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The Presbyterian Church of NSW recently decided to restrict the office of ruling elder to that of suitably qualified men, which is also in keeping with the resolution of every other Presbyterian state assembly throughout Australia. Almost immediately there has been a concerted effort to make sure the decision does not come to pass.

This is because under Presbyterian polity significant decisions are—to use the proper legal language—sent to all state presbyteries under what is called The Barrier Act. A majority of presbyteries then have to agree with the proposed change before it can come into effect after the next state assembly.

One of the main arguments being put forward against the decision is that this is not a ‘Gospel issue’, so we should allow congregations to come to different conclusions. That we shouldn’t bind the consciences of other believers on a doctrine which is not essential to salvation.

But is it true that women’s ordination is not a Gospel issue?

Saved not by good works but for good works

The testimony of Scripture couldn’t be clearer – no one is saved by good works (Rom. 4:4-8; Titus 3:3-8). Indeed, the very essence of the Gospel message is that salvation is freely received by faith which is itself the gift of God (Eph. 2:8-9). While we have not been saved by our good works, we have been saved for them which God has prepared in advance for us to do (Eph. 2:10).

Following on from this foundational ‘Gospel’ truth, the way we show our gratitude, worship and love for Jesus is by obeying His commands. Indeed, love for God and obedience to His commands are inextricably linked (see 2 John 6).

Not only is the authority of Scripture at stake but so too is the Lordship of Christ. As John Piper explains:

This complementarian role of man and woman in marriage is deep, historical, biblical, beautiful, satisfying, and in harmony with our true nature. Therefore, it will not go away. It is too profound, too integral with both nature and grace, both creation and salvation. That’s reason number one that it won’t fade away.

How the LORD views disobedience

The sin which led mankind into rebellion occurred when Adam and Eve disobeyed the Word of the LORD. On the surface, the command was straightforward enough. They were actively encouraged to eat from any of the trees in the garden except for one, the fruit from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.[1]

Why was the simple act eating of taking the fruit from a certain tree so wrong? Because the man and the woman were rejecting God’s rule over their lives. By their actions they were claiming to know better than the LORD. All such decisions go to the very essence of what sin is.

It’s worth stopping at this point and reflecting on the strategy behind the devil’s temptation.

First, he usurped the created order which God had created by approaching the woman rather than the man (Gen 3:1).

Second, he enticed Eve to question the accuracy of God’s word by posing the question, “Did God actually say…?” (Gen. 3:2).

Third, he finally deceived her by denying the warning of judgment which disobedience would unfortunately bring (Gen. 3:4-5).

It’s also worth reflecting on how sin—like the bait on a fishing hook—would’ve looked eminently reasonable to Eve. Note how she saw that the fruit on the forbidden tree was good for food, a delight to the eyes, and was also to be desired to make one wise (Gen 3:6). But sadly, as a result of Eve’s fateful decision—as well as Adam’s submission to her sinful suggestion—death came into all the world.

To obey is better than sacrifice

There are numerous passages of Scripture that establish how the LORD views our disobedience to His Word. For instance, even though his action led to a miraculous blessing, the reason Moses and Aaron were not allowed to enter the promised land was because they failed to honour the LORD by doing what he said (Num. 20:1-12).[2]

However, one of the most pertinent examples is found in 1 Samuel 15 where Saul loses the kingship. Once again, the command of God was itself straightforward enough. Saul was told by the LORD through the prophet Samuel to “devote to destruction” everything belonging to the Amalekites. However, after accomplishing a stunning military victory Saul set up a monument to himself and slaughtered the best of the animals to the LORD. But was that really such a wicked action so as to warrant losing the kingship?

Yes, yes it was. So much so that the Bible says what Saul did was evil in the LORD’s sight (1 Sam. 15:19).[3]  As Samuel famously rebuked Israel’s inaugural king:

“Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king.” (1 Samuel 15:22-23)

Unfortunately, Saul had a habit of ignoring the clear commands of God. From the very start of his reign, he had taken matters into his own hands whenever it was convenient (1 Sam. 13:8-9). This even involved times when he had made a solemn oath to God on taking a certain course of action (1 Sam. 14:44-45). It ultimately led to him paying more attention to the words of a witch than he ever did to the word of the LORD (1 Sam. 28:21-25).

But did God really say…?

The above examples should at the very least cause us all to stop and seriously ask ourselves the question, am I guilty of having done the same thing? Whether it’s picking fruit from the wrong tree, hitting a rock instead of talking to it, or offering choice sacrifices to the LORD when He explicitly said not to, the act itself may not be inherently evil, but the rebellion behind it was.

Indeed, whenever we disobey God’s word it’s the same as the “sin of divination” for we are succumbing to the temptation of the devil. Instead of submitting to the LORD”s righteous rule over our lives we are saying that we know better. But as the Scriptures teach, while there is a way which seems right to a man, in the end it leads to death (Prov. 14:12; 16:25).

Satan’s strategy is always to cause division and most of all confusion, by claiming that God’s command is not clear, and therefore our obedience is to what He has said is optional. But as reformed evangelicals who believe in the perspicuity of Scripture we must always resist such temptations to question the Word of the LORD. Even when the current zeitgeist of the world claims otherwise.

Taking God’s Word seriously

When it comes to the teaching of the NT epistles regarding the roles of men and women, the apostles treat it as a subject of the utmost importance. Indeed, the relationship between a husband and wife is reflective of the relationship Jesus Christ Himself has with His church (Eph. 5:32).

First, in 1 Corinthians 11 Paul concludes his argument of women having a physical sign of authority on their heads as being reflective of submission to their husbands, and of their husband’s submission to Christ, and of Christ’s submission to God, by saying, “If anyone is inclined to be contentious, we have no such practice, nor do the churches of God.” (1 Cor. 11:16) Ironically, a passage which many people today would ignore as being culturally limited had no such restriction at the time it was first written!

Second, in 1 Corinthians 14 the apostle’s exhortation is even stronger. Immediately after prohibiting women from independently speaking in the church, Paul writes:

“Did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only people it has reached? If anybody thinks he is a prophet or spiritually gifted, let him acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the LORD’s command. If he ignores this, he himself will be ignored.” (1 Cor. 14:36-38)

The warning Paul gives here is obviously one which should be taken with the utmost seriousness. As Don Carson explains:

What he fears…is that some may ignore what he has to say. If anyone succumbs to that temptation, Paul warns, “he himself will be ignored (by God).” That, surely, is the severity of the threat…The Corinthians may pursue their own self-interested definitions of what is spiritual, and run the risk of being ignored by God; or they may recognize afresh that their confession of Jesus as Lord is not only the significant criterion of the Spirit’s presence (12:1-3) but something that can be tested by enthusiastic obedience to that Lord’s commands, mediated through the apostle.[4]

Third, in 1 Timothy 2 after declaring that a woman should not teach or have authority over a man, Paul concludes by stating, “But women will be saved through childbearing – if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety” (1 Tim. 2:15). While this verse has been interpreted in a number of various ways, Andreas Kostenberger persuasively argues that it means:

“…women will be spiritually preserved (from Satan) by adhering to their God-ordained role related to family and the home. This is contrasted with Eve, who transgressed those boundaries and fell into temptation (v. 14).”[5]

What would Jesus say?

While there will obviously be some issues upon which Christians who take the authority of Scripture seriously will disagree, if we are convinced as a church what God’s Word teaches on an issue, then we have no right to ignore it. Jesus Himself emphasised this responsibility repeatedly throughout His earthly ministry.[6]

What follows is a few notable examples from the Gospel of Matthew:

• “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:17-19)

• “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practised the latter, without neglecting the former.” (Matthew 23:23)

• Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)

The one to whom the LORD looks

The ultimate question we need to ask ourselves is “Whom are we seeking to please?” The unbelieving world will always be hostile to God and we should never seek its approval or applause. Indeed, according to Jesus, that is how it responds to those who are false prophets (Luke 6:26).

What we should always seek to do is honour and love the LORD by doing what His Word says. Even when it is unpopular and will result in derision and even scorn from the world. We must be especially careful of modifying how we understand God’s Word to suit the spirit of the age in which we live. As Don Carson so powerfully concludes:

We’re often using hermeneutics today as a way of side stepping what Scripture unambiguously, repeatedly and clearly says by trying to locate the rationale in some alleged reconstruction of the background of first Timothy, or whatever it is, instead of listening to what the Scripture actually says in its own terms. And that is finally—I want to say it carefully because I don’t mean to be cruel to those who disagree with me—but it’s finally not listening to what God says. “To these people will I look, those who have a humble and contrite spirit and tremble at my word.” (Isa. 66:2b). This does not feel like trembling at the Word of God, it feels like ways of domesticating it, and that on the long haul has massive repercussions down the road. I think it’s that serious.

While no one is saved by believing what the Bible teaches about the roles of men and women, the LORD is glorified through our obedience to His Word. The Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ has saved us for that very purpose.

Hence, as we conform our lives to His revealed will a marvellous mystery is unveiled. Namely, that through the church the manifold wisdom of God is made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms (Eph. 3:10).

This is the fruit which our humble obedience in response to the Christ’s grace as proclaimed in the Gospel always brings.

– Mark Powell

[1] Gordon Wenham, Genesis 1-11 (Waco: Word, 1987). “Contrary to expectation, man is allowed to eat of the tree of life, but not of the tree of wisdom, for that leads to human autonomy and an independence of the creator incompatible with the trustful relationship between man and his make which the story presupposes.” 87.

[2] John H. Sailhamer, The Pentateuch as Narrative (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1992). “The Lord’s words in this narrative allow us to see that the underlying problem was the failure of Moses and Aaron to believe in the Lord and thus to treat him as holy before the people.” 397.

[3] John Woodhouse, 1 Samuel (Crossway, 2008). “His disobedience was “evil in the sight of the LORD.” An almost identical phrase will be heard much later in the story of Israel’s monarchy. After telling of David’s acts of adultery and murder, the narrator will tell us, “the thing David had done was evil in the sight of the LORD” (2 Samuel 11:27), my translation). Saul’s disobedience in 1 Samuel 15 is fully comparable to David’s sin with Bathsheba and Uriah. Both were “evil in the sight of the LORD.” 271.

[4] D.A. Carson, Showing the Spirit: A Theological Exposition of 1 Corinthians 12-14 (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1987), 133-134. Emphasis original.

[5] https://biblicalfoundations.org/saved-by-childbearing-1-timothy-2-15/. Kostenberger notes, for a fuller treatment of 1 Timothy 2:15 see “Saved through Childbearing? A Fresh Look at 1 Timothy 2:15 Points to Protection from Satan’s Deception,” CBMW News 2/4 (1997): 1–6; and the more detailed treatment “Ascertaining Women’s God-Ordained Roles: An Interpretation of 1 Timothy 2:15,” Bulletin of Biblical Research 7 (1997): 107–44. For an alternative interpretation of 1 Timothy 2:15 as suggesting eschatological salvation see Tom Schreiner’s chapter on the exegesis of 1 Timothy 2:9–15 in Women in the Church.

[6] The final words of the New Testament canon are also apposite. ^“I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. ¹⁹ And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.” (Revelation 22:18-19)