The Truth in Print Vol. 26 Issue 1, Feb. 2020
A Publication of the Valley church of Christ,
2375 W. 8th Street, Yuma, AZ 85364 (928-782-5058)
Website
Address ~ http://yumavalleychurchofchrist.com
A Review of “Questions of women’s roles, as
with all questions, requires grace, humility” by Cana Moore (Part Two)
A
Review of “Question
of women’s roles, as with all questions, requires grace, humility” By Cana
Moore (The Christian Chronicle, July 2019). Much is said in this article, and
as I continue on with some things I desire to say you may read the article as
it progresses and you should have some of your own thoughts as well. Suggesting
a kind of “wrestling” necessitated in understanding I Tim. 2:12, and that along
with some questions (see Part One) the following “Quotes” continue the article.
She
states. Quote:
“As we in the Churches of Christ approach
these and other questions, I would like to make two small suggestions. I hope I
am brave enough to employ them.
Our first concern should be knowing God as a
God of grace.
God cares about our actions, but out of
concern for what our works and sins are doing to us and how they are shaping
us. God does not save and love on technicality, but with mercy, as we are being
conformed to God’s image. Even our best efforts are filthy rags, which cannot
and do not save. God accepts us by Christ’s virtue, not ours.”
Jesus
said the truth will make us free (B.L)
· Joh 8:31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed
Him, "If you
abide in My word, you are My disciples
indeed.
· Joh 8:32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth
shall make you
free."
So then He makes the rules we are to abide
by for He has all authority in heaven and on earth (Matt. 28:18-20).
“Technicality” is defined as – the American Heritage Dictionary 2. Something
meaningful or relevant only to a specialist; a legal technicality. And
“technical” (A.H.D.) as 2a. Having special skill or practical knowledge esp. in
a mechanical or scientific field — and “Technics” (A.H.D.) as – details, rules,
or methods.
Hear the
Rule Maker on both keeping His rules and love (B.L.)
· Joh 14:21 He who has My
commandments and keeps them, it is he
who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and
manifest Myself to him."
· Joh. 14:15 If
ye love me, keep my commandments.
· John15:10 If ye keep my
commandments, ye shall abide in my love;
even as I have kept my Father's
commandments, and abide in his love.
· 1 Jn
2:5 But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is per
fected in him. By
this we know that we are in Him.
· 1Jn 2:6 He who says he abides
in Him ought himself also to walk
just as He walked.
Paul was being technical in I Tim. 2:11-12.
He is certainly not Mr. Non-Technicality here! If we are convinced of having to
struggle greatly to understand what “usurp authority” means – after all it only
shows up one time in the inspired text — and are taken in by human wisdom and a
desire to follow societal standards — thus accepting that women can teach and
usurp authority over men in the church — we have been led into apostasy.
Liberal churches of Christ in Texas made headlines last year on having women
preachers — and the story came with explanations that some discovered that
women could preach way back in 2000-2001 — and finally in 2019 they have
arrived with women preaching. That’s a long wrestling match! Was there not a
prolonged wait due to a lack of approval and they knew it back then when they
first began their proposals? The explanations also included their having women
deacons, and that women elders are now being considered. But the qualifications
for both elders and deacons apply to men not women! Read I
Tim. 3:1-15; Titus 1:5-9. Read the qualifications and understand that a woman
is not the husband of one wife! Have you not read Moses Lard’s Restoration plea:
“If members of a church start it or want it, if they will not listen to the
truth then leave and have scriptural worship at whatever the cost. Walk out!”?
About the Christian’s walk (B.L.)
She
states. Quote: “It is easy in our Christian walk to construct ideas about God
that are false images, making God too small or constrained. Grace is difficult
but boundless and free. With grace, we watch not whether each individual step
sets us to plunge off the tightrope but whether our submission to God’s molding
keeps us on the narrow way.”
Paul
spoke of our walking circumspectly i.e. carefully, not as fools but as
wise:
Eph 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in
Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk
in them.
Eph 5:15 See then that you walk circumspectly,
not as fools but as wise,
Eph 5:16 redeeming the time, because the days
are evil.
Eph 5:17 Therefore do not be unwise, but
understand what the will of the Lord is.
There is truth that applies to morals and
truth that applies to the collective work and worship of the local church (cf.
I Tim. 2:11-12 *concerns women; I Tim. 3:1-13, Titus 1:5-9 *elders and deacons
qualifications concern men; Acts 20:28-31, 32 *you read of elders being on
guard for themselves and the flock, and of elders going into apostasy); Phil.
1:27 *a church striving together for the faith; I Th. 5:21 *test all things,
hold fast to what is good; 2 Tim. 4:3-4 *preach the Word in opposition to tickling
ears). The only guarantee against apostasy is the Word (Acts 20:32; 2 Tim.
4:3-4). Paul warned the elders at Ephesus:
Act
20:27 For I
have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God.
Act
20:28 Therefore
take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has
made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His
own blood.
Act
20:29 For I
know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not
sparing the flock.
Act
20:30 Also from
among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the
disciples after themselves.
Act
20:31 Therefore
watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night
and day with tears.
Act
20:32 "So
now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able
to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
Walking
disorderly and not according to the Gospel of Christ (B.L.)
The very command to admonish and if necessary
withdraw from those who do walk disorderly suggests a love of God and salvation
by keeping His rules not man’s wishes nor giving in to fear (2 Tim. 4:3-4; I
Th. 5:14; 2 Th. 3:6; I Cor. 5:1-2,11,12-13).
She
states. Quote: “The second task is humility. Correct readings of the Scripture
with a misguided care for the meaning of the scripture makes for a wrong
reading. When we are right without humility, we are wrong. Worse yet, without
humility, we have neither the poise nor the wisdom to understand how wrong we
could be. Humility encourages grace as we seek to offer each other our best
understanding. We all see through a glass dimly, and it would be foolish to
presume that we fully understood the revelation of God though our finite
lenses.”
God gave us His word to be understood (Eph.
3:3-4; Col. 1:9-12). This comes by study (2 Tim. 2:15). Paul said to the church
at Corinth, 1Cor. 13:12 “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face
to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.”
“Now” is a reference to the time when the Word was revealed in “parts” (I Cor.
13:9), and “then” connects with I Cor. 13:10 the completed written Word — “the
perfect law of liberty” (Ja. 1:25).
Here is the blessing for the one who hears
and does. It is plain that we can see and understand:
· Jas 1:22 But be doers of the
word, and not hearers only, deceiv
ing
yourselves.
· Jas 1:23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not
a doer, he
is like a man observing his natural
face in a mirror;
· Jas 1:24 for he observes himself, goes away, and
immediately
forgets what kind of man he was.
· Jas 1:25 But he who looks into the perfect law of
liberty and
continues in it, and is not a forgetful
hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
No doubt one in Christ is changed as they
grow to maturity. There is “now” in this life a transformation and will be a
change to His glory when He comes (2 Cor. 3:18).
2Co
3:18 “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the
Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by
the Spirit of the Lord.”
The glory in Christ Jesus now in His church
(Eph. 2:10; 3:10) brings us through to “another” degree of glory at His
presence.
1Jn
3:2 Beloved,
now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be,
but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see
Him as He is.
1Jn
3:3 And
everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
1Jn
3:4 Whoever
commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.
2Ti
3:16 All
Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for
reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
2Ti
3:17 that the
man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
We are changed spiritually now. The idea of
being complete is that of
reaching maturity. God doesn’t expect maturity without us being
able to read and understand His word (Eph. 3:1-4). That only comes by study of
His Word and proper application in every good work and word (Eph. 2:10; Heb.
5:12-14; 2 Th. 2:16-17; Rom. 12:1-2).
Humbleness of mind is with the meekness that
puts God’s Word first in importance. In Matt. 11:29 Jesus our example was meek
and lowly of heart —- always doing what pleased the Father (Jo. 8:29). We are to put on humility and meekness (Col
3:12). And there is humility with submission to one another, and when suffering
for Christ (I Pet. 5:5-10).
There is humility in mourning the sins of
others (2 Cor. 12:21). At times a proper understanding of doctrine demands
repentance and comes with a reproof or rebuke (Rev. 3:19; 2 Tim. 4:1-4). Grace
comes when before God we humble ourselves, having repented and seeking
forgiveness (Ja. 4:4-10).
She
states.
Quote:
“One of the things I love most about this fellowship is our focus on unity. I
honor what I trust to be other believers’ God-given convictions, and I seek to
imitate their care for the Scriptures and the church. Even in places where I
consider them misguided, I want to first assume that they love God like I do.
Too many factors play into how each of us reads the Scriptures: time, location,
culture, family context, gender, age, education and even the language of the
Bible we read.
I
want to be conscious of these things as I try to understand without vainly
attempting to set them aside.”
We are taught to test all things; hold fast
what is good (I Th. 5:21). Even the assumption someone is sincere has to be
tested in order to avoid error. (Paul was sincere when persecuting Christ.)
Tell one the Truth they don’t expect or want to hear and see what they do.
Joh
3:19 And this
is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved
darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
Joh
3:20 For
everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest
his deeds should be exposed.
Joh
3:21 But he who
does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that
they have been done in God.
So, are
there just too many factors? (B.L.)
To the church at Ephesus, Paul said when
they read what he wrote they could understand his knowledge in Christ (Eph.
3:1-4). Epistles were shared in the first century (Col. 4:16; I Th. 5:27).
Ephesus was a city of 250,000 estimated population. Some say the 2nd and others
the 4th largest city in the Empire; it was of diverse culture. Are there really
just too many factors?
She
states. Quote: “For my sisters and brothers with whom I disagree, I still can
see by the fruit of their spiritual labor that they truly desire God. In that
unity, we can move forward to join with God in reconciliation, to help take
down the dividing wall of hostility and to make our way into the path of
peace.”
Unity based
upon God’s Word (B.L.)
We are to test the elders, preachers,
teachers and all brethren by the revealed Word (I Jo. 4:1) — not by our
assumptions. Some will assure that they are so sincere, and yet come up with
false doctrines which they think should be implement; they’d like to have them.
A brother in error must be reconciled to God, and immediately (2 Cor. 5:19-20).
· Joh_14:15 If ye love me, keep
my commandments.
· Joh 17:20 "I do not pray for these alone, but also
for those who
will
believe in Me through their word; Joh 17:21
that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that
they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.
· 1Ti 2:11 Let a woman learn in
silence with all submission.
· 1Ti 2:12 And I do not permit
a woman to teach or to have authori
ty over a man, but to be in silence.
The Foundation was laid in the first
century: Eph. 2:20; I Cor. 3:11; 2 Tim. 3:16-17; Jude 3. I Tim. 2:11-12 is part
of that foundation. What Paul did not permit exposes the error in churches in
town that have women preachers as so called women pastors or co-pastors, or
that appoint women deacons.
Paul’s
unity statement to close with (B.L.)
1Co
14:34 Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to
speak; but they are to be submissive, as the law also says.
1Co
14:37 If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him
acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the
Lord.
1Co
14:38 (NAS) But if anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized.
Note:
Things do matter besides baptism for the remission of sins. The pattern for the
worship and work of the church excludes women teaching or usurping authority
over men.
Valley Church of Christ
2375 W. 8th Street, Yuma, AZ 85364
(928) 782-5058 ~
http://yumavalleychurchofchrist.com
Sunday Services – Classes ~10:00;
Assembly 10:50 am; Evening: 6:00 pm.
Wednesday evening – 7:00 pm
To learn more call, visit or visit our website at:
http://yumavalleychurchofchrist.com