Q: “I am sure you have been asked this, but what does it mean in 1 Timothy 2:15 about a woman shall be saved in childbearing? That sounds like a work and not grace.”

A: You are right it would be a work and there are some women who can’t have children, are single and have no plans to have children; therefore, they would remain hopelessly lost. Jesus came for the purpose of saving all of us.

The context in which this was given was after Paul’s instruction on women. In the culture of that day, women were to be homemakers and were not allowed to learn in the different schools of thought. However, since Eve was deceived and was found in transgression, Paul instructed that they should learn in silence to avoid unwarranted attention on them and their families (1 Timothy 2:11). According to information I read, this type of restraint was called for because persecution against Christians was beginning to raise its head.

The other aspect of women in 1 Timothy had to do with moderation. In that day the temple prostitutes were adorned to attract attention to themselves in order to ensnare, and Paul wanted the Christian women to be adorned with beauty inwardly and not outwardly, and once again they were not to bring unnecessary attention to themselves.

This brings us to women being saved in childbearing. This is not actually pointing to women having biological children; rather, this is pointing to the seed of woman, Jesus Christ. The promise of a Redeemer coming through the seed of woman is found in Genesis 3:15. Jesus was not born according to the will of man as pointed out in John 1:13, but according to God’s will. Man would not have any part in salvation, but it would be through woman that the Promised Son, the Savior of the world would come. It is because of this seed of the woman, that women will be saved as well.

Sometimes women’s part in salvation is ignored or even negated, but Paul is clear that women have their place in God’s kingdom and play a vital role in it in ensuring it comes forth.