Introduction
‘I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.’ 1 Timothy 2:1-2
This chapter begins with Paul speaking about the conduct of Christians in prayer, Philippians 4:6. Christians have the privilege of continually speaking to God in prayer, anytime, anywhere, and prayer is an essential part of our spiritual armour, Ephesians 6:18. He urges them to pray in different ways, and we should pray often, 1 Thessalonians 6:17.
Petitions are simply asking God for something, however, we must remember it’s more than just asking, we must have confidence that God will answer our prayers, James 1:6-8.
Prayers is a broad word, which refers to all communication with the Lord, daily prayers.
Intercession refers to the requests we make on behalf of others. It’s very important that we not only pray for ourselves but also for others, Matthew 5:44 / 2 Corinthians 1:11 / Philippians 1:4 / Colossians 4:3-4. Paul is emphasising the importance of drawing closer to our relationship with God through prayer.
Thanksgiving is an essential part of our walk with God, Philippians 4:6, we must always take the time to thank God for everything He’s done for us.
Paul says that we should pray for all people and kings, and all those in authority. This would include praying for Caesar and everyone who was in authority. We should give thanks for all those who are in authority because God has placed the idea of government in our societies to help keep the peace, Ezra 6:10 / Romans 13:1-7.
It’s very easy for the gospel to be proclaimed throughout a country where peace prevails, hence why we should pray for our leaders, that peace will remain.
‘This is good, and pleases God our Saviour, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.’ 1 Timothy 2:3-4
It’s good that Christians communicate with God, and God loves to hear us speaking to Him, Matthew 6:5-15. When we pray to Him, we admit that we need Him in our lives and we can’t live without Him.
God wants all people to be saved and doesn’t want anyone to perish, Ezekiel 18:23-32 / John 3:17 / 1 Timothy 4:10 / Titus 2:11 / 2 Peter 3:9.
God also wants all people to come to a knowledge of the truth, Ephesians 4:21, that is the truth of the Gospel, the death burial and resurrection of Christ, 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 / Galatians 5:2 / Ephesians 1:13 / Colossians 1:5. It’s through the message of the Gospel that a person is saved, Romans 1:16 / Romans 6:3-6.
Christians should want what God wants, we must pray for others who aren’t Christians before we preach the saving Gospel message to them, Colossians 4:2-6 / Ephesians 6:19.
‘For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time. And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying—and a true and faithful teacher of the Gentiles.’ 1 Timothy 2:5-7
We should pray for all people to be saved because there is only One God who wants all people to be saved, Ephesians 4:6 / Romans 3:30. It is Jesus who is our One and only mediator, who stands as the intercessor between the Christian and the one true and living God, Romans 8:34 / 1 Corinthians 8:6 / Galatians 3:20 / Hebrews 9:15.
He intercedes on behalf of those who are walking in the light, 1 John 1:7-9. God is near to us all because of the work of the mediator Jesus who works on behalf of all men as the justifier of all sin, John 14:6 / Hebrews 4:8-9 / Hebrews 8:1-13 / 1 John 2:1-2.
Notice Paul says, ‘the man’, Christ Jesus, we must remember that Jesus didn’t lose His deity when He became man, Philippians 2:5-11. Was Jesus God or was He a man, just who was He? He was both, He was the God-man.
When the Bible says, ‘he emptied himself’, that doesn’t mean He became less than God, when He was on earth, it means He became more than God. He was God, but now He was also a man, He didn’t get rid of deity, He emptied deity into humanity.
He could never stop being God because God’s His nature, He relinquished His glory, He concealed it in human flesh. Now and then we got a glimpse of it. He was up on a mountain one time, with three disciples and He was transfigured and they saw his glory, Mark 9:2–8. Paul saw it on the Damascus road, Acts 9:1-8, and John saw it in Revelation 1 in his vision.
And someday we’re going to see the bright brilliant glory of Jesus, but when He was on earth as a man, He concealed that glory. Do you know why?
So that we can approach Him, so that He could come near to us and serve us and meet our needs, heal the sick, wash our feet and tell us about God. And so He humbled himself or emptied Himself in order to serve us.
We should pray for all people to be saved because Jesus gave Himself as a ransom for all people. He put Himself in our place and received the punishment and wrath from God the Father that we deserved, Matthew 20:28 / Mark 10:45 / 1 Corinthians 1:6.
The general definition of the word ‘ransom’ is to buy back or to free by paying the release price. Certainly, this is involved in it, because the root of the word ‘ransom’ is the word ‘luo’, which, in New Testament times was used in numerous ways.
1. Of a soldier unbuckling his armour.
2. Of the removing of a harness from a horse.
3. Of the freeing of a prisoner, or slave by paying a price.
It does appear to be logical, as a ransom is normally paid to the person who has captured the one kidnapped, so there is a kind of logic to this belief of the ransom being paid to the devil, but I don’t agree that this is a correct understanding of the idea of Jesus paying a ransom.
The one to whom we owe a debt because of our sin is God, not Satan. Jesus paid the debt, or perhaps put even better, he paid the penalty for our sins.
Romans 6:23 says the ‘wages’ of sin is death. We earned the death penalty, spiritually, for our sin, and Jesus paid that ‘debt’ when he died on the cross for our sins, Matthew 20:28 / Romans 3:25 / 2 Corinthians 5:14. Jesus was the ransom price to be paid in order to deliver us from the bondage of sin and death, Titus 2:14.
Notice that this was ‘witnessed at the proper time’, in other words, the plan that Jesus be incarnate and ransomed for humanity was conceived and planned before the creation of the world, Romans 5:6 / Galatians 4:4 / Ephesians 1:9-10 / Revelation 13:8.
Paul was a herald, that is a preacher, an apostle and a teacher, he was a preacher of the Gospel message that Jesus died, was buried and rose again, Romans 1:1 / Ephesians 3:1 / Ephesians 3:7-8 / 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 / 1 Timothy 1:11 / 2 Timothy 1:11.
As an apostle, he was sent into the world by the commission of Jesus to bear witness to the fact that Jesus was raised from the dead, Acts 9:11-15, and as a teacher, he worked to edify and strengthen those who had obeyed the Gospel which he preached, Acts 22:21 / Romans 11:13 / Galatians 1:16 / Galatians 2:7.
It’s worth noting that the words ‘preacher’ and ‘apostle’ refer to those who deliver the Gospel message to unbelievers, but the word ‘teacher’, refers to those who manage and teach God’s Word to the saved.
‘Therefore, I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing. I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God. A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. But women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.’ 1 Timothy 2:8-15
This is one of these passages in the New Testament that deal with the role of women in worship.
The broader context of the book speaks about the proper behaviour in the life of the church, 1 Timothy 3:15, and the immediate context of chapter two speaks about worship, specifically prayer, 1 Timothy 2:1 / 1 Timothy 2:8. Paul says that adult males are to lead prayers anywhere people meet for worship.
‘The lifting up of holy hands’ is generally accepted as a figure of speech in which a posture of prayer is put in place of prayer itself, Psalm 63:4 / Psalm 134:2 / Psalm 141:2 / Nehemiah 8:6 / Lamentations 3:41, and these prayers are to come from a heart of holy living. Prayers shouldn’t be uttered out of a condemning spirit of brothers who are in disunity, Romans 14:1.
On the other hand, women are warned to focus on appropriate clothing with a submissive attitude, 1 Peter 3:1-6. There’s a clear contrast in these verses. We have men who need to be ‘holy’, they are the spiritual leaders in worship, while women need to be modest, with good deeds, 1 Timothy 5:10-14 / Titus 2:3-5 / 1 Peter 3:4.
‘Quietness’ and ‘submission’ in this passage relate specifically to the exercise of spiritual authority over adult males in the church, 1 Corinthians 14:33-35.
The words ‘to assume authority’ is the Greek word, ‘authenteo’ and so, Paul is instructing women not to teach nor in any other way to have authority over men in worship, Titus 2:3-4. Paul says that women are not to exercise spiritual authority over men because ‘Adam was created before Eve’, 1 Timothy 2:13.
Paul is saying that God’s original design for mankind involved the creation of the male first as a sign of his responsibility to be the spiritual leader, the head of the home in the church.
Eve was formed from Adam’s side, Genesis 2:21, to be his helper and so she was equal to him. When sin came into the world, she was to take on a submissive role, Genesis 3:16.
God could have easily created the woman first but He didn’t, He could have easily created both male and female at the same time but He didn’t. God’s action was intended to express His will with regard to gender as it relates to the relationship between man and woman.
This explains why God gave spiritual teaching to Adam before Eve was created, implying that Adam had the created responsibility to teach his wife, Genesis 2:15-17.
It also explains why the female is twice stated to have been created as a ‘helper suitable for him,’ Genesis 2:18 / Genesis 2:20.
This also explains why the Genesis account clearly indicates that the woman was created for the man, not vice versa and it also explains why God brought the woman ‘to the man’, Genesis 2:22, as if she was made ‘for him’, not vice versa. Adam verified this understanding by staying, ‘The woman YOU put here with me, Genesis 3:12.
It also explains why Paul argued based on this very distinction in 1 Corinthians 11:9. It further explains the implied authority of the man over the woman in his act of naming the woman, Genesis 2:23 / Genesis 3:20.
Because the Jews demonstrated the importance of the firstborn male, this tells us that they understood God’s will concerning man. God’s creation of the man first was specifically intended to convey the authority, submission, and order of the human race, 1 Corinthians 11:8.
Notice that Paul elaborated upon this principle in 1 Timothy 2:14 by giving an example of what can happen when men and women mess around with God’s original intentions.
When Eve took the spiritual lead above her husband, and Adam failed to take the lead and exercise spiritual authority over his wife, the devil was able to create mayhem in the home and cause the introduction of sin into the world, Genesis 3:1-14.
When Paul said, ‘the woman was deceived’, he was not suggesting that women are more gullible than men. He is saying, when men or women do not stick to God’s original plan and take on roles they were never intended to take on in the first place, then this will naturally lead to sin.
God’s judgment of the matter was seen when He confronted the pair, He spoke first to the head of the home, the man, Genesis 3:9. His following words to Eve confirmed the fact that she wasn’t to yield to the inclination to take the lead in spiritual matters. Rather, she was to submit to the rule of her husband, Genesis 3:16.
When God said to Adam, ‘because you listened to your wife’, Genesis 3:17, He was calling attention to the fact that Adam had failed to exercise spiritual leadership and thereby bypassed the divine arrangement of male, and female relations.
Paul finished his instructions by stating how women may be preserved from falling into the same trap of assuming unauthorised authority, 1 Timothy 2:15. But what does this mean?
Paul is not saying that she will not be saved if she does not have children, everyone knows that childbearing is not a part of the conditions for salvation. The expression ‘childbearing’ is a figure of speech, known as ‘the synecdoche’, in which the part stands for the whole.
Let me give you an example, if I were to say to you, ‘come outside and see me new wheels’, you know I’m not really trying to get you to look at tyres. ‘Wheels’ is the part that stands for the whole car. Paul uses the term ‘childbearing’ in the same way, ‘childbearing’ represents the whole of the woman’s domestic role, which God placed within her, Titus 2:4-5.
Paul is saying that the woman will be delivered from the tendency of overstepping the divinely ordained order of authority providing certain conditions are met.
Women must maintain their God-appointed ministry in life and respects God’s design and order of authority, 1 Corinthians 11:3, in order to be saved. This will happen if she maintains faith, love, and holiness with propriety in her life, 1 Timothy 2:15.
The Scriptures speak of salvation in three ways concerning our salvation.
1. As Christians we have ‘been saved’, past tense, 2 Timothy 1:9.
2. As Christians we are ‘being saved’, present tense, 1 Corinthians 1:18 and,
3. As Christians we ‘will be saved’, future tense, Romans 5:9-10.
Paul is addressing Christian women who have already been saved but speaking about the woman’s continued salvation.
It is often argued by some that a Christian cannot lose their salvation, but notice that Paul uses the word, ‘if’, which clearly implies terms and conditions.
Jesus uses the word ‘if’ in the same manner, when it comes to remaining in Him, John 15:5-10. John uses the word ‘if’ in the same manner, when it comes to confessing our sins, 1 John 1:5-10.
Many passages suggest that a person can lose their salvation, 1 Corinthians 10:6-12 / Galatians 5:4 / 2 Peter 2:20-22 / Revelation 2:10. Look at what Jesus clearly says, ‘the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.’ Matthew 24:13.
It’s important to note that for every positive statement, like this one, there is also an implied ‘opposite’ which would also be just as true, ‘the one who DOESN’T stand firm to the end will NOT be saved’.
