Chapter Twenty Two: 1 Timothy 2:15: Salvation through “the Childbirth”
15But women will be saved through childbearing-if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.”(NIV)
How should this verse be understood, coming at the end of 1 Tim 2:11-15? It has generated some amazing interpretations, and not just by so-called ‘liberal scholars.’ The author of Man and Woman, One in Christ: An Exegetical and Theological Study of Paul’s Letters, Philip Payne, tackles this challenging verse in the same way he has done throughout the rest of the book – with very detailed exegesis (with focus on immediate context, broader context of book and author, and canonical context), careful and close scrutiny of alternative views and an eye to historical interpretations.
Key points include:
Verse 15 stands in direct contrast with the negative statements about woman’s deception and transgression in verse 14
“be saved” refers to spiritual salvation with God as the agent of salvation. Its future tense points forward beyond Eve to the Promised Saviour
Eve is treated as representative on women in general
Salvation from the fall (appealed to in v15) is that same salvation through the seed of the woman identified in Gen 3:15b
“The terrible consequences of Eve’s deception highlight the seriousness of the deception of women in Ephesus. Yet the story of Eve also offers women hope and dignity. Although women experience pain in childbirth as a result of the fall, a woman gave birth to the promised Seed who will destroy Satan and overcome the fall. Not only was woman the vehicle for the entry into the world of sin, dearth, and the power of Satan, she was also the vehicle for the entry into the world of the Savior who delivers people from sin and death.” (422)
“though childbearing” (NIV) is literally “through the childbirth”: ‘through’ indicates the means, instrument, agency through which salvation came; ‘the childbirth’ refers to a specific childbirth – that of Christ. Payne comments, “Paul evidently chose the particular expression “the childbirth” (as opposed to simply “Christ”) in order to highlight the positive role of woman in salvation and to counterbalance his immediately preceding citation of her negative role in the fall.” (437)
v15 is not simply a call to a role; it is a call to the Saviour.
v15b shifts to the plural – Eve’s descendants, to experience the salvation that Christ provides, must abide in faith, continue in love (defining mark of a Christian) and holiness (inevitable result of the work of the Holy Spirit).
Paul is not advocating legalism to the women of Ephesus: bear children, be good. Instead he is pointing them to ennobling life in Christ, who alone saves.” (441)
It’s Boxing Day, and if you’re a sports fan (like me!), this is a BIG day – start of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race and the Boxing Day Cricket Test, between Australia and Pakistan.
And as we enjoy the Christmas/New Year period, continue to praise Immanuel, the ultimate Servant, who calls each of us to The Servant Way:
We’ve had a wonderful time of reflecting on, and worshipping the Christmas Baby through the month of December. The Children’s Christmas Eve service last night was an action packed presentation of the Christmas message. The 11.00pm Christmas Eve Communion service is perhaps my favourite service all year. Last night we even had a harpist in our music team – the sounds are beautiful but the instrument is, well, a bit hard to put in the boot of your car!
Across a wide variety of service formats at Deep Creek, we have focussed on the amazing grace of God – to take on human flesh to be the Saviour of the world. The narrator of the Christmas video below, from St Helen’s Bishopgate, London comments:
“Someone as supremely powerful as God has taken the initiative to come and get to know us – that’s Christmas.”
It seems like everyone is into Handel’s Messiah at the moment (well, at least some folk!). Having just posted the link to Daniel Block’s biblical theology of the oratorio, now the prolific writer, Ben Witherington, provides the Story behind the Classic. Ben writes:
“Handel composed the work in a short period of time during the summer of 1741, and when he got to the Hallelujah chorus, his assistant found him in tears saying “I did think I saw heaven open, and saw the very face of God”.
About this time of the year, I load up my CD stacker in the car with the live performance of Handel: Messiah, conducted by Neville Mariner. It is simply magnificent, as agreed by an Amazon reviewer:
“Marriner and the Academy have turned out an A+ performance. The quality of the players, the chorus, and the soloists is unmatchable. The interpretations of the movements are also right on. The entire ensemble gels perfectly under the direction of one of the world’s best and most recorded conductors. While classical reviewers have pinned the J. E. Gardiner recording as tops, I think they have overlooked this gem.”
At Deep Creek Anglican we are part-way through our Christmas series, Who is this baby? In the lead into each of the first two messages, we played the appropriate track from this album. I trust the congregations enjoyed it as much as I did!
Today, I noticed at Justin Taylor’s blog, a link to an excellent essay by Daniel Block [Gunther H. Knoedler Professor of Old Testament at Wheaton College Graduate School] on the biblical theology of Handel’s Messiah. Well worth a read.
Today, we completed the second message in our Christmas series Who is this baby? As we considered Matthew’s account of the birth of Jesus in Matt 1:17-25, we turned our hearts to the wonderful mission opportunity of Christmas. And in doing so, we were encouraged in praying for our friends in the words of Prayer for a friend by Casting Crowns, off their album The Altar and the Door:
Lord I lift my friend to You.
I've done all that I know to do.
I lift my friend, to You.
Complicated circumstances
have clouded his view.
Lord I lift my friend up to You.
I fear that I won’t have the words
that he needs to hear.
I pray for Your wisdom , oh God.
And a heart that's sincere.
And Lord I lift my friend up
to You.
Lord I lift my friend to You.
My best friend in the
world, I know he means much
more to You.
I want so much to help him, but
this is something he has to do.
Lord I lift my friend up to You.
There's a way that seems so right to him.
But You know where that leads.
He's becoming a puppet of the world.
Too blind to see the strings.
And Lord I lift my friend up to You.
Lord I lift my friend to You.
I've done all that I know to do.
I lift my friend, to You.
I love the words of the third verse: “Lord I lift my friend to You. My best friend in the world, I know he means much more to You….” What a great testimony to the love of God; to the truth of John 3:16 and 1 Tim 2:3f.
Chapter Twenty Two: 1 Timothy 2:15: Salvation through “the Childbirth”
It seems like everyone is into Handel’s Messiah at the moment (well, at least some folk!). Having just posted the link to Daniel Block’s biblical theology of the oratorio, now the prolific writer, Ben Witherington, provides the 
About this time of the year, I load up my CD stacker in the car with the live performance of 
Today, we completed the second message in our Christmas series