Living as God’s woman in God’s world: Part Three
New Testament Clarity
In the last two articles we have explored 1) Why women are so confused regarding their identity, and 2) How the creation narrative in Genesis 1-3 gives us many formative clues regarding the God-given identity of women.
As we turn to the New Testament we clearly see how Jesus’ death and resurrection transforms gender and the world.
God’s answer to the problem of sin is the cross. Jesus’ death reverses the consequences of sin and breaks the power of sin. God sends His Son to pay the price for sin that is demanded by a holy God, to take our judgement for us. He redeems a people for Himself by buying them back with the blood of His Son, gives them His Spirit, then declares He wants His redeemed people to live according to the design He originally made for humanity back in Genesis 1 and 2. We still live in a fallen, sin-riddled Genesis 3 world. We still live with the effects of sin and disease and death and poor male-female relationships, but Jesus’ death and the gift of His Spirit has made it possible for us to live His way again. Men and women who are ‘in Christ’ are to live out Genesis 1-2 relationships in a Genesis 3 world that has been redeemed.
Following is a brief overview to get us started. We intend to follow this up in later months with more rigorous and detailed explanations of the New Testament passages introduced here.
If you wish to investigate further before then, we recommend God’s Good Design 2nd Edition by Claire Smith (Matthias Media 2019)
1. Jesus’ attitude to women
When Jesus comes we begin to see the original design for women lived out in His life.
In Jesus’ day, women were regarded as second-class citizens, but Jesus radically overturns that view. To Him women were fellow human beings, He addressed them directly, He spoke kindly and thoughtfully to them, He chastised men for their sin of lust which saw women as objects, not people. He allowed for divorce – because of the sinfulness of men. He ministered to them, encouraged them to learn and participate in His life and ministry, and accorded them the privilege of being the first witnesses to His resurrection.
Therefore, He considered them absolutely equal in worth and dignity, but they were also different in the responsibilities given to them. Even though the women travelled with Jesus, He called into his band of leadership (apostles) only men. Many counter that that is a natural response of a 1st century Jewish rabbi: it would have been unthinkable to have women in that position of leadership. Yet Jesus challenged cultural conventions and social mores at every point in His life and ministry: he overturned conventions against Gentiles, Samaritans, tax collectors, prostitutes and adulterers. He was fearless. But He did not challenge the principle that men and women were different. Nowhere does Jesus subscribe to the view that women were identical to men. At the point where He knows that the pattern for leadership in the new society and the Church is being laid down, He chose only men.
2. Jesus’ Apostles Teaching on Being a Woman of God
Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, taught His apostles to further instruct His people about relationships and how to live in God’s world.
Unsurprisingly, there is the emphasis again on the equality of men and women. In Galatians 3:28 Paul points out that our gender has no bearing on our spiritual standing before God and our access to God in Christ. There is absolutely no distinction at this point, but that does not mean that our responsibilities as men and women are abolished, any more than our responsibilities as citizens or children are abolished. This passage talks about access to God not responsibilities. However, our responsibilities within the family and the church are profoundly impacted by our gender.
A. Living as single women
Our culture says - get married if you (can) wish; if not, have sexually intimate relationships - it doesn’t matter. Sometimes our Christian culture treats marriage as the best/default state and that singleness is a problem… the solution is to get married.
But the Bible has a radically different view. Singleness is a good gift from God (1 Corinthians 7:6-8), which showcases the gospel in a unique way: when a woman (or man) is contentedly single they are declaring that their ultimate identity is in Christ. She may, or may not, continue to have deep relationships with her birth family; but will certainly be drawn into a new family within her church (Matthew 12:48-50).
And as the single woman interacts with the men around her (father, brothers, workplace colleagues, acquaintances, brothers in Christ at church), she will uphold and maintain her dignity as an equally-created one with much to offer. At the same time, she will act in a way that encourages those men to grow to mature manhood, taking responsibility where it is needed. She will not view men as ‘the other’ or the enemy or be in competition with them.
B. Living as married women
There are a number of places in the New Testament where wives are addressed (Ephesians 5:22-33, Colossians 3:18-19, 1 Peter 3:1-7), but from the Ephesians and 1 Peter passages it is clear that:
a) There continues to be equality and difference within marriage: Peter says, “Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.” (1 Peter 3:7)
Equality - both heirs of eternal life; yet difference - a husband is to recognise his wife’s physical and hormonal differences which make her vulnerable, and not exploit them or her!
b) Marriage is the model for the relationship between Jesus and the church (Ephesians 5:24-25). Therefore we can’t interfere with it, or say that this is just for 1st Century women.
c) Wives are called on to submit to their husbands (i.e. voluntarily put herself under her husband’s leadership/headship) in the same way that they submit to Christ. A wife’s submission is not just a social constraint, the way that our pre-feminist culture has said women are to respond, it is part of her submission to Christ, part and parcel of the way that she serves the Lord Jesus.
d) But it is not a domineering abusive relationship. On the contrary it is a beautiful pattern modelled on Jesus and us, his body, his church. The pattern is one where the husband will give himself, and love and die for his wife in the same way that Jesus loves and dies for his people. The wife will then submit to her husband (I recognise this is an emotive, contentious issue for women, and we have hardly scratched the surface here. Can I encourage you to shelve your questions and possibly your outrage till we come back to submission in a future article?)
e) Paul really understands the differences between men and women when he says in Ephesians 5:33, “However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.”
Love and security are generally what a woman craves, while a man longs for respect.
C. Being women in church
When it comes to membership and ministry in local congregations, we need to revisit the principle we encountered in Genesis 1 and 2 (Paper No 2 - Women With Clarity): Equality (Genesis 1) and difference (Genesis 2) combine together to give us the concept of complementarity: two equal persons or groups of people working together for a common purpose, where one is under the leadership or authority of another.
a) Headship (leadership and authority) stems from creation, and is reaffirmed in Ephesians as the model for husbands and wives. Then when God’s family gathers together for church, the pattern that God establishes is that a faithful man steps up and leads the church. I Timothy 3:12 &15
“A deacon must be faithful to his wife and must manage his children and his household well…..
….you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household”
b) There is an expectation from the New Testament that all of God’s people, men and women, will minister the Word of God to others. God gifts us for ministry and the full range of gifts available for men is available for women, (Romans 12:4-8). Women are equal in giftedness, capacity and responsibility to exercise ministry. Some, both men and women will be set apart for full-time ministry of the Word, but we are all privileged and responsible to share God’s word with our world. Within those expectations of ministry for all, there is also the presumption that men will head or lead congregations in particular ways.
c) In 1 Corinthians 11:3-16, Paul is at pains to explain that our God-given differences ought to be seen in the way we minister, the way we operate, the way we behave in church. Some of the Corinthian women appeared to be drawing attention to their newfound status in the Christian community by praying and prophesying with their heads uncovered. Participating verbally was not in question; it was the way they did it that was. In that 1st century culture, women wore head coverings and men did not. Paul is saying: let your gender differences in church be seen in your attitudes and behaviour.
d) Part of the responsibility of the head or leader of a gathered ‘household of God’ or congregation is to teach the Bible to the family. So 1 Timothy 2:11-12 tells us that:
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.
This is quite a confronting passage isn’t it? Our feminine hackles rise and we are offended. But there are some important principles to see here.
In 1st century culture, women were not expected to learn - that was the domain of men. Paul is saying the opposite - women should learn. In this, they are no different to men.
Learning in quietness and submission - learning anything can only take place when we place ourselves in a position of listening to and genuinely seeking to understand the subject matter and recognising and respecting the authority of the teacher. This doesn’t mean we won’t ask questions to clarify and resolve issues, but it will be done in a considerate way. Again this is no different for men. It’s just that in church, the teaching responsibility falls to one of the men - as head of God’s family gathered in God’s household.
It would be nonsensical, in the place of God’s gathered family, for a woman to take up authority and a teaching role - hence Paul’s direction in the verse above.
As you read further on in this chapter Paul gives a number of reasons for his instructions - and it’s interesting that they relate back to Genesis 1-3. A common way to dismiss the meaning and impact of this part of 1 Timothy 2 is to claim that it was a cultural issue, applying only to the 1st century. But Paul’s use of Genesis 1-3 clearly signifies that it is not a specific cultural issue here but a ‘for-all-time’ creation mandate.
This has been a very brief overview and may have raised more questions than it has answered. We hope you will find other articles to read on these New Testament passages that will further clarify your understanding. A good place to start would be on Lionel Windsor’s blog on Ephesians
Lesley Ramsayhas been in local church ministry with her husband, Jim, for 47 years. After university she trained as a teacher and then raised four children. Over the past 30 years she has worked as a Bible teacher and evangelist across Australia and overseas. She has written and edited several books and training packages that are sold and used internationally. She now works at Moore College in Sydney, in pastoral care to the students. To relax, she enjoys a good coffee and a good book and hanging out with her grandchildren.