems pretty definitive. And then they'll talk about the problems in these churches, and it's only in Ephesus and Corinthians.
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Well, the problem there is, again, looking at 1 Timothy 2 in context, and I would always, we would always at No Compromise Radio encourage you, beg you, urge you to look at all things in context and to try to understand them in context.
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Here's what people will often do is they'll say, well, you know what, I see what that verse says, but if we look at, and they'll throw out something completely different, and this is what they'll do, and I'll get to this in a moment.
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What opponents of, I'll have to say what it is, what opponents of the Bible will say in this biblical teaching here in 1
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Timothy 2 about women not teaching is they'll say, well, what about Galatians 3, 28?
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Well, that may be interesting, but here's what we know. We know that Paul doesn't contradict himself.
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Paul, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, cannot contradict himself. So if Galatians 3, 28 means one thing, and 1
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Timothy 2 says something completely different, well, then one of two things are true. Either the Bible is in error, or one of our understandings is in error, and we need to figure out which one that is.
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And so what they say is, well, obviously your understanding of 1 Timothy 2 is in error.
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1 Timothy 2 .12 must not mean that women cannot teach because Galatians 3 clearly teaches that we're all equal in Christ.
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So we'll get to that in just a moment, but let me just read, let me provide some more context here to 1
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Timothy 2, verse 12.
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I don't want to just take that out of context. Now listen, verse 9, Likewise also the women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self -control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness, with good works.
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In other words, they're not to be decorated up, all dolled up, as it were, like they're going to some kind of formal gown event when they come to church.
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They're to be dressed appropriately. Now listen to verse 11, Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness.
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Verse 12, I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man, rather she is to remain quiet.
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For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.
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Now you can say that Galatians 3 somehow erases that, Galatians 3 .28 somehow erases that, but Paul clearly ties it to the fall.
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He says the woman was deceived. Eve was deceived first. One of the punishments for that is women may not teach.
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They may not exercise authority over a man. And when you teach in a church, you are exercising authority.
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You know, there is no greater exercise of authority than taking the pulpit.
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That's why there's such a high standard for men who would teach. That's why James says, let not many of you become teachers.
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Why? Because you incur a stricter judgment. The pulpit is not to be taken lightly.
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And women cannot occupy the pulpit. They cannot teach. They cannot preach. Why? Because women in Eve fell.
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That's one of the consequences of the fall. Another one, another verse that would prohibit women from preaching, listen to this.
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1 Timothy 3 .2, therefore, talking about the requirements to be an elder, an overseer, a presbyter, however you want to translate that word, 1
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Timothy 3 .2, therefore, an overseer, an elder must be above reproach.
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The husband of one wife. There are ways to say, you know, that the spouse of one spouse or, you know, to make it, you know, can only be married to one person.
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There are ways of making it kind of gender neutral, but it doesn't do that. He says the husband of one wife.
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There's no kind of wiggle room there. Again, and again, and again, the Bible says women shall not teach, but that doesn't suffice for them.
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If we go to Galatians 3 .28, it says, because this is the favorite verse, they like to say there is neither male nor female for ye all are all one in Christ Jesus.
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Absolutely true. But what does it mean? He says there's also no, you know, there's no such thing as a
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Greek or a Jew, male or female, slave or free.
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All these things have been done away with. Well, what does he really mean? Does that mean that if you were a slave and you become a
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Christian, you're no longer a slave? Does that mean if you're a slave owner and you become a Christian, you're no longer a slave owner?
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Does it mean you're no longer a woman when you become a slave or when you become a Christian? No. What it means is that at the foot of the cross, we are all equal.
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Again, don't take my word for it. I would invite you to look at Galatians 3, read it in context, and see if it says anything about teaching.
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See if there's one word there about we're all equal when it comes to teaching.
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To take it to its logical extreme, if we're going to say that women are allowed to teach based on Galatians 3, then you would also have to take out all of 1
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Timothy 3, all the requirements there. So when it says this saying is trustworthy in verse 1 of chapter 3, you would have to throw that out because it's apparently not trustworthy because he goes on to give these descriptions.
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If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore, an overseer must be above reproach, as I just said.
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Well, wait a minute. We're all equal in Christ. Therefore, the above reproach can't be that important because even if you're below reproach, you're equal in Christ.
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So why not teach? It says you must be the husband of one wife.
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Well, why? How about the husband of many wives? How about the wife of many husbands?
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Shouldn't they be allowed to teach? I mean, we're all equal at the foot of the cross. There is no more husband of one wife or husband of many wives.
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Sober -minded? No, not really. You don't have to be. Self -controlled? No, not really. Not, no. Respectable?
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No, you can be unrespectable. It's immaterial. You don't have to have one man preach.
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You can have dozens of men preach. They don't have to be able to even preach or do anything.
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They don't have to be hospitable. They don't have to be, they can be a lover of money. I mean, all these things would be negated if Galatians 3 is some kind of sweeping statement that there are no qualifications to teach.
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That is not what it means. And you can study Galatians 3 as long as you want, and you will find nothing in there that says, now
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I'm speaking about qualifications for teachers. You won't see that anywhere there.
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Now, John Stott says this, a word of caution must be added.
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This great statement of verse 28 does not mean that racial, social, and sexual distinctions are actually obliterated.
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Christians are not literally colorblind. We don't determine somebody's standing or anything else by their color, but we can see it.
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He says, so that they do not notice whether a person's skin is black, brown, yellow, or white, we still see it, nor are they unaware of the cultural or education background from which people come, nor do they ignore a person's sex, treating a woman as if she were a man or a man as if he were a woman.
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Of course, every person belongs to a certain race and nation, has been nurtured in a particular culture, and is either male or female.
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When we say that Christ has abolished these distinctions, we mean not that they do not exist, but that they do not matter.
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They are still there, but they no longer create any barriers to fellowship. We recognize each other as equals, brothers and sisters in Christ.
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That's the essence of Galatians 3, that we are all equal at the foot of the cross.
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That doesn't mean we all have the same role. That doesn't mean we should all aspire to be teachers.
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This is No Compromise Radio. No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.
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Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible teaching church firmly committed to unleashing the life -transforming power of God's Word through verse -by -verse exposition of the sacred text.
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Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 1015 and in the evening at 6. We're right on Route 110 in West Boylston.
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You can check us out online at bbchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.
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The thoughts and opinions expressed on No Compromise Radio do not necessarily reflect those of WVNE, its staff or management.