Submit To The Man | 1 Timothy 2:11-14

Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. — 1 Timothy 2:11-14 I refuse to skip over this for many reasons. But let's be clear about a few things first. If we believe the Bible is God's inspired Word without error and it contains the only truth we can find, then this book and what it says must override culture even though it was written, spoken, and read within and to the culture. And I believe that is what Paul is doing here — he is overriding cultural norms and practices. He is reaching back as far as he can for a truth that speaks to the present issues in Ephesus. And he finds biblical evidence for supporting order in a very disordered church. That's all. Some of the issues they are dealing with are men being apathetic to spiritual leadership and women stepping in and becoming a little contentious. And Paul sees this exact situation playing out in the Garden of Eden. But he is trying to get things back in order, and he gives some orders here. And doing this is going to be a little challenging when culture, practice, and personal opinion have taken hold. So to accentuate the point he's going to make, Paul reaches back to a time before the culture of sin. He reaches back to the intent of God and how sin infiltrated the world, and he points out two things. First, that originating authority was given by God to Adam. And second, that Eve's deception led to the first transgression. And therefore, Paul is showing that the problem back there is the same as the one Ephesus is having today. Men aren't leading, and they need to be. But let's be careful. It's not just generalized male leadership. But men who the church designates as leaders with specific attributes, which we will look at in chapter 3. And as we will see, these men need to be godly men who are worthy of being followed. Paul does not infer general submission to the male gender in every context, even those of bad character. But instead, he assumes and clarifies these need to be godly men who are designated leaders within the context of the church. So let me say this here. We all need to understand how to submit to authority. Both men and women. Inside the church and outside of the church. Inside our home and outside our home. Inside the workplace and outside the workplace. And for your information, in the church, both men and women are called to submit — not just women. For example, I am not an elder or pastor in my church. Therefore, I, a godly man, must also submit. So can I just say this? Let's stop taking issue and finding ways around passages like these in the Bible. Let's just do it God's way. It's doing it our way that got us into this problem. He's the leader. Let's just submit to him. ASK THIS: How can you better submit to the authority of God? DO THIS: Take a step toward submission. PRAY THIS: God, I submit all of me to all of you and the authorities you have placed over me. PLAY THIS: Teach Me To Obey. Check out other all Vince Miller's videos and audios for small groups at: https://beresolute.org/ Get Vince's most widely read resources The Daily Devotional at: https://beresolute.org/mdd Check out more ALL IN products like the one Vince is wearing at: https://beresolute.org/product-category/all-in-hats/ ____________________________________________________________________________________ Connect with Vince socially: FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/millervince INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/vinceleemiller LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincemiller TWITTER: https://twitter.com/vinceleemiller