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Can a Godly Woman Wear Pants?
So, finally, some 13 years ago I began wearing dresses. Mind you, it was not because I came to some great biblical conclusion that I was doing the right thing in God’s eyes. I began wearing dresses simply because I had enough confusion on the subject that I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t sinning by NOT wearing them. This decision caused it’s own set of problems. Since my convictions were not set firmly on God’s Word, I allowed myself additional confusion. If I happened to give into the ‘temptation’ to wear pants due to a chilly day, I vacillated back and forth with my conscience wondering if I was actually sinning or not. During these times I would be plagued with doubts and fears as to whether or not I was displeasing the Lord. The other problem I found was that I ‘prided’ myself in dress wearing. Since it was a novelty and I was one of the few women in my church that wore dresses all the time, I found myself feeling just a bit more ‘religious’ due to my outward appearance.
Some years ago the Lord providentially brought a godly woman, named Kim, into my life who began teaching me bible study skills commonly known as exegesis and hermeneutics. Simply put, exegesis is the interpretation of a passage of scripture while hermeneutics teaches us to hear the meaning of that scripture in the context of our own day. As I began to use these tools to approach some of the more difficult questions, the confusion began to lift. I could go to the scriptures and find out what God’s Word was saying for myself without having to depend solely on someone else’s interpretation. It still doesn’t come easy for me and it takes a lot of hard work,especially on difficult subjects, but I am slowly gaining more and more discernment as I apply these skill.
Instead of just telling you what I found in my own personal studies, I would like to show you how I came to a biblical conclusion on this topic of dress wearing. I hope that by doing it this way you will have a visual study pattern to help you in further studies. This way, in the future when you have questions concerning a particular topic, you will know how to find the answer yourself.
There seems to just be a handful of scriptures used to support the premise that a woman should only wear long dresses and not pants. The one I hear quoted most often is found in Deuteronomy.
Deut 22:5 The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God.
We know that the word Testament is another word for covenant. The Old Testament represents an old covenant between the Lord and His people, which is one we are no longer obligated to keep since it has been replaced with a new and better covenant.(Hebrews 8) None of the Old Testament laws (commands) are binding on us today unless they are renewed in the New Covenant. We read in Romans 15:4 that the Old Testament is given to us for our learning.
Romans 15:4 - For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
Many wonderful lessons can be learned through studying it’s pages. Yet, we are told in the New Testament, that even though we are to learn from what is written in the Old Testament, we are no longer to follow it’s commands. If we choose to follow even one command of the Old Testament then we must also be willing to incur the curse of the law when we fail to follow all 600+ other commands.
Gal 3:10-14 -For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them." But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for "the just shall live by faith." Yet the law is not of faith, but "the man who does them shall live by them."
Some aspects of the Old Testament ethical law are restated in the New Testament and are applicable to us as Christian women today because they support the two basic laws of the New Covenant, on which all the Law and prophets depend. (Matt. 22:40). “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind” (Deut. 6:5) and “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev. 19:18). So, we can say that aspects of those laws fall directly under the command to love God and neighbor and constitute a continuing obligation for Christians.
So, when we read a verse, like the one I stated above in Deuteronomy, which says that a woman should not wear anything that pertains to a man, we must look to the New
Testament to see if this command has been restated. Does our New Covenant with the Lord give us any specific commands to not wear pants, which some consider men’s
clothing? Did Jesus or His apostles ever command us to only wear long dresses and abstain from pants wearing?
The most commonly used scripture that I’ve heard supporting Duet. 22:5 is found in 1 Timothy 2:9-10.
1 Tim 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.
Whenever we want to find out the true meaning of a scripture text it’s important that we read that verse in context. The way this is done is to start reading at the beginning of the chapter or book to get an overview surrounding the particular verse you are dealing with. Read with a purpose asking yourself the 5 W’s and an H (Who, what, when, where, why, and how) questions. Watch for key words and key phrases and make a list of them. The more you read the chapter/book, the more truth you will find revealed. Determine the theme of the chapter and then go even further and determine the theme of the paragraphs surrounding the text in question. Now, I know this is hard work and time consuming, but there is such a sense of satisfaction when you finish because you have truly LEARNED what the text in question has to say and it’s grounded deep in your heart. God’s Word commands that we study to show ourselves approved unto God, a workman that is not ashamed as we rightly divide His Word of Truth. 2 Tim 2:15
We know by reading from the beginning of this chapter that Paul is writing to Timothy. Throughout the chapter we see that Paul is addressing certain offices in the church and
giving admonition as to how elders, bishops, etc. are to live. I’d like to start in verse 8, but please find time to read the whole chapter for yourself. If you go back to verse 8 you will notice the verb, “I will.” This is the Greek word, boulomai, which carries with it divine apostolic intent and divine authority. Paul is commanding that men pray and that women adorn themselves (v.9) in a certain way. This is serious business. Paul is commanding that men behave in this way, and ALSO women in this way, “They are to adorn themselves.” It’s not optional.
So, let’s take the verse apart, word for word, and see if it has something to say to us as God’s women today in reference to wearing dresses only. The first phrase begins with .... In like manner also. This shows us that what is about to be said is somehow connected to the previous verse. In verse 8, Paul is addressing the general attitude of men as they pray and IN LIKE MANNER, he goes on to address what the women’s attitude should be,also.
Onto verse 9. I’ve looked for nouns, verbs and adjectives in this sentence and looked up each word in a Strong’s Concordance and Vine’s. Here is what I found:
ADORN: 2885 kosmeo: to put in proper order, decorate, adorn, trim, garnish.
MODEST: 2887 kosmios- orderly arrangement
APPAREL: 2689 katastole - long or down robes, a garment let down ( from 2596 kata - down & 4749 stole - long fitting gown (as a mark of dignity ) long clothing ( garment) ...)
( also from 2687: katastello - to put down)
SHAMEFACEDNESS: 127 aidos - through the idea of downcast eyes, bashfulness, i.e. towards men, the demeanor of women in the church, modesty that is “fast” or rooted in the character, it would always restrain a good man from an unworthy act.
SOBRIETY: 4997 sophrosune - soundness of mind, self-control, sobriety, (moderate as to opinion or passion): that habitual inner self-government, with its constant rein on all the passions and desires, which would hinder the temptation to these from arising, or at all events from arising in such strength as would overbear the checks and barriers of aidos
(see above)
Please take a moment and look back over each of the above definitions and answer these questions.
* What is the overall context of this scripture saying?
* Is the verse saying that we are to wear modest clothes?
* Or that we are to only wear dresses?
* What is the context of the verse actually saying?
Could we summarize the above definitions to say:
* Put on, as you would clothing, good behavior by being bashful ( i.e. towards men). Keep a constant rein on all of your passions and desires that would tempt you to not keep this demeanor (i.e. towards other men) in check.
I can see how a person could look only at the definition of modest apparel and assume that the verse was teaching that we are to wear a long dress that is modest. I did the exact same thing many years ago. But, if you take each word into account and look at the overall context of the entire verse along with what is being said in the following verses you will see that this could not be the meaning of scripture.
The next part of the verse has been used to teach that a woman should not wear jewelry. Let’s look closely at what each of these words are saying and find the true meaning of the verse.
1 Tim 2:9 ..... not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.
BRAIDING: 1708 emploke - elaborate braiding of the hair, plaiting
BRAIDED: 4117 plegma - a plait, broidered hair, what is woven
WEARING: 4025 peerithesis - putting all around, i.e. deocrating oneself with - wearing
GOLD: 5553 chrusios / chrusion & 557 chrusos - gold ( possibly as an ornament or as woven / braided in with the hair
COSTLY: 4185 poluteles - extremely expensive:
ARRAY, GARMENTS: 2441 himatismos- clothing, raiment
BECOMETH: prepo: 4241 - means "to be conspicuous among a number, to be eminent,distinguished by a thing," hence, "to be becoming, seemly, fit." The adornment of good works "becometh women professing godliness.”
The word, ‘But’, not only continues the thought from the previous verse but it gives us the contrast between the two choices and instructs us to choose the latter by concentrating on good works which distinguishes us as godly women.
We are commanded by Paul in the verse above to:
* Not braid our hair elaborately
* Not to put gold all around ourselves
* Our garments/clothing should not be extremely expensive
So, in summary, could we say that 1 Timothy 2:9 is actually teaching us to:
* Put on, as you would clothing, good behavior by being bashful (i.e. towards men). Keep a constant rein on all of your passions and desires that would tempt you to not keep this demeanor (i.e. towards other men) in check. Don’t be elaborate in your dress or the way you wear your hair but focus on doing good works which distinguishes you as a godly woman.
So, in conclusion, would you say that this verse is teaching a woman to only wear dresses or is the focus on an inward adornment? Now, you have a solid biblical conclusion when someone uses this scripture to command that you should only wear dresses.
It’s extremely important when you are working towards coming to a biblical conclusion that you gather all the scriptures on the topic and study each one thoroughly. Use Scripture to interpret and support Scripture. Many false doctrines have been built on just one scripture taken out of context. Another scripture used to support the view of ‘dresses only’ is 1 Peter 3:3-5 so it would be very beneficial for you to do a word study, such as I’ve done above, and find out exactly what that verse is saying, too. I think you’ll be pleased to see that it supports the biblical conclusion we came to in 1 Timothy 2:9
In conclusion, I would like to end with a passage of scripture from Matthew 6.
Matt 6:28-34: "So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; "and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. "Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? "Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' "For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Even though the primary meaning of this scripture speaks to worrying about not having clothes to wear, I think a secondary meaning can apply without taking it out of context. Could it also teach that we are not to worry ourselves by thinking too much about what TYPE of clothing we are to wear? May the Lord help us, as godly women, to concern ourselves with the inward adornment of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God great price. 1 Peter 3:4
Great books to help you learn bible study skills:
How to Study the Bible by Kay Arthur
How to Read the Bible for All It’s Worth by Gordon D. Fee & Douglas Stuart
Applying the Bible by Jack Kuhatschek
Studying, Interpreting and Applying the Bible by Walter Henrichsen & Gayle Jackson
A Call for Discernment by Jay E. Adams
*~*~*~*~*~*~
This question was posted on our message board:
"I got done reading something about should women where dresses or are they allowed to where pants. The message said that we are not to follow the Old Testement rules and commandment. What about Proverbs 31? Thats in the Old Testement. Are we not to follow that either? My christian station on the radio has something called the Proverbs 31 woman. It teaches woman how to live their life the way that chapter says. but if its in the Old Testement, are we not to follow it? Please help"
A dear friend (who refuses to let me put her name on this wonderful reply!) wrote this ' Biblical Fact Sheet' to simplify the answer to this ladies question.
*~*~*~*~*
The issue is really - What COMMANDS from the Old
Testament are BINDING and MUST be done by New
Testament / New Covenant believers for us to be right
with God?
*~*
There is only ONE thing that will ever make us right
with God and that is the following:
Acknowledge / believe / trust...
a. We are sinners
b. Our sin earns us death (spiritual & one day physical)
c. Jesus paid our sin debt by shedding His own blood &
dying in our place on Calvary's Cross
d. We must trust in His finished work on the Cross and
believe He was raised from the dead, to be saved & right
with God! :-)
*~*
So what about the COMMANDS of the Bible? Where do
they come into this?
OLD TESTAMENT:
The things COMMANDED in the OLD COVENANT / TEST-
AMENT are NOT BINDING ON US NEW COVENANT /
TESTAMENT believers to make us right with God, or to
HAVE to be done.
All OLD TESTAMENT COMMANDS are to be used as
helpful instructions ONLY (to instruct, encourage, give hope)
and ONLY where they are in harmony with New Testament
teachings - this being the 'test' of what from the Old we're
to do in the New. (i.e. no NT commands to burn down
mildewed houses, kill rebellious children, etc.)
We may find helpful things from the OT that we can do
in our own lives with profit, but we MAY NOT say ALL
NT believers MUST do that OT thing, too!
NEW TESTAMENT:
We are under a NEW COVENANT / TESTAMENT which
Jesus inaugurated. He gave us a NEW set of instructions
/ commands to live the kind of lives that will be pleasing
to Him and that will make us become more like Him.
(Impt point: He knew His people would extend past the
nation of Israel, and this is an impt key to WHAT He
COMMANDS in the NEW COVENANT.)
BUT EVEN THESE NT COMMANDS DON'T EARN
US SALVATION / HEAVEN!!!!!!
Obeying them will merely SHOW our existing faith, trust in,
and love for God!!!!!!!
*~*
BOTTOM LINE:
OT passages like the Proverbs 31 Woman are in the
category of instructing, encouraging, and giving us hope.
They give us SAMPLES / IDEAS of the 'kinds' of things
a godly woman did back then / that we 'can' do in our
home today.
BUT PROVERBS 31 IS NOT A SET OF COMMANDS
WE MUST DO to be right with God and neither is the
oft' quoted OT passage on clothes to 'prooftext' wearing
dresses only.
*~*~*~*~*~
I received a letter from a woman which read:
" Thank you for this article--it was very good!
I am just confused about something: (look at the definition she found of the word "apparel"--and then it goes on to say that the meaning of Scripture could not possibly mean that , ex. not just dresses). I was in the same place as the author of this article until I read it--and it actually convinced me that women probably SHOULD wear only dresses/skirts.
Because, if the word *apparel* means what was found in the concordances, then I think it WOULD mean only "long gowns", "long robes", etc. as it is stated)--Doesn't this break down of a word-by-word analysis actually PROVE the need to wear modest dresses/long gowns? (modest *apparel*)?
I'd like to share my response in hope that it might help someone else. I tried to make the article as clear as I could but possibly I needed more of an explanation.
My response...
Good Morning,
I was doing a bit of studying this a.m. and went back over the verse in 1 Timothy and then read over the article I wrote. This is what I am seeing...
If you start at the beginning of the book of 1 Timothy you will see that Paul is instructing Timothy concerning the administration of the church. As we approach the second chapter we see that he begins to talk about prayer in public worship and then moves on to discuss women in public worship. 1 Tim. 3:14 gives us the purpose of the instructions.
The key for me in the verse we're talking are two things. One is the definition for the word shamefacedness:
SHAMEFACEDNESS: 127 aidos - through the idea of downcast eyes, bashfulness, i.e. towards men, the demeanor of women in the church, modesty that is "fast" or rooted in the character, it would always restrain a good man from an unworthy act.
The second key is the emphasis on 'good works' in verse 10.
So, with both of these in mind I approach this verse in this way...
* Put on, as you would clothing, good behavior by being bashful (i.e. towards men). Keep a constant rein on all of your passions and desires that would tempt you to not keep this demeanor (i.e. towards other men) in check. Don’t be elaborate in your dress or the way you wear your hair but focus on doing good works which distinguishes you as a godly woman.
The Lord gave me a perfect example of this a few weeks ago in church. Our pastor was talking about the intimate relationship between a wife and her husband. There were several women in the church that began to make comments about what he was saying, laughing, making jokes,in a sexual, immodest context,etc. I'm sure they were uncomfortable and just didn't know how to handle the situation. They seemed to be approaching the subject, with men present, that could be interpreted as not being modest. Does that make sense?
If you look at verse 11 you see, again, that Paul continues to speak about a woman place before men in the church.
1 Tim 2:11-12 - Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.
Overall, doesn't it seem that the main focus of this chapter and the verses preceding and following are talking about a woman's behavior and not whether she has to wear a dress instead of pants?
I know this topic is very controversial and there will be some that will not agree and that is okay. This is not a topic that should divide the church as not believing in the Trinity should. I hope I've at least presented what I believe in a little more clearer manner. Thank you for writing.
Blessings,
Georgene
*~*~*
With all of this said, I would like to finish by saying that I do dress in a way that does not expose my private body parts to others because of the following Scriptures:
And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. 1 Cor. 12:23
Rom 14:21 It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall.
I think that a godly woman should take every precaution to dress in a way that does not cause her brother (in Christ)to be tempted with impure thoughts. If there is even a small chance that an outfit we choose to wear might cause another to sin then we should refrain from wearing it.
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