The second part in this series looked at government in the family where we reviewed much information that the Bible speaks about on this subject. Let us now continue with government in the Church of God.
Government in the Church of God
Hopefully, by this time, the point about the different roles of men and women has been made because this impacts on women and the ministry which we will now address.
A woman is never to set herself up as a teacher in the Church – teach at Church services – as that would mean that men are then subject to her and that would reverse the order that God has set in place. A woman should not be in such a ministerial capacity. Of course, with the mind of men – and women – wriggling around this clear instruction has become an art form. Paul’s writings do not lend any support whatsoever to the aspirations of the modern feminist movement in their pursuit of invading the territory that God has given to men.
We are given further proof of this in 1 Corinthians 14:33-37:
“For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints. Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive, as the law also says. And if they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is shameful for women to speak in church. Or did the word of God come originally from you? Or was it you only that it reached? If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord.”
The things that I write to you are THE COMMANDMENTS OF THE LORD, said the apostle Paul. Not his own opinion, not repeating the thoughts and ideas of another human being – but the commandments of the Lord.
What Paul was addressing here was the concept of women preachers, teaching and preaching to the Church congregation. This would also apply to today’s women preachers teaching the Word of God on television or the Internet, or writing religious articles with quoting Scriptures. He would not prohibit, on the other hand, women teaching young children godly principles in Church or telling them Bible stories in a Bible class.
We say in our free booklet, “The Keys of Happy Marriages and Families“ :
“Wives are not to speak, teach or preach in church, but they are to ask their husbands at home. This requires, of course, that the husband can be asked—that he is approachable and not too busy to talk to his wife, and that he is knowledgeable enough to give his wife the answers that she needs. If he does not have the answers, he should ask those who know…
“Some quote Acts 18:24–26 as authority to permit women to preach in church. In that passage, Aquilla and Priscilla took Apollos aside, whom they had heard preaching in the synagogue, and ‘they explained to him the way of God more accurately’ (verse 26). It is not clear from that passage, to what extent Priscilla did the teaching, or whether she was just agreeing with her husband. In any event, it is noteworthy that they took Apollos aside. Priscilla, especially, did not teach Apollos in front of others.
“In today’s world of mass communication, churches often use radio, television, the printing press or even the Internet to publish spiritual material. Women should not deliver sermons on radio or television, either, nor should they write biblical, prophetic, ecclesiastical or spiritual articles. They could write articles in addressing topics such as child rearing, homemaking, cooking, or other matters relating more to our physical lives, thereby avoiding a possible conflict in writing about spiritual matters.”
Again, women are to keep silent in Church – not to be getting up and giving opening or closing prayers, sermons or sermonettes – but to be silent. How much more can Paul say without just repeating it over and over again? If he did, those whose minds are set on defying any such instruction would still not be changed. They are self-willed and God cannot possibly bless such behaviour.
Let us read on because we see where this instruction comes from. Paul’s instruction is based upon events at the dawn of civilisation. Adam was created first and Eve was the first to be deceived. Both of these events are pivotal. Adam was the leader and as soon as Eve chose to assume a position that was not hers by making a decision about the forbidden fruit, then things started to go badly wrong. Paul’s instruction is not a complete ban on women teaching but as we saw in Titus 2, he encouraged the older women to teach the younger ones. And, of course, women as mothers teach their children. A wife can give good counsel to her husband, and he should listen to her. It has been rightly said: There is a wise wife behind her successful husband.
In our weekly Update number 120 for the week ending December 5th, 2003, we discussed the subject in our Q&A, “Sermons by Women?”, and showed that the ordination of women to the office of minister and bishop is not allowed by Scripture. Is it sexism or favouritism that the true Church of God takes an entirely different view than, for instance, the Church of England? In the final paragraph of this Q&A, it stated: “The message of Scripture is unambiguous: Christian women are not to teach Biblical or spiritual matters in church or in a public forum.”
It is interesting to note that the Church of England appointed a woman to its most senior office after the previous incumbent, Justin Welby, resigned over a safeguarding scandal. BBC News reported in October 2025: “Dame Sarah Mullally has been named as the new Archbishop of Canterbury designate – the first woman to be chosen for the role. A former NHS chief nurse, the 63-year-old became a priest in 2006 and was appointed as the first female Bishop of London in 2018 – the third most senior member of clergy in the Church of England.” However, it shouldn’t come as any real surprise as they have already ignored clear biblical teaching allowing homosexual priests and, historically, have not kept the Commandments of God.
This is because women want to usurp man’s authority! The rise of aggressive feminism insists that women should not be excluded from any job or employment opportunity, including in a religious setting. However, the Bible says otherwise.
In 1 Timothy 2:11-14 we read: “… in like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works. Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.”
Again, Paul is addressing the behaviour of women in Church.
Baptist minister Thomas Schreiner observes: “Later this year (2023) Crossway is publishing the third edition of the book Köstenberger and I co-edited… [His] third edition of his essay shows that his work has stood the test of time. Note that Paul doesn’t just prohibit women from inhabiting the office of elder or overseer. He also speaks functionally; women aren’t to teach men. It is a mistake to limit what Paul says here to office and then to permit the function.”
Of course, what the Baptist minister ignores or fails to mention is that Paul is addressing teaching a man in a Church setting. He did not address a woman teaching a man in different settings, such as lecturing at a university on non-religious matters.
Instructions to the ministry
Let us briefly review instructions to and about the ministry and have a very quick look at a few of the instructions about the ministry to see how contradictory they would be if a woman was put into such a position of a minister.
In 1 Timothy 5:17, we read about Elders – that is ministers in New Testament times – who labour in the word and doctrine.
“Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.”
The elders who rule well – but they do rule – or have a leadership role in the Church – ones who have authority. The Bible says that a wife is to be in submission to her husband and yet if she were an elder she would be ruling – or in a leadership role – which would be a contradiction in terms. It really is very simple.
In Hebrews 13:7, this same theme is reiterated:
“Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct.”
You simply cannot get away from the consistency that God has put in His Word.
Matthew Henry’s Commentary states the following: “Here is the dignity to which they were advanced—to be rulers and leaders of the people, not according to their own will, but the will and word of God; and this character they filled up with suitable duty: they did not rule at a distance, and rule by others, but they ruled by personal presence and instruction, according to the word of God.” And in verse 24, the same theme is repeated: “Greet all those who rule over you, and all the saints. Those from Italy greet you.”
So again, if a man is to be the leader in his own household as the Word of God clearly teaches – and if ministers are also to be men, how come some women think that they can usurp that authority of becoming Church ministers? For example, if a wife was a minister, she would have authority over her husband in the Church, but at home he would have the leadership role. That would be complete nonsense!
Culture of the time argument
Then, we have the culture of the time argument. Here is a quote by someone who said that “the Bible has to be interpreted in the light of contemporary society – not in an arcane way (that is a primitive or outdated way).”
In other words, as society becomes more and more liberal and permissive and controlled by the media and those with vested interests, God’s Word has to be altered and manipulated to fit in with the world’s ways. That would, in reality, be moulding and shaping God into the form that we wanted or suited us – and that is preposterous. It would mean that those who are “influencers,” to use a modern word, could come up with all sorts of ideas and then God’s Way would have to be interpreted in the light of their human musings and pronouncements!!
We have arrived at a time where moral relativism is deeply embedded in society. This idea that there is no universal or absolute set of moral principles; that is, to each his or her own; in other words, as the Bible clearly states in the book of Judges 17:6 and 21:25: “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” How prophetic it was in the time of the Judges, and today! The fact that this concerned royalty does not deflect from the principle. For king, substitute leader – and the fact that there is no clear, unambiguous and moral leadership seems to be given in most mainstream Christian churches today.
Whatever God instructs us is for our own good, not for a constraint or regulation for one period of time only, to be changed around some different way for other people in a different time period.
What we find different today from previous eras, is that we have developed an anti-God culture where propounding and supporting traditional values accepted by previous generations, may now be considered by many as “hate speech”. What is required is societal conformity; otherwise, people can be labelled as “persona non grata,” that is one who is not acceptable or not in favour. Or to put it in modern parlance, “the cancel culture”.
That’s simply not good enough when dealing with the Word of God. For those with eyes to see, we’ve seen from God’s Word that the “culture of the time” argument holds no water at all!
On the Christian Today website, we read a typical repudiation of the order that God has set in the Church. Here is a brief extract:
“Another context we need to take into consideration was the cultural background of the time and proximity. The church of Corinth is not a congregation that was born two weeks ago. It was a church built by people of a different time and a different culture altogether. What may mean something to us will mean something completely different to the people of that time. What was ancient Corinth like? It existed in a day and age and in a culture where it was more beneficial and secure for women to refuse certain cultural and societal roles — and leadership was one of them. But today, that’s no longer the case. It’s now safe and beneficial for women to lead. That gives all women just as much right to spiritually and strategically lead as men.”
What a flimsy argument that is, to be able to negate clear Scriptural instruction in order for women to do what they want to – and this article was written by a man!
So, to repeat 1 Corinthians 14:37, where the apostle Paul wrote:
“The things that I write to you are THE COMMANDMENTS OF THE LORD!!”
Not his own opinion, not repeating the thoughts and ideas of another human being – but the commandments of the LORD.
In short, today, many can use the argument that as culture changes, God will go along with the flow and bend according to the particular dictates of man at any given time. They don’t phrase it that way of course, but that is how they view it.
If that were the case, we could justify ANYTHING – anything at all.
Please see our Q&A – “How do you regard the culture of the time argument when it comes to biblical matters? – Parts 1 and 2.”
(To be continued)
Lead Writers: Brian Gale and Norbert Link