{"id":90748,"date":"2021-03-12T05:57:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-12T10:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/godly-apparel-1\/"},"modified":"2023-10-07T22:43:03","modified_gmt":"2023-10-08T02:43:03","slug":"godly-apparel-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/godly-apparel-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Godly Apparel 1"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">I Timothy 2: 9, 10: In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest\napparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or\npearls, or costly array; But (which becometh women professing godliness) with\ngood works. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">The\n2009 Ms. America contest\ntook on spiritual significance as Miss California,\nCarrie Prejean \u2013 a committed Christian, replied negatively to a question\nregarding same-sex marriage.&nbsp;\nSubsequently, she was pillaged in the media for her position but many\nChristians agreed with her response and defended her right to believe such while\ncommending her for taking the opportunity to state her belief.&nbsp; The question arises as to how appropriate it\nis to participate in such forums, especially when such opportunities present\nthemselves.&nbsp; For the Biblical answer, we\nturn to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"has-medium-font-size\">\n<li>Historical Context: The book of 1 Timothy was written by the apostle in\nA.D. 62-66.<br>\nPaul wrote to Timothy to encourage him in his responsibility for overseeing the\nwork of the Ephesian church and possibly the other churches in the province of Asia (<a href=\"http:\/\/bible.logos.com\/passage\/niv\/1%20Timothy%201.3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">1<\/a> Tim 1:3).&nbsp;This letter lays the\nfoundation for ordaining elders (<a href=\"http:\/\/bible.logos.com\/passage\/niv\/1%20Timothy%203.1-7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">1<\/a> Tim 3:1-7), and provides guidance for\nordaining people into offices of the church (<a href=\"http:\/\/bible.logos.com\/passage\/niv\/1%20Timothy%203.8-13\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">1<\/a> Tim 3:8-13).&nbsp;In essence, 1 Timothy\nis a leadership manual for church organization and administration.&nbsp; This is the first letter Paul wrote to\nTimothy, a young pastor who had been a help of Paul in his work. Timothy was a\nGreek. His mother was a Jewess and his father was Greek. Paul was more than\njust a mentor and leader to Timothy, he was like a father to him and Timothy\nwas like a son to Paul (1 Tim 1:2). Paul begins the letter by urging Timothy to\nbe on guard for false teachers and false doctrine. However, much of the letter\ndeals with pastoral conduct. Paul instructs Timothy in worship (chapter 2) and\ndeveloping mature leaders for the church (chapter 3). Most of the letter deals\nwith pastoral conduct, warnings about false teachers, and the church\u2019s\nresponsibility toward sinner members, widows, elders, and slaves. All\nthroughout the letter, Paul encourages Timothy to stand firm, to persevere, and\nto remain true to his calling.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"has-medium-font-size\">\n<li>Grammatical Usage:\n\u201cModest\u201d in the Greek is \u201ckosmios\u201d meaning, \u201corderly, well-arranged, decent\u201d\nhowever, used in the context of v. 9, the reference to well-ordering is not of\ndress and demeanor only, but of the inner life, uttering indeed and expressing\nitself in the outward presentation\u2026a reflection of the spiritual quality;\n\u201cshamefacedness\u201d or \u201cshamefastness\u201din the Greek is \u201caidos\u201d which means \u201ca good\nsense of shame regarding the demeanor of a woman as \u2018fast\u2019 or rooted in the\ncharacter of the individual which prevents or restrains a good person from an\nunworthy act.\u201d&nbsp; \u201cSobriety\u201d in the Greek\nis \u201csophrosune\u201d meaning, \u201csoundness of mind\u2026sound judgment\u2026habitual inner\nself-government which has constant rein on the passions and desires which\nhinders temptation from arising in such strength as to overcome shamefastness.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"has-medium-font-size\">\n<li>Literal Application:\nSimilarly also I want women to dress themselves in modest apparel, with modesty\nand good taste; not with artistically fashioned coiffures and gold or pearls or\nexpensive clothing but with good works which is properly to be expected from\nwomen who say they wish to worship God.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"has-medium-font-size\">\n<li>Contextual\nInterpretation: Paul did not forbid women\nfrom wearing jewelry, makeup, or braided hair \u2013 rather he tells women to not\nlet their outward appearance become more important than their inner\nbeauty.&nbsp; The woman who professes to\nworship God is not forbidden to possess pretty things but is forbidden, as are\nChristian men, to flaunt these things as a mark of distinction, a cut above\nanyone else.&nbsp; There were many Christian\nwomen in Ephesus\nwho were too poor to own jewelry and expensive clothing.&nbsp; Thus modesty is the rule for all in\nappearance and behavior as such properly reflects the indwelling of God.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"has-medium-font-size\">\n<li>Scriptural Comparison: Whether or not to wear a bikini is a question many women struggle with, but for a Christian woman, the issue takes on additional implications. The Bible tells us that God calls women to modesty, which means to not draw attention to themselves.&nbsp; God also calls women to purity: &#8220;Don&#8217;t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity&#8221; (1 Tim 4:12). The question is whether or not a bikini is consistent with modesty and purity. <br> Another issue to consider is that God calls all people to control their thought lives, so as women, they should not cause men to lust: &#8220;You have heard that it was said, &#8216;Do not commit adultery.&#8217; But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart&#8221; (Mt. 5:27-29; 18:7). When women cause men to look upon their bodies lustfully, they induce them to commit the sin of lust and this is displeasing to God, a misuse of the female body. <br> A further consideration is that our bodies, like our minds and hearts, belong to God and are to be used for His glory, not our own.&nbsp; Rom 12:1 tells us, &#8220;Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God&#8217;s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship.&#8221; When we offer our bodies to God as \u201cliving sacrifices,\u201d we are saying in effect, \u201cMy body is yours, Lord. Use it for your glory.\u201d It\u2019s hard to imagine a bikini-clad body being used for God\u2019s glory. <br> 1 Peter 3:3-5 reminds us of this spiritual fact, &#8220;Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God&#8217;s sight.\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp; There is nothing wrong with wearing jewelry, makeup, or braided hair as long as it is done in a modest manner. A woman should not be so focused on her outward appearance that she neglects her inner spiritual life.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">In fact, our outward appearance should not be our focus. If the reason we try to be the perfect weight, wear the best clothes, have facial treatments, etc., is to impress other people, then our physical appearance has become a matter of pride. We should be humbly aware of our appearance rather than acting to conform to the world\u2019s standard. Mt. 23:12 says, &#8220;For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.&#8221; And Js. 4:6 says, &#8220;God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.&#8221;<br> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Conclusion: We must watch out for anything that draws us away from\nGod, including the too-often extreme emphasis the world places on appearances.\nGod does not want us to love the world or anything in it (1 Jn 2;15), and we\nare not to think &nbsp;or value as the world\ndoes (Rm 12:2). God has shown us His own amazing power and beauty and love in\nan incredibly diverse creation. We should be humble, not committing idolatry in\nworshiping the creation rather than the creator (Col. 3:5).&nbsp; Beauty contests clearly elevate creation in a\ncompetitive context, assigning value in flawed human terms via flawed human\nassessments including physical attributes.&nbsp;\nIsaiah 53:2b tells of Jesus, \u201cHe had no beauty or majesty to attract us\nto Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him.\u201d&nbsp; Yet, He is the most desirable of all\npreciously due to His spiritual essence, not his physical appearance.&nbsp; Once again, tremendous direction in a life\nlived as completely pleasing unto God the Father.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I Timothy 2: 9, 10: In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works. The 2009 Ms. America contest took on spiritual significance as Miss California, Carrie Prejean \u2013 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[526,534],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Godly Apparel 1 - Grace Evangelical Free Church<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Godly Apparel 1 - Grace Evangelical Free Church\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I Timothy 2: 9, 10: In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works. 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