CHEAP / EXPENSIVE GRACE
(I Tim. 2:15)
OVERVIEW OF I TIMOTHY 1:1-20 to 2:15
1:1-2 – Overview of Christian Faith based on names for God and the blessings He bestows on His people.
1:3-4a False teaching in Ephesus and how humanistic philosophy effects us today.
1:4b-6 – The goal of the command is love. (Loving God, fellow Christians, the non-Christian world)
1:7-8 – The law is good if used properly. (The law’s deterrent, punitive and educative purposes)
1:8-11 – “Whatever else …” The Gospel Ethic. (Law-Philia University)
1:11 – Our Relationship with “The Blessed God.” (Causing God pain or joy)
1:12-16 Why Paul considered himself the worst of sinners.
1:12-16 Conversion of the apostle Paul.
1:12-16 Paul’s call to ministry.
1:17 Paul’s doxology of praise for his conversion.
1:18-20 How to avoid shipwrecking our faith.
2:1-3 The Christian is to pray for all men.
2:4,6 Comparison of Calvinism & Armenianism.
2:5-6 The man, Christ Jesus, the only mediator.
2:1-7 The vision, the message, the means.
2:8-15 Treatment of women in the ancient world, the early church and the Bible.
2:8-15 Three key hermeneutic principles to follow when studying the Bible.
2:8 Praying Men with Peaceful Hearts
2:9-10 A First-Century Christian Woman’s Dress and Deeds
2:11-12 Does Submission Demand Silence?
2:13-15 Paul’s Logic for Requiring Women to Be Silent in The Ephesian House Churches.
2:15 Cheap or Expensive Grace
But women will be saved through childbearing–if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety (I Tim. 2:15).
And, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him (Heb. 5:9).
I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done—(Rom. 15:18).
He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus ( II Thes. 1:8).
For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? (I Peter 4:17)
but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him—(Romans 16:26).
Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith (Romans 1:5).
So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith (Acts 6:7).
INTRODUCTION:
1. Paul excommunicated the false teachers from the Ephesian church, sent Timothy to oversee the church and protect it from false teaching and then sought to silence the women who were involved in spreading false teaching within the church
2. Paul in I Tim. 2:13-15 sets forth three arguments to support his logic that women should not be teaching in the Ephesian Church: Adam was formed first; Eve was deceived by Satan; Women should focus on personal godliness.
But women will be saved through childbearing–if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety (I Tim. 2:15)
“ … he [Paul] expresses himself in a way that has been troubling for generations of Christians, because it seems to contradictory to his own theology, on the one hand, and somewhat demeaning to women, on the other” (Gordon Fee, pg. 74).
A. Six interpretations of I Tim. 2:15
1. Women will come safely through childbirth (JBP)
2. Women will be saved through motherhood (NEB)
3. Women’s position in the church will be saved through
motherhood (Believer’s Bible Commentary).
4 Women will be saved through the birth of the Child (Stott)
5 Women lead the race out of godlessness by bearing righteous seed (John MacArthur).
6 Women will be saved / evidence salvation by being a model godly woman (Gordon Fee).
“More likely what Paul intends is that woman’s salvation, from the transgressions brought about by similar deception and ultimately for eternal life, is to be found in her being a model, godly woman, known for her good works (v. 10; cf. 5:11). And her good deeds, according to 5:11 and 14, include marriage, bearing children (the verb form of this noun), and keeping a good home. The reason for his saying that she will be saved is that it follows directly out of his having said “the woman come to be in transgression.” But Paul could never leave the matter there, as though salvation itself were attained by this “good deed,” so he immediately qualifies, “Provided of course that she is already a truly Christian,” that is, a woman who continues in faith, love and holiness. ….” (Gordon Fee, pg. 76).
Raising her family well will prove a woman is saved, as long as, of course, she continues trusting in Christ for salvation and pursues love, holiness and decency (I Tim. 2:15 Paraphrase).
B. To be saved she must focus on being a truly Christian woman.
QUESTION: WHAT DOES A TRULY CHRISTIAN WOMAN LOOK LIKE?
“Persistence in these four [five] basic qualities will give evidence of a work of grace in their hearts.” (John Stott, pg. 87).
We tend to separate faith from good-works, Paul considered them cause and effect; e.g. switch/light; turn faucet/water; click/send. In other words grace and good works are inseparable!
We treat putting grace and work together as an oxymoron.
Oxymoron: Two words which conflict with each other, two words which do not agree with each other; a combination of contradictory and incongruous words. Examples: Living Dead, Artificial Reality, Rap Music, Cruel Kindness or “A Severe Mercy.”
Oxymorons for grace and works: Cheap Grace, Expensive Grace Free Earnings, Free Wages, Perspiring Grace, Muscular Grace, Earned Grace, Demanding Grace
Read together Mt. 7:13-27. Have attendees point out words that seem to demand choices and activity on the part of those who are saved.
We are saved by grace alone, but the grace that saves is never alone because good works follow close behind.
Saving grace always brings evidence of submission and obedience to the full Gospel message. Would you consider a person saved by grace if in the next breath he would say I want nothing to do with the Bible and I don’t intend to conform my life to the image of Christ?
“But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’ then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life (Exodus 21:5-6).
1. She must exhibit good-works starting with the bringing up of her family.
“But women will be saved through childbearing ….”
“So I counsel younger widows to marry, to have children, to manage their homes and to give the enemy no opportunity for slander” (I Tim. 5:14).
“…well known for her good deeds, such as bringing up children” (I Tim. 5:10).
12 …continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose (Phil. 2:12-13).
2. She must continue in “Faith.”
Twenty references to “faith” and “believing” in I & IITimothy
“God’s work – which is by faith…” (I Tim. 1:4); “a sincere faith” (I Tim. 1:5); “The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus” (I Tim. 1:14); “ … an example for those who would believe on Him and receive eternal life” (I Tim. 1:16); “ … shipwrecked their faith” (I Tim. 1:19); “ … believing masters … those who benefit from their service are believers …” (I Tim. 6:2).
3. She must continue in Love
Francis Schaeffer wrote a book titled “The Mark of a Christian.”
1Jo 3:14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not [his] brother abideth in death.
1Jo 3:16 Hereby perceive we the love [of God], because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down [our] lives for the brethren.
1Jo 3:17 But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels [of compassion] from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
1Jo 3:18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
1Jo 3:23 And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.
1Jo 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
I John 4:8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
1Jo 4:12 No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.
1Jo 4:20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
1Jo 4:21 And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.
4. Continue to live in holiness.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God (Mt. 5:8).
Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord (Heb. 12:14).
5. Continue to live in propriety
“I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety ….” (I Tim. 2:9).
SO WHAT????
A. Our salvation is not dependent on good works. We are saved by faith. But good works are inseparable from salvation. A life of faith which includes love and holiness of life, are the best proof of our salvation. We should focus on continuing in good works.
B. When we emphasize grace without corresponding emphasis on submission to the Lordship of Christ we end up producing Christians that are neither saved nor Christian.