Monday, April 16, 2012

Saved Through Childbearing


The Jews, the Greeks, the Romans, the Swiss, the Dutch, all lost their public spirit and their republican forms of government when they lost the modesty and domestic virtues of their women
John Adams, Second President of the United States

Notwithstanding, she {women} shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety
I Timothy 2:15

This verse was always a difficult one to figure out.  I am going to be quoting from Pastor Walter J. Chantry in this post.  One sermon of his helped me understand this verse better.

Prior to this verse in Timothy, we are told about Eve being the one deceived.  When she abandoned her role of submission to Adam, and decided to take matters into her own hands, the Fall came!  Her restless defiance of man's authority is at the crux of human calamity!

Now I know a lot of today's women will not like hearing that but we were created to be man's help meet from the very beginning of time. The first sin appears to be an unsubmissive wife that just decided to take things into her own hands and do things her way, coming out from under the authority of her husband.

So how does childbearing save us?  This is not a text on remission of sins but deliverance out of sin-related suffering and oppression.  As women have left their God-ordained place {home} they have institutionalized their rebellion against their God-given place. {It is impossible to have a full-time career, a solid marriage, secure and godly children, and a well-run home with nutritious food.  Nobody is superhuman.}

Her pathway to real salvation was appointed by the Almighty.  It is motherhoodShe shall be saved through childbirth.  How wrong women are when they imagine that their hope lies in imitating men's careers.  Raising a godly seed is still of the profoundest importance to the cause of God in the earth!  Nothing crushes the cause of sin like godly childbearing.

Today nothing can replace the care and training of a faithful mother. {No daycare or babysitter will love and train their children like their mother!}  Women have abandoned their highest dignity and hope for lesser things. {How can working a job outside of the home compare to raising children who walk in truth?}

Women's hope, the church's hope, the world's hope is joined to childbearing with continuance in faith, love and holiness. {You must be diligent to grow in your faith, love and holiness while raising children.} 

Young women, here is a life-long calling!  It is the highest any woman can enter.  There is much more to it than the world imagines.  Take it seriously and God will bless the generation to come. Work at it spiritually and the Lord will give you the liberation you desire. {True freedom is found in surrendering your life to God and His ways.}

These are tough words but I hope they are ones you will prayerfully consider when listening and watching the world's path for women and deciding upon your own path...

Comments (32)

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you are indeed speaking to my heart this week.
thank you for being His vessel.
Many Blessings
Carla <><
Absolutely what I needed to read today! Thank you very much. I recently had to return to work, and made other choices that showed an immediate loss of order in my household. Nothing was right. I have asked my husband, "Do you know *anyone* who is a Christian (woman) who works full-time out of the home and is genuinely well in life? They always seem lost and floundering, or they are oblivious to the state of their family. He said just about as much on the subject. My husband is a man who when we married said he would never be married to a woman who didn't work and pull her own weight. Oh what a mighty mighty God we serve...he has opened my husband's eyes and heart.
Keep on writing about the challenging Biblical truths! I am so blessed to read what you write every day and hope you will continue to reject any fear of man to speak God's truth. I am pregnant with our 5th baby and have seen how this Scripture plays out in my life. As Amy Carmichael wrote (I paraphrase), "Motherhood ties your feet to home." It is a wonderful place to be!
Great words. There is no higher calling than being a mother and wife. I had never read an explanation of that verse before so found it interesting. My husband also wanted me to work when the kids were born but came around. I was sooo thankful
Not every woman has the choice to stay home or work (single moms, situations where the dad is unemployed, etc). Other women make a choice to either work after having kids or to stay home. I worked part-time after having my first daughter. I am currently not working. I think my family works best with me either working part-time or staying home, but every family is different. I know many families where both mom and dad work full-time. It may be harder, but they are making it work. I also know two families, where the dad is the stay at home parent. In both of these cases, the kids are wonderful, well behaved, and being raised with a solid religious foundation. I think that all families are different. It is hard being a mom (and dad). We all need to support and empower women to be the best moms they can be, regardless of their work situation.
Oh my...such great wisdom here. Enjoyed this tonight.

Blessings to you♥
Cynthia Swenson's avatar

Cynthia Swenson · 675 weeks ago

I haven't thought about this verse in Timothy in quite awhile. Thank you Lori for faithfully sharing the Scriptures. God is amazing! Our children are blessings & it's an honor to be a mother. Love & prayers, in Jesus, Cynthia
Blessed to be here, as always!
Speak on sweet sister.
And so I keep goats and chickens in my later years...nothing like childen or farm animals to tie you to home. It makes my husband happy to know when he comes home I am here.
There is no doubt marriage and motherhood can be high callings for women that please the Lord and are necessary for the continuation of a Godly people. But I think it is limited at best to call marriage and motherhood the highest calling for all women. The highest calling for all people, women and men, is to serve Jesus with all that they are. Serving Christ with all of one's strength, soul, and being does not necessarily include childbearing. In fact the Bible makes a strong case for staying single if you currently are single. Just food for thought:
3 replies · active 675 weeks ago
1 Corinthians 7:32-35
I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband. I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.

1 Corinthians 7:8
To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain single as I am.

Mark 12:25
For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.
I have to stop and comment here for a moment. I enjoy reading your blog. I think you are a strong, Christian woman who is brave to make such a stance on so many button-pushing topics. However, I don't always agree with you. I hope my disagreements come across as respectful and not just argumentative. I don't want to appear to be antagonistic all of the time. There are just some pretty bold statements that, while may be true in your life and in your experiences (as well as most of your readers), are not the end-all-be-all truth.

There are many people who are not able to have children. For some reason or another, God does not allow these people to naturally have biological children. I do not think that this belittles their existence or even their purpose in life. If they want to be parents, there is the beautiful world of adoption. If they do not, then they are welcome to embrace the life God has given them. I in no way feel that they are less redeemed or worthy because their bodies are not able to reproduce as others' are.

I am probably one of the few readers of yours (at least that comment) that is a full time working mom and wife. I love my children. I love my husband. I do not think I am superwoman. I do not imagine that my life is perfect. I do not pretend my children are flawless. I do not conceive that the life I have is the only way to "do" life. There are many, many days that I wish I was at home with my little one...and at home each day when my son arrives home from school. I have even dreamed of homeschooling. In reality though, I don't know that I am cut out for homeschooling. There are days that I hate my job. There are also friends of mine who are stay at home moms who feel the same way about their situation - they get frustrated at home and wish they were working some days.

However, I think it is quite presumptuous of you to say, "It is impossible to have a full-time career, a solid marriage, secure and godly children, and a well-run home with nutritious food. Nobody is superhuman." I agree that no one is superhuman. I agree that no one person can do everything. But to say that because I am a full-time working mom that my life is somehow lacking in one of those other areas you named is quite an opinion for you to have. Here is my situation: I am a full-time working engineer. I have a solid marriage with a man who loves me and respects me. My children love God and love learning about God. Their father and I are far from perfect, but we strive daily to show them how to seek God and love others as we are commanded to do. My home is well run - the bills are paid on time every time; the house is clean; there is currently one load of laundry waiting on me; there is a fully stocked fridge of fresh and healthy food as well as some treats that may not be healthy but are also not altogether terrible - and those are limited in their consumption. The beds are made, the kids' chores are done, everyone is dressed, their homework is finished, we attend church services and functions at most every chance, and our children are also involved in extracurriculars. Additionally, we are not raising children who are materialistic. They are generous and loving. They are giving and fun. There is plenty of family time spent absent from technology. There are lots of cuddles to go around. There is plenty of husband-wife time. There is even room left for me to have a bubble bath with a good book at the end of the day.

So - although I am not perfect; my family is not perfect either - we're quite put together. We get our stuff done. We serve the Lord. And to say that this is not possible because I work away from the home, is quite a far reach from reality.
2 replies · active 674 weeks ago
You are so right. Motherhood is powerful and amazing. So thankful I have this great blessing.
I don't know quite how to phrase this question so I hope it comes across clearly. (Insert grace here). I love reading what you write, Lori, about the subject of having children because even though I haven't married yet, what you write always seems to point back to trusting God, believing His word (especially when He says He will provide) and learning to accept blessings (children in this case) with open arms. My question is how would you reconcile a family choosing to let God plan their family size and then signing up for welfare and claiming that is how God is supporting them? To me, this situation seems like an invalid cherry picking of Bible verses. I certainly support married couples who step out in faith to have children in God's timing, but I have a hard time swallowing that welfare is God's ordained provision for their family.

I guess my bottom line here is I think that if people are going to live by faith in their family planning decisions, I also think they need to be consistent with what the Bible says about working for your food and men providing for those in their households. Doing otherwise, to me, seems as silly as claiming you are against condoms for religious reasons but you are okay with engaging in pre-marital sex.
6 replies · active 675 weeks ago
Mommy of two's avatar

Mommy of two · 675 weeks ago

I love your blog Lori because you give a lot of common sense advice without sugar coating it. However, I feel that your interpretation of the quoted scripture is not accurate. I am a wife and a mother of two but I do not believe mine or anyone's salvation comes from childbearing. The Bible clearly states that the only way to be saved is through Jesus. (Acts 16:30,31) __What did Paul mean by these words though? __Paul’s additional counsel regarding women later in this same letter helps us to understand what he meant. He writes of some younger widows who were “idle, wandering about from house to house
1 reply · active 675 weeks ago
Let me say I love your blog. However, some people do not have a choice whether they can work or not. A friend of mine is a widow. However, she wanted to homeschool her children and when they were little, she did not work and she lived on social security and a small monthly gift from her father-in-law, which was less than $900 a month!! A huge sacrifice.
1 reply · active 675 weeks ago
It makes me sad to see comments with, in a way, opposing views (in a respectful manner) being deleted. Does not line up with the name you've chosen for your blog. "Always teaching" would be more realistic. I have found many great things in your blog, but your unwillingness to allow comments that differ,even in the slightest way, from your own beliefs leaves a bad taste in my mouth. A real shame. I cannot help but wonder what you're afraid of.
Anyway, I'm now leaving this blog and I'm quite sure you won't publish my comment. Or maybe you'll make another blog post of it, just as you did before. Your blog, your choice. Sad, though.
My understanding of this passage is that Paul is addressing the false teaching in the city of Ephesus where women prayed to Artemis for safety in childbearing (she was the local fertility goddess, especially when it came to childbirth).

This is just one of Paul's typical throw away lines where you go "huh?" When you understand what he was facing in term of false teaching, then it makes sense and you know he's just telling women that they need to walk with Jesus and live a godly life. Their overall safety is now in His hands instead of the goddess Artemis.

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