1 Timothy 2:15, commentary and pictures

Though the woman was deceived and sinned first and brought sin and death upon her offspring, she shall be saved through the promised Seed born of a woman in sorrow and pain, Jesus Christ, who crushes the serpent's head and brings redemption and life to her and the race. Bearing children is not required in order for a woman to be saved. That salvation is conditional on continuing in faith that purifies the heart and works through love in obedience to God's commandments, and in holiness and sound-minded self-control, in Christ the same for every sex, race, and nation. It is also taught that childbearing repairs the harm of sin by multiplying successive generations to bring forth enough righteous people to replenish the earth and inhabit the restored earth, and that the experiences of motherhood and fatherhood can reveal God and help parents grow in Christian character.

Meaning of Childbearing

1 Timothy 2:15 belongs with 1 Timothy 2:11-15 as a unit that raises questions calling for explanation. Its meaning is connected with the customs of the time and the practices brought from heathen society into the Christian church. Being saved in or by the childbearing does not require a woman to bear children in order to be saved.

The childbearing means the promised Seed of the woman, Jesus Christ, the holy Child who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Though the woman was deceived, first sinned, and through her came sin and death upon her offspring, she shall be saved through faith in Him who was born of a woman. That birth came through childbearing of sorrow and pain, pointing back to the beginning of the human race and the fall, and despite the pains and sorrows of childbirth the woman's Seed brings redemption and life to her and the race. He crushes the serpent's head, and the One born of a woman is the Saviour of woman.

The verse also connects the woman's transgression with God's words to Eve about multiplied sorrow and conception. Although sin has corrupted human nature and many children are lost, childbearing helps repair the harm by continuing successive generations through which God brings forth and gathers a righteous people. Enough righteous people are thus gathered to replenish the earth and to inhabit the new and restored earth. Childbearing is therefore greatly multiplied to carry out God's original purpose of filling the earth with a holy, undying race, and the delay caused by sin does not defeat that purpose.

Childbearing can also be a means of salvation in that the experiences of motherhood and fatherhood can reveal God and help parents grow in Christian character. Children can help a woman become a better Christian than she would have been without them, and the same is true of a father. If children have not helped their parents in this way, the parents still need to understand what it means to be born again.

Continuing in Faithful Living

Salvation through the promised childbearing is not unconditional but depends on continuing in faith and love and holiness or sanctification with sound-mindedness, self-control and sobriety. Though the woman was deceived and first transgressed, she may be saved through the Seed born of woman who crushes the serpent's head, if that continuance is maintained. The same condition applies to the multiplying of conception and successive generations by which God gathers a righteous people to replenish the restored earth and carry out His original purpose of filling it with a holy undying race.

The faith required is a faith that purifies the heart and works through love expressed in obedience to God's commandments. In Christ that salvation is the same for every sex and race and nation, and does not depend on a woman herself bearing children. Holiness in the verse describes sanctification as that which is obtained through a holy life. Sobriety belongs to that same faithful Christian living.

As instruction given to women, its principles are to guide their daily lives, just as God's instruction given to men is to guide theirs.