We’re One Through Our Union with Christ

 “Let the woman 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.”

‭‭1 Timothy‬ ‭2‬:‭11‬-‭12‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Paul taught in the cultural context of that day and era. “Let the women who are new converts be willing to learn with all submission to their leaders and not speak out of turn. I don’t advocate that the newly converted women be the teachers in the church, assuming authority over the men, but to live in peace.”  In the context of the day, this referred to women arguing with their male congregational leaders.  In the temple worship of Diana, the goddess of the Ephesian people, it was most common to have female leadership.  For the women who converted to Christ, their only cultural context was that the women were the temple leaders and teachers of their goddess religion in Ephesus.  In the church however, it was the men who more commonly made up the leadership of the congregations.  Paul was telling the women to be “willing to learn” and to be respectful to all, in this new way of worshipping the true God.  This was the understanding of the early Christians in Ephesus.  To us in a different culture and another era, we submit to the consistent revelation of Scripture, to be respectful to all, whether male or female.  We no longer see each other in our former state—Jew or non-Jew, rich or poor, male or female—because we’re all one through our union with Jesus Christ.  Amen!