“If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord”
(1 Corinthians 14:27)
In this chapter, Paul also speaks about the role of Sisters in the ecclesia – which we have considered elsewhere (https://bibleonline.uk/archives/20940). However, there are those who try to undermine his teaching on the grounds that Paul was giving his own opinion, and that for some reason he was a “misogynist”, against women participating in the ecclesia. Again, it is argued that Jesus himself did not mention anything about the role of Sisters in his teaching – and as one of our adversaries has it, “Christ trumps Paul any time”!
But this not only misrepresents Paul’s teaching concerning Sisters – it also misses the point that his teaching is authoritative. The words that he wrote were “the commandments of the Lord”. Peter wrote of Paul’s words: “… as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction” (2 Pet. 3:16). Again, he speaks of how “Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him, hath written unto you …” (vs 15). Those who seek to undermine the words of Paul then, do so “unto their own destruction”. Not understanding his words, they “wrest” them, being “unlearned and unstable”.
But by contrast, the Thessalonian ecclesia recognised the truth of Paul’s words: “For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe” (1 Thes. 2:13).
Another illustration is Paul to the Philippian jailor: “they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And they spoke unto him the words of the Lord, and to all that were in his house” (Acts 16:31-32). These verses demonstrate that we disregard the writings of Paul at our peril – for by rejecting his words, we are rejecting the authoritative Words of the Lord! Rather than to reject the veracity of those writings in the Bible that disagree with our ideas, we must rather humbly stand corrected by them. The Word is profitable for correction (2 Tim. 3:16), and so we must approach it with reverence and respect (Isa. 66:2). Indeed, our own salvation may depend on it!
Christopher Maddocks
