WE COME NOW to a very interesting side light on the mind of Paul: “Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man nor man of woman; for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman. And all things are from God” (1 Cor. 11:11–12). This is an interesting righting of the mind of Paul on a question which was vacillating in his mind.
He slipped from the Christian position back to the law when he said in the previous verses: “For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man” (vv. 8–9). This definitely put woman in an inferior position. Each time Paul put woman in an inferior position, he turned back to the Old Testament for authority—as here! In the place where he says: “the women should keep silence in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be subordinate, as even the law says” (1 Cor. 14:34). In that place he turns back to the law for authority as he turned back to the first creation for authority for the above subordination of women. He slipped from grace to law to make women subordinate.
In the passage above he feels the pull of the Christian position: “Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man nor man of woman; for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman.” Note the phrase “in the Lord”—in the law woman was not equal, but in the Lord a person is a person—a person for whom Christ died. Paul was here pulled from “in the law” to “in the Lord”—redeemed from the lower position of the law to the higher position of Grace. The Christian faith redeems us not only from sin and evil, but also from lower forms of good. It redeems us from law to grace.
O Jesus, make all my law into grace, and all my lower conceptions into Thy higher, for I’m always being pulled back. All my half-truths and half-goods must be broken up and redeemed. I want to be fully redeemed. Amen.
AFFIRMATION FOR THE DAY: I am prone to slip from the best to the good and from the good to the bad. Save me from the first small step downward.
