The Glory of a Godly Woman: Text: 1 Timothy 2:9-15
Introduction: A Joyful Rebellion
We come now to a passage that has suffered much at the hands of expositors. And the reason it has suffered is not because it is one of those difficult parts of Paul's writing that is hard to understand. No, this passage has been greatly abused and twisted precisely because it is easy to understand. It says what it means, and it means what it says. And what it says runs directly contrary to the spirit of our age, which is a spirit of egalitarian rebellion. Our generation is allergic to authority, allergic to distinctions, and allergic to submission. It wants a world where every line is blurred and every role is interchangeable. But this is not liberty; it is chaos. It is a rebellion against the created order, and therefore, a rebellion against the Creator.
The feminist revolution, which has swept through our culture and, sadly, through much of the church, promises liberation but delivers bondage. It tells women that their glory is found in seizing power, in climbing corporate ladders, and in imitating the sins of ambitious men. It teaches them to resent their own nature, to despise the home, and to view children as a career impediment. But the Bible offers a different path, a true liberation. It is the path of embracing the glory of how God made you. It is a joyful rebellion, not against God, but against the godless spirit of the age.
Paul is writing to Timothy, his young delegate in Ephesus, a city awash in paganism, idolatry, and sexual confusion. The Artemis cult, with its female priestesses, was a dominant force. The cultural air was thick with the same lies that permeate our own. Into this context, Paul provides instructions for public worship. He has just instructed the men on how they are to pray, and now he turns his attention to the women. These instructions are not culturally conditioned suggestions; they are apostolic commands, grounded in the unchanging reality of God's creation. They are not intended to restrict women, but to release them into their true strength and dignity. This is not a blueprint for oppression, but a roadmap to glory.
The Text
Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, with modesty and self-restraint, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly clothing, but rather by means of good works, as is proper for women professing godliness. A woman must learn in quietness, in all submission. But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. For it was Adam who was first formed, and then Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into trespass. But she will be saved through the bearing of children, if they continue in faith and love and sanctification with self-restraint.
(1 Timothy 2:9-15 LSB)
The Adornment of Godliness (vv. 9-10)
Paul begins with the outward appearance of women in the assembly, but as always, his concern is the heart that the appearance reflects.
"Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, with modesty and self-restraint, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly clothing, but rather by means of good works, as is proper for women professing godliness." (1 Timothy 2:9-10)
The first thing to notice is that women are to adorn themselves. The verb here is kosmeo, from which we get our word "cosmetics." It means to arrange, to set in order, to make ready. The Bible is not commanding women to be dowdy, drab, or plain. Christian women are to be adorned. The question is not whether they should adorn themselves, but how. What is the nature of true, godly beauty?
Paul lays out two kinds of adornment in stark contrast. The first is the world's way. It is an adornment of ostentatious display and sexual provocation. He mentions "braided hair and gold or pearls or costly clothing." Now, the issue here is not that jewelry or nice clothes are inherently sinful. The Bible is full of examples of godly people wearing fine things. The point is the attitude behind it. This is a prohibition against a vulgar and showy display intended to draw attention to oneself. It is the spirit that seeks to turn heads, to make others stare, to use external finery to signal wealth, status, or sexual availability. This is worldly advertising.
In contrast, Paul commends a different kind of adornment. It is an adornment of character that manifests itself outwardly. He uses two key words: "modesty" and "self-restraint." Modesty here means a sense of shame, a sense of propriety and decency. It is an awareness of the power of feminine beauty and a refusal to weaponize it or cheapen it. Self-restraint, or sobriety, means having good sense, a sound mind. It is the opposite of being flighty, frivolous, or driven by vanity. A woman with self-restraint knows who she is in Christ, and she doesn't need the validation of wandering eyes.
But the ultimate adornment, the true cosmetic of a godly woman, is "good works." This is not a quiet, internal piety. Good works are visible. They are public. This is a woman who is fruitful, useful, and a blessing to her family and her church. Her life is her beauty. She professes godliness not just with her lips, but with her hands, with her time, with her service. This is the kind of beauty that does not fade with age but grows deeper and more radiant over time. It is the beauty of a life poured out for others, which is the beauty of Christ Himself.
Quiet Learning and Submission (v. 11)
From outward adornment, Paul moves to the posture of women within the teaching ministry of the church.
"A woman must learn in quietness, in all submission." (1 Timothy 2:11 LSB)
This verse is revolutionary. In the ancient world, the formal religious instruction of women was virtually unheard of. Paul commands that women must learn. They are not to be kept in ignorance. They are to be disciples, students of the Word. This is a high calling. But they are to learn with a particular disposition: "in quietness, in all submission."
"Quietness" does not mean absolute silence, as though women could not even whisper a greeting. The word here refers to a settled tranquility, a peaceful spirit that is not disruptive or argumentative. It is the opposite of a contentious or challenging spirit. It is the posture of a receptive learner, not a hostile cross-examiner.
This quietness is coupled with "all submission." She is to learn under the authority of the church's appointed teachers, who, as the next verse makes clear, are to be men. Submission is not a dirty word; it is the structure of all reality. The Son submits to the Father. The Church submits to Christ. Citizens submit to the magistrate. And here, in the context of the formal teaching of the church, women are to submit to the elders. This is not a statement about intelligence or value. It is a statement about God-ordained order and roles.
The Apostolic Prohibition (v. 12)
Paul now states the principle negatively and directly, leaving no room for misunderstanding.
"But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet." (1 Timothy 2:12 LSB)
This is the apostolic line in the sand. The prohibition has two parts. First, a woman is not permitted "to teach" a man in the context of the authoritative doctrinal ministry of the church. This does not forbid a woman from teaching her children (Prov. 1:8), or older women from teaching younger women (Titus 2:3-5), or Priscilla explaining the way of God more accurately to Apollos in a private setting alongside her husband (Acts 18:26). This is a prohibition on filling the pastoral office of authoritative preacher and teacher to the gathered congregation.
Second, she is not to "exercise authority over a man." The Greek word here is authentein. It means to govern, to dominate, to have jurisdiction over. This confirms that the kind of teaching Paul has in mind is authoritative teaching, the kind that belongs to the office of elder. The two prohibitions, teaching and exercising authority, are linked. In the church, the teaching office is an authoritative office. To separate them is to misunderstand the nature of biblical preaching. The preacher is a herald, speaking on behalf of the King. That is an authoritative act. And that authority, in the formal gathering of the church, is assigned to qualified men.
The Creation Rationale (vv. 13-14)
Crucially, Paul does not ground this command in local customs or temporary circumstances. He grounds it in the permanent, unchangeable facts of the creation order and the fall.
"For it was Adam who was first formed, and then Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into trespass." (1 Timothy 2:13-14 LSB)
The first reason is the principle of primogeniture: "For it was Adam who was first formed, and then Eve." God's order in creation is meaningful. Adam was created first and was given the command from God before Eve was created. He was established as the head, the representative. Eve was created from him and for him, as his glorious helper. This order of creation establishes male headship as a creation ordinance, not a result of the fall. It is woven into the fabric of our nature. To reverse this order is to fight against the way the world was made.
The second reason is taken from the fall. "And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into trespass." This is not to say that Adam's sin was less serious. In fact, the Bible holds Adam as the one who brought sin and death into the world (Romans 5:12), because he was the federal head. He was not deceived; he sinned with his eyes wide open, in open rebellion. Eve was deceived by the serpent. She was beguiled. Paul's point is that the fall occurred when the created order was inverted. The serpent spoke to the woman, she took the lead, gave the fruit to her husband, and he abdicated his responsibility and followed her into sin. The fall was a catastrophic failure of headship and submission. Therefore, the church, in its worship and order, must be a picture of redeemed headship and submission, not a reenactment of the fall.
Saved Through the Childbirth (v. 15)
This last verse has been a source of much confusion, but in light of what Paul has just argued from Genesis, the meaning becomes clear.
"But she will be saved through the bearing of children, if they continue in faith and love and sanctification with self-restraint." (1 Timothy 2:15 LSB)
This verse cannot mean that women are saved by the physical act of having babies. That would be a gospel of works, contradicting the whole of Scripture. The key that unlocks this verse is to see that Paul is still thinking about Genesis. The woman was deceived and fell (v. 14). What was the first thing God said after the fall? He spoke the first promise of the gospel to the serpent. "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel" (Genesis 3:15).
Salvation for the entire human race, men and women, would come through the seed of the woman. It would come through a particular childbirth. Paul is saying that although the woman was the instrument of the fall, she is also the instrument of redemption. She will be saved, not through child-bearing in general, but through "the childbirth," the birth of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, who was born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law.
This is a glorious gospel statement. The very arena of her curse, pain in childbearing (Gen. 3:16), becomes the vehicle of her salvation. And this salvation is evidenced by a life of ongoing faithfulness. The "she" at the beginning of the verse becomes a "they" at the end: "if they continue in faith and love and sanctification with self-restraint." This shows that Paul is speaking of women in general. Women are saved through the Christ who was born of a woman, and the proof of that salvation is a life that continues in the Christian virtues. Far from being a difficult and strange verse, this is a beautiful summary of the gospel, tailored specifically to encourage the women to whom Paul is writing. It roots their salvation and their role not in the passing fads of Ephesus, but in the grand story of Scripture, from the garden of Eden to the coming of the Christ.