Question:
What does it mean that women will be saved in
childbearing, as written in 1 Timothy 2:15?
Answer:
The thing stated in
this verse has perplexed many, and many commentaries and explanatory notes have
given various answers to clarify this statement. I am giving here what the Lord
has given to me through praying about this and through some teachings given by
some men of God. I hope the answer would be acceptable to you. To understand
it, some other related things need to be seen and understood first; only then,
by putting those things together and in a correct perspective can we properly
understand that which is stated in this verse.
Firstly, being
“saved” in childbearing is not that spiritual salvation which has been stated
in Romans 10:9-13 and other places in God’s Word. It is common sense and
knowledge that not every woman who has given birth to a child is a “saved”
woman; nor is it necessary that every saved woman will always have given birth
to a child. The confusion and difficulty related to this verse is because of
the word “saved” used here. In the original Greek language, the word that has
been translated as “saved” here is ‘sodezo’ which commonly means to be
‘delivered’ or ‘saved’. But this is not the only meaning or sense that has been
attributed to this word in God’s Word. For example:
·
“made well” i.e., to be healed in
Matthew 9:21; Luke 8:50; and Acts 4:9
·
“save yourself” i.e., to be delivered
out of a predicament or serious situation, in Matthew 27:40
·
“healed” i.e., restored to health, in
Mark 5:23
·
“deliver me” i.e., bring me out and
restore me, in 2 Timothy 4:18
In other words, the “saved” written in 1 Timothy 2:15 is not meant
to be for spiritual salvation, but is meant to convey being delivered, or
brought out of, or made safe from something else, from a particular situation.
Therefore now, we need to identify what that particular situation is, that is
being alluded to here. This can be done by looking at two related things –
firstly, starting with the role of women envisaged and determined by God since
the time of their being created in Genesis; and secondly by looking at this
verse in its immediate context.
First, let us understand the role of women envisaged and determined
by God as made evident in the events related to their creation. The first
mention of the need for a woman to be with Adam is given in Genesis 2:18; there
God says, “… I will make him a helper comparable to him.” The
purpose of God is very clear – the woman was to be one created by God, as comparable
to Adam, so as to function as Adam’s helper. Here, in this discussion,
it is important to note that even prior to the creation of a woman, when God
envisaged about her, since then she was meant to be Adam’s “helper”; and not
one who would lord over him or exercise superiority over him. The person appointed
as “helper”, is neither supposed to be the “decision maker” nor the one
exercising control; rather that person is supposed to work under and be
obedient to the one he has been appointed as a helper. For a “helper” to become
an independent officer and function as per his own will instead of according to
the instructions and will of the person he is meant to help, is to go contrary
to his assigned role, and to become disobedient.
Now, this does not in any way mean that the woman was created to be
inferior to man and function as his “slave” – Adam was ‘incomplete’ without the
woman, the woman was made to make him ‘complete’ and help him (1 Corinthians
11:11). For both, Adam and Eve, God had assigned roles and responsibilities to
fulfill; they had to work together, cooperating with each other and fulfill
those responsibilities. There was no thought or question of superior or
inferior, or of one dominating the other. This differentiation and competition,
and one trying to dominate the other came about due to the sin they committed
(Genesis 3:16); this differentiation and tendency was not a part of God’s
original plan for them.
To understand this, consider an illustration: Every large business
company production house has an owner, and under the owner, look after and
manage various activities, are various departments and their respective “Directors”
– someone to look after the finances, someone to manage the human resources and
employees, someone else to look after the procuring of raw materials, someone
else to sell the finished products and promote the company, etc. All of these
department heads are “Directors”, they are all working for the same owner, and
it is only through their collective and collaborative working that the business
house will do well, will prosper. None of the “Directors” is ‘bigger’ or
‘smaller’ than the other; they all complement each other. But the moment any
one of these "Directors" starts to interfere in the functioning of
another department, starts to assert himself as bigger or more important than
another, problems start, which will not only cause him harm but will also harm
the functioning of the whole business house. Similarly, in His original plan,
prior to the entrance of sin into the world, Adam and Eve had their works and
responsibilities, and mutually they helped and complemented each other. They
were not meant to indulge in being playing 'superior' or 'inferior' but were
meant to work and fulfill their responsibilities with each other's cooperation
and help - the primary role was of the first created Adam, and Eve was meant to
be his "helper"; she was to join with Adam to build a family and home
with him; she was to be the 'home-maker' and to nurture the family. Through
their working together, they were to subdue the whole earth and have dominion
over all other created beings on earth (Genesis 1:27-28). To work in the Garden
of Eden and to safe-guard it, to decide which fruit is to be eaten and which is
not to be eaten, was the responsibility given to Adam (Genesis 2:15-17), even
before the creation of Eve; subsequent to the creation of Eve, Adam's this
responsibility was not shared with Eve. This was Adam's responsibility, and not
Eve's since the very beginning.
In the committing of the
first sin in the Garden of Eden, whose consequences we are still suffering,
there was a very major role of Eve taking upon herself a role entrusted to
Adam, instead of continuing to fulfill the role and responsibilities assigned
to her by God. Instead of remaining as Adam's "helper" she took on
the role of being not only the "decision-maker" but also of ensuring
implementation of her decision. Getting beguiled by Satan's clever talk (2
Corinthians 11:3), she not only took it upon herself to decide and implement
which fruit should be eaten, but also made Adam to eat of the forbidden fruit
(Genesis 3:6, 12). Adam's error was that instead of refusing Eve and
disallowing her eating the fruit, he too did what she said, and therefore made
himself a party to her disobeying God; he too became guilty of the sin of
disobedience. Instead of fulfilling God given role and responsibility, putting
her hand into the other person's role and responsibility, sin entered and its
curse has affected the whole creation (Romans 8:19-23), and to mitigate the effects
of this sin God had to leave the glory of heaven, come down to earth to be
humiliated and ridiculed, and to suffer the abominable death on the cross. It
was because of this sin that Eve and womankind had to come under the subjugation
of Adam and mankind (Genesis 3:16) - but this subjugation does not mean she had
to become lesser or inferior to man and live a contemptible life as a slave of
man. God's saying "Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall
rule over you" was not stating or bringing in something new; it was
only firmly emphasizing and ensuring that woman was to live and function as
man's "helper" and not as the "decision-maker" and
"controller", as was God's original plan for women.
Because God has asked the
woman to be man's "helper", therefore God's Word repeatedly asks
women to remain quiet, not to preach to men or in the Church, and to learn from
their husbands and remain under his authority (1 Corinthians 11:3-10; 1
Corinthians 14:34-35; Ephesians 5:22-24; Colossians 3:18; 1 Timothy 2:11-12;
Titus 2:15; 1 Peter 3:1-6). This is not to show them as inferior or lesser – because
in God's eyes they are not in the least inferior to men, rather, both are equal
(Acts 2:18; 5:14; 8:12; Galatians 3:28). But it is to ensure a proper fulfilling
of the roles of men and women as envisaged by God; and for them to remain in
obedience to God. Since the consequences of disobeying God are catastrophic,
therefore if they do not bring themselves under the obedience of God, they will
suffer destructive consequences. The work and role, specially the one related
to making and building a family, to demonstrating motherly love and care,
patience, forbearance etc. the way women can do, is virtually impossible for
men to do likewise. Generally speaking, only the woman can teach the family and
children to reverence and obey God; but this is a challenging task for men. A
man can make himself an example of godly living, but only a woman can teach the
children to emulate that example set up by the man. Also, it is not that the
women have been absolutely forbidden to preach or minister God's Word to
others; they have a very important role to play in the teaching and preaching
of God's Word - but to other women and to children (Proverbs 31:26-30; 1
Timothy 5:5-10; Titus 2:3-5); only that in God's wisdom and planning, they have
been forbidden from doing this in the Church or to men. Take note, Moses had
been brought up in the royal palace, and taught by the very Egyptians who
oppressed the Israelites. But in that environment of opposing the Israelites,
it was Moses' mother who had been responsible for his upbringing. Consequently,
as an adult, Moses did not walk and work like the Egyptians, but considered the
Israelites as "his people" and Jehovah as his God, and for this he
was even willing to sacrifice his Egyptian royal status and life of luxury
(Acts 7:22-36; Hebrews 11:24-26). This is a very important role and function of
ladies in a family, for which the men have no alternative solution. Looking at
men and women from the superiority-inferiority, major-minor, better-worse
perspective only brings problems; but looking at them from God's perspective
and understanding the issue as God wants it understood brings peace and
blessings.
Now let us look into the immediate
context of 1 Timothy 2:15. To analyze and understand anything from the Bible,
it is imperative to look at it in its immediate context - along with the verses
before and after it; moreover, it should also necessarily be seen along with
the other related things given in the Bible. This chapter begins with
instructions related to Christian service (vs. 1-8), followed by instructions
related to behavior of women in Christian society (vs. 9-12), and the reason
for this is also given (vs. 13-14). Because Paul, under the guidance of the
Holy Spirit, necessarily had to give these instructions to Timothy, therefore
it is an obvious conclusion that in the Church where Timothy was an elder or
leader and had the responsibility of shepherding it, things were not being done
according to God's instructions. Evidently, the ladies in that Church were
doing things that were not in accordance with God's Word and Christian
teachings. The women, having left their God given role and responsibilities,
were involving themselves in the roles and responsibilities of men - were
committing the same sin that Eve did in the Garden of Eden. Therefore, they
were guilty of the sin of disobeying God, and would have had to suffer the
deleterious consequences of their disobedience. It was to "save" or
deliver them from the harmful consequences of their self-inflicted disobedience
and to restore them to their correct positions, that they were told to "be
saved in childbearing"; the implication was that by living out their
proper role as the "helper" of their husbands and of
"home-makers" and other family responsibilities, e.g. proper
upbringing and teaching of children and taking care of the family, they will be
able to "save" themselves from the consequences of committing this
sin - they will thus be "saved" from both, the tendency and its
consequences. This "being saved" is not the spiritual salvation that
Romans 10:9-13 is talking about. That is why, the second part of this verse
says, "if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with
self-control." Because whosoever truly 'loves' God, will also 'believe'
in and be obedient to God's Word, and will not defile herself by disobedience,
rather will remain firm in the 'holiness' of obedience, exercising 'self-control'
no matter what the provocation by their natural tendencies or the ways and
teachings of the world may be. The implication of the phrase 'childbearing'
is to properly fulfill their familial responsibilities and role; and the
meaning of this verse is that the women by reverting back to their role of
home-makers and looking after their families, instead of getting into the roles
and responsibilities given to men, will be able to "save" or deliver
themselves from the consequences of disobedience.
