SESSION 5 THE ORIGINAL DESIGN RESTORED: PAUL. Session 5: The Original Design Restored: Paul Paul...

SESSION 5

THE ORIGINAL DESIGN RESTORED: PAUL

Andreas J. Kostenberger

Session 5: The Original Design Restored: Paul

Paul addresses male-female roles in the following key passages:

Session 5: Session 6:

• Galatians 3:28• 1 Corinthians 11:2-

16• 1 Corinthians

14:33b-36• Ephesians 5:21-32

• 1 Timothy 2:12-15• 1 Timothy 3:2, 4-5• 1 Timothy 3:11• Titus 2:3-5


Paul’s Letters: Creation

Paul’s letters are at the heart of contemporary discussions of male-female roles in the church.

Like Jesus, Paul continues the OT pattern of male leadership.

He reaffirms God’s creation design and applies it to the church.

According to Paul, redemption in Christ makes it possible for God’s design to be restored in the power of the Spirit.

Paul’s Letters: Creation

NT Passage

Content OT Background

Gal. 3:28 Humanity created male and female Gen. 1:27

Gal. 6:15 New creation in Christ Gen. 1-2

1 Cor. 11:7-9

Image & glory of God; woman made from and for man

Gen. 1-2

2 Cor. 5:17 New creation in Christ Gen. 1-2

Eph. 5:31 One-flesh union of husband and wife Gen. 2:24


Paul’s Letters: Galatians 3:28

Galatians 3:28:“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (ESV)

What does it mean for there to be “no male and female” in Christ?

Clearly, this cannot be taken literally, but how is this true spiritually? Does this mean that male-female roles in the church are equal? Or that there is one and only one way of salvation for both men and women?



Paul wrote Galatians shortly before the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15).

In this letter, Paul sought to refute the “Judaizing heresy” according to which Gentiles must be circumcised before being admitted into the church.

Paul insisted that salvation is by faith in Christ alone, or else Jesus died in vain: “I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose” (Galatians 2:21).



What does Paul mean when he says that these groups (Jew/Greek, slave/free, male/female) are “one” in Christ?

Notice Paul does not say “equal” but “one.” The term here focuses on unity: Jews are no better than Greeks when it comes to salvation.

Paul is teaching unity in Christ, not erasing all distinctions. There is ethnic/racial, socio-economic, and male-female unity in Christ.

Men and women are united in the church because of our common salvation: by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.



This is highlighted by Galatians 3:26, which is parallel to 3:28:

“For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith” (v. 26).

“There is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (v. 28).



Paul calls for unity between Jews and Gentiles, not for the obliteration of all ethnic distinctions.

Paul calls for unity between slaves and free, not for slaves to stop submitting to their masters.

Similarly, Paul calls for unity between men and women, not for the removal of all role distinctions between them.



What is more, notice that the male-female relationship is unique and different from the Jew/Greek and slave/free distinctions:

Jew/Greek is an ethnic distinction not embedded in creation.

Slave/free is a socio-economic distinction not embedded in creation.

Male/female is a distinction embedded by God in creation.



Galatians 3:28 teaches that women are saved by grace through faith in Christ, just like men are.

Galatians 3:28 does not intend to address the roles of men and women in the church.

Interestingly, the 2 Pauline parallels to this passage don’t even mention the male/female distinction (1 Corinthians 12:13; Colossians 3:11).


Paul’s Letters: 1 Corinthians 11:2-16

Paul wrote 1 Corinthians in the early to mid-50s from Ephesus.

Starting in chapter 7, Paul deals with a number of issues that had arisen in the church at Corinth: celibacy, food offered to idols, etc.

In chapter 11, Paul is addressing issues related to propriety in corporate worship.



1 Corinthians 11:3:“But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God.” (ESV)

In this passage, does the word “head” (kephalē) denote authority or source?

1 Corinthians 11:10 refers to authority. The same word is used in Ephesians 1:22; 4:15; 5:23 to speak of authority as well.



In 1 Corinthians 11:2-16, Paul is addressing a cultural issue by invoking universal principles.

The cultural issue involved female head coverings and hairstyles.

Apparently, some women failed to submit to their husbands, reflected by their failure to cover their heads in public worship which at that time conveyed submission to (male) authority.



The result: those women brought shame upon their heads, i.e. their husbands.

The issue is honor and shame, authority and submission.

The head covering is a cultural expression of these deeper issues.

Paul’s command for women to be submissive to their husbands comes in a context where he encourages their public participation in worship.



Verse(s) in 1 Corinthians 11 Type of Appeal

2 Tradition3 Theology: the nature of God4-7 Nature/contemporary cultural

practice: head coverings, hair length

8-9 Creation order10 Angels11-12 Nature/logic: man born of

woman13-16 Nature/contemporary cultural

practice: head coverings, hair length


Paul’s Letters: 1 Corinthians 14:33b-36

1 Corinthians 14:33b-36:“As in all the churches of the saints, 34the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. 35If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church. 36Or was it from you that the word of God came? Or are you the only ones it has reached?”


Paul’s Letters: 1 Corinthians 14:33b-36

Paul cannot be prohibiting all speaking, because he already permitted public prophesying (1 Corinthians 11:2-16, esp. v. 5).

The context of 1 Corinthians 14:33b-36 is concerned with orderly worship, specifically in evaluating prophecy (vv. 26-33a).

In this context, women are prohibited from joining in the process of evaluating prophecies, an authoritative function.

Again, the balancing principles are male leadership and male-female partnership.


Paul’s Letters: Ephesians 5:21-33

Paul’s teaching on marriage in Ephesians 5 speaks of the restoration of God’s design in marriage in the power of the Spirit.

The purpose statement of the letter is found in Ephesians 1:9-10:“. . . making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to bring all things back together again under Christ as the head, things in heaven and things on earth” (cf. 1:21: Jesus is the head, the authority, over all things).

Thus Christian marriage is part of God’s end-time purpose of restoring all things once again under Christ’s authority, a glorious truth.



Ephesians 5:18, 21-25:“. . . be filled with the Spirit, . . . 21submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.22Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church . . . 24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.25Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her . . .”

Does Ephesians 5:21-33 teach mutual submission?



This involves a reciprocal but not necessarily mutual or identical action.

Consider Colossians 3:13:“. . . bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”

Both parties are involved in the process of forgiving, but they do so differently: one person forgives, the other is forgiven.



In Ephesians 5:21-33, Paul tells us what this submission looks like on both sides:

Wives submit to their husbands.

Husbands receive their wives’ submission and love them sacrificially.



Also, mutual submission will not work in the larger context of the passage (Ephesians 6:1-9) where Paul discusses 3 types of relationships involving submission: wives/husbands; children/parents; slaves/masters.

In each type of relationship, there is one group who submits, while the other has a responsibility to fulfill, but not involving submission in terms of equal, interchangeable roles.



In the context of the letter as a whole, 3 verses are critical:

Ephesians 1:9-10: Headship and submission are a part of God’s purpose to restore everything under Christ’s headship.

Ephesians 5:18: Paul’s teaching on submission is addressed to Spirit-filled believers.

Ephesians 6:10-18: Believers don’t engage in spiritual warfare as isolated individuals but as spouses, parents, etc.


Conclusion

In his teaching on marriage and male-female roles in the church, Paul affirms male leadership and female submission as well as meaningful female participation in marriage and in the church.

Our non-identical, complementary roles are God-given and good. Redemption in Christ and Spirit-filling enable us to live out God’s creation design once again and to see it restored in Christ.

Rather than trying to free ourselves from roles we find unduly constraining, we should embrace them for God’s glory and our good.


What’s Ahead

In our final session, we will:

Complete our study of Paul’s letters.

Take a brief look at the rest of the NT.

Discuss some practical applications.

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SESSION 5 THE ORIGINAL DESIGN RESTORED: PAUL. Session 5: The Original Design Restored: Paul Paul...

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