Controversy Over Childbearing and Salvation 1 Tim.2:15

1 Tim. 2 Verse 15 is very confusing because Paul says"women will be saved through childbearing, if they continue in faith, love, and holiness with self-control."

1. It almost sounds as if Paul is saying women will be saved through childbearing. That is not the real meaning of the verse.
2. If that were true women would not need Jesus' sacrifice for salvation and those unable to bear children, or single mothers would not be saved.
3. What this verse is saying is that women will be saved, even if they do bear children.

4. The reason Paul says this is because the Gnostics were teaching that the human spirit is a divine spark that is imprisoned by human flesh. Having children was the worst thing a woman could do because it imprisoned another spirit. This was a false teaching.

5. Salvation is through faith in Jesus Christ, and love with holiness and self-control are what Paul is teaching will save a woman, even when she bears children. Childbearing is not wrong, and childbearing does not save her.
6. Motherhood does not prevent or enhance salvation, but motherhood is a blessing, and God told Adam and Eve to multiply and replenish the earth.

7. There is no scriptural proof that a spirit pre-exists the life of the flesh.
8. Mormons teach that God is having children by many wives in another heavenly realm and that spirits preexist. They believe that women here on earth should have as many children as possible so that those pre-existing spirits will have a body to inhabit. This is also a false doctrine.