Journal: Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood
Volume: JBMW 08:2 (Fall 2003)
Article: Saved in Childbearing? God’s High Calling for Mothers (1 Timothy 2:9-15)
Author: David E. Prince

CBMW 8:2 (Fall 03) p. 59

Saved in Childbearing?
God’s High Calling for Mothers (1 Timothy 2:9-15)

David E. Prince

Senior Pastor,
Ashland Avenue Baptist Church
Lexington, Kentucky

Editor’s Note: The following sermon was preached by David Prince at Raleigh Avenue Baptist Church in Homewood, Alabama, on May 11, 2003.

⁹ In like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, ¹⁰
but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works. ¹¹ Let a woman learn in silence with all submission.
¹² And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence.
¹³ For Adam was formed first, then Eve. ¹⁴ And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.
¹⁵ Nevertheless she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control
(I Timothy 2:9–15, NKJV).

One of the things I always say in premarital counseling concerning God’s design for marriage roles is this: “You have been affected by cultural feminism, and there are certain ways in which you think like a feminist. Whether you are the man or woman is of no import; everyone has been affected by cultural feminism, and to some degree, we all think like feminists.” In saying this, I tend to see what I just saw from many of you—a look of surprise or incredulity and even a tinge of outrage. We think, “No, not me; I reject that! I am not a feminist!” However, someone came to me this very week and said that what I had told him during their premarital counseling was true.

Every single force in our culture is driving us away from thinking biblically about gender roles. For instance, many of you have probably seen the shoe company advertisement that says, “Get your girls sports balls, not dolls. She can be anything she wants to be.” It shows a girl caked in mud, playing some physically challenging sport. The message is that real women are tough, hard-driving, and aggressive, and if you get in their way, they’ll knock you out of it. That’s a real woman.

Our society also pervasively accepts homosexuality, particularly on television. We see the feminization of manhood at every turn, but strong and godly leaders are not portrayed positively anywhere; the television portrays them as bumbling, close-minded old relics. What was once culturally taboo is now commonplace. Just a few years ago, shock struck the nation because a clearly homosexual couple showed affection to one ...