women shall be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint. (1 Timothy 2:15)Preserved is from sozo, the common New Testament word for salvation. The word can also mean "to rescue," "to preserve safe and unharmed," "to heal," "to set free," or "to deliver from." It appears a number of times in the New Testament without reference to spiritual salvation (cf. Matt. 8:25; 9:21--22; 10:22; 24:22; 27:40, 42, 49; 2 Tim. 4:18). Paul obviously does not intend to teach that women are eternally saved from the wages of sin through the bearing of children. That would contradict the New Testament's teaching that salvation is by grace through faith alone (cf.. Rom. 3:19--20). The future tense and the use of the plural pronoun they indicate that he was not even referring to Eve. The plural and the absence of any connection to the context show Paul was not referring to Mary, the mother of Jesus, as some suggest.Paul teaches here that although a woman precipitated the Fall and women bear that responsibility, yet they may be preserved from that stigma through childbearing...
