Adorn Yourselves -- Women

My brother and co-laborer Austin started a series on his blog Voice Among Scoffers teaching about self-adornment from 1 Timothy 2.  I earnestly agree with Austin when he writes, "The theme of this passage is how men and women wear their faith--as though it were clothing."  Paul's initial focus is on men, as he commands that they "lead a peaceful and quiet life" (2), and "pray, lifting holy hands, without anger or quarreling" (8).  Expounding upon 1 Timothy 2:1-8, Austin writes:

[Paul] speaks to men to adorn themselves not with anger and quarreling but with prayer and worship to God. We need to disrobe our bodies, strip them of the pride and arrogance that leads to vain discussion and quarreling. Instead, we should put on or adorn ourselves with Worship and Prayer!

As Paul continues in 1 Timothy 2:9-12 he shifts his focus to addressing women.

Likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works. 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.

As we see in Paul's letter there there are specific ways that women should adorn themselves: with respectable apparel, good works, and a quiet submissive role. Clearly this is not an exhaustive list, but as Paul focuses on Adam and Eve's sin and consequent curse in the fall (Gen 3), he wisely choose to address these three issues.  Therefore, as women and daughters of Eve we must seek to understand what Paul is teaching!


Eve's Original Beauty 
When God created Eve he caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept he took one of his ribs and closed up the place with flesh.  And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.  Then the man said, "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man."  Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.  And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.  (Genesis 2:21-25).  In God's original creation Eve was naked and beautiful - needing nothing of creation to additionally adorn her to create a sense of beauty.  Her radiance, which pleased both God and Adam, came from her created purpose to be an image bearer of God's glory.  Eve, in her nakedness, was the most beautiful woman to walk the earth because of her pure and untainted resemblance to God.  No braids, jewels, or gowns could ever compare to her beauty! 

The Vileness of Sin 
When Eve rebelliously chose to eat the apple of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil she sinfully sought to be like God (Gen 3:5-6).  Although she was created to reflect God's image, she desired to be like God in wisdom and dominion, becoming a rebellious glory thief.  In light of this new wisdom the eyes of Adam and Eve were opened, and they knew that they were naked.  And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths (Gen 3:7).  Adam and Eve covered the natural beauty that God created, because it was tainted with sin, and they were ashamed!

Women today continue to seek external adornment while ignoring that internally we are rotting away with sin!  Our beauty is not meant to be crafted externally; God created Eve beautifully as His own image bearer.  The more we look like God, the more beautiful we will be.  However, in our blindness as women we inappropriately reveal our bodies, using them to sexually entice men, making wrong use of our beauty by attempting to glorify ourselves rather than God.  Women, we must know that when we lure a man into lusting after us, we have stolen God's rightful place in their lives.  A man turns his back on God when he chooses lust or sexual sin.  This is exactly why Paul commands that godly women should adorn themselves "with modesty and self-control" (9).  Modesty and self-control keep us from stealing God's glory.

Respectable apparel
Paul further specifies that women should not adorn themselves "with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire" (9).  Paul is not prohibiting the wearing of jewelry; the principle is that women should not dress ostentatiously or seductively, but in a way that is proper.  We can also learn from Peter when he addresses women, saying, "Do not let your adorning be external - the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear - but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious" (1 Peter 3:3-4).  Both Peter and Paul refer specially to braided hair, extravagant jewelry, and enticing clothing.  However, they are clearly not claiming that braids, jewels, and clothes are evil!  They are concerned with these external adornments because they reveal a heart that finds significance in worldly beauty. In contrast to this, the Christian woman should focus on inner (hidden) beauty of the heart.  What matters to God is the godly character of a woman, characterized by a quiet and gentile spirit.  And what matters to God needs to be what matters to us!  There is an important difference between external and internal beauty!  Our internal beauty comes from being transformed into the image of Christ which is eternal and worthy of praise!

The Message puts it this way: "And I want women to get in there with the men in humility before God, not primping before a mirror or chasing the latest fashions but doing something beautiful for God and becoming beautiful doing it."

Adorn Yourselves -- Women to be continued...
Subsequent posts will cover what good works are proper for women who profess godliness, and how a woman can learn quietly with all submissiveness.