"Saved in childbearing"
"Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing" (1Ti
2:15).
A correct understanding of one little word opens up the depth
of this phrase. The word "in" is the Greek "DIA" -- which means more precisely
"through". This phrase is then very similar to that of 1Co 3:15, where it is
said that we are to be saved by ("dia" = "through") fire (which symbolizes
trials -- 1Pe 1:7). Also, we read in Acts 14:22: "We must through (DIA)
much tribulation enter the kingdom of God." So we see from these two quotations
(and many others) that trials and hardships are the path over which we must all
travel; this is the refining vat through which we must each pass, so that our
faith may be purified. God does not enjoy seeing us suffer; but by His
chastening, He is helping and teaching us to walk in the right ways, and He is
molding our characters.
Thus we see childbearing for what it is -- a necessary trial
for God's daughters. It was first a punishment placed upon the woman for her
part in the first sin: The woman was to have sorrow in childbirth, and her
husband was to rule over her (Gen 3:16). But it is by God's mercy and foresight
that the very suffering which serves to remind women of the part Eve played in
the original transgression, may be one of the trials through which they may
enter the kingdom.
"THE childbearing"
Let us now view this phrase in a slightly different way: In
another sense, God made possible the reward of eternal life through that role of
woman which was a punishment. In this verse the word "childbearing" is preceded
by the definite Greek article: Paul seems to be speaking about a single, very
special birth: "THE childbearing". At the same time that Eve was receiving the
punishment for her sin, she also received the promise of a special man to be
born, called "the seed of the woman", through whom the serpent or sin-power
would be fatally wounded (Gen 3:15).
This same promise is mentioned by Isaiah -- that a virgin
shall conceive and bear a son, who will be called "God with us" (Isa 7:14). And
also in Jer 31:22 -- that a new thing shall happen: a woman shall compass the
man. These promises were all fulfilled in the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, the
Son of God, who was conceived not by the will of man, but by the Spirit of the
Most High overshadowing Mary (Mat 1:21-25). This same Jesus, throughout his
life, resisted the impulses of sin in all ways, and died a sacrificial death so
that the way to life might be opened to all men and women. Thus the sisters can
take courage to serve God in quietness and self-restraint now (1Ti 2:9-12),
comforted with the hope offered by the "seed of the
woman".
The bearing of spiritual fruit
We may view this phrase in yet another aspect -- that of a
spiritual, rather than a natural, "bearing". Through this we are all
saved. In Rom 7:4 Paul likens the ecclesia to a woman -- as he so commonly
does. Her former husband has died -- which is a way of saying that we have
become dead Co the present world and its lusts, and that we are no longer the
servants of sin (Rom 6:17). With her first husband now dead, she is at liberty
to be married to another, Christ who was raised from the dead. And this new
alliance (which we now have with Christ) is for the purpose of
bringing forth fruit unto God (Rom 7:4). With Christ's help, in our new
relationship with him, we may produce "the FRUIT of the Spirit", love, joy,
peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance (Gal
5:22,23). We may then be saved through this bringing forth of fruit --
this new walk in the Truth, this new life in Christ, with new desires and new
goals. The "child" which each saint bears is himself: "a new man in
Christ Jesus". We must be "born again" (John 3:5) -- not only by water at
baptism, but by the Spirit-word (1Pe 1:23) to "newness of life" (Rom 6:4). By
doing this we shall be saved.
