Cheryl

Charis,

You said:

“What isn’t sitting right with me is “she will be saved if THEY continue in…” So, if we take your understanding of it being a woman teaching doctrinal error, is HER salvation dependant upon THEY?”

Think of this woman as a new convert to the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Her husband is a Christian but one who is letting her teach him that Jesus is Michael the Archangel. He isn’t correcting her or stopping her and he is bringing some of what she teaches into the congregation even though he isn’t convinced of the error. Now Paul tells Timothy to stop the source of the problem – the woman. He says that the Jehovah’s Witness will be saved if the husband leads her and walks with her in learning the truth. The husband is not the problem per se because Paul doesn’t say that “they will be saved” just that “she will be saved”. But although the husband is not part of the problem, he IS part of the solution. He is the one who will bring her into the meetings and make sure that she learns. He can encourage her to listen and he can be there with her. If the husband does nothing and doesn’t help her, the chance of success is slim. She is fully deceived just like Eve was and she needs an incentive to received correct. The husband is the key to that incentive. Therefore, Paul makes sure that her husband is encouraged to act. Also remember that both Paul and Timothy know things about the problem that we don’t. They know who the people are and what exactly the false teaching is. Paul wants Timothy to know that the husband needs to help his wife in order for her to come out of her error.

Thank you so much for telling me when things aren’t sitting right with you. That is so commendable! It is important for you to work things out so that you can understand and see things in scripture. If it doesn’t make sense it is a good thing to push for understanding.

You said:

“Could that “sozo” be about me/woman/Eve being restored to HIS image? because THEY/women have continued in….”

I think we could talk about an application to this verse and that would be fine. I think we can get a good application on this passage that would apply to you and me, however do I think that this is what Paul is talking about? No. The reason is that the “she” and “they” don’t mesh. The statement above it appears that you are saying that “she” is me/you/any woman/Eve and “they” is (now I am not too sure about this one so correct me if I am wrong) women in the past? You said “have continued in” but the tense is something that is to be done at the time that Paul wrote it. That means that both “she” and “they” must do something together. “She” cannot be equal to “they”. Which one do you fit in and which one do I fit in? Are you a “she” or a “they”?

I think the application that you are making is applicable in our sanctification, however a woman’s sanctification is not different than a man’s sanctification. Paul isn’t saying that women are more lost than men or need more help to become like Christ. We as humans are all in the same boat. We are all sinners saved by grace and created for good works. Christ needs to be formed in us, but that happens as we grow and mature in him. Women in general do not need anything special for salvation (that isn’t needed by men), nor do they need to have Christ restore an authority that they lost. The bible has promised that women will be used by God in the last days in a special way in the way that men are used (he has poured out his spirit on all of us). Yes, he has drawn us to himself and it is special. I know exactly what you mean. I too have grown more in the last seven years than I have grown in the time since I became a Christian. But this 1 Timothy 2:11-15 passage isn’t about you and I needing to be stopped from teaching. It is a specific word given to Timothy for a specific situation.

You also said: “Isn’t the female reflection of the image of God Eve? So if I- Charis- am “renewed in knowledge after the image of” my creator doesn’t that look like Eve restored?”

I am not sure exactly what you mean by this. When I seek to be renewed in the image of God, I look to be like Jesus, not a renewed Eve. That has never crossed my mind. Male or female – Jesus is the one who we are to emulate. Eve was the one whom the Messiah would come through, but the one we fix our eyes on is always Jesus.

Heb 12:2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.