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![Text Box: THE NEW TESTAMENT WOMAN IN MINISTRY
As we have seen in ‘Abuse Was Not Her Punishment’, God does not hate women. Neither does God discriminate against women.
Misogyny in all its dreadful forms was born that day of The Fall and the devil is the author thereof. Misogyny is one of the most destructive weapons of religion, dividing and confusing even God’s spiritual church; robbing the born again nation of His gifts and ministry. But God is no misogynist, neither did He give men a licence to oppress and abuse women. God never intended that male and female should turn against each other or diminish each other’s person or giftedness: Gen. 1:26-28; Prov. 31:10-31; Eph. 5:21-33; 1 Pet. 3:1-7; Mt. 19:4-10; Mal. 2:13-16; 1 Cor. 7:2,14.
But deluded religious leaders made the gross mistake to generalise God’s specific marriage covenant, thereby subjecting women to men in general.
There is not one single contextual, truly God-breathed verse in the Bible that subjects women to men in general. For every verse that commands wives to submit to the godly leadership of their “own” husbands, there is another that commands husbands to “love, honour and cherish” their “own” wives - which has nothing to do with other men or men in general. [See ‘God’s Universal Plan For Mankind’, ‘God’s Specific Plan For Mankind’ and ‘The Marriage Covenant’.]
The references in Genesis 1-3, (with the exception of Gen. 1:27-28, which is God’s UNIVERSAL PLAN for male and female to rule over the earth together), pertain to the relationship between husband and wife, and they, as the New Testament references, are the distinct designation of God’s Creation Principles. The woman was created female for her “own” husband, as the man was created male for his “own” wife.
Therefore other men and women, and even the angles, have absolutely nothing to do with the marriage bed, the personal structure of the home, or the relationship between the husband and his wife: Heb. 13:4. To assume otherwise, is to apply twisted creation principles to the general relationship between males and females, which is a gross insult to the holy marriage ordinances of God.
When Christ redeemed humankind, He did not redeem the woman to a lesser degree than the man. And so, Paul wrote in Gal. 3:26-29 that, concerning life in general and particularly in the things that pertain to congregational life, “you are all children of God through faith … there is not male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
This does not mean that Jesus did away with the sexes on a physical level, and that the unisex concept and homosexuality are okay: Rom. 1:24-32. Nor does it mean that He annulled the physical marriage- and family structure. But the submission of the wife pertains only to her own husband and not to other men, even those in the church. In the same way the bride of Christ should live a life of total submission to Him alone, but this submission does not pertain to the world or to the religious church system in general: Jam. 4:4-7. The marriage-covenant is the only relationship that places a distinct head over the woman just because she is female.
The whole church or actually, the ecclesia, (Jesus’ called out assembly,) is a [spiritual] woman: the bride of Christ. Therefore all the members of the bride “must submit to one another”: Eph. 5:21.
This also applies to men, who remain the love-heads of their own wives in their families, but loose that position in the congregation to be the bride in conjunction with all the women. While God created male and female for the cause of their own family, men and women in Christ’s true church are all children of God individually and they form His bride as a whole - Gal. 3:26-28; Lu. 20:34.
In the same way race, class and the different sexes do not exist in heaven.
The truth is that the male-and-female bride of Christ lives under God’s universal plan, [the management of life in general, where men and women manage His creation and kingdom as equals], while the different sexes pertain only to God’s house-order, or His specific plan for the physical family home: Gen. 1:26-27; Eph. 5:22-33.
Yet religious discrimination against woman is so deeply rooted that even the Bible is filled with misogyny. For believers who made the writers of the Bible into icons, this might be an unforgivable statement. Yet it seems that the writers of the Bible, quite human for their time, sometimes forgot that the bride of Christ is a spiritual woman where physical gender does not exist. For instance: in instructions to the entire church, the apostles mention only males. If God wrote down every single word of the Bible Himself, as some believe, did He sometimes forget about women?
No, definitely not. Although Scripture was truly inspired and instructed by the Holy Spirit, He did not use the writers as computers; consequently there was a human side to the writing of the Bible. A fallible side. Everything that the Spirit inspired had to filter to paper through the writers’ personal perceptions, mind-sets and religious notions. This is where contextual ‘mistakes’ like the following originated.
Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 11:5-10: “Every woman that prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonours her head… For if the woman is not covered, let her also cut her hair… The woman was created for the man. For this cause ought the woman to have a cover on her head because of the angels.”
Today, it is generally accepted that Paul was not referring to a physical hat, but to the house order where the husband is the spiritual head of his family – which has nothing to do with the order in the congregation.
Others think that Paul spoke metaphorically, referring to Christ and His bride.
If this is the case, Paul was not referring to a physical woman at all, but to the entire body of believers, where there is “neither male nor female”. Then he was rightfully saying that the wife is subjected to the love-authority of her own husband, as the entire male and female bride is subjected to the authority of Christ.
This authority is not in question, although the respect of the wife for her own husband, as the respect of the spiritual bride for her own Groom, remains a matter of the heart. It is not a shallow, outward submission, proved by the wearing of a veil.
Real respect must be quickened by the husband’s love for his own wife: Mt. 6:5-8.
While it seems likely that Paul was referring to this type of inward respect, he related a physical head covering and the length of a woman's hair to her submissiveness and commanded that the woman must submit to all men, not only to her own husband. He even related a physical head covering to her spiritual position and authority in Christ, (“because of the angels”), simply because, as a woman, “she was created for her own husband”.
Based on this verse, some religious leaders teach that a woman should always have a male ‘head’ as her ‘spiritual cover’. They allege that, if she does not have a husband, a male leader should become her ‘cover’. But where is this stated in the full context of Scripture? – Gal. 3:28; 1 Pet. 2:9. This uncontextual view jeopardises the woman’s position in the congregation as well as in the kingdom of God.
The serious question remains: Should a woman, as a blood-bought, born again, Spirit-filled, blessed child of God, prove her inward attitude of respect for Christ and her own husband by the wearing of a veil and the length of her hair? How can that be, when women, who are spiritually alive, worship God in spirit and in truth, and serve God through their obedience to His Moral Law of Love that is written on their hearts?
New Testament Scripture commands no other outward sign of faith, except the baptism of born again disciples, the Lord’s Supper and the anointing of oil, (as a symbol of the Holy Spirit): Mt. 28:19; 1 Cor. 11:23-31; Jam. 5:14-16.
Unless a woman sinfully has no respect for her own husband – which seemingly is not the case – her femininity, marriage relationship and the spiritual order of the marriage covenant have absolutely nothing do with her ministry in the congregation.
Footnote, Spirit Filled Bible, 1 Cor. 11:5-10: “A proper understanding of this section is based on understanding Creation Principles, [God’s universal plan for the general management of secular life, versus God’s specific plan for the home], and Corinthian customs. [Uncontextual, outdated Corinthian customs dictated that] a woman who appeared bareheaded in public was considered to be loose and immoral. [Traditionally], uncovered [or cut] hair, or a shaved head symbolised a loose, unclean condition.”
God created male and female to reign over His creation as equals. Likewise He recreated them through the rebirth to reign over His spiritual kingdom as His born again, (symbolically) female, bride of Christ - Gen. 1:26-28; Gal. 3:26-29; 1 Pet. 2:9-10.
So, why did Paul exempt the woman to “submit” in church? Why did Paul, in all fairness, not silence those evil religious men who abuse women spiritually, emotionally, physically and verbally? Why didn’t he command them to submit to the authority of the [symbolically] female church of Christ? - 1 Pet. 3:7; 1 Tim. 3:2-16.
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![Text Box: What does God really say about women in ministry?
This is such an easy question to answer if one merely believes God’s Word, because the New Testament outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost became the fulfillment of God's Old Testament promise,
"And it shall come to pass in the last days, [during the New Testament dispensation, under the New Covenant, written in the blood of Jesus Christ,] that I will pour out of My Spirit on all [truly believing flesh,] and your sons AND YOUR DAUGHTERS shall prophesy, your young men [and of course your young women] shall see visions; your old men [and of course your old women] shall dream dreams.
“And on My menservants and on my MAIDSERVANTS I will pour out My Spirit in those days, and they shall prophesy..." (Acts 2:17-18)
The true meaning of “I will pour out My Spirit on… ‘menservants’ and on ‘maidservants,’ and they shall prophesy… ” - Acts 2:17-18. [Heb. Strong’s Concordance, no. 5650 and 8198:] ‘Men and maidservants are men AND women [servant] slaves, (humble servants or ministers) as members of a household.’] Menservants and maidservants are willing male and female slaves, or ministering members of the same body, (Eph. 4:11.)
However, terrible distortions of Scripture crept in over the centuries to condone the oppression of women on all spheres of life - especially in ministry.
To get to the Biblical truth of women in ministry, (as in everything else,) one needs to study the Bible with the entire CONTEXT of Scripture in mind.
The entire context of Scripture applies to the following questions: How does a particular verse, chapter, epistle, or book relate to the rest of Scripture? Was it written in the Old or the New Testament, (does it pertain to the Old or the New dispensation?) To whom was it written? What was the historical/traditional background at the time it was written? How did the particular book or epistle fit into their customs and mind-sets, and how is it relevant to the overall picture of the Scriptures today?
And so, the traditional dress-code, customs, and conventional beliefs of 1st century Jews and Gentiles cannot be forced upon the 21st century, born again body of Christ, (1 Tim. 2:15; 1 Cor. 11:5.) For instance: replacing the traditional, 1st century wearing of a veil with the wearing of a hat is simply ridiculous, (1 Cor. 11:10-16.)
Jesus’ true Gospel proclaims that every human on earth should be saved through personal faith in, and obedience to the contextual Word of the Lord Jesus Christ, (1 Jn. 1:12-13; Mt. 7:7-27.) Every believer aught to know that ALL sincere believers are “the children of God through their FAITH in Jesus, the Biblical Christ.
Paul also wrote, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are ALL one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then we are Abraham’s [spiritual] seed, and [spiritual] heirs according to the promise [of the Gospel — Jn. 1:11-13; Gal. 4:6.]”](image1553.gif)