Arguments Made In An Attempt
To Justify Women Preachers

By Wayne Wells

The most common is Galatians 3:28.

Paul is not teaching the elimination of roles of men and women in the context.

He is teaching that both receive the inheritance in Christ.

Galatians 3:28-29

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

1. Under the Old Covenant, only Jews received an inheritance in Israel.

2. Slaves did not receive any inheritance, only free men.

3. Also, only sons received the inheritance, with only rare exceptions.

The point of Galatians 3:28 is that all now receive the inheritance if they are in Christ.
A slave was still a slave after conversion and a free man was still a free man after conversion.
In the same way, a man is still a man and a woman is still a woman. That cannot change.

In 1 Peter 3, Peter teaches a difference in the roles of men and women,
but in the context teaches the same thing as Paul.

1 Peter 3:1-7

Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands... as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose daughters you are if you do good and are not afraid with any terror. Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.

Feminists make another argument from Galatians 3:13

Galatians 3:13

Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree").

They argue that Christ redeemed us from the curse, and since woman was cursed with subjection in Genesis 3:16, she is no longer under subjection since she has been redeemed from the curse.

The curse we have been redeemed from is in Galatians 3:10.

Galatians 3:10

For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them."

The curse of the Law is that if you do not obey it completely, there is condemnation.

Salvation but the Law requires perfection, and since none are perfect, all are cursed by the Law. This is what Christ redeemed us from, not from the consequences of sin given in Genesis 3.

Did God Remove Only One Of The Curses, And That Was Just For The Woman?

Genesis 3:16-19

To the woman He said: "I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you."

Then to Adam He said, "Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: "Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return."

Feminists Argument of "Mutual Submission" From Ephesians 5:21

Feminists claim that Ephesians 5:21 teaches a mutual submitting of the husband and wife to each other, and that they are to submit equally to each other in the same way.

Ephesians 5:21

submitting to one another in the fear of God.

There are six passages in the N.T. that teaches either wives are to submit to their husbands, or that there is a general submission of women to men.

1 Corinthians 14:34

Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive, as the law also says.

Ephesians 5:22-24

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord... 24 Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.

Colossians 3:18

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.

1 Timothy 2:11-12

Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence.

Titus 2:3-5

The older women... admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed.

1 Peter 3:1, 5

Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives... For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted in God also adorned themselves, being submissive to their own husbands.

The husband is never told to submit to his wife, nor is there any passage that indicates that this is the relationship of men to women in general.

When Ephesians 5:21 says "submitting to one another in the fear of God", feminists assume that this teaching is an absolute equality of submission to one another for everyone.

So, when Ephesians 5:22 says, "Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord", they assume that it also means that husbands are to submit themselves in the same way to their wives.

Paul mentions three other pairs in the same context. To be consistent, this idea of mutual submission must be applied to all pairs if it is to be applied to one pair.

1. Fathers and Children

Ephesians 6:1-4

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. "Honor your father and mother," which is the first commandment with promise: "that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth." And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.

Who can believe that the Bible teaches that fathers are to submit to their children in the same way that their children submit to them?

2. Slaves and Masters

Ephesians 6:5-9

Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free. And you, masters, do the same things to them, giving up threatening, knowing that your own Master also is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him.

Are masters to submit to their slaves in the same way their slaves are to submit to them?

3. Jesus and the Church - Ephesians 5:22-33

This one is the most important because it is the model for the relationship between the husband and wife. The wife is told to submit to her husband "as the church is subject to Christ". (5:24). For the feminists theory of mutual submission to be true, then Jesus must be in submission to the church.

Ephesians 5:21 is not teaching a mutual submission in which both parties submit to one another in the same way as the feminists claim, but it does teaches that we are to submit ourselves to one another where our circumstances call for it. We are to submit to one another whenever our position in life requires such submission, as it does for wives, children, and slaves.

1. If you are a wife, submit to your husband.
2. If you are a child, submit to your parents.
2. If you are a slave, submit to your master.
3. A wife may submit to her husband, but he is to submit to the elders of the church (Heb. 13:17).
4. It would be possible for a slave in the home to be an elder in the church in which the master is a member, with both yielding and receiving submission to each other.
5. Elders, husbands, wives, masters, and slaves are all to submit to the government (Rom. 13:1).
6. No matter what our position is in this life, all must submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. He makes the rules, and we must come to Him on His terms.