February 26, 2012 | John Bayles | A Word to Women: Godliness and Submission to Learning, Part 1 (1 Timothy 2:8)

In this text Paul is being proactive with a specific goal in mind - women seeking to be godly. Yes, he does mention some examples of abuses of clothing and attitudes, but more vivid is his emphasis upon what women CAN do, not on what they should do, or must do, or must not do. Seeing this emphasis today is not enlightening, for we live in the aftermath of Paul's pioneering work. But for the first century woman who lived in a far more hostile and confined world, his instruction was shocking and fully counter-cultural.

February 19, 2012 | John Bayles | The Faithful and Righteous Prayer (1 Timothy 2:8-15)

This is perhaps one of the most difficult texts in all of the scriptures. The difficulty is not because the message is not clear. The difficulty lies in the method of coming to the inspired meaning of the text and that so many conclusions about current behavior have been based upon this text.

In our current day the first response to the meaning of the text drudges up responses like "It has to do with the authority of women in the church" or "It shows us that women cannot be pastors" or "It teaches us that women cannot hold teaching positions in the church except as it pertains to teaching younger women" or "It clearly shows us that women cannot have authority over their husbands, that they must be submissive."

February 12, 2012 | John Bayles | The Universal Gospel (1 Timothy 2:1-7)

How often have we heard the argument for the meaning of the phrase "all men", discussed using this text as a proof from one side or the other? Despite such modern arguments, the Apostle Paul is holding to his original discussion of correcting false teachers in Ephesus. We have previously seen that they were misusing the Old Testament as a means of drawing people into a works-based pursuit of righteousness, and he describes their teaching as "not knowing what they are talking about."

February 5, 2012 | John Bayles | The Blessed Assurance (1 Timothy 1:12-20)

Does the scripture give us any hope of salvation? This seems like an easy question to answer, but only because passages such as this one not only give us an answer, but a concise and convincing answer. In truth, we need what the apostle is sharing in this text today. We have tasted salvation, the forgiveness of sins, but we have also experienced the dread of coping with sin after we first believed. We have come to the stark reality that, though we are made alive by Christ and all of our sins are forgiven, the “ALL of our sins” are not only those in our past, but continue to be committed in our present and may/will continue in our future.