1 Timothy 2:1-15--Pray for All People

1 Timothy 2
English Standard Version

Pray for All People
2 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. 7 For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

8 I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; 9 likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, 10 but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works. 11 Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve; 14 and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. 15 Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.

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Paul now gets into the body of his letter to Timothy and the churches.  He asks for all of them to pray for all people, but especially for their rulers and authority figures (kings and those in high positions), so that the people of God might live quiet and peaceful lives and be allowed to live lives of obedience that are pleasing to God.  We should pray for and work towards the salvation of all people and for all those who have been saved to grow in spiritual maturity so that they can understand. obey and proclaim the truth.

What truth is that? First that there is one God, and one mediator between God and man--the God-Man, Christ Jesus, our Lord.  Secondly, that Jesus is the penal, substitutionary atonement for our sins.  That is, that He died in our place, taking the punishment and curse that we deserved.  He paid the price so that we might be set free (this is the meaning of the world "ransom").  This is what Paul was appointed to preach--Salvation in no other name but Jesus, the one and only Savior of the world.  He was specifically commissioned to be the apostle to the Gentiles so that the gospel would be spread to the whole world.

Paul says that a what the world and church needs more than anything else is a lot of prayer, and we need to set aside our bickering long enough to be united in prayer (and uniting in prayer is the path to peace for many of these conflicts).  Paul also gives instructions about appropriate attire (addressed specifically to women, but there are some take-aways for men too).  Women are not to present themselves either as rebellious or flirtatious in church.  They should be under the authority of the men that God put in leadership and they should dress in such a way where they are not distract the men from keeping their eye's focused on the pulpit.  Instead, they should adorn themselves in good work and serving the needs of the congregation--this will glorify God and be extremely attractive to godly men.

Paul commands (in alignment with other texts of Scripture) that women are to learn submissively and to not be disruptive during the service, but to ask their questions of their husbands (if married) or fathers (if not married) at home.  He will speak later of the role of older women discipling younger women, so that's not what this passage is talking about.  This is talking about not interrupting the service to get your question answered immediately.  The passage also clearly prohibits women from being in potions of teaching and having authority over men.  Paul argues that this has been God's design from the beginning and thigs got messed up right away when Adam and Eve did not respect the roles they were given and Adam stood by and let Eve do all the talking and decision-making when the serpent tempted them.  Not every church that has male pastors and elders is good, but in every case where I see denominations violating this clear teaching of Scripture, it devolves quickly to where the church dies, becomes irrelevant, or starts preaching a false gospel.

Verse 15 is a hard one for women as it can sound like Paul is saying that all Christian women are good for is having babies and taking care of them.  I promise you that he is not saying that as you'll see several women that are important to Paul's ministry throughout the book of Acts and his various epistles.  I think he is pointing out the biological differences between men and women and that women should lean into that.  Eve understood that she was going to be the mother of all humans, but looked forward to being the mother of one particular Man from whom salvation would come to the whole world.  She leaned into that role that God gave her even though she was now constantly going to desire to usurp authority from her husband (that's a consequence of sin and it is rebellion, and it should not be tolerated, endorsed, or sanctioned in any way in our local churches).