1 Timothy 2

1 Timothy 2:1

III. INSTRUCTIONS CONCERNING CHURCH LIFE (2:1-3:16) A. Regarding Prayer (2:1-7) Paul has concluded his first charge to Timothy concerning the false teachers, and now he moves on to the subject of prayer. It is generally agreed that this passage has to do with public prayer, although there is nothing in it that would not be equally applicable to one’s private devotional life. 2:1 Prayer for all men is both a privilege and an obligation. It is a sheer privilege for us to have audience with God in behalf of our fellow men. And it is an obligation, too, for we are debtors to all with reference to the good news of salvation. The apostle lists four aspects of prayersupplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks. It is rather difficult to distinguish between the first three. In modern usage, supplication has the thought of strong and earnest pleading, but here the thought is more that of specific requests for specific needs. The word here translated prayers is a very general term, covering all kinds of reverent approaches to God. Intercessions describe those forms of petition in which we address God as our Superior in behalf of others. Giving of thanks describes prayer in which we rehearse the grace and kindness of our Lord, and pour out our hearts in gratitude to Him. We might summarize the verse, then, by saying that in praying for all men, we should be humble, worshipful, trustful, and thankful. 2:2 Special mention is made here of kings and all who are in authority. These must occupy a special place in our prayers. Elsewhere, Paul has reminded us that the authorities that exist are ordained of God (Rom_13:1) and that they are ministers of God to us for good (Rom_13:4). This verse takes on special color when we remember that it was written in the days of Nero. The terrible persecutions which were inflicted on the Christians by this wicked ruler did not affect the fact that Christians should pray for their governmental heads. The NT teaches that a Christian is to be loyal to the government under which he lives, except when that government orders him to disobey God. In such a case his first responsibility is to God. A Christian should not engage in revolution or in violence against the government. He may simply refuse to obey any order that is contrary to the word of God and then quietly and submissively take the punishment. The reason the apostle gives for praying for rulers is that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. It is for our own good that the government should be stable and that the country be preserved from revolution, civil war, turmoil, and anarchy. 2:3 That we should pray for all men, including kings and those in authority, is good and acceptable in the sight of God. It is good in itself and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior. The title which Paul gives to God here is significant. God’s desire is for the salvation of all men. Therefore, to pray for all men is to promote the will of God in this regard. 2:4 This explains further what we have already pointed out in verse 3. God desires all men to be saved (Eze_33:11; Joh_3:16; 2Pe_3:9). Therefore, we should pray for all men everywhere. This verse sets forth clearly the divine and the human aspects of salvation. The first half of the verse indicates that man must be saved. The verb here is passive; man cannot save himself but must be saved by God. This is the divine side of salvation. In order to be saved, man must come to the knowledge of the truth. God does not save men against their will. He does not populate heaven with rebellious subjects. Man must come to Him who said: I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. This is the human side. From this, it should be clear that this verse does not teach universal salvation. Although God desires that all men should be saved, yet not all men will be saved. It was not initially God’s will that the children of Israel should wander for thirty-eight years in the wilderness; yet they did it just the same. He permitted it, but it was not the pathway of blessing which He had planned for them. 2:5 The connection of this verse with what precedes is not entirely clear. However, the thought seems to be this: God is one; therefore, He is the God of all men, and prayer should be addressed to Him in behalf of all men. As the one God, He desires the salvation of all men. If He were one of many gods, He might be concerned only about His own worshipers. Secondly, One is Mediator between God and men. This being so, no man can come to God in any other way. A mediator is a go-between, a middleman who can stand between two and communicate with both. Through Christ, Himself Man, God is enabled to approach men with forgiveness of sins. Consequently any poor sinner can approach Him, and will by no means be rejected. Paul identifies the Mediator as the Man, Christ Jesus. This does not deny the deity of the Lord Jesus. In order to be the Mediator between God and men, He must be both God and Man. The Lord Jesus is God from all eternity, but He became Man in Bethlehem’s manger. He represents the whole race of humanity. The fact that He is both God and Man is indicated in the name Christ Jesus. Christ describes Him as God’s anointed One, the Messiah. Jesus is the name given to Him in Incarnation. The verse effectively answers the teaching so common today that the blessed Virgin Mary or angels or saints are mediators between God and man. There is only one Mediator, and His name is Christ Jesus.Verse 5 summarizes the messages of the OT and NT. One God was the message of the OT entrusted to Israel; one Mediatorthe message of the NT entrusted to the church. As Israel failed in her responsibility by worshiping idols, so the professing church has failed in her responsibility by introducing other mediatorsMary, saints, clergy, etc. 2:6 The emphasis is on the fact that God desires the salvation of all men. Here this is further shown by the fact that Christ Jesus gave Himself a ransom for all. A ransom is a price paid to release or set another free. Notice that the ransom is for all. This means that the work of the Lord Jesus on Calvary’s cross was sufficient to save all sinners. It does not mean that all will be saved, since man’s will is also involved. This verse is one of many which teach that the death of Christ was substitutionary. He died in behalf of all. Whether all will accept it is another question, but the fact remains that the redemptive work of Christ was sufficient in value for all. To be testified in due time means that the testimony concerning Christ’s substitutionary work was to be borne in its own time. The same God who desires the salvation of all men and provided the way of salvation for all men, has decreed that the gospel message should go out in this age in which we live. All of this is designed to demonstrate the overwhelming longing on the part of God to bless mankind. 2:7 As a final demonstration of God’s desire for the salvation of all men, Paul states that he was appointed a preacher and an apostle to the Gentiles. Then, as now, Gentiles constituted the greater portion of the population of the world. It was not to one small segment of mankind, such as the Jews, that the apostle was sent, but rather to the Gentile nations. He speaks of himself as a preacher and an apostle and a teacher. A preacher is literally a herald, a proclaimer of the gospel. The duties of an apostle may be somewhat broaderhe not only preaches the gospel but plants churches, guides local churches in matters of order and discipline, and speaks with authority as one sent by the Lord Jesus Christ. A teacher expounds the word of God in such a manner that it will be understood by the people. To give added emphasis to what he is saying, Paul confirms his claim to be a teacher of the Gentiles by the words I am speaking the truth in Christ, and not lying. The words in faith and truth may describe the faithful and honest way in which the apostle carried out his teaching ministry, but more probably they describe the contents of his teaching. In other words, he taught the Gentiles in matters pertaining to faith and truth.

1 Timothy 2:8

B. Regarding Men and Women (2:8-15) 2:8 The subject of public prayer is now resumed, and this time our attention is directed to those who should lead the people of God in prayer. The introductory words I desire express Paul’s active and inspired desire in this matter. In the original language of the NT, there are two words which may be translated men. One word means mankind in general, whereas the other means men in contrast to women. It is the second word that is used here. The apostle’s instruction is that public prayer should be led by the men rather than by the women. And it means all the men, not just the elders. The expression everywhere may be taken to mean that any individual Christian may pray at any time, no matter where he may be. But since the subject here seems to be public prayer, it would be better to understand this verse as saying that wherever a mixed group of Christians is gathered together for prayer, it is the men and not the women who should lead in this exercise. Three qualifications are added, applying to those who are to pray publicly. First of all, they should lift up holy hands. The emphasis here is not so much on the physical posture of the one praying as on his inward life. His hands should be holy hands. The hands here are figurative of the man’s entire manner of life. Secondly, he should be without wrath.

This points out the inconsistency of one who is given to displays of temper, rising in the local church to speak to God in behalf of those assembled. Finally, he should be without doubting. This may mean that he has faith in the ability and willingness of God to hear and answer prayer. We can summarize these qualifications by saying that a man should exhibit holiness and purity selfward, love and peace manward, and unquestioning faith Godward.2:9 Having discussed the personal requisites of the men who lead in public prayer, the apostle now turns to the things which should characterize the women who are in the congregation at such a time. First of all, he states that they should adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation. John Chrysostom gives a definition of modest apparel which can scarcely be improved upon: And what then is modest apparel? Such as covers them completely and decently, and not with superfluous ornaments; for the one is decent and the other is not. What? Do you approach God to pray with broidered hair and ornaments of gold? Are you come to a ball? a marriage-feast? a carnival? There such costly things might have been seasonable: here not one of them is wanted. You have come to pray, to ask pardon for your sins, to plead for your offences, beseeching the Lord. … Away with such hypocrisy! Propriety means avoiding anything that would cause shame. It carries the thought of being modest and discreet. Moderation means that a woman will be moderate in her dress. On the one hand, she will not seek to attract attention to herself by expensive, conspicuous fashions. These might tend to provoke admiration or even jealousy from those who should be worshiping God. On the other hand, she should avoid attracting attention to herself by wearing clothes that are drab or old-fashioned. The Scriptures seem to teach a moderate, middle-of-the-road policy in regard to clothing. Some of the excesses to be avoided are braided hair, gold, pearls, or costly clothing. Braided hair would not necessarily exclude simple braids, which might be very modest, but rather an elaborate adorning of the head with showy hairdos. The use of jewelry or expensive clothing as a means of self exhibition is decidedly inappropriate at the time of prayer. 2:10 The positive side of women’s adorning is brought before us in this verse. The adorning which is fitting for women professing godliness is found in the performance of good works. Such clothing does not distract others from communion with God, but rather provokes such fellowship. Neither does it cause envy or jealousy in a wrong sense, but only encourages others to follow the example. Good works are a prominent theme in the Pastoral Epistles, forming a very necessary balance to sound doctrine. 2:11 As far as her part in public meetings of the church, a woman is to learn in silence with all submission. This is consistent with the rest of Scripture on this subject (1Co_11:3-15; 1Co_14:34-35). 2:12 When Paul says: I do not permit a woman to teach, he is speaking as inspired of God. This does not represent Paul’s own personal prejudice, as some say. It is God who decrees that women should not have a public teaching ministry in the church. The only exceptions to this are that they are permitted to teach children (2Ti_3:15) and young women (Tit_2:4). Neither is a woman to have authority over a man. That means that she must not have dominion over a man, but is to be in silence or quietness.

Perhaps we should add that the latter part of this verse is by no means limited to the local assembly. It is a fundamental principle in God’s dealings with mankind that man has been given the headship and that woman is in the place of subjection. This does not mean that she is inferior; that is certainly not true. But it does mean that it is contrary to God’s will that the woman should have authority or dominion over the man. 2:13 To prove his point, Paul first of all goes to the creation of Adam and Eve. Adam was formed first, then Eve. The very order of the creation was significant. By creating man first, God intended him to be the head, the one who would exercise direction, the one who would have authority. The fact that woman was created second means that she should be in submission to her husband. By basing his argument on the order of creation, Paul rules out any thought that this is a matter of local culture. 2:14 The second proof refers to the entrance of sin into the human race. Instead of approaching Adam directly, the serpent went to Eve with his temptations and lies. According to God’s intention, Eve should not have acted independently. She should have gone to Adam and put the matter before him. Instead of that, she allowed herself to be deceived by Satan and fell into transgression. In this connection, it is noteworthy that false teachers today usually visit homes when the wife is most apt to be there alone, that is, when the husband will most probably be away at work. Adam was not deceived. It appears that he sinned with his eyes open. There are those who suggest that when he saw that his wife had already fallen into sin, he wanted to maintain his unity with her, and so he himself plunged into sin. But the Scriptures do not state this. They merely state that the woman was deceived, but that Adam was not.2:15 This is one of the most difficult verses in the Pastoral Epistles, and many explanations have been offered. Some think that it is a simple promise from God that a Christian mother will be saved from death in the physical act of childbearing.

However, this is not always true, because some godly, devoted Christians have died in the act of bringing life into the world. Others think that childbearing (literally, the childbearing) refers to the birth of the Messiah, and that women are saved through the One who was born of a woman. However, this scarcely seems to satisfy the sense of the passage, since men are saved in the same way. No one could reasonably suggest that the verse means that a woman receives eternal salvation by virtue of becoming a mother of children; this would be salvation by works, and works of a most unusual nature! We would suggest the following as the most reasonable interpretation of the passage. First of all, salvation in this context does not refer to the salvation of her soul, but rather to the salvation of her position in the church. From what Paul has just said in this chapter, the impression might arise in the minds of some that the woman has no place in God’s purposes and counsels; she is reduced to a nonentity. But Paul would dispute this claim. Although it is true that no public ministry in the church is assigned to her, she does have an important ministry. God has decreed that woman’s place is in the home, and more specifically in the ministry of raising children for the honor and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Think of the mothers of the leaders in the Christian church today! These women never mounted a public platform to preach the gospel, but in raising their children for God, they have been truly saved as far as position and fruitfulness for God are concerned. Lilley writes: She shall be saved from the results of sin and be enabled to maintain a position of influence in the Church by accepting her natural destination as a wife and mother, provided this surrender is further ratified by bringing forth the fruit of sanctified Christian character. It may be asked at this point: What about those women who never marry? The answer is that in this passage God is dealing with women in general. The majority of Christian women do marry and bear children. As far as the exceptions are concerned, there are many other useful ministries committed to them and yet which do not involve public teaching or having authority over men. Note the qualifying clause at the end of verse 15: She will be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control. It is not exactly an unconditional promise. The thought is that if the husband and wife maintain a consistent Christian testimony, honor Christ in the home, and raise their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord, then the woman’s position will be saved. But if the parents live careless, worldly lives, and neglect the training of their children, then these children may be lost to Christ and the church. In such a case, the woman does not achieve the true dignity which God has ordained for her. Let no one think that because woman’s ministry is private and in the home that it is any less important than that which is more public. It has been truly said: The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. In a coming day, at the Judgment Seat of Christ, it is faithfulness that will count, and this is something which can be exhibited in the home as well as in the pulpit.