The Transformed Wife

The issue of women wearing headcoverings has been argued ad nauseam in the Church probably since the Church was established. I believe the most important verse in this entire conversation by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 11 is this one: “But I would have you know, that he head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God” (1 Corinthians 11:2). We all know what this means and should walk in obedience to this clear command. Our husbands are head over us. They are our HEAD covering! If they want us to wear long hair, wear long hair. If they want us to wear a veil over our head, we will wear a veil over our head. If they don’t want us to wear one, then we won’t. It’s their decision since they answer to Christ (even if they are unbelievers).

I can tell you that after studying the commentaries of old, they weren’t even sure what this passage meant concerning women wearing a veil over their heads and this is the issue I will discuss with you. Some believe the veil is a woman’s hair and others believe it is a veil.

Near the end of this discussion concerning headcoverings by Paul, he makes this statement: But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering (1 Corinthians 11:15).

Matthew Poole’s Commentary had this to say about this verse:

“But, he saith, if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her. Long hair is comely for the woman, and accounted to her for a beauty or ornament, for God hath given her her hair for a covering. There have been books written about the lawfulness or unlawfulness of men’s wearing long hair, and the due or undue lengths of men’s hair, the substance of which were too much to transcribe here. That which in these verses seemeth to be commended to us, as the will of God in this matter, is: That men and women should so order their hair, as by it to preserve the distinction of sexes.”

God isn’t into transgenderism. We can be sure of that! We are told that the effeminate will not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9). Effeminate means to make womanish; to unman; to weak. In 1 Corinthians 11, there is a clear distinction in which the way men and women wear their hair. Our hair should be feminine and should be clearly distinguished from the way men wear their hair. It seems more and more women today are getting haircuts that look just like men and it is in rebellion to God’s design for them. I know some women can’t grow long hair and some women’s husbands like their hair short. It still doesn’t mean that you can’t make it look soft and feminine.

Gills’ Commentary said this: “But if a woman have long hair,…. And wears it, without cutting it, as men do:it is a glory to her; it is comely and beautiful; it is agreeable to her sex, she looks like herself; it becomes and adorns her: for her hair is given her for a covering; not instead of a covering for her head, or any other part of her body, so that she needs no other:”

This commentary believed that long hair IS a woman’s covering. Many women grow their hair long and keep it this way because of this verse. I would venture to say that most men like long hair more than short hair. It makes a woman look like a woman and very short hair makes a man look masculine.

Cambridge Bible Commentary had this to say: “The true glory of every creature of God is to fulfill the law of its being. Whatever helps woman to discharge the duties of modesty and submissiveness assigned to her by God is a glory to her.” I believe this to be the main point of the entire discussion: God has called women to be modest and submissive to their husbands because they are our head covering. This pleases the Lord and the highest form of worship is living according to the Lord’s will.

Even a newer commentary had this to say about these verses:

“What is this covering that Paul is saying a man should not wear but a woman should? In answering this unspoken question, Paul asks, ‘Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered?’ (verse 13). He immediately answers his own question: ‘Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him? But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her; for her hair is given to her for a covering’ (verses 14-15).

All along, Paul has been writing, not about a hat or veil, but the length of one’s hair! He is not saying a woman should wear something over her hair, but rather she should wear her hair long enough to be recognized as feminine. This wearing of her hair long shows her submission to the man.”

Now, we come to the verse at the end of the discussion by Paul: But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God (1 Corinthians 11:16). Again, the commentaries are not all in agreement with this statement. I believe that what God wanted us to clearly understand, He made very clear: men are the head over their wives and wives are to be in subjection to their husbands. This has been stated multiple times in the Word. On this issue of headcovering, it shouldn’t cause contentions among us. Obey your husband. It’s that simple!

Gill’s Commentary: “That is, if anyone will not be satisfied with reasons given, for men’s praying and prophesying with their heads uncovered, and women’s praying and prophesying with their heads covered; but will go on to raise objections, and continue carping and cavilling, showing that they contend not for truth, but victory, can they but obtain it any way; for my part, as if the apostle should say, I shall not think it worth my while to continue the dispute any longer; enough has been said to satisfy any wise and good man, anyone that is serious, thoughtful.”

We know from Gill’s Commentary that he believes long hair is a woman’s covering but his main thought from this verse is that there should be no contentions about it. It shouldn’t divide churches, nor friendships, not anything.  There isn’t one male godly preacher or teacher of the Word (not even Michael Pearl who takes the Bible very literally and doesn’t allow culture or feminism to frame his teachings) that I listen to and trust who teaches women must wear a veil in the church.

Matthew Poole’s Commentary: “If any man seem to be contentious; if any man hath a mind to quarrel out of a love to show his wit in discoursing what may be said on the other side, or out of a desire to hold up a party, and contradict us. We have no such custom, of women’s praying or prophesying with their heads uncovered, or men’s praying or prophesying with their heads covered; or we have no such custom of contending for these little frivolous things; neither any of the churches of God; and good Christians, in their practices, ought, in things of this nature, to have an eye and regard to the custom of their own church, and also of other Christian churches.”

I will repeat one phrase in this commentary: “We have no such custom of contending for these little frivolous things.” I believe this sums it up. Yes, the man is head over his wife (her HEAD covering) and she is to live in submission to him. This is not frivolous since it’s made clear, as I have stated, but the issue of long hair and wearing a veil falls in the category of “frivolous” things (of little importance) so decide for yourselves with your husband’s approval what is right and proper and do it but please don’t force your personal convictions about this upon others and cause contentions over it.

If we don’t like parts of the Bible can we simply decide they aren’t agreeable to us and refuse to believe them? Jen Hatmaker believes she can and she does. Here are a few of her quotes from a recent article:

She was asked: “You took a stand last fall saying LGBT relationships can be holy, and it got your books banned from LifeWay stores. Why was that important to you?”

Jen replied, “I just sort of have this dream for the church where it is safe and it is wide and it is generous and it includes all of our voices. For the longest time, the church has essentially had one voice — sort of the white, male voice. I’m starting to realize how much the church is missing when we silence whole people groups, like you’re either not welcome at all, or you’re welcome but not your voice, not your experience, not your life, and I saw that with the LGBTQ community.”

The Church isn’t wide and this is why we are told to walk on the narrow path and are warned that few will want to go on it. Many would rather take the broad path that Jen is talking about that leads to destruction. The only voice that matters is God’s Word, not “all of our voices,” for in it is Truth and God’s perfect will for our lives.

She bemoans that the church is only “the white, male voice.” I know some great male black preachers/teachers and other races, but to tell you the truth, race doesn’t matter to me so the color of one’s skin makes no difference. What matters is that whatever skin color they have they are speaking the truth. God did ordain men to be the leaders and teachers of the Word contrary to popular opinion and I respect this since women are absolutely more open to deception than men, as Jen proves so clearly and many like her.

I’m not sure when the Church has silenced “whole people groups.” The Church shouldn’t speak against any people, but against all sin, or it is a weak Church and this is the kind of Church Jen is promoting. “Live and let live” and forget about God’s Word since it speaks against sin and calls us to repent of it, she falsely believes. LGBTQs need to hear about the hope they have in Christ. They don’t need to be encouraged in their sin, but given a way out into true freedom from sin and condemnation, JEN!

We must never celebrate sin, any kind of sin; for sin is what Christ died to free us from. This is why I try to speak out about all sin, not trying to normalize it and make what God calls sin “holy.” The gravest problem today is that many “Christian” women do not know the Word of God. Their morning devotional is Jesus Calling instead of the Bible. Therefore, they are easily deceived and led astray by a number of these women “preachers” who aren’t teaching the truth at all.

Jen goes on to say, “All of a sudden in our time we have a lot of powerful women who lead enormous spaces and have built and earned and garnered a lot of influence, and I think it’s wonderful. I think it’s fabulous. Back to my last point, it has brought in an important voice to the body of Christ — that’s the feminine voice and women who are smart and capable and godly. I think both in and out of credentials, so to speak, God is empowering and anointing women just en masse right now. You cannot deny it. You cannot look at the fruit of the ministry of women right now and claim we are in crisis. I think it’s the absolute opposite. It’s a wonderful time to be alive.”

I think it’s horrible that powerful women are leading “enormous space and have built and earned and garnered a lot of influence” because it’s mostly the wrong influence and the wrong teachings. If they were like Priscilla who helped a man, along with her husband, to know the truth of God’s Word, that would be great!

Or if they were like Queen Esther who was willing to sacrifice her own life in order to save her own people, that would be great, too. Or how about Mary who was obedient to her God even when life seemed very scary as a young virgin who was pregnant. What about the Proverbs 31 woman who wasn’t known for having any big influence on anybody except for her husband and children and looked well to the ways of her household? None of these women had the goal of “leading enormous space and have built and garnered a lot of influence.” Their only goal was to live in obedience to the Lord.

God states something entirely different for women than being leaders and garnering a lot of influence through preaching and teaching in the Church. His will is that men are to be the preachers and teachers in the Church because they were created first and women are easily deceived as we can see that Jen Hatmaker is deeply deceived and many others like her. Anyone, male or female, who twists the Word of God to tickle people’s ears is in danger of eternal damnation. It’s a scary place to be to teach others; for we are going to be held accountable for every word we write and speak.

Women, please beware of these young and beautiful women with great personalities and writing styles that are leading others astray in droves. You don’t need your ears tickled. It would be better for you to listen to an old man who was rather dry in his speaking ability but spoke the Word of God in truth than one of these false teachers. In the end, the only thing that matter is God’s Word and His will. Nothing we can make up will be able to hold a candle to the Creator of everything. He gets to set the rules, not us, so we best listen and learn from Him; for He alone is worthy, not me and certainly not Jen Hatmaker. Be like the Bereans who went to the Word to make sure that what they were hearing was truthful or not.

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
Matthew 7:15

In Titus 2:3, God makes it clear that it is the “aged women” who are to teach the younger women the ways of godly womanhood. I have heard women say that this just means those who are spiritually more mature but I disagree. I believe it means those who have been married a long time, have raised their children and are actually older since they are the ones with the experience needed to teach these things. The aged women are in contrast to the younger women whom they are to teach.

The word “aged” means “old persons.” We must not try to read things into scripture when the Lord has made it clear to us what they mean. The entire chapter of Titus 2 speaks to aged men, then aged women, then younger women and young men, all having to do with the age of these groups, not how spiritually mature they are.

Benson Commentary has this to say about these aged women: “For their age and experience call them to be so.”

Gill’s Exposition: “godly women in years, who are to be instructed and exhorted” to teach the younger women.

Tim Challies wrote an excellent article about age and maturity being a qualification for being a teacher of marriage and child raising using this verse: Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil (1 Timothy 3:6). Novice means one who is new, unacquainted, or unskilled, a beginner. There are many younger women on the Internet with blogs and sites who are teaching other women about marriage and child raising even though they haven’t been married for many years and their children are still young.

Mr. Challies wrote: “There is a correlation between time and maturity and a further correlation between maturity and humility. Time brings maturity and maturity fosters humility. We enter the faith arrogant and it is only through the passing of time and the testing of trials that we gain humility. This qualification exists to guard the church from thrusting men into ministry who have gifts, talents, and knowledge that might make them suitable, but who do not yet have a proven track record of humility. Christian history proves repeatedly that giftedness makes a woeful substitute for character…

We address our inadequacies by turning to experts, lining up en masse to sit under their teaching and benefit from their wisdom. Yet a surprising number of these are written, founded, or run by people who have very little experience. Their scant experience makes them less than ideal as teachers or mentors, for time has not yet given them humility….

After four or five years of marriage you have already learned so much. You’ve identified so much selfishness and seen so much growth in character. You’ve established good habits and patterns and perhaps taken an even newer couple under your wings to help them through the early days. All this is true. But you’re still only getting started. There is so much you’ve yet to experience, so many trials that have yet to come your way. Your knowledge and confidence may well have outpaced your humility—and it’s that humility that marks the best teachers.

After a few years of parenting it may feel like you’ve got this thing solved. Your little ones are well-behaved, they are learning their lessons, memorizing their verses, and sleeping through the night. You’re raising them in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. But you haven’t yet dealt with a child who fully-accepts and then fully-rejects salvation, a tween who has few friends but plenty of self-loathing, a teenager who falls into patterns of sexual sin. Humility comes through these trials, not apart from them, as you face your utter inability and lack of answers. Humility comes as you realize how little you really know and as you cry out to God for his help.”

It can be heady stuff to write for a blog and have a lot of readers, emails, be asked for interviews, write a book, have posts go viral, and all that comes with this. I have seen younger women go through this and unfortunately, I also see some of them divorcing their husbands and some even walking away from the truth of God’s Word.

I’ve had all of this “heady stuff” happen to me, too, but at the age of almost 59 years old, a brain tumor, neck fusion, ill health for many years, and all the suffering that I’ve been through, I don’t believe it’s made me heady or prideful. God has taught me humility through all of the things that I have suffered and I know that I am nothing without Him. Teaching the truth and getting all the backlash from it doesn’t bother me in the least since I know this is expected. Many hate God and they hate those who love God. We are guaranteed this in the Word.

I’ve been married 37 years this December and have raised four children who all walk in truth. I believe I am qualified to teach younger women what I teach them. I have no desire to travel to churches and stand behind pulpits and teach thousands of women. I have no desire for a television show or go on a book signing tour. I want to stay in my home as a wife to my husband and now a grandmother to my almost six grandchildren. Oh and yes, I’m still a mother but not needed as one much now since they are all grown and gone.

If you are a younger women in the midst of married life and raising children, this needs to be your focus. When I was raising children, we didn’t even have the opportunity to be “famous” through blogging, Facebook, or Instagram. We just went about our business as homemakers, mothers, and wives. This is what you are called to do at this time in your lives. Yes, if you have a chance to share what is working in your marriage and raising children, by all means share it but don’t allow it to become a “career” or a time-consuming adventure for you during this time in your life. Being a wife to your husband, building a strong marriage, and raising your children to walk in truth should be your main priority and where you spend the bulk of your time and energy.

When I was a little girl, my parents attended Lake Avenue Church in Pasadena, CA. Ray Ortlund was the well-beloved pastor at this time and my parents became good friends with him and his wife, Anne. When I was five years old, my parents moved about an hour away but Anne would come out to our home to give Bible Studies. As an older women now, I love her writings (except for her book about marriage which I wasn’t too crazy about). The following was at the end of her book Disciplines of the Home and she shares wisdom we all should strive to obtain.

Lord, I’m not going to try to drag my family back to yesterday – that’s impossible. But I want to go back to the Bible and courageously follow what You want us to do, together as a family.

Lord, I’m not going to divorce, from here on, ever. (If you now have a marriage partner.) As I did when we married, I surrender my heart again to lifelong commitment, faithfulness, love.

Lord, give me the courage to slow down, to truly seek to capture the elegance, the grace, of a more simple life, as You desire for me. Work this in me as I surrender to Your Spirit’s control.

Lord, I’m going to seek a lifestyle to stay close to my kids until they’re out of the nest. Please make them great men and women of God.

Lord, as a loving, faithful Father, please continue to discipline me, and help me to do the same with those You have given me.

Lord, with the loving firmness of Your Holy Spirit, I’m going to slash the TV watching.

Lord, I want to model and teach “male” and “female.” (Yes, this book was written in 1990. Oh, if only Anne could see how important these words are for today.)

Lord, I want to model and teach respect for authority.

Lord, I want to seek after the values of Your Word, and model and teach them to my children.

Lord, I want to believe You. “Help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24) I want to live not in unhealthy fears but in joyous trust in You.

Lord, in these precious years, teach our family to “cocoon” – to love our home, our table, our family altar.

Lord, please preside over our finances. And as we handle them in obedience to you, I trust You to care for all our needs.

For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.
Romans 14:8

Yesterday in the early morning, my handwritten page at the bottom of this post was published on accident on my Facebook page. I woke up to find many encouraging comments. Then I sat down to read Titus chapter one in my Bible. As I read it, it all became clear to me. Imagine that, God spoke to me through His Word! (This is how He speaks to all of us, by the way.)

There are many who hate what I write, as I am sure most of you know. Yes, I have many detractors and sometimes I will respond to their contentious comments and others will tell me that I am not kind when doing so. At times, I wonder why they want to spend so much time writing about and against me on their evil sites where all they do is gossip and slander those they hate. In Titus, I found all of my answers!

For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers…Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not…but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled. They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.

How does God tell us to respond to these people? “Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith.” If I respond to them at all, yes, I rebuke them sharply because I know they are wrong, have evil intent, and hate the ways of the Lord. But I don’t do this often because it will then take away from what I am trying to teach and instead the lies they are writing may lead others astray from the simplicity which is in Christ: “Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not.”

I have been scolded by a few women who tell me that I must speak to them kindly and in love. Speaking the truth in love rarely comes across as kind or loving to those who hate the truth. For one thing, truth sounds mean and harsh to them but speaking truth to them is the most loving thing that I can do in hopes that the Lord will plant some seeds in their souls that may one day sprout into repentance and belief in Almighty God.

These vain talkers will scold me for not being open to ways that are contrary to the Bible and continue to badger me telling me that I hate women, teach dangerous things, and am a cult. Often, the reason I don’t rebuke them is because when I do, instead of quoting scripture to tell me where I am wrong, they will attack me personally. If they can’t back up their arguments with truth, they attack the messenger and this is fruitless.

Therefore, I am quick with my delete, ban, and hide button on Facebook. As I have mentioned before, I am not going to allow them to poop on my Facebook page, Instagram, YouTube, or blog. No, these aren’t open forums as they try to convince me; my blog is a teaching blog and I don’t want those who hate the truth to draw others away. I pray that they will one day repent since God’s Word doesn’t come back void, but it’s not my duty to allow them a “voice” on my stuff.

I have seen godly men and women shut down their blogs because of vain talkers. What I have noticed is these godly bloggers allow every and all comments to remain on their blogs and/or Facebook page, even the cruel and heartless ones. We are commanded to dwell on the lovely and the good, thus when we dwell on the bad and mean, we are disheartened and quit.

Therefore, my encouragement to all of you who have blogs is to be diligent about what you allow on your blog, Facebook page, Instagram, etc. I have NO problem deleting, banning, and hiding comments if they are not beneficial in any way but only used to scold and belittle. Their entire purpose is to kill, steal, and destroy, just as it is Satan’s so don’t give up; for greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.

Mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you have learned and avoid them.
Romans 16:17

Written By Ray Ortlund

Think about your resurrection in Christ.

First, let’s illustrate it this way. When God created the world, He created it with history already built in. The stars, and also the light from the stars – that light that takes thousands of light-years to get to earth – everything was created in one act. God created it “old.”

When He created man, He created him, too, with history already built in. Adam was created a full adult; he didn’t go through the process of growing up. He was made in an instant with an age factor already built in.

When you were born again, you were placed into Christ, and the history of Christ was accounted, was credited, to you. You were given the advantages of His history, so that the experiences Christ Himself went through are now yours as well.

That’s what Colossians 3 says; now live like it!

If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:1-4)

“Seek those things which are above,” “set your affection on things above.” Bishop Lightfoot comments, “You must not only seek heaven, you must also think heaven.”

Sometimes we, if a problem comes along, say to each other, “Keep looking down!” It always brings a chuckle. If we were to say “keep looking up,” we’d be indicating we’re in the pits. But what we’re doing is reminding each other of our exalted position in the heavenlies in Christ – and everything immediately looks better.

 

Written By Ken Alexander

The Law and Grace cannot co-exist even as Christianity often times tries to make the two do so. Standing firmly on God’s Word is our goal and yet it is as hard to do as riding a horse bareback.  You can ride a long way at times tightly to the mane of your stallion, but it is almost impossible to get up the hills and through the woods without getting knocked off a couple times and having to get back on. When you sit slightly too far to one side of the truth it is easy to slip off, so the believer is always making adjustments trying to stay balanced in the full Word of God, not just one verse, or one chapter or one book.

I could list a multitude of truth issues like election, eternal security, depravity, church polity, submission, but nothing throws believers off the horse of truth more than Grace versus the Law. Some are so far off the truth that they are sitting in the mud of unrighteousness proclaiming “love wins” and everyone is going to heaven, and their counterparts are “black and white” legalists declaring that no one can be a Christian and drink wine, dance or smoke a cigar. The great preacher Charles Spurgeon once said,

“Well, dear friends, you know that some men can do to the glory of God what to other men would be sin. And notwithstanding what brother Pentecost has said, I intend to smoke a good cigar to the glory of God before I go to bed to-night.  If anybody can show me in the Bible the command, ‘Thou shalt not smoke,’ I am ready to keep it; but I haven’t found it yet.”

There you go:  By grace people are all running out to buy cigars and the legalists are calling him unsaved. I hate anything and everything about smoking and can’t stand to be around the putrid and disgusting stuff, but when the Christian boys once a year pull out the Poker cards, whisky and cigars, I am never invited, but I am not about to call them sinners or unsaved because they are exercising a freedom that I do not have.

The apostle Paul found himself between the era of the Law and Grace and God used Him, and his Pharisaical training to be the ideal writer of the horse of truth on these matters. As much as he loved the laws of Judaism and the easy nature of living within a set of “do’s and don’t” and rules, he refused to allow Peter and the others to throw the yoke of the law upon the Church. He battled ferociously to begin the church as “new wine skins” and outside the old box of Judaism and the law that could never achieve the righteousness of God.

“For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” (Romans 8:3-4)

The apostle Paul devotes almost an entire letter to the Galatians challenging them not to go back under the old law that is weak and fading away. To instead grab a hold of the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus; that law that is now written on our hearts, that we might walk in the freedom of our newness of life. No longer focused on sin, but righteousness. No longer focused on the “do’s and don’ts” of religion, but instead allowing the Word of God to be living and active inside of us:

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”  (Hebrews 4:12)

Lori’s 87 year old Mom recently asked Lori what she wanted from her home when she passed on and Lori told her all she wanted was her old KJV Bible. Her Mom told her she can’t read it anymore and wanted her to have it now. So Lori brought it home and was so happy as she showed it to me and said, “I would love to have a new Bible every year because I love to highlight and mark it up as I read it.” She started with the book of Galatians and this was its introduction:

“The Christians at Galatia had become so involved in the message of the Judaisers that they had even become involved in Jewish festivals and ceremonies. Paul insisted that the two systems were not to be combined. He said that the teaching of the Judaisers ignored the limitations of the law (3:1-22) and also misinterpreted the true function of the law (3:23-4:11).

Paul also said the Judaisers in their teachings disregarded the inferiority of the law to the Gospel of grace (4:21-31). The law had limitations (3:1-22), including the fact that it could not create a spiritual experience. Neither could the law secure right standing with God or establish the covenant. The true function of the law was to serve as a guide to lead men to Christ (3:23-29), and it helped prepare the world for redemption (4:1-11).

Dealing with the essential inferiority of the law as compared to the Gospel of grace (4:21-31), the example of Ishamael and Isaac is given. Ishmael was the son of bondage, and Isaac was the son of promise. Law and grace cannot co-exist.”

Christian, do not let anyone tell you that you are missing out on the Christian life if you don’t keep the do’s and don’ts of the Regular Baptists. Don’t go put yourself under Judaism again, or Catholicism or anything that is against what Galatians teaches. Please don’t fall prey to those who would have you think that you need some second work of grace so you can speak in tongues, or need to exercise quiet solitude and meditation to find a higher level of spirituality.  There is no higher level of spirituality than walking in the Spirit that God has given to you.

But, please also don’t fall so far off the horse of truth that being under grace means you can sin without consequence, and that “God’s love wins” so everyone, but the worst of the worst are going to heaven. If you are not showing the fruit of God’s Spirit by walking in obedience to His Word, by having the joy of the Spirit and by having a desire to please the Lord Jesus, please find someone who can lead you to the Lord Jesus. You are either not saved or you have some big set of sins that have so encumbered you that you cannot live the Christian life as God intends you to live.

Hey Christian, you do understand don’t you that the Christian life is impossible? That the only chance you have of being happy, whole and fruitful is to plug directly into the source of life itself, Jesus Christ.  You have been made a new creature who is freed from sin and dead to sin, now go out each moment of the day and begin to live out your new reality. It takes time, not to be freed from sin but to learn how to walk in your new found freedom so that the joy of the Lord may shine through you.

So how are you doing riding the horse of truth today? Does Satan have you right where he wants you either so focused on how unworthy and sinful you are, or worse yet, so focused on not sinning that it perturbs you to watch your brother or sister in Christ sip on a glass of wine?  We must as believers keep pointing each other to our walk in the Spirit and when we sin, we must swipe it off quickly and move straight away into righteousness without giving the dust a second thought, instead of jumping into the mud and wallowing. Stop trying so hard, or not trying at all. Instead use your new found freedom to shine the righteousness God.

If God calls you righteous than sure enough you are, so go about living like a free child of God whose one heart focus is living in Him and pleasing him.  Hold on tightly to that horse of truth as it is a wold and thrilling ride for those who can live without the do’s and don’t yet walk in the Spirit of the righteousness of God.

Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
Galatians 2:16

The Apostle Paul through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit makes it very clear how women should behave in the Church of God. Some things in the Word are not so clear but this topic he makes very clear and there should be no questions in our minds about it.  When he is done telling the way the Church should function in 1 Timothy, he wrote this, “But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15). Okay, we know the following verses explain how we are to behave so let’s look at them closely.

First, he commands that we pray for all those who are in authority over us in 1 Timothy 2:1, 2. Then he writes this to men, “I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting” (1 Timothy 1:8). Right after this verse are the instructions for women in the Church of God.

^{9 “}In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;” Women are to be modest in behavior and dress and not draw attention to themselves which is completely opposite of the way most women behave today. Just think how much stronger the Church would be today if all women who call themselves Christians spent much more time working on their inner life and godliness rather than their outer life which is decaying.

^{10 “}But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.” We should be known for good works: kindness to all we come in contact with, living sacrificially for others, helping those in need, and doing good. 

^{11 “}Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.” We are commanded to learn in silence while being in subjection to the leadership of the church. I am not sure how the Apostle Paul could have been any clearer than this and it is not a cultural thing. Women are still talkative and prone to not be silent or in subjection. We haven’t changed as many would have you believe. Some tell me that women weren’t educated like they are now. Well, you know what God says about education of the world; the wisdom of the world is foolishness to God. Women are no different today than always.

^{12 “}But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.” In case women didn’t understand verse 11, Paul repeats himself. “Women are to be in silence.” They are not to teach, nor to be in authority over men. They are to be silent as in not speaking in the church. Yes, this is hard for women but it is what we are called to do and respect the role the Lord has given to us. 

^{13 “}For Adam was first formed, then Eve.” God created man first for a reason. They are the leaders and this is God’s perfect design. Feminists have fought this from the beginning. Even the right to vote was due to women not respecting men and their decisions and believing they know better than men but they don’t. We are led too easily by our emotions and feelings (short-sighted) and most men are not. They, the Founding Fathers of America, are the ones who long time ago framed the Constitution and this once great nation without the help of any women. Feminists have rebelled against their God-ordained role and have not only destroyed their marriages, but their children and now the nation as well. Tragic. 

^{14 “}And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.” This is why God made men to be the leaders. Women weren’t created to be leaders. It’s not in our nature and when we do, chaos prevails. “As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths” (Isaiah 3:12). 

^{15 “}Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.” This is God’s perfect will for us; to marry, bear children, and guide the home. Even if women can’t have children, they can still be nurturers of other’s children, nieces and nephews, and continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety. Many times we are told to be sober and sober minded and women today are not. They drink too much and live an excessive life in many areas. They are seekers of pleasure rather than seekers of God. 

Right after these verses, Paul describes elders and deacons as the “husband of one wife” and gives a few descriptions of what should characterize their wives. “Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things” (1 Timothy 3:11) “Grave” meaning serious about life and self-disciplined, not flighty, extravagant, discontent, but living to please the LORD in everything. They should not be known for slandering and speaking lies about others.

There were some women who supposed that, the moment they became Christians, they were to run about everywhere. “No,” says the apostle, “let them keep at home.” There is no gain to the Christian Church when the love, and the industry, and the zeal, which ought to make a happy home, are squandered upon something else.”
~ Charles Spurgeon

Many today have a “new” word or revelation from God as if God speaks directly to them. It seems to be especially prevalent among women preachers/teachers/authors and many Christian woman as if His Word isn’t enough for them apparently. Women, who are more easily deceived, seem to be very prone to this. They want to “feel” close to Jesus and be able to communicate with Him by hearing His voice. Everything we need for life and godliness are in His Word.

The gift of prophecy is clearly spelled out in His Word: “But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort” (1 Corinthians 14:3). Men and women can have this gift. Here is a great explanation of a person who has the gift of prophecy from the Institute of Basic Life Principles web site. If you have the gift of prophecy, this is a great source to study and know clearly your strengths and weaknesses so you can work on your strengths and rid yourself of your weaknesses. My favorite preachers are those who are gifted with prophecy since I love to clearly know right from wrong, good from evil.

A prophet’s basic motivational drive is to apply the Word of God to a situation so that sin is exposed and relationships are restored. Prophets might be considered the “trumpets” of the Body of Christ who sound the alarm in the face of sin and compromise.

• A prophet calls attention to sin and wrong attitudes.
• The prophet is passionate about exposing sin, but not primarily so that sinners can be punished. Rather, he is passionate about exposing sin so that truth can be revealed and fellowship with God can be restored.
• A prophet has a God-given ability to sense when compromises are being made, and his nature demands that action be taken—something must be done. This action may take the form of an overt protest or confrontation, or it may take the form of a conversation or correspondence.
• For a prophet, any solution that involves compromise is unacceptable.
• For the prophet, to observe or discern sin and say nothing is, of itself, sin. Naturally, knowing that a prophet has this perspective tends to make some of us feel intimidated or uncomfortable around them—even when we are guiltless! The prophet’s abhorrence of sin can easily be viewed as a judgmental spirit, and no one wants to be the object of that judgment.
• The prophet often displays the spiritual gift of discerning of spirits; he is able to discern true motives as the Holy Spirit gives him divine insights. As a general rule, the prophet is more interested in whether or not the heart is pure than whether or not the activity in question is acceptable.
• Prophets are usually outspoken, sometimes brash; they tell it like it is.
• They tend to see issues as “black or white,” not “gray.”

A Prophet’s Strengths

• A prophet is confident in his use of Scripture, because he regards Scripture as the only source of truth.
• A mature prophet easily discerns hypocrisy, because God has gifted him to discern Truth.
• He is usually more teachable than others, especially when discipline or correction is required. When a wise prophet is confronted with his sin, he sees it as God sees it and consequently is crushed (if he is walking in the Spirit and not in the flesh).
• The prophet accepts absolutes easily. The rest of us try to explain them away; prophets simply take God at His Word.
• He is not easily swayed by emotions.
• A prophet has a deep capacity to trust God, based on what God has promised. This is the prophet’s attitude: “If it’s right, do it. Trust God for the outcome—it’s His responsibility.”

A Prophet’s Weaknesses

• A prophet’s need to be “painfully truthful” may result in insensitivity or harshness.
• Prophets often have little sympathy and patience with people who do not respond objectively.
• A prophet’s sense of conviction may tempt him or her to become intolerant or prideful.
• Because of the prophet’s deep consciousness of sin, he sometimes seems to have a negative, “gloomy” approach to life.

I would that ye all spake with tongues but rather that ye prophesied: for greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying.
1 Corinthians 14:5

There is a mistaken thought among many Christians that we are not to judge. Yes, we are to judge. We are called to be mature Christians who feed upon the meat of God’s Word and can clearly distinguish between good and evil (Hebrews 5:14). Then Jesus tells us to take the mote out of our eye before we can take the speck out of another’s eyes (Matthew 7:1-5). This means that if I was a career woman by choice, I could not teach women to be keepers at home until I became a keeper at home. I couldn’t teach women to obey their husbands, if I was disobeying my husband or I would be a hypocrite.

In 1 Corinthians 5:12, we are told to judge those within the Church. Anyone who calls themselves a Christian should be living like one and this is why we are told to exhort one another daily because of the destructive nature that sin has upon our witness for Christ and the person in sin. Yes, there is a difference between righteous judgment and hypocritical judgment.

Now, some women have told me that I judge others and even slander them. Nancy Wolgemuth has been teaching through Titus recently and wrote this about slander: “Someone has called slander and malicious gossip verbal homicide. You’re killing someone’s reputation—verbal homicide, slander. It destroys lives; it destroys families; it destroys relationships; it destroys churches. I have seen it over and over and over again. If you stop to think about it, you’ve seen it over and over again. That’s grievous enough, but what grieves my heart is to think, how many times have I contributed to dividing friends, to destroying friends or relationships, the Body of Christ, by the wicked use of my tongue to slander others?”

When I use Scripture to give my thoughts about the IF:Gathering, I am not slandering the women who run it when I say they should be teaching what God has commanded for older women to teach younger women and that social justice is not what the Kingdom of God is about. If the women who led the IF:Gathering were to ever read my article, they would see that I had no desire to destroy their lives, families, relationships, or churches. My desire is to point women back to the truth of God’s Word.

When I bring up a famous Christian woman who beautifies homes, has a TV show, owns a large store, and cafe and share that I am saddened that she is not a full-time keeper at home with her children, I am NOT judging hypocritically. I am making a righteous judgment that it is God’s will for mothers to be home full time with their children raising them in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord. Joanna Gaines said, “As long as I can go home at night and be with the babies. It’s worth it just to be able to do that locally.” Children deserve to have their mothers home more than just at night. All of those other things she’s involved in are for naught if she loses her children to the world. I am not trying to destroy her life.

I am not judging her relationship to the Lord or her love for Him because only God knows this and I will never call other people names. My goal is never to hurt others but to steer them towards godly womanhood that is clearly spelled out in Scripture if they claim the name of Christ.

What about when I write about women who are preaching to men as I recently found out that Nancy Wolgemuth does? They are not supposed to do this so they need to be convicted about it. I know they have all different ways to manipulate Scripture to show that what they are doing is good and right but they are wrong and should stop doing what they are doing. God gave men the ministry of teaching the Word to the Church.

These days, there are many being led astray by women claiming to “hear a word from God” and then teaching this as God’s Word to others. How can they believe this when we have verses such as this one? “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12)? His Word is all we need for life and godliness and when other women are trying to build their ministry on something they “heard” God tell them, I will make a righteous judgment and say that this is wrong.

Women, we do need to be careful about gossip and slander for the purpose of hurting other women and their reputation. However, it’s good to call them out if they are claiming to be a Christian and not living according to His Word. If you personally know them, then you go to them in person and privately speak to them about it but if they are a public person and may even be leading women astray, then you warn others about them so they aren’t led astray from the simplicity that is in Christ.

But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
2 Corinthians 11:3