When the Scripture Says There Are No Longer Any Gender Distinctions Between Male and Female in Christ Does This Apply to the Calling of an Office Gift?

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WHEN SCRIPTURE SAYS THERE ARE NO LONGER ANY GENDER DISTINCTIONS BETWEEN MALE AND FEMALE IN CHRIST, DOES THIS APPLY TO THE CALLING TO AN OFFICE GIFT?

There are quite a few Scripture sections alluded to, which are used to support the view that only a male can be called to a leadership position in the church. Let’s take a look at some of these that pertain to gender distinctions and find out what the traditional perspective has to say as well as what the alternative perspective has to say. Please go to the Book of Galatians.



Galatians 3:2-3; 24-26, 28

2-3 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

24-26 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

The apostle Paul is addressing the Jewish beliefs in the Galatian Church, the believers of whom, after having received the Holy Spirit by means of faith in Christ, are now proceeding on to spiritual maturity through some misguided self-effort in an attempt to obey an outward legalistic system of works ascribed to the Mosaic Law. He further stated that when they were under the Law, they were in the minority and under a guardian. But by their believing in Christ, they have become an adult son positionally and are no longer under surveillance by the old guardian. For they had been baptized (with the Holy Spirit) into Christ (admitted to the full rights of the family) having put on His robe of righteousness which grants full acceptance before God.27

28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

As a result, there were no longer any national distinctions between Jew or Greek, class distinctions between a slave or freeman, or gender distinctions between male or female, for they are all one in Christ.

The question that can now come before us is when the Scripture says there are no longer any gender distinctions between male and female in Christ, does this apply to the calling of an office gift?

I think we would agree that human distinctions as to male or female don’t play a part in a person’s acceptance of Christ. Those who have believed in Him by faith have not only become children of God, but they have also become one in Christ. This oneness means that all are on the same level and entitled to the same privileges in their Christian profession.28



What are these privileges?

Here is where disagreement enters in. Many churches that ascribe to the traditional view that only males are called to positions of leadership would say that these privileges refer to there being no distinction of male or female having access to Christ’s salvation. Because of this, each new believer receives more than twenty blessings. Those are the indwelling Spirit, eternal security, the gifts of the Spirit, having become an adopted son or daughter, etc. However, this does not include the calling of a female to a leadership position in the church.

The alternative view held by other churches is that these privileges not only refer to the traditional blessings but also to the idea that a calling to an office-gift can be for both a male or female.

I can honestly say that I take this topic very seriously. The last thing I want to do is be considered a false teacher of the Christian faith. In this study, I tried my best to dot the I’s and cross the T’s. Just to give you an example of how contentious this subject is, please read the following article that pertains to a well-known leader of mainstream traditional Christian views and what his response was to an incident, which specifically relates to what this study has been all about.



JOHN MACARTHUR IS NO STRANGER TO CONTROVERSY

A closer look at the ministry and theology behind the outspoken California pastor.

Morgan Lee October 23, 2019

Last week, John MacArthur celebrated [fifty] years in the pastorate at a conference at his congregation Grace Community Church. During the event, MacArthur accused the Southern Baptist Convention of taking a “headlong plunge” toward allowing women preachers after women spoke at the SBC’s 2019 annual meeting.

That, he said, was a sign that the denomination no longer believed in biblical authority.

“When you literally overturn the teaching of Scripture to empower people who want power, you have given up biblical authority,” said MacArthur.

A moderator also asked MacArthur and his fellow panelists to offer their gut reactions to one-or two-word phrases.

When the moderator said, “Beth Moore,” MacArthur replied, “Go home.”

MacArthur has never shied away from controversy. Last year, he helped organize a controversial statement responding to social justice. He has frequently spoken out against the modern Charismatic movement. And the college he leads, The Master’s College, is on accreditation probation.

“Part of the impetus behind MacArthur’s tendency to speak out comes from how he understands his belief in a high authority of Scripture,” says Jonathan Holmes, a [pastor,] and counselor who graduated from the Master’s College and worked there for several years.

“There are a lot of things many evangelicals would say are non-essentials, for instance, a woman's role in the church, or drinking, or dancing, or creation or the end times,” said Holmes. “But those all become major touch points for MacArthur because his view of Scripture is such that if you budge on the grammatical, literal interpretation of the Bible in any of these areas, the whole thing begins to fall apart.”

Holmes joined digital media producer Morgan Lee and editor in chief Mark Galli to discuss whether MacArthur is a fundamentalist or evangelical, whether he has ever changed his mind with [regard] to his own theological convictions, and what to make of a Master’s Seminary grad preaching at one of Kanye West’s Sunday Services.29

I can’t imagine what it must have been like for this woman, Beth Moore, to be on the side of a public rebuke by this Christian leader. Here you are, believing that God is using you to minister to others, both male and female, and you find out that you are being accused of being someone who is undermining biblical authority. As for myself, I’m not undertaking this study for some kind of retaliation against the teachings of the church that I attended in my younger years that forbade women from occupying leadership roles. I’m doing this study because I want to find out the biblical basis for such teaching. That’s it.

Where do we go from here? There’s another scriptural reason given by many churches as to why a woman cannot be called to a leadership position in the church. They would argue, according to them, that Scripture clearly indicates that women are not allowed to teach.

1 Timothy 2:12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.

This verse does state that a woman is not allowed to teach, but why? Let’s find out by turning to the next chapter.



Endnotes

27Bible Knowledge Commentary.

28Barnes.

29Morgan Lee. “John MacArthur Is No Stranger to Controversy”, October 23, 2019. .

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