THE POSITION OF WOMEN IN THE CHURCH
This teaching is a summary of tape recordings by Dr. Ed Stewart, from
Amanda Buys, Kanaan Ministries, S. Africa
THE POSITION OF WOMEN IN THE CHURCH
1 Tim. 2:12 “12 I allow no woman to teach or to have authority over men; she is
to remain in quietness and keep silence [in religious assemblies].”
I am teaching on the freedom of women to be in leadership in the church and that
callings are more important than gender.
Now see what Luke wrote. He was there. He saw it. He heard it.
Acts 10:34 “34 And Peter opened his mouth and said: Most certainly and
thoroughly I now perceive and understand that God shows no partiality and is no
respecter of persons,”
Now we should be able to stop right there. The Bible is so clear: Over and over
again the Bible teaches that God is not a respecter of persons. It doesn’t matter
whether you’re black or you’re white, whether you’re Swedish or Chinese,
whether you’re rich or poor, or whether you’re male or female. God is not a
respecter of persons.
Of course we can’t stop there. Why? Because we have 1000 years of tradition
where we have been taught for 20, 30, 40 years that God IS a respecter of
persons. A man can lead, but a women can’t. And why? Is it because of
qualification? No! Is it because of education? No! It’s because I have short hair
and she has long hair. It’s purely based on gender!
We’ve got to get passed this, because God is calling men AND women all over
the world to do things they never dreamed God would ask them to do. God is
preparing to dump the world into our churches and we’re gonna need everybody.
I remember the revival in Mexico in the early 1960’s. This church in Mexico city
held 2000 people. They were holding seven services a day, six days a week and
people were still standing in the streets, waiting to get in. The pastor could
NEVER finish a message. People ran for the front of the church and gave their
hearts to Jesus.
And we’re in a time like that. And we’ve got to get free so that we can all obey
Jesus. God hasn’t called every woman to travel all over the world anymore than
he has called every man to do that. But IF you’re called by the Lord, the question
is: “Will you obey that call?”
I have met women from all over the world. They said, “When I was just a little
girl,” or they say, “Earlier in my life, God told me to do this and I couldn’t believe
it, because the Bible said I couldn’t do it.”
Isn’t that amazing? That God would ask someone to do something that he had
already written in His Word you wouldn’t be able to do?
This message is not just for women, but for the Body of Christ. If my wife isn’t
free, and she IS, I couldn’t be free, because my wife and I are one. Are you
listening to me? So whatever affects her, affects me, and whatever affects me,
affects her.
The Body of Christ is one and whatever affects a sister, affects a brother. Jesus
says if one of us is hurt, we all feel it. If one of us is blessed, we should all
rejoice. And so the freedom of every member of the Body of Christ affects the
freedom of every other member of the Body of Christ.
We need to take these difficult passages about women and bring a proper
Biblical interpretation. We have to lay tradition aside; we have to lay religion
aside; we have to lay culture aside, we’ve got to look at the scripture.
Now the reason we get wrong interpretations is simply because good Bible
interpretation principles were not used. We’re going to be working with three
basic principles.
1. We must interpret a verse in context (Contextual Interpretation)
The Western Church is famous for lifting a verse out of the Bible, putting it on the
wall, and writing their interpretation. Scripture is always interpreted within the
context of the setting. Let me give you an example:
1 Cor. 14: 23-35:
”23 Therefore, if the whole church assembles and all of you speak in [unknown]
tongues, and the ungifted and uninitiated or unbelievers come in, will they not
say that you are demented?
24 But if all prophesy [giving inspired testimony and interpreting the divine will
and purpose] and an unbeliever or untaught outsider comes in, he is told of his
sin and reproved and convicted and convinced by all, and his defects and needs
are examined (estimated, determined) and he is called to account by all,
25 The secrets of his heart are laid bare; and so, falling on [his] face, he will
worship God, declaring that God is among you in very truth.
26 What then, brethren, is [the right course]? When you meet together, each one
has a hymn, a teaching, a disclosure of special knowledge or information, an
utterance in a [strange] tongue, or an interpretation of it. [But] let everything be
constructive and edifying and for the good of all.
27 If some speak in a [strange] tongue, let the number be limited to two or at the
most three, and each one [taking his] turn, and let one interpret and explain [what
is said]. 28 But if there is no one to do the interpreting, let each of them keep still in
church and talk to himself and to God.
29 So let two or three prophets speak [those inspired to preach or teach], while
the rest pay attention and weigh and discern what is said.
30 But if an inspired revelation comes to another who is sitting by, then let the
first one be silent. 31 For in this way you can give testimony [prophesying and thus interpreting the divine will and purpose] one by one, so that all may be instructed and all may be stimulated and encouraged;
32 For the spirits of the prophets (the speakers in tongues) are under the
speaker’s control [and subject to being silenced as may be necessary],
33 For He [Who is the source of their prophesying] is not a God of confusion and
disorder but of peace and order. As [is the practice] in all the churches of the
saints (God’s people),
34 The women should keep quiet in the churches, for they are not authorized to
speak, but should take a secondary and subordinate place, just as the Law also
says.
35 But if there is anything they want to learn, they should ask their own husbands
at home, for it is disgraceful for a woman to talk in church [for her to usurp and
exercise authority over men in the church].”
Verse 23: All could speak in tongues; it needs to be done orderly, but all can do
it.
Verse 24: All could prophesy; it also needs to be done orderly, but all can do it.
Verse 26: Each one has a hymn, a teaching, a revelation, a tongue or
interpretation of it.
Verse 31: All can prophesy; all can learn, and all can be encouraged.
Paul says all may speak in tongues, all my prophesy, all my have a revelation,
or a psalm, all can prophesy (he says it twice) that all may learn that all may be
comforted.
Verse 34: Let your women keep silent.
Can you see the problem? Paul says, All can speak in tongues; all can prophesy; each one of you has a revelation or a psalm, but the women must be silent in the church. Can you prophesy silently? Can you sing a psalm silently? That is called a contextual problem, and you only see it if you read the whole passage in context .
If you highlight verse 34, you’re going to write a doctrine that says, Women must be silent in the churches, while on FIVE occasions in the previous verses Paul said all could participate in the service.
Verse 35: If a woman wants to know anything, let her ask her husband at home, for it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.
Paul seems to say that all women can learn in the church (verse 31), and then he
writes in verse 35 that if they want to learn anything, they must go home and ask
their husbands. This will be very difficult for single women; and widows. We have to read the scriptures! We are talking about doctrine, when we are talking about 70% of the Body of Christ (did you know that nearly 70% of the Body of Christ is female?); and we tell them they can’t teach, they can’t lead and they can’t participate in the church
service – I don’t know how we got here. But Jesus is lifting the Church up –
above tradition and above religion – and we are going to walk and talk with Jesus
Christ.
Paul wrote letters, but we don’t read them like letters. We read a verse in chapter 14 and then a verse in chapter 3 and then chapter 15 and then 3 verses in chapter 10, because we were trained to read the Bible by verses. If you got a letter from your mother or one of your relatives, would you open the letter, turn to page 4 paragraph 3 and read line 1? And then go back to page 2 and go to paragraph 4 and read line 2? You would never know what the person wrote you! You start at the beginning of a letter and you read the whole thing! And then you get a picture of what Paul is writing!
1 Cor 7:1 “1 NOW AS to the matters of which you wrote me. It is well [and by
that I mean advantageous, expedient, profitable, and wholesome] for a man not
to touch a woman [to cohabit with her] but to remain unmarried.”
The Corinthians wrote Paul a letter and Paul wrote back to them. They asked
questions and shared their points of view. Paul wrote back and answered their
questions and corrected their wrong viewpoints. 1 Corinthians , is the answer to
their letter. Prof. Sir William Ramsey was the authority on the epistles of Paul in the mid
1800’s. He wrote a book called “The Church and the Roman Empire”.
Here is what he said about Paul’s epistles:
“We should be ready to suspect Paul of making a quotation from the letter
addressed to him by the Corinthians. Whenever he references to their
knowledge, or when any statement stands in mark contrast either to the
immediate context or Paul’s know views.”
What did Prof. Ramsey say? Whenever we find something in one of Paul’s
letters that does not fit the context of the passage, it is not Paul’s statement, but
the statement from the Corinthians. In other words, Paul quoted what they said,
and then responded to what they had said. When we answer letters ourselves,
we make reference to something someone else said in their letter and then we
respond to it.
Paul said “all could speak in tongues, all could prophesy, each one of you has a
psalm or an interpretation”. The Corinthians said “let the women keep silent in
the churches for it is not spiritual unto them to speak”.
Paul said “let all the women learn in the service”. The Corinthians said “if the
women want to learn anything they must ask their husbands at home”.
Verse 36: “What! Did the word of the Lord originate with you [Corinthians], or has
it reached only you?”
This was Paul’s response to what they believed. Is he agreeing with them or is he correcting them? It’s a word of correction, isn’t it? He’s saying, “What are you teaching? Maybe I don’t have the Word of God and you do. Maybe the Word of God never reached me. This is a very strong statement, because everyone in the early church knew that Paul was the only one that had the revelation of the church. Jesus personally took him to heaven and revealed to him the New Testament, and he came back and wrote it in these letters. And for him to say to the Corinthian church, “Maybe you have the Word of God but I don’t”, was a very strong statement.
Now we have something that fits into context. Paul wrote that all could
participate in tongues; all could prophesy as the Spirit of God lead; each one of
you could participate; all of you could learn in church; and then he spoke what
the Corinthians had written to him; and the he corrected what they wrote him.
Do you see it? It’s the only way you can put this passage together.
Verse 37: “If anyone thinks and claims that he is a prophet [filled with and
governed by the Holy Spirit of God and inspired to interpret the divine will and
purpose in preaching or teaching] or has any other spiritual endowment, let him
understand (recognize and acknowledge) that what I am writing to you is a
command of the Lord.”
This is not the things that they wrote unto him. This begins to make the passage
more readable. In the same chapter we have two completely different
statements. They cannot both be correct. But Paul used a very simple literary
technique. Let me demonstrate to you.
He preaches: All could speak in tongues; all could prophesy; everyone of you
could have a psalm or a tongue or an interpretation. All of you can learn in the
church! And then he says, let the women keep silent. And they said, Uh? And
he caught them in their own words. And then he says, What are you talking
about? Did the Word of God originate from you? Are you the ones that have the
truth and I don’t? Let the congregation understand that the things that I write
unto you are the Word of God, not the things that you wrote unto me.
Verse 38-39: “38 But if anyone disregards or does not recognize [that it is a
command of the Lord], he is disregarded and not recognized [he is one whom
God knows not].
39 So [to conclude], my brethren, earnestly desire and set your hearts on
prophesying (on being inspired to preach and teach and to interpret God’s will
and purpose), and do not forbid or hinder speaking in [unknown] tongues.”
Paul had given the Word of Truth.
It is a shame that after 1900 years much of the church still believes what the
Corinthians wrote instead of what Paul wrote.
Now, no one really believes that women should keep silent in Church. Every
denomination and association has their own interpretation. A woman can preach
in the mission field, but not at her home church. A woman can teach women, but
not men.
But if the whole passage had been taught in context, and if all chapters had been
read, and if it were understood what 1 Corinthians was, this mistake would never
have been made.
Dr. Adam Clarke was an English Theologian. He says in reference to 1 Cor.
14:34: “It is the only scripture in the whole Book of God which, even b y a false
translation, can be made to prohibit females from speaking in the church.
How is it then that by this one isolated passage which according to our best
Greek authority is wrongly translated, women’s lips have been silenced for
centuries? One passage!
Now they could have helped us. They could have put verses 34 and 35 in quotation marks, showing that somebody else was saying it. They could’ve given a little comment in the margin.
Montgomery New Testament: “In your congregations you write…”
Now this would’ve helped us, wouldn’t it? Montgomery said, You wrote this, I
didn’t.
The Swedish translation of the Bible has a line drawn at the beginning and at the
end of the passage that sets it apart.
There are things that could’ve been done to help us, but we can all read the
passage in context. And when you do, you see a very big problem.
1 Cor. 11:5 “5 And any woman who [publicly] prays or prophesies (teaches,
refutes, reproves, admonishes, or comforts) when she is bareheaded dishonors
her head (her husband); it is the same as [if her head were] shaved.”
In this verse Paul says women can pray and prophesy in church, but chapter 14
says let them be silent.
We’ve had so much revelation in the last 20 years; we can’t even keep up with it!
But we also need to be a Church of Scholarship. We need revelation, but we
need to be able to prove it in the Word of God. And all through the New
Testament women are preaching and teaching and serving the Lord, and to pull
one verse out of context and apply it as an eternal law is completely erroneous!
1 Cor. 14:34 “Let you women keep silent for it is not permitted for them to
speak.”
Wow, this is the love of Jesus, isn’t it?
1 Cor. 14:34 “34 The women should keep quiet in the churches, for they are not
authorized to speak, but should take a secondary and subordinate place, just as
the Law also says.”
Most people think Paul is talking about the Mosaic Law. Have you ever read the
Old Testament? Did you ever read anything that said, Let women keep silent in
the churches? Read the Old Testament and see if you can find it!
What law is Paul talking about then?
There are three laws taught in the New Testament:
1. Mosaic Law
2. Roman law (at that time in history)
3. Jewish traditional law.
The traditional Jewish law says: “It is a shame for a woman to let her voice be
heard among men.” This sounds pretty close to what we read in 1 Cor. 14:34.
The Corinthians believed old Jewish, traditional law. God never told women to be silent in the churches! We all have thoughts like, ”If it says so in the Bible, it has to be true?”
Everything in the Bible is truly stated. It is stated the way the Holy Spirit directed
it to be written. But not everything in the Bible is a statement of truth.
John 8:52 “52 The Jews said to Him, Now we know that You are under the
power of a demon (insane). Abraham died, and also the prophets, yet You say, If
a man keeps My word, he will never taste of death into all eternity.”
Is this true? Did Jesus have a demon? We do believe the Jews said this, but we
don’t believe Jesus had a demon, because it is not a statement of truth .
Paul wrote 1 Cor. 14:34-35 at the direction of the Spirit, but it was not a
statement of truth.
Do you see it? Everything in the Bible is stated correctly – the Holy Spirit didn’t
make any mistakes – but not everything He had the people write was a
statement of truth.
2. We have to interpret a verse in its Historical setting.
The Bible (New Testament) was written over 2000 years ago in a language that
doesn’t even exist today. The Greek language today is very different from the
“koine” Greek of the first century. Has anything changed in 2000 years?
There are eternal principles in the Bible – they’re true in any time-frame and in
any setting. Examples:
1. “Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” It was true 5000 years ago and it’ll be
true 5000 years from now.
2. “The Trinity”
3. “Entering God’s presence by faith.”
These are principles that never change. There’s one True and Living God – He
never changes. But not everything in the New Testament is an eternal principle.
Some things were written because of the circumstances they faced in the first
century. And we’ve accepted some passages as eternal principles such as:
1 Tim. 2:12 “12 I allow no woman to teach or to have authority over men; she is
to remain in quietness and keep silence [in religious assemblies].”
This was interpreted as an eternal principle: No woman in any generation can
teach the Bible, because if they do, they’re exercising authority over men, and
that’s contrary to Scripture. This is the traditional interpretation of the verse.
Do you know any woman Bible teachers? Do you think they’re all in sin
disobeying God? Have you ever seen a woman Bible teacher anointed of God?
Why did God anoint her? Maybe we should send God a letter and let Him know
that He’s making a mistake. [I’m being humorous only to make a point.]
Timothy was the pastor in Ephesus. In the first century of the church in Asia
Minor (Turkey) there was a very serious false doctrine. It was called Gnosticism.
It was in all the churches in Asia Minor and Ephesus was the capitol of Asia
Minor. This is some historical background so you can understand what Paul was
writing.
What did the Gnostics teach? In 1945 in Egypt an entire Gnostic library was
uncovered. Gnosticism was a very female-dominant religion. Gnostic is the
Greek word for “knowledge”.
Gnostic women believed:
1. They were the mediators between God and man.
2. Woman was created first in the garden; woman was primary in creation.
3. Woman did not sin in creation; she received special knowledge from the
serpent.
4. Sexual practices bind the flesh and divine together – when people have
sex with leaders it brings them closer to God.
This is what Paul is writing to Timothy about.
1 Tim. 2:5 “5 For there [is only] one God, and [only] one Mediator between God
and men, the Man Christ Jesus,”
Doesn’t everybody know this? Is this news to you? But the Gnostics were teaching something else. So, Paul made it plain to Timothy that there’s only one mediator. You have to remember that this is about 60 AD and the only man that had the full revelation was Paul, and he received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.
1 Tim. 2:13 “13 For Adam was first formed, then Eve;”
What did the Gnostics believe? That woman was created first and man second.
Paul writes, “No, the man was first formed and then the woman” a direct refuting
of Gnostic doctrine.
1 Tim. 2:14 “14 And it was not Adam who was deceived, but [the] woman who
was deceived and deluded and fell into transgression.”
Did the Gnostics believe woman sinned? No.
1 Tim. 2:12 “12 I allow no woman to teach or to have authority over men; she is
to remain in quietness and keep silence [in religious assemblies].”
Let’s say you’re the pastor of a church and you’ve got someone in your church
teaching that woman were created first; that the woman didn’t sin in the garden;
and that women are the mediators between God and man. What would you do?
Would you forbid women to teach because they’re women or because they’re
wrong?
The only criterion to stop someone from teaching is if they teach what is wrong .
2 Tim. 2: 17 “17 And their teaching [will devour; it] will eat its way like cancer or
spread like gangrene. So it is with Hymenaeus and Philetus,”
Here Paul corrects two men in their teaching. He didn’t just correct the women
– he corrected the men and the women. Paul corrected people because they
were wrong, not because of their gender. So, Paul is not telling all women for all
time they cannot teach.
3. We have to interpret the verse in term of the original language.
(Grammatik interpretation)
Let’s look at the word “authority” in the verse above (1 Tim. 2:12). If you do not
look at the original languages, you miss the whole interpretation. The general
word for “authority” in Greek is “exusia”, and there are 18 different English words
you can use to translate that word into; e.g. power, authority, magistrate,
strength, etc. If you can follow the Holy Spirit, it will solve many of the problems of life.
Excerpt from an article on Gnosticism:
“Ancient heresies and a strange Greek word:
Previously, they had been taught that fornication brought the worshipper in direct
communion with deity. It’s noteworthy that certain Gnostics employed the word
“authentine” to indicate a force binding together the flesh and divine.”
The author of this article says that the Gnostics used that very unusual Greek
word “authenticia” to describe the bringing together of the flesh with the divine.
This is exactly what Paul was teaching. We can’t see it, because we used the
general word of “authority”.
In the 4th century the great church father, John Christerton, wrote that “authenticia” was used to express sexual license. The early church knew what this meant. All the writings of the early church father indicate that they understood this. It wasn’t until later that this word was transposed to “authority”. That’s the common translation today. The Bible says that God gave 5 ministries to perfect the Church: The apostle, the prophet, the evangelist, the pastor and the teacher. We need these ministries. Because of these passages that we’ve been looking at many women have not been able to follow Jesus the way Jesus wants them to follow Him. That’s the important part. We have to be able to follow Jesus.
Did you know there were women apostles in the first century?
Rom. 16:7 ”7 Remember me to Andronicus and Junias, my tribal kinsmen and
once my fellow prisoners. They are men held in high esteem among the apostles,
who also were in Christ before I was.”
Andronikus was a man; Junias was a woman. They were both apostles in the early church and John Christeton wrote about her and he said she was a great woman; a great apostle of God. Would you like to see a woman evangelist? I’ve found over 25 woman ministers in the New Testament. But sometimes because of the translation they’re veiled.
We can’t see clearly.
Luke 2:36a “36 And there was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of
Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old, having lived with her husband
seven years from her maidenhood,”
So, we have a woman apostle and we have a woman prophet. God calls women
to be apostles. God calls women in the prophetic office.
Luke 2:37-38 “37 And as a widow even for eighty-four years. She did not go out
from the temple enclosure, but was worshiping night and day with fasting and
prayer.38 And she too came up at that same hour, and she returned thanks to God and
talked of [Jesus] to all who were looking for the redemption (deliverance) of
Jerusalem.”
When we read this we think of this little older lady talking to 2 or 3 people about
redemption. But the word spoken there in translation, is preach.
Mark 2:2 “2 And so many people gathered together there that there was no
longer room [for them], not even around the door; and He was discussing the
Word.”
Whatever Jesus was doing, Anna was doing – it is the same Greek word. But
when we think of Jesus, we think of something different than Anna would do.
Acts 8:25 “25 Now when [the apostles] had borne their testimony and preached
the message of the Lord, they went back to Jerusalem, proclaiming the glad
tidings (Gospel) to many villages of the Samaritans [on the way].”
Here we have Peter and John and they were ministering the Word of the Lord;
the same Greek word. Whatever Peter and John was doing, Anna was doing.
Whatever Jesus was doing – Anna was doing.
Luke 2: 38b “38 And she too came up at that same hour, and she returned
thanks to God and talked of [Jesus] to all who were looking for the redemption
(deliverance) of Jerusalem.”
She pulled up a podium and began to preach to all of them that Christ has come,
because they had just brought Jesus in to be circumcised. She preached to all
those who were looking for redemption.
This verse has always been in the Bible but our mindset has blinded our eyes.
We don’t see these things, Jesus makes you look at these things.
John 4:22, 25-26 “22 You [Samaritans] do not know what you are worshiping
[you worship what you do not comprehend]. We do know what we are worshiping
[we worship what we have knowledge of and understand], for [after all] salvation
comes from [among] the Jews.25 The woman said to Him, I know that Messiah is coming, He Who is called the Christ (the Anointed One); and when He arrives, He will tell us everything we need to know and make it clear to us.26 Jesus said to her, I Who now speak with you am He.”
Jesus didn’t tell people who He was. He always said, “I am the Son of man.” But
to this woman He said, I am the Messiah. He said this to encourage her ministry,
because look what she does.
Now look at verse 39: ”39 Now numerous Samaritans from that town believed in
and trusted in Him because of what the woman said when she declared and
testified, He told me everything that I ever did.”
This woman went back to Samaria and she preached to the whole city. What do
evangelists do? They preach to whole cities. People believed because of what
this woman said to them. Many in this city believed because of the word of this
woman. This is city-wide evangelism.
Jesus chooses the vessel; we do not choose.
Jesus chooses the gift; we do not choose.
Jesus chooses the call; we do not choose.
This is part of God’s Sovereignty. He put gifts in each one and if you put all of
them together, you will have a whole body and nothing shall be impossible.
Verse 40-41 – Now Jesus was evangelizing.
Is the woman’s evangelizing anything less that Jesus? She won many
Samaritans to the Lord; Jesus also won many more to the Lord. Whatever Jesus
was doing, she was doing.
Verse 42 “42 And they told the woman, Now we no longer believe (trust, have
faith) just because of what you said; for we have heard Him ourselves
[personally], and we know that He truly is the Savior of the world, the Christ.”
Acts 18:26-28 “25 He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and burning
with spiritual zeal, he spoke and taught diligently and accurately the things
concerning Jesus, though he was acquainted only with the baptism of John.
26 He began to speak freely (fearlessly and boldly) in the synagogue; but when
Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him with them and expounded to him
the way of God more definitely and accurately.
27 And when [Apollos] wished to cross to Achaia (most of Greece), the brethren
wrote to the disciples there, urging and encouraging them to accept and welcome
him heartily. When he arrived, he proved a great help to those who through grace
(God’s unmerited favor and mercy) had believed (adhered to, trusted in, and
relied on Christ as Lord and Savior).
28 For with great power he refuted the Jews in public [discussions], showing and
proving by the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah).”
If you’re ever going to grow in your life in ministry, you’re going to have to respect
the leadership God places over you because God does things sovereignly.
Gen. 1:26 “26 God said, Let Us [Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] make mankind in
Our image, after Our likeness, and let them have complete authority over the fish
of the sea, the birds of the air, the [tame] beasts, and over all of the earth, and
over everything that creeps upon the earth.”
Man was created to have dominion. Man was created to rule and dominate the
forces of nature. Verse 28 say man has dominion over everything that moves on
the earth.
You were created to rule and dominate over everything, not over each other.
Man must rule over the devil, rule over the circumstances of life and the
resources of the earth but our culture has trained us to rule over each other –
and this creates conflict, strife and unforgiveness.
When you rule in your family, you rule over the devil, sickness and disease,
financial lack, etc – but not over your wife.
God know your design to dominate – He made you that way – it’s a natural thing,
but it’s not natural to dominate people. That’s unnatural in the Kingdom of God.
John 13:34 “34 I give you a new commandment: that you should love one
another. Just as I have loved you, so you too should love one another.”
We need to learn to love. Whatever your doctrine – if it’s not dipped in the Love
of Jesus, it’s not New Testament, because the basis of the New Testament is the
Love of Jesus.
Gen. 3:16 “16 To the woman He said, I will greatly multiply your grief and your
suffering in pregnancy and the pangs of childbearing; with spasms of distress
you will bring forth children. Yet your desire and craving will be for your husband,
and he will rule over you.”
This verse looks pretty plain, like a statement or fact. But what happened just
before this verse?
Gen. 3:7 “7 Then the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they
were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves apronlike
girdles.”
Both had sinned and lost their connection with God. Both of their spirits died.
They had bowed their knees to another spirit and turned their back to God.
16
Gen. 1:28 “28 And God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful, multiply, and
fill the earth, and subdue it [using all its vast resources in the service of God and
man]; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and over
every living creature that moves upon the earth.”
God blessed the man AND the woman. The one wasn’t blessed more than the
other – equal blessings. God spoke to both of them – equal relationship with
God.
Note it does not say that man hears from God and then tells the wife, that the
wife doesn’t have a relationship with God herself.
Gen. 3:8 “8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in
the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of
the Lord God among the trees of the garden.”
Both walked and talked with God – they had an equal relationship with God.
Gen. 1:28 “…have dominion…” Who was to have dominion? THEY were.
EQUAL blessing.
EQUAL relationship.
EQUAL dominion.
They were one in God.
What happened? They rebelled against God; they sinned; and everything
changed. Now it’s not God working through them, but the enemy of God: satan.
Satan’s job is to rule humanity. Rule you in your health – we call it sickness; rule
you in your finances – we call it poverty; rule you in your emotions – we call it
anger and strife. And now he was working through two people.
God was not telling people His will – we already have His Will in Genesis 1.
God was prophesying what was going to happen: Because of what you’ve done,
these things are going to come upon you. The ground isn’t going to yield to you
anymore. And husband is going to rule his mate – not the earth, not the
resources of the earth, because he lost that – now he’s going to rule a human.
The rule of the New Testament is to love one another. But that’s not all, because
this is what the Old Testament says as well. What Jesus told us to do, was to
love each other the way He loves us.
We are the only religion in the World where the God we worship lives in the
worshipper. So, we need to let Him work through us in our marriages, in our
relationships, and it will release more power.
We should walk in love wherever we go. We don’t have to agree with everyone
about everything. We should love a brother / sister even though he/she is not
spirit-filled and speaking in other tongues. Jesus, our Saviour, live inside Christians, and therefore we should love our fellow-Christians. If I deny my neighbour my love, I’m actually denying my Saviour my love. My God lives on the inside of my husband / wife. How can I be offended at him /her? We are married to the sons / daughters of Almighty God.
God wants to release the power of heaven through us. Let things go! Don’t get
offended.
If we learn to love one another the way God loves us, we’ll have so much power
and revelation flowing through us. Even if a person never changes; never reaches great heights; falls to the lowest places – Jesus’ love will not change. He loved you yesterday as much as today and as much as tomorrow. His love is not performance-centered – it’s 100%!
We are to love the way He does. You don’t try to remake people so they don’t bother you. You learn to love people and what they do doesn’t bother you anymore. Instead of trying to
change everybody, you only need to change one person – yourself.
This will explode your Christianity.
There is a special anointing for husband and wife couples who chooses to serve the Lord together. When these Christian couples minister the Word of God together, God will multiply their anointing ten times.
John 14:12b “…he will do even greater things…”
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