How do we apply these principles?
- Jew and Gentile? God’s promise to Abraham (Gen. 12) was to bless all nations. But false teachers (1:6-11) misinterpreted the law, and at the same time were continuing the traditions of the law that separated Jews from the “unclean” Gentiles (4:1-4). So Paul encourages all kinds of prayers for all kinds of people at all times and places. Do you pray daily for the nations? Acts 17:24-28
- Prayer and Anger? Apparently the public worship services had become divisive, and men indifferent, so Paul calls for the men to lead spiritually with unifying prayer. Jesus warned, also relating worship and anger, that before we offer a sacrifice, we should go and first be reconciled to our brother (Matthew 5:21-26). Do you have an unreconciled relationship with a brother or sister in Christ?
- Equal and Submissive? Paul challenges alternative gender narratives, making some connections which were obvious to his culture but not our own. He is not addressing a woman’s native abilities, but her classic responsibilities, which, like the man’s, can’t be outsourced or ignored. He is not saying a woman can’t be a queen, president, or CEO, or work outside the home. He is opposing the heresy that with the coming of the Kingdom, gender differences disappeared, so marriage and motherhood no longer matter. Jesus did not come to upend Creation, but restore it.
Just as the Son submits to the Father within the equality of the Trinity, man and woman fulfill complementary functions as equals before God. Ephesians 5; 1 Corinthians 7, 11, 14