OUR FATHER WHO ADOPTED US AS HIS SONS

The Apostle Paul, in 1 Corinthians chapter 14 verses 26 - 40, writes to establish decency and orderliness in church meetings by prescribing in what way  spiritual gifts should be expressed.

26 How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification. 27 If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret. 28 But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God. 29 Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge. 30 But if anything is revealed to another who sits by, let the first keep silent. 31 For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged. 32 And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. 33 For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.

The chart below lays out how the various gifts should be operated during meetings;

• Edification - A Psalm, a teaching, a revelation or an interpretation can be brought by anyone
• Tongues - Two or three can speak  (with one interpreting if available)
• Interpreter - If none, tongue speakers should speak only to themselves or to God
• Prophecy - Two or three can speak and the other propets can judge the prophecies. Prophets should also prophecy one by one as their spirits are under their control.

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. 35 And if they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is shameful for women to speak in church.

Paul then prescribes that women should not speak in churches but are to be submissive. Here, Paul is reiterating the discussion in an earlier passage related to women covering their heads in church. In that context, Paul was alluding to the grand stage upon which all people perform the parables of the temporal that reveal the eternal. Men play the part of Jesus the groom and the women play the part of the bride. In the same way that women cover their heads to illustrate that the church is to cover her glory and point all glory to Christ, men play the part of Christ who is the head of the church and has the sole directive voice on matters of the kingdom of God and women play the part of the church who is to heed the voice of her groom and submit herself completely to Christ.

Controvercy has surrounded this question. Some point to the emergence of female leaders of Israel like Deborah and in the new testament church like Phoebe and Junia to show that women were not relegated to the sidelines in church life but were integrated key players.

With one passage saying that women should not speak in church and yet bible-certified women leaders clearly existed, what could be made of this controvercy.

The key is to understand the progression of the Christian from infancy to maturity.

Ephesians chapter 1 verses 4b - 5,  Paul writes that all believers are chosen from before the creation of the world and they are then matriculated for adoption into sonship through Jesus Christ.

For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will

This  adoption into sonship is indistinguishably applied to men and women and so in the spirit, men and women are equally required to pursue spiritual growth and maturity. Once a woman is adopted as a son and matured, she is qualified to be a leader in the church as a mature son would be in his father's household. If she is not mature in faith, she is to remain silent as any immature man would be required to be.

36 Or did the word of God come originally from you? Or was it you only that it reached? 37 If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord. 38 But if anyone is ignorant, let him be ignorant.

39 Therefore, brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak with tongues. 40 Let all things be done decently and in order.

Paul advises the Corinthians to submit to the scripture (including his letters)  because they did not originate it and it a universal word that applies to all believers and not just to the Corinthians. 

Therefore, if anyone believed they were a prophet or a spiritual person, they could only be considered to be so if they submitted to the words Paul wrote concerning their practice and conduct.

The apostle again encourages the believers at Corinth to desire the gift of prophecy but on this occasion, he also instructs church leaders not to forbid the speaking of tongues. 

Amen.

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