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Looks Can Be Deceiving

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8 I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; 9 likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, 10 but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works. 11 Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve; 14 and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. 15 Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control. – 1 Timothy 2:8-15 ESV

Paul continues his emphasis on prayer, encouraging Timothy to make it a high priority in his life and ministry. Certain things can hinder our prayers and destroy our witness as believers; Paul mentions anger and controversy. Jesus Himself warned us that “if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God” (Matthew 5:23-24 NLT).

Disunity can derail our prayer lives, but so can our actions. Our behavior among those for whom we are praying can powerfully affect whether they eventually experience the salvation for which we are praying. Paul addresses an issue that was a problem in his day and remains a problem in the church today: immodesty of dress among Christian women. He writes, “I want women to be modest in their appearance” (1 Timothy 2:9 NLT). This wasn’t just Paul’s personal preference; it was his instructions as an apostle and spokesman for God. The women in the church at Ephesus were sending mixed messages. They were to be spreading the gospel, but some were so interested in their appearance and focused on drawing attention to themselves that they were doing more harm than good. Good looks had replaced good behavior as the focus of their lives. They had become fixated on their outward appearance rather than the condition of their hearts.

The next issue Paul addresses with Timothy remains a hot-button topic even today. It had to do with the role of women in the assembly of the church, and with order and headship. But in context, it concerned the spread of the gospel. Anything we do that hinders or hurts the gospel message is to be avoided at all costs. In this case, the newfound freedom women had discovered in Christ was not to become a form of license that created disorder within the local body of Christ. There was to be order, decorum, and a God-given structure to the body of Christ, with Christ himself serving as the head.

God gave men the responsibility to serve in a place of authority and responsibility, both within the local church and the home. It had nothing to do with value or worth, but with divine order and human responsibility. The real issue Paul is addressing is women assuming authority that God did not give them. Ultimately, Paul’s concern is the spread of the gospel. Again, disunity and anger seem to be tied to what Paul is saying. If those outside the church look inside and see disunity and disharmony, their interest in the gospel will be negatively impacted.

God provided an order and authority structure to the body of Christ. In His grand scheme, men were to lead the church and were responsible for teaching the Scriptures. This in no way implies that women are incapable or unqualified to teach the Word of God. It has to do with authority and responsibility, not capability. God placed men in the role of teachers and leaders within the local church. When this order was ignored or violated, it caused disunity and discord.

Paul was reminding Timothy that order within the church and the spread of the gospel should take precedence over the need to look good or be seen as influential. It was important that men “pray with holy hands lifted up” – free from controversy and anger. Our goal should always be the gospel. Whether male or female, our greatest concern should be that others come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Our need to be noticed, in charge, seen as attractive, powerful, influential, and even spiritual has to take a backseat to God’s non-negotiable command to make disciples. That should be the focus of our prayers and the emphasis of our lives.

When Paul talks about women being submissive, he is not suggesting subservience and subjugation. Again, his point is about order and divinely ordained authority. He encourages the men to be prayerful, uncontentious, and not quarrelsome. He tells the women to be modest in dress, respectable in appearance, and self-controlled in behavior. At the heart of Paul’s message is the power of and need for prayer in the life of the believer. As Dr. Thomas L. Constable so clearly explains, “Prayer is so important because it invites God into the situation we pray about and it secures His working on behalf of those in need” (Dr. Constable’s notes on 1 Timothy, 2007 Edition).

Prayer expresses our dependence upon and need for God. It is at the core of godly living. To live a life without prayer is to live a godless life. It communicates to Him that we have no need for Him in our lives. God desires His people to live godly lives – lives that are empowered by His Spirit, obedient to His Word, and dependent upon His help. To forsake God does not require that we completely turn our backs on Him or worship other gods in place of Him; it can simply mean that we have chosen not to depend on Him. We can become self-sufficient, autonomous in our decision-making, and convinced that we can somehow live our lives in our own strength and according to our own wisdom.

Solomon had wisdom and knowledge given to him by God, yet he ended up turning his back on God and worshiping idols made with human hands. Not exactly the wisest decision he could have made. But even godly wisdom is useless if we don’t put it into effect; it is useless to us if we choose to disobey it. Godliness is nothing more than God-centeredness, living our lives completely dependent upon Him. It is to lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.

This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. – 1 Timothy 2:3-4 ESV

When we live godly lives, made possible through Christ’s work on the cross, we become living testimonies of God’s grace and His life-transforming power.

Father, You have called us to live set-apart lives. That means we are expected to look and act differently. Our lives are to reflect the indwelling power of the Spirit that shows up in obedience to Your Word and submission to Your will, even when we don’t fully understand or agree with it. You haven’t asked for our opinion or provided the option of opting out. When we read these verses, a part of us bows up and wants to push back on what we hear Paul saying. His views seem antiquated and out of step with our more modern and enlightened culture. But he was simply conveying what the Holy Spirit inspired him to write. These are Your words, not his. And I must trust that You know what You are doing. The world is watching and always assessing the truth of what we claim to believe. They are suspicious of our claims and wary of our rhetoric about faith, love, and life-transformation. We claim to have a saving relationship with You, but they fail to see any difference. You have called us to live set-apart lives that reflect our status as Your children. We are to live as lights in the darkness, reflecting Your glory to a lost and dying world. But to do so, we must obey Your will and trust that You know what is best. Amen. 

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Sole Simple Solution

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1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed. – 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 ESV

After spending three chapters on the issues surrounding the use of spiritual gifts, Paul now shifts his attention to what he says is “of first importance.” The Corinthians had lost sight of the overwhelming significance of their salvation made possible by the death, resurrection, and appearance of Christ. In other words, they had allowed the gospel and its life-changing message to take a back seat to what they believed was the more significant role of the spiritual gifts. So Paul reminds them of the gospel he preached to them.

It is the gospel message they received by grace, and that allows them to stand justified before God as His adopted children. It is the same gospel that makes possible their daily sanctification – their transformation into Christ-likeness. The spiritual gifts do not accomplish any of this for them. It is the gospel and the gospel alone that redeems, justifies, sanctifies, and guarantees our future glorification. The gospel encompasses the entirety of our salvation experience. And just to make sure they understand what he means by the gospel, Paul provides them with a summary statement that contains the key ingredients to its power and significance.

“Jesus died” – the death of Jesus is central to the gospel message. It was necessary for Jesus to die so that the penalty for our sins could be paid and God could be satisfied. Otherwise, we would still be guilty and under condemnation for our sins against God. But Jesus did die in our place. He took our sins upon Himself and suffered the death we deserved.

“according to the Scripture” – Jesus’ death was not happenstance or just a run of bad luck. It wasn’t the result of the Jewish leadership and their behind-the-scenes plotting against Jesus. It wasn’t even the result of Pilate’s orders or the Roman government’s power. It was preordained by God. The Old Testament prophets spoke of His death hundreds of years before it took place.

Surely he has borne our griefs
    and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
    smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
    and with his wounds we are healed. – Isaiah 53:4-5 ESV

Jesus was sent by God to die. The penalty for mankind’s sins against God was death, and God, because He is just, required that the penalty be paid in full. But in a divine display of mercy, He provided His own Son as a substitute to satisfy the just and holy requirement for a sinless sacrifice. The author of the Book of Hebrews explains the need for this blood sacrifice.

…without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. – Hebrews 9:22 ESV

“he was buried” – Jesus’ death was real; He did not swoon or pass out. He was not placed in the grave barely alive, only to later revive and escape. The Romans oversaw His burial and were convinced of His death. His burial paved the way for His resurrection. The rolling of the stone across the opening to His tomb and then sealed by the Roman guards convinced the disciples that their Messiah was dead and their hopes for a new kingdom were gone. They went into mourning and hiding. And the words of the two disciples whom Jesus encountered along the road after His resurrection reveal just how dejected they were.

“He was a prophet who did powerful miracles, and he was a mighty teacher in the eyes of God and all the people. But our leading priests and other religious leaders handed him over to be condemned to death, and they crucified him. We had hoped he was the Messiah who had come to rescue Israel. This all happened three days ago.”– Luke 24:19-21 NLT

“he was raised on the third day” – Jesus was not a martyr; He was the Messiah, the anointed one of God, who died and was raised back to life through the power of the Holy Spirit. He was raised to new life and walked out of the tomb in His resurrected body, proving that He had accomplished what He had come to do and had satisfied the just demands of His Father in heaven. Just a few verses later in this chapter, Paul writes, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17 ESV). He follows that up with the good news that “In fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20 ESV). It is His resurrection that assures us of our future hope of eternal life and the glorification of these earthly bodies. The apostle John assures us, “We are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2 ESV).

“in accordance with the Scriptures” – Once again, the Scriptures predicted Christ’s death, but also His resurrection. The prophet Isaiah wrote:

Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
    he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
    he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
    Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see  and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
    make many to be accounted righteous,
    and he shall bear their iniquities. – Isaiah 53:10-11 ESV

He was crushed, but He was also resurrected and restored. His days were prolonged. As a result of His death and resurrection, many have been accounted as righteous.

“and that he appeared” – During the days after His resurrection, Jesus was seen by more than 500 people. His appearances to His disciples renewed their hopes and revived their commitment to follow Him. He gave them their marching orders, commissioning them to carry on His work and to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. He appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus, calling him from a life marked by persecution of the church to a new mission of taking the gospel to the Gentiles. Paul’s work and words were given to Him by the resurrected Christ. And he proved faithful to do what Christ had called him to do.

Jesus died, was buried, resurrected, and appeared. That is the heart of the gospel message. And when anyone accepts the reality of those facts, placing his or her faith in the saving work of Jesus Christ, they experience salvation. They are born again and given new life in Christ. Their sins are forgiven, they are given a new nature, and they are made children of God and heirs to the Kingdom of God. They stand before Him as righteous, not because of anything they have done or accomplished, but because of the blood of Christ.

Father, thank You for the gospel, the good news of new life found in the sacrifice of Your Son. But I thank You as well for the simplicity of the gospel’s message. You took a very difficult and impossible to solve problem and provided a simple solution. You sent Your Son as the substititionary atonement for the debt we owed. He died so would not have to. He paid the penalty for our sins and satisfied Your righteous judgment against us. And I am eternally grateful for the glorious gift of Your grace, mercy, and love. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.