Women saved in childbearing
Yet she will be saved in childbearing
– if they continue in faith and love and holiness with self control.
-I Timothy 2:15
To understand the aforementioned
passage we need to start at verse 8 to verse 15 to get the whole flow of
thought.
The Apostle Paul speaking says, “I
desire that in every place that men should pray, lifting up holy hands without
anger or quarreling (some versions say without wrath and doubting); likewise
also that 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 of women who profess godliness – with good works. Let the
women learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach
or to exercise authority over a man; rather she is to remain quiet.[i]
For Adam was created first then Eve, and Adam was not deceived, but the woman
was deceived and became a transgressor (of the command of God not to eat the
fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil; Gen 3:6-7). The key verse,
Yet she shall be saved through child bearing – if they continue in faith and
love and holiness with self control or sobriety (I Tim 2:8-15).
Paul here is explaining to Pastor
Timothy his son in the faith the conduct and roles of men and women in the
church. Paul was giving instructions to Timothy who was the Pastor of the
church in Ephesus in Asia Minor which is modern Turkey today.
When Paul says women will be saved in childbearing, he is not talking
about salvation of the soul. Because if he were, we run into two problems. 1)
It would undermine the clear teaching of
justification by faith (Hab 2:4; Rom 5:1; Eph 2:8-9). 2) It would mean that
some women could never be saved because not all women bear children. Salvation
by childbearing is a human work, and no human work could ever merit the grace
of God (Rom 3:19-20).
So what is Paul talking about
here? The woman (Eve) committed the first act of sin in the earth when she ate
the forbidden fruit. It must be pointed out that several things led up to this:
a. She
was tempted by the serpent who caused her to doubt God’s word (Gen 3:1).
b. She
listened to the lie she was told by the serpent; by listening to the enemy she
focused more on the prohibition of God than his provision. The serpent deceived
her into thinking God was not benevolent. We could imagine the devil saying to
Eve, “ Why would God put this tree with this beautiful fruit in the garden if
He didn’t intend for you to eat it”(Gen 3:5).
c. By
harkening to the serpent she usurped and ignored the authority and protection
of her husband who ate with her thus plunging the entire human race into sin
(Gen 3:6-7).
As a result of her disobedience God
pronounced a lifelong punishment upon Eve
and all mothers. God said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;
in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband,
and he shall rule over you” (Gen 3:16).
So Paul is using the Genesis 3 account of Adam and Eve and
their roles; how they were misused, and linking them (Adam and Eve), to the
role of the man and woman in the church. Although the woman sinned first in the
garden, God has not abandoned her. She is the vessel God has chosen to bear
godly children through provided she continues in faith, and love and holiness
with self control. Paul reminds the woman in 1 Tim 2:15.
So in that sense women are saved, delivered or preserved by God in bearing children. It is
His perpetual covenant with the woman that although she will deliver with
tremendous pain due to Eve’s sin, she will soon have great joy because she has
borne a child from the Lord (Gen 4:1). Psalm 127:3 says, “Behold children are a
heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward”. This is the role of the woman, to bear
children; for this is a perpetual reminder; of original sin because of the pain, but
also God’s grace due to his preservation of women with the blessing of
child bearing.
[i]Regarding
the matter of women speaking in the church read my article on “Men and Women
roles in ministry to get detailed
explanation of this subject
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