Transcript

ANNOUNCER: 1 Timothy 2:15 curiously says that women can be saved by childbearing. So there are many possible meanings and applications here, and let’s talk about them today on Grace in Focus. We’re delighted you would join us. This is a ministry of the Grace Evangelical Society. Our website is faithalone.org. We’d love you to go there to get information about our online seminary. It’s free to all who maintain a 3.0 average, and you can study for an MDiv degree. It’s a three-year course, but you can get started this next semester if you go through the application process in the next little bit. Find out all about it, and about our national annual conference, May 18th through 21st, 2026 at our website, faithalone.org. 

And now with today’s discussion, here’s Bob Wilkin, along with Sam Marr. 

SAM: All right, Bob. You’ve got another verse that you want to dive into. This verse is 1 Timothy 2:15. So I’ll go ahead and I’ll read one version, but then we’re going to end up reading a few versions, because there’s some textual errors we got to deal with here. So the New King James version says, “Nevertheless, she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control.” 

BOB: Okay, so notice “she” is singular. “They” is third-person plural. So one option, the New King James, the King James, and I think it’s the MEV, they read singular, plural. “She will be saved through childbearing if they continue.” But there’s another option. What’s another translation? 

SAM: NIV says, “But women will be saved through childbearing if they continue in faith,” and okay, and on. 

BOB: So this view is plural, plural. Instead of “she”, “they” singular, plural, they go “women” plural, “they” plural. And there are other translations, quite a few, that follow that style. But there’s a third option, and what’s the third option? 

SAM: Third option, the NET Bible has, “But she will be delivered through childbearing if she continues.” 

BOB: So a third option is singular, singular, and it really affects the understanding, the interpretation of the passage, how you translate it. We’re going to talk about the Greek in a minute, but the Greek is pretty clear on this, even if the English translations are all over everywhere. But this leads to some real questions. It leads to ultimately four different views. Now, Duane Litfin in the Dallas Seminary’s Bible Knowledge Commentary lays out these views. Maybe you could go through them briefly, Sam. What are the four views? 

SAM: View number one, women will be physically delivered from the rigors of childbearing if they are godly. Two, a woman will be saved from insignificance or frustration if her children persevere in godliness. Three, people are eternally saved through the birth of Jesus. And four, women will be saved from eternal condemnation if they persevere in godliness. 

BOB: Okay, so four radically different views. One of them is the physical salvation from childbirth view. I’m not quoting anybody on that. That’s a pretty rare view, not too many people hold it. But then you have the idea that this is some sort of psychological or spiritual salvation from insignificance, from frustration, from whatever. And then we have another view that says, this is salvation of people by the birth of Jesus through Mary. And finally, you have this is eternal salvation or regeneration by perseverance. In other words, women will be saved, if women persevere. 

So let’s go through the two, three and four. I think we have a quote from Litfin on the second option. 

SAM: Yep. Litfin says, “A woman will find her greatest satisfaction and meaning in life, not in seeking the male role, but in fulfilling God’s design for her as a wife and mother with all faith, love and holiness with propriety.” 

BOB: Okay, now it’s a little bit loaded expression when he says, not taking the male role. But if you read the preceding verses which we will do in a few minutes, you will see that women are to keep silent in this meeting of the local church that Paul is talking about. And as a result, that could lead to a feeling of insignificance or frustration and Litfin is saying, no, they can find fulfillment and deliverance from this possibly frustrating situation, “if they continue”, what he’s saying is he’s talking about herself. 

Now, I would argue another view, which is they could refer to the woman’s children. And if her children continue in faith and love, etc. But we can get to that in a second. Okay, what is the third view? And I think you have a quote from somebody who’s holding the third view. 

SAM: Yeah, this is a quote from Knight who says, “It would be contrary to Paul’s teaching elsewhere and to the emphasis of this letter and the other pastoral epistles to understand sothesetai as referring to spiritual salvation. If dia tes teknogonias is taken as referring to childbearing in general, this would make salvation for women conditional on a work and specifically a work not all are able to perform.” 

BOB: That’s a good point. And I think there was a beginning to the quote you didn’t read at the very beginning. He had a header to it. 

SAM: Yes, header is “spiritual salvation through the birth of Messiah”.

BOB: And he makes a good comment that if you say that people are spiritually saved through giving birth to children, then that would be works salvation. And B, it would be something that women who never marry can’t have unless they’re having children out of wedlock. And on top of that, there’s lots of married women who are unable to have children. So his point is well taken. But there’s a fourth view and who. 

SAM: Yeah, this is from Arichea and Hatton.” Women find their salvation by means of childbearing. The salvation of women is to be made sure by their continuing to possess certain virtues. The verb for continue is literally abide or remain. The focus is on unwavering resolve to continue doing and observing certain things, which in this case are the four virtues mentioned.” [Ed. note: “A Handbook on Paul’s Letters to Timothy and to Titus” by Daniel C. Arichea and Howard Hatton]

BOB: Okay, so are they talking about eternal salvation from eternal condemnation?

SAM: They don’t specify, but [unintelligible] women find their salvation and they say the salvation of women is to be made by. Yeah, so it seems if they’re thinking of some kind of spiritual like Litfin talking about from insignificance or from frustration, they’re sure not saying that. I would think they’re talking about salvation from eternal condemnation. 

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BOB: There are all those views, but let’s take a minute and let’s actually walk through the passage. All of chapter two is dealing with the meeting of the local church and it may not be so obvious in the first seven verses where he’s urging prayers and supplications be made. But then when he gets to verse eight, it’s pretty clear he’s talking about the meeting of the local church because he said, “I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere lifting holy hands without wrath and doubting.” And the word translated men, there’s as you know Sam, two different Greek words for men. One is anthropos, which means mankind and includes women, right? It’s people. But the other is aner or andras. And that word specifically only refers to males. And here he uses that word. And so he’s talking about males lifting holy hands. 

Why does he say that? Well, he goes on to say because women are going to be silent. In verse 9, he says they’re to dress modestly; in verse 10 as well. And then he says in verse 11, “let a woman learn in silence with all submission.” He’s not talking about every context, right? If you have a home Bible study, there’s no reason why a woman couldn’t teach it or at least women can ask questions, make comments. There’s no problem there. If it’s a Sunday school class, a woman can teach a mixed group. Women can make comments or whatever. They don’t have to be silent in Sunday school. It’s only in the meeting of the local church. 

Now in the first century, they did it a little differently than we do it today. What they would do is one man would have a song. And so he’d stand up and sing. And someone else would stand up and pray. And another man would stand up and give a short devotional and another man would comment on what the first man said or maybe even give a second devotional. And it would go like that for maybe an hour. And they would start with the bread of communion. They would end with the cup of communion. And that was their worship service. 

Well, today we apply this, “let the women keep silent” only in the sermon. So in the sermon, you don’t have women preachers in conservative evangelical churches because they take this to apply to the meeting of the church, which they think of is the sermon itself. And so not only do no women speak, no men speak either, just the one man speaks. But notice what he goes on to say: “And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over man, but to be in silence.” Well, to teach is again in the context of the local church. 

You’ll remember that Apollos in Corinth was teaching powerfully, but he didn’t understand all the details of the Christian faith. So Priscilla and Aquila trained him more accurately. Well, Priscilla is a woman and she was teaching Apollos. That was no problem because it wasn’t in the meeting of the church. And when he says “or exercise authority,” he’s talking about being an elder. And then he says, “For Adam was formed first, then Eve,” if he’s supporting the creation account, “And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.” So he supports Genesis chapter three, literally true. And then he says, “Nevertheless, she will be saved.” 

This is sothesetai, third person singular passive. It’s a future. It’s not like Ephesians 2:8-9, “by grace you have been saved.” This is “you will be saved”. And unlike Ephesians 2:8-9, this is conditional, “if they continue.” 

Unlike Litfin, I would make it very clear that the “they” are the children of the woman. If a woman has children, then she finds great purpose in life in discipling those children. And if they continue on, she finds great joy. The opposite’s also true. If they don’t go on, if they’re not walking with the Lord, it causes her great grief. Ultimately, the wife needs to recognize, especially in the culture of their day, where women didn’t work outside the home, that they were training the next generation of pastors, missionaries, Bible teachers. 

So I would say 1 Timothy 2:15 is saying women are going to have great joy and they’re going to be delivered from any sort of frustration of needing to be silent in the local church because they’re raising their children. 

All right, well, thanks everybody. Study the passage. Take a look at it. See what you think. But in the meantime, keep grace in focus. Amen. 

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And on our next episode is annihilationism, a possible explanation for what happens to unbelievers in the afterlife. Please join us and until then, let’s keep grace in focus.