1Timothy, chapter 2, comments

 

1Timothy 2:1 ¶  I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; 2  For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. 3  For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 4  Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 5  For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 6  Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. 7  Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity. 8  I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.

It is made very clear here in verse 4 that it is God’s perfect will that all mankind should be saved. Therefore, it is not possible that He created any human being for the express purpose of casting them into Hell and into the Lake of Fire, Calvin’s fantasy notwithstanding.

Paul orders that we pray for all mankind as well including those godless reprobates in political power over us. It is in this way that we might have hope of a quiet and peaceable life. Christ gave Himself a ransom for all and this was not paid to the Devil as some preachers insist but to God Himself.

Exodus 30:12  When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the LORD, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them, when thou numberest them.

Psalm 49:6 ¶  They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches; 7  None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him: 8  (For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever:)

Matthew 20:28  Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

Paul again confirms his apostleship and declares his specific mission to the Gentiles.

Romans 15:16  That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.

 

Very importantly in this passage Paul says that it was Christ, fully man and fully God, in His humanity, as the Son of Man, the Messiah, that was the bridge between man and God.

 

Hebrews 7:25  Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

Hebrews 9:15 ¶  And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

Then, Paul insists that we be prayerful and without wrath or doubting.

 

1Timothy 2:9 ¶  In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; 10  But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works. 11  Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. 12  But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. 13  For Adam was first formed, then Eve. 14  And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. 15  Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.

Paul now turns to address issues concerning Christian women under Timothy’s spiritual care. He wants women to be adorned with good works and faith more than simply expensive jewelry, hairstyles, and makeup. They should be sober and steady. Notice Peter’s words.

1Peter 3:1 ¶  Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives; 2  While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. 3  Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; 4  But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.

Paul calls women to good works.

 

 

In verse 11 and 12 Paul wants the women in this congregation admonished to not usurp authority over their husbands in teaching as it is the husband’s responsibility to be the spiritual head of the family. In the context of speaking in tongues in the early apostolic church Paul wrote;

1Corinthians 14:34 ¶  Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. 35  And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.

What follows is what I think a tough passage for us to understand. Paul’s argument for them seems to be that Adam was formed first, then Eve. Adam was not deceived, I would say in that he understood his error, but Eve was deceived and, in fact, was unwittingly part of the deception of Adam. Adam went along with his wife knowingly, in my mind.  

Genesis 3:6  And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

But he makes an important point here that we see borne out in our reality. Once a woman bears children, as long as her and her husband continue in a Godly life, she will be delivered from spiritual adversity. Motherhood matures many, not all, but many women and most particularly Christian women with a likeminded husband. I say this because the context is a woman’s outward appearance and her choice not to usurp the spiritual responsibilities of her husband. Motherhood can humble a woman and deliver her from the demeanor that Paul is preaching here against and lead her in the Godly life that Paul wants for the women in Timothy’s charge. Christian women have died in childbirth by the many thousands in history and a woman is saved from Hell the same way a man is. I think the context of this passage warrants my interpretation.