Do you ever get to a passage and think "I just want to skip over this part." That's what I've been thinking here. I could get in so much trouble with the next 8 verses. Read on and you'll see why.
1 Timothy 2:8-15 NLT
8 In every place of worship, I want men to pray with holy hands lifted up to God, free from anger and controversy.
9 And I want women to be modest in their appearance. They should wear decent and appropriate clothing and not draw attention to themselves by the way they fix their hair or by wearing gold or pearls or expensive clothes. 10 For women who claim to be devoted to God should make themselves attractive by the good things they do.
11 Women should learn quietly and submissively. 12 I do not let women teach men or have authority over them. Let them listen quietly. 13 For God made Adam first, and afterward he made Eve. 14 And it was not Adam who was deceived by Satan. The woman was deceived, and sin was the result. 15 But women will be saved through childbearing, assuming they continue to live in faith, love, holiness, and modesty.
Here's my summary.
Verse 8. "Men" refers to humankind. Paul is saying he wants all people to worship God. Isn't that all any Christian wants?
Verse 9. Women (girls, young ladies) should dress modestly. Call me old fashioned but I agree. Most people don’t really want to see all that bare flesh and cleavage, trust me on this.
Verse 10. Beauty should come from within. She could be the most beautiful woman on earth but if her heart is ugly, who wants to be around that?
I heard a pastor say once "If the barn needs painting, by all means, paint it". I wear makeup, sometimes. I like to look nice and I like to style my hair. I have a few pieces of nice jewelry. But don't overdo it. Don't, by the way you dress be a distraction at church and, I believe, in public for that matter. My opinion, you don't have to agree.
Now the fun part. Verses 11-13. I'm going to be a chicken here and save my opinion and a lot of argument. This is one of those areas I prefer to keep my belief to myself, kind of like politics. In general let's just say our current culture no longer respects authority. Just look around. The police are a great example. It use to be when the lights and siren went on, the driver pulled over. I follow a news page on Facebook called "Blue Lives Matter". It amazes me how many times someone will put out a report of police abusing power, acting racist, pulling people over for "nothing" etc. Then the police body cam footage is released and the story was all a lie. Yet riots start over those false reports.
Verse 14. As I always say, Eve was tricked into sinning, Adam chose to sin.
Verse 15. "women will be saved through childbearing," does not mean if you do not give birth to children you cannot be saved. God is not that narrow minded. I believe it refers to the Messiah being born human.
We can all be saved through the birth and death of our Savior Jesus Christ who was born fully human of a virgin, lived a perfect, sinless life, was crucified for all mankind's sins, died, was buried and rose to life again 3 days later. But it's not enough just to believe, you have to receive Christ to be saved. You have to receive the forgiveness only He can give. You have to believe He did it for you. You have to receive His mercy and grace.
Blessings, Cecilia
No comments:
Post a Comment