Page 32 - Pastoral Epistles I & 2 Timothy, Titus

V8-15 talks about the need for doing things in an orderly manner inside the church.

This paragraph is one of the major battlefields of Scripture. Many people have fought over these verses and still
are fighting. We should approach it with great care and yet deal with it properly. We must always remember: The
subject under discussion in this passage, as well as in this entire chapter, is prayer. Paul is writing about the
worship of the congregation when they come together, and especially as that worship centers on and focuses on
prayer. So, the passage that touches on women and on their ministry among us grows out of that subject as well.

Then, second, Paul tells us that prayer becomes an instrument for the salvation of all kinds of people.
Paul says, in V3-4. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be
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saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
The word "all" means all men and women without distinction.

One of the greatest attacks of the enemy is to make you busy, to make you hurried, to make
you noisy, to make you distracted, to fill the people of God and the Church of God with so much noise
and activity that there is no room for prayer. There is no room for being alone with God. There is no
room for silence. There is no room for meditation. Rev. Paul Washer

In Verses 8-10, the apostle describes for us the specific attitudes both men and women should have when they
pray in a congregational meeting. This is what he says:
8 Therefore, I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or
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disputing. I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning
themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with
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good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.
 When Paul says he wants the men everywhere to pray … he does not mean that only men should pray.
In some churches, this verse has been defined as meaning only men are permitted to pray in church.

Paul is not saying that only men should pray, but that when men pray, they
should do so by lifting up holy hands, and without anger or disputing in their
hearts.

In other words, Paul's concern is not who prays, but how they pray.
This passage clearly implies that, as God’s people, we are to pray with right
actions and right attitudes, so likewise women should pray with proper and
modest dress, and with a record of a life of good deeds.

Paul is not trying here to regulate how a woman should dress. If we read it that way, we have misunderstood
this passage. When Paul says, women should dress "not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive
clothes," he is not attacking the way women dress – but he is saying that the way a woman dresses should reflect
the condition of her heart.
If a woman comes to church with her hair all fixed up and at the same time is wearing suggestive clothing or a
low-cut dress, she is obviously not trying to get God's attention; she wants men's attention. Her choice of
clothing, etc., reveals her heart. This is what Paul is talking about.

1 Samuel 16:7. But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I
have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the
outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.

Out of this discussion on church prayer, the subject now very naturally turns to public teaching -- and especially
the role of women in teaching.
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