“Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.” (1 Timothy 2:15)
Have you ever wondered what on earth Paul is talking about in this verse? Women have to have kids to be saved? Who’s “they?” ARGH!
When we break the verse down and look at it in its proper context, however, it becomes much easier to understand what Paul, through the Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:13), is saying.
What is the context?
“Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.” (1 Timothy 2:11-14)
Women are not to teach men or exercise authority over them. Rather, they are to remain quiet (in submission). The reason the word “remain” is used goes back to the beginning with Adam, Eve, and “the fall.”
‘To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.”‘ (Genesis 3:16)
Since the beginning, women have been required to be in submission to their husbands. This does not mean that they are unequally important to God (Galatians 3:28), but they are to honor the hierarchy God set in order (cf. 1 Corinthians 11:3). This hierarchy does not give men permission to treat their wives as slaves or servants. Rather, it gives more responsibility to the husband to be the right type of example for his wife, the weaker vessel (1 Peter 3:7; Ephesians 5:25-33).
Now, coming back to verse 15…
Who is “she?” There is a Greek grammar rule called Callwell’s Rule which states that the antecedent of a pronoun is the nearest preceding noun. The nearest preceding noun to the pronoun “she,” in verse 15, is “the woman” (v. 14) or “Eve” (v. 13). Therefore, this could be read: “Eve shall be saved in childbearing …”
It is also important to note that most English translations leave out the Greek word “ho” preceding “childbearing.” The word-for-word translation of the Greek text is: “she shall be saved notwithstanding in the (ho) childbearing.” Thus, the suggestion is that Paul is not referencing childbearing in a generic sense, but rather in a specific sense.
All of mankind can be saved because of the birth of the “Seed” of woman, who would bruise the head of Satan (cf. Genesis 3:15). In other words, Paul is explaining that, despite Eve’s sin and the sins of the rest of humanity (Romans 3:23), we can all be saved through Christ.
“But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.” (Galatians 4:4-5)
“They” in the second part of the verse 15, refers to women as a whole. Salvation is through Christ for those who continue in “faith and love and holiness, with self control.”
It is interesting to note, in connection with these thoughts, that while Satan misused woman (the helper God appointed to man – Genesis 2:18) to try and destroy man, God used woman to ultimately destroy Satan. Through the seed of woman, Jesus Christ was born and, through Him, all can attain salvation through obedient faith.
“Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” (Hebrews 2:14-15)
“And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him” (Hebrews 5:9)