God's High Calling for Women (by John MacArthur)

I copied sections of his sermon below, you all know how I love John MacArthur. It is probably easier to listen to than to read though. Listen to the whole sermon here: http://www.gty.org/Resources/Sermon+Series/152_Gods-High-Calling-for-Women

1 Timothy 2: ¹⁵ But women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.

The stigma of the fall is on woman. But, she shall be saved through childbearing. Now, somebody says, "What kind of salvation is this? What, what do you mean your saved from sin by having babies?" No, it couldn't possibly be that.

Now what is he saying? All women are saved through childbearing. What, what...in what way? What kind of a general statement is that? What kind of saved do you mean here? Well, not saved from sin. But listen to this, the word saved can mean delivered or it can mean saved from things other than sin. What we have to understand here is, that all women are delivered, now listen carefully, all women are delivered from the stigma of having caused the fall of the race, by childbearing. In other words, women led in the fall, but by the wonderful grace of God, they are released from the stigma of that through childbearing.

What's the point? Listen carefully. They may have caused the race to fall by stepping out of their God-intended design, but they also are given the priority responsibility of raising a godly seed. You understand that? That's the balance. Not soul salvation, not spiritual birth, but women are delivered from being left in a second class, permanently stigmatized situation for the violation of the garden, they are, they are delivered from being thought of a permanently weak and deceivable and insubordinate.

Can you imagine what it would be like if men had babies and all women ever contributed to the human race was the fall? The balance of it, women led the race into sin but bless God, God has given them the privilege of leading the race out of sin to godliness. You say, "How so?" Mark it down. Because, in the raising of a godly seed, it is the godliness and virtue of the mother that has the greatest impact on the young life in the next generation. Is that not so? Their's is the challenge, to raise a godly seed. God has designed this to give woman back her dignity. She is saved from the stigma of the fall and her path to dignity and usefulness, and her great contribution comes in accepting what God said, that you'll bear children. Motherhood, then, is woman's appointed role, in general. Now, obviously God does not want all women to be mothers, some of them He doesn't even want to be married. 1 Corinthians 7, some have the gift of singleness. Some he allows to be barren for His own purposes. But as a general rule, just like marriage is generally the grace of life as Peter calls it, so motherhood is that which reverses the stigma of women and allows them to provide for society the rearing of a godly seed which in a real sense reverses the curse for which she was so responsible.

The pain of childbearing was the punishment for her sin but the result of bearing child...bearing the child is the deliverance from the stigma of that sin. Marvelous how God has worked that out. The pain she goes through reminds her of her sin. The result reminds her of God's restoring grace and puts her back in a place where she makes a positive contribution to the godliness of the next generation. She may have caused a generation to plunge into sin, but she can, by being a mother who raises godly children, bring a generation to God. And what Paul is saying, by the Holy Spirit, is that a woman must accept her God-given role. And that role is not to give outward, overt leadership to the church, but to raise a godly seed. And that's why he says she'll be saved in childbearing but only if she continues in faith and love and holiness and self-control. If she is godly, she can raise that godly seed. And you know, to me, it is so sad and tragic that women want to whine over an unfulfilled life because they can't act like men. And they have the unique privilege of raising a godly generation of children who are nursed at their very breast and who bear an intimate relationship with them that no father can know. And thus do they restore dignity to that fallenness to which they contributed, and thus do they become all that God intended them to be. They are delivered from the results of sin, enabled to maintain a positive influence in society and in the church by accepting the role as a mother, who raises godly children. That's why it says, even when younger widows lose their husbands, verse 14 of 1 Timothy 5, "I will, therefore that the younger women marry and bear children. And rule the house." That's their calling. The highest ideal of Christian womanhood is here. And this is how the church is to work, beloved. Look, we're led by men in the worship of the church, they pray they preach, they teach, they give leadership to the church. But the perfect balance of that is the influence of godly women that raise that godly generation. And the only way that'll happen is if they, and look at it closely in verse 15, "If they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control." They have to be the kind of woman described in verse 9 and 10. Who are not into the clothes and to the outward flaunting of sexuality and desire and wealth, but they are women whose hearts are marked by godly fear and self-control. Who are strong in faith. They believe God. Strong in love toward God. Who are pure and holy and who manifest self-control. Godly Christian women will raise the next generation. You want to know why there is a women's liberation movement, because there's a devil who doesn't want God to get His work done. Her faith in the Lord, her sincere love for God, her holiness and purity of life, her modest self-control, mark her spiritual state as such who will bring forth children who will bless the world and as she brought forth once a curse, she now brings forth a blessing. That's her calling.