11 Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.
2 Now I praise you because you remember me in everything and hold firmly to the traditions, just as I delivered them to you. 3 But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ. 1 Corinthians 11: 1-3 LSB
1 Corinthians 11: 1-3 LSB
V. 1 Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ - That is the caveat, follow me, imitate me, "as I follow or imitate Christ". There is otherwise no reason.
16Nevertheless, we must live up to what we have already attained. 17Join one another in following my example, brothers, and carefully observe those who walk according to the pattern we set for you. 18For as I have often told you before, and now say again even with tears: Many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.… Philippians 3: 16-18
1Be imitators of God, therefore, as beloved children, 2and walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant sacrificial offering to God. 3But among you, as is proper among the saints, there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed.… Ephesians 5: 1-3
…7which is not even a gospel. Evidently some people are troubling you and trying to distort the gospel of Christ. 8But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be under a curse! 9As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be under a curse!… Galatians 1: 7-9
V. 2 Now I praise you because you remember me in everything and hold firmly to the traditions - Imagine this after the first 10 chapters, "wait, we did something right?" Clearly some have reached out to him about various issues in the church, some of which involved the dealing with unrepentant sin, and their willingness to let it go on, as if they were somehow kinder than God. They remembered their teacher and he has provided some much needed correction, not because he is mean, but because he wants them to live up to their calling, to be imitators of Christ, not a smear upon that great name. He also commends them for holding firmly to the traditions, and as some Bible scholars point out, this would be the gospel and the doctrines according. To the Romans he writes about Justification by faith, to the Galatians he writes warning them against leaving the pure gospel of faith for one of works. This is a wonderful commendation from Paul that they had recorded and remembered sound doctrine according to the faith. It does raise a concern that one could be doctrinally sound but lack the Spirit of love, or that our lives may not match our doctrine.
Traditions (3862) paradosis from paradidomi = deliver in teaching) means literally to give from the presence of, thus to give personally. Tradition means properly nothing more than what is delivered or handed over. It signifies an act of transmission or that which is transmitted and thus refers to that which is handed down or transmitted from generation to generation; injunction delivered or from one to another. It was used to refer to the Pharisaic traditions which had been engrafted on the Mosaic Law (Mt 15:2, 6; Mk 7:3, 13). Paradosis "means literally “to give from the presence of,” thus “to give personally.” It signifies an act of transmission or that which is transmitted. In the New Testament it is used in the latter sense, without indicating the method of transmission or implying any lapse of time such as is usually associated with the English word tradition." (Wuest)(Wuest Word Studies - Eerdman Publishing Company Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3 - used by permission) - PA
O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law, or by hearing with faith? 3Are you so foolish? After starting in the Spirit, are you now finishing in the flesh?… Galatians 3: 1-3
…15Be diligent in these matters and absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all. 16Pay close attention to your life and to your teaching. Persevere in these things, for by so doing you will save both yourself and those who hear you. 1 Timothy 4: 15-16
V. 3 Christ is the head of every man - Paul is starting with the Head of the Church, which is Christ. This is also a reference to the natural, God ordained order of Creation.
…22And God put everything under His feet and made Him head over everything for the church, 23which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. Ephesians 1: 22-23
…17He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. 18And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and firstborn from among the dead, so that in all things He may have preeminence. 19For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him,… Colossians 1: 17-19
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made.… John 1: 1-3
Then Paul says that men have authority over women and notice he does not restrict this to just husbands and wives. Paul is simply describing the way God created mankind to assure that there was order and not disorder. It is critical to emphasize that even in establishing this pattern of order, Paul is absolutely not saying one sex is superior to the other sex. To read that into this text is to make it say something Paul did not say! The principle is simply that of submission to authority and to make his point crystal clear, Paul points out that even Jesus was subordinate to His Father. Is Christ inferior to the Father? Of course not (See Trinity below). And by the same token, the woman is in NO WAY inferior to the man! Neither does he say the husband is be her master or dictator.
Ryrie - This teaching is based on Ge 3:16, and Paul makes it the basis for the wearing of a covering. The man is not superior to the woman, as God is not superior to Christ, being of the same essence. However, as there is divine order in the relative functions of the three persons of the Trinity, so it was appropriate for God to ordain a divine order in the functions of the family (husband, wife, children). God established this pattern in the very beginning when Adam was first formed, then Eve (1Ti 2:13), and then the children (Ge 1:28). - Precept Austin
V. 3b The man is the head of a woman - Go back to Genesis, man was created first, and then the woman from man, not to be his slave, but his equal in substance with a different role. Our world today struggles with this concept on so many levels, but this confusion comes from not accepting God's ordained order from the beginning. Rather than celebrating God's intentional differences in design, that neither is without the other, that we are made complimentary beings, as woman was made for man, all men come out of women and are raised by them. In demeaning the roles, in saying there is something inherently wicked in headship at it's core, denies it's original intent, denies that sin is the real issue, that Adam sinned by following his wife, choosing her over what God had said. Eve stepped out from the headship of her husband and Adam stepped out from the headship of Christ. Now people show disdain for masculinity, deny the need of fathers in the lives of children, can't define what a woman is, play down the role of motherhood and all it's formative significance for the family. It is interesting listening to a John Macarthur sermon from 1976 and hearing about the women's lib movement back then, and consider the sacrifice that was made to this in 1973, where we legalized the killing of our young in the name of women's rights. We went from God's command to bring up your children in the way that they should go, to pretending they aren't human, to realizing that they are human and living, but we don't want the responsibility, we think the calling of self is higher than the calling of the Creator. So where does this leave men as the head? For the most part he is still following Eve, and as J Mac pointed out in 1976, speculating, there will probably eventually be a men's movement, seeking to regain some of their "rights", and if you look around there are all sorts of men's movements, but most are godless and appeal to lust and domination, to getting even. Right now we have groups of men called incels or "involuntary celibates" who want romantic relationships, mostly sexual, with women, but feel left out like the socialist who wants the millionaires money. I have known groups of men who want some of the women they are close to to be loyal, but they don't want to be themselves, and call all women bitches and whores when they don't fulfill their hypocritical fantasy. The west has answered Islam's knock upon the door, and liberal women have gone so far as to elect their future abusers. This religion is attractive to incels because it dominates women, women are more like property under Shariah law, and we have seen women in Iran beat for things so simple as protesting their government or showing their hair. And that is an important distinction here with what Paul is teaching, it is the difference between loving submission and slavery, between equal persons with different roles and rule by force. When it comes to being protectors, being the leaders that God commands men to be, well, we said abortion is a woman's issue. We turned away from true masculinity, from study of the Word, from doing our work as unto the Lord, from teaching our families, to making it more about watching football and having a beer with the boys, bragging about our sexual conquests or what kind of toys we own. We have replaced Christ with Peter Pan, and our world is suffering from it. It is not iron sharpening iron, but dumb fueling dumber.
…12I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; she is to remain quiet. 13For Adam was formed first, and then Eve. 14And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman who was deceived and fell into transgression.… 1 Timothy 2: 12-14
V. 3 C And God is the head of Christ - This is the most brutal point. How is it, that Christ, the eternally begotten of the Father, equal in substance, can handle being subordinate, yet we deem it a detestable thing? He even says, "I and the Father are One, and if you have seen Me you have seen the Father", look at John 1: 1-3 above again. Christ in no way sees this as making Him lesser, but it is part of this Holy and eternal communion between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. So here it is, we are looking at Christians in Corinth, and they are asking Paul for the practical implications of the doctrines which they hold as members of the faith. I have been looking into their culture some, what was it like outside of the church, and what were the relationships between men and women based on there? It only looks slightly different than today, just different clothes and customs, but the same overall issue, that things in the culture that are contrary to God's design have been brought into the church. Sound familiar?
Question: "How can there be subordination / hierarchy in the Trinity?"
Answer: It may sound strange to speak of subordination within the Trinity. After all, Jesus and the Father are “one” (John 10:30). Subordination makes us think of a lower rank or a subservient position. To understand how there can be subordination in the Trinity, it is important to understand that there are different types of subordination. The biblical or orthodox view of the triune nature of God acknowledges an economic subordination in the Trinity but denies the heretical view of an ontological subordination.
What does this mean? Simply that all three Persons of the Godhead are equal in nature. God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit all have the same divine nature and divine attributes. Contrary to the teaching of many cults, there is no ontological subordination (no difference in the nature of the three Persons of the Godhead). This means that the Trinity is not comprised of greater and lesser gods; rather, there is one God existing eternally in three co-equal Persons.
What the Bible does teach is an economic (or relational) subordination within the Trinity. The three Persons of the triune Godhead voluntarily submit to each other respecting the roles They perform in creation and salvation. So, the Father sent the Son into the world (1 John 4:10). These roles are never reversed in Scripture: the Son never sends the Father. Likewise, the Holy Spirit is sent by Jesus and “proceeds from the Father” to testify of Christ (John 14:26; 15:26). And Jesus perfectly submitted His will to the Father’s (Luke 22:42; Hebrews 10:7).
Economic or relational subordination is simply a term to describe the relationship that exists among God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Essentially, economic subordination within the Trinity refers to what God does while ontological subordination refers to who God is.
Biblically, all three Persons of the Trinity have the same essence, nature, and glory, but each One has different roles or activities when it comes to how God relates to the world. For example, our salvation is based on the Father’s power and love (John 3:16; 10:29), the Son’s death and resurrection (1 John 2:2; Ephesians 2:6), and the Spirit’s regeneration and seal (Ephesians 4:30; Titus 3:5). The different tasks that we see the Father, Son, and Spirit perform are the result of the eternal relationship that exists among the Persons of the Trinity.
The issue of subordination within the Trinity is nuanced, and the distinction between ontological and economic subordination is fine indeed. Theologians within Christian orthodoxy continue to debate the limits of subordination and its relation to the Incarnation of Christ. Such discussions are profitable as we study the Scriptures and think through the truth about the nature of God. GotQuestions.org - PA
…29My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand. 30I and the Father are one.” 31At this, the Jews again picked up stones to stone Him.… John 10: 29-31
…41And He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, where He knelt down and prayed, 42 “Father, if You are willing, take this cup from Me. Yet not My will, but Yours be done.” 43Then an angel from heaven appeared to Him and strengthened Him.… Luke 22: 41-43
…3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves. 4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus:…
…6Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross.… Philippians 2: 3-8
