God’s Holy Team—Man and Woman Working Together in the Lord
Adam and Eve were created as a team working together as one in the Garden of Eden. Sin corrupted it. God prophetically restored that team by killing an animal, and with that blood sacrifice, He prophetically removed their sin. With the skin of the animal, He prophetically clothed them with His anointing. They were to operate as one in these holy provisions of being cleansed by the blood sacrifice and being clothed with the anointing (smearing) of the Holy Spirit of God. Genesis 1:26—3:24
Jesus and the church were created in the counsel of God as a team. Sin corrupted it. Jesus shed His blood and took her sins away giving her His life within. He provided His life and His righteousness and the same anointing of the Spirit that came upon Him to be upon her. Jesus and the church are to operate as a holy team, operating as one. Through faith in the cleansing blood and by the anointing of the Holy Spirit of God, the church and Jesus Christ can operate as one. John 17:18-23; Ephesians 5:21-33
Husband and wife are joined together as one. In the life that comes by the cleansing blood of Jesus, and in the anointing that comes by the empowering of the Holy Spirit upon them, they are to operate as one. They are to operate together as a team. The head and the body are connected as one. The head is not independent of the body. The body is not independent of the head. They are one. They are one to further the kingdom of God by preaching and demonstrating the gospel to every creature.
Each man is to operate in the blood and the anointing. Each woman is to operate in the blood and the anointing. In the kingdom, the authority is neither male nor female. The authority before God and before man is the cleansing blood and the anointing of the Holy Spirit. By the blood and the Holy Spirit each male and each female are to operate with God as a holy team to carry out His purpose with His power upon them.
Mary and Joseph were a team. Jesus and the women who ministered to Him were a team (Luke 8:3; 23:55—24:1-11, 22, 24-26). Jesus and the Samaritan woman ended up working together as a team, reaching the men of the city (John 4:1-42). Mary, coming to the men telling them of the empty tomb, became a team with them (Luke 24; John 20). The 120 men and women in the upper room praying before the day of Pentecost were a team (Acts 1:14). Aquilla and Priscilla had a church in their home, and they were a team who corrected Apollos (Acts 18:26). Paul and Phoebe were a ministry team (Romans 16:1-2). A bishop and overseer of the church and his wife are to be a team. A deacon and his wife are to be a team. 1 Timothy 3:1-12
Man over woman came in by sin (Genesis 3:16). Man with woman came by the Savior. In Jesus Christ, in the Spirit-anointed Messiah-Deliverer, there is neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free, and neither male nor female: “for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” All are to be a team together in the Lord Jesus Christ. Galatians 3:26-29; John 17:20-23
All scriptures in the New Testament concerning man-woman relationships need to be researched, interpreted and viewed with this foundational understanding of man and woman being a holy team together in the Lord.
1 Corinthians 14:26-40. Here, Paul said “let your women.” He did not say “let women.” He is addressing a specific condition in the churches in Corinth. As is the custom today in that part of the world, men would sit on one side and women sit on the other side in the assembly. When questions would arise in the women, they would speak out in the assembly to ask their husbands, causing disruption and confusion. That is apparent in Paul saying “if they [your women] will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home.” As with the use of tongues and prophecy, Paul is correcting this disorderly conduct in the Corinthian churches. As is Paul’s customary way of teaching, he uses scripture as his authority to make such corrections. Not only are the women to be “under obedience,” but so is also the use of tongues and prophecy to be done “decently and in order.” (comments in brackets added by me)
1 Timothy 2:8-15. We see here where “men” and “women” are praying together. Then he says let “the woman,” learn in silence with all subjection. Paul did not allow, “the woman,” the wife of a husband, to dominate over the husband. They are to learn together and work together as a team. One acting independently of the other can open the relationship and the ministry to deception. Paul alludes to what happened in the garden of Eden to illustrate his point. Had Adam and Eve been working together as a team, perhaps they would not have fallen. Aquila and Priscilla, having a church in their home, and ministering to Apollos, are a good example of a husband/wife ministry team. Romans 16:1-5; Acts 18:1-3, 18, 26
Ephesians 5:1-2, 17-33. Paul’s keys for the husband/wife relationship are love and mutual submission to one another in the fear of God. Fear means to reverence, which is giving place to the anointing of the Holy Spirit (vs. 2, 21). Just as Christ operates as one with the church in the anointing, so is the husband and wife to operate as one in the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Again, Paul uses scripture as the authority for this unity. Genesis 2:24
Titus 2:1-5. Just as the husband is the head, and responsible for the godly nurturing and management of the home, so is the wife the body, and equally responsible in the godly, nurturing and management of the home. Typically, while the husband is out being the primary protector and bread-winner of the home, the wife is the home manager with the position of bearing the children and being the daily teacher of good things. They are a team to make the home run smoothly and successfully in a godly manner.
1 Peter 3:1-7. Peter presents the husband honoring the wife and the wife being in subjection to the husband. In this way they are mutually supportive and “heirs together of the grace of life.” This is so that their “prayers be not hindered.” Again, we see a husband/wife team in life and ministry. Even if the husband is not obeying the word, the wife, by having submissive trust in God with good behavior, by not being pushy, contentious or nagging, has the promise that if the husband can be “won,” this is how it will happen. God’s goal in their life is that they become a unified team in the Lord. This is done by mutual submissive trust in God and loving honor and service to each other.
In none of this is the husband portrayed as “ruling over” the wife in a dominating sense (Genesis 3:16). What came in with sin was superseded with what Christ accomplished. Now all believers, male and female, are one in Christ working together as a team in the mutually submissive, loving, honorable, orderly anointing of the Spirit of the Lord. This is the overall message we see when we put these passages together about men and women.
Legalistically misconstruing these scriptures has greatly limited women in their ministry in the kingdom of God. In the anointing, women and men are equally free to speak and do what God calls them to speak and do in any setting. And, there is no place in the Word that forbids women to hold office in the operation of God’s kingdom. If she is married, that office is to be held with her husband coming alongside her as a loving support. If the husband is called to an office in the kingdom, the wife is to come alongside him as a loving support. If she is single, she, as any single man, is to be teamed with God, the Holy Spirit, and other members of the body of Christ as God joins them together, for loving support and accountability.
God’s “new thing” is that He pours His Spirit out upon “all flesh,” upon all people, male, female, young, old, rich and poor. He pours His Spirit out upon us to empower us to carry out His will in earth as it is in heaven with His supernatural power working with us all to His glory. Isaiah 43:18-21; Luke 1:35; Acts 3:17-21
As Jesus sent His disciples out two-by-two (Mark 6:7), so does He establish His teams today to send them into the harvest. First, it is the husband/wife team, and then it is those who He fits together in the Body of Christ to accomplish His work (Ephesians 2:21-22). In this, the principle of one putting a thousand to flight and two putting ten thousand to flight comes into operation. According to the Word, God’s power increases exponentially when two are in agreement. Deuteronomy 32:30; Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
Paul was teamed up with others to carry out the ministry (Acts 11:25-26; 13:2-4; 16:1-5, 25-34). God puts teams together. The husband and wife and the home are the basic team unit for the kingdom of God and for all society. In whatever capacity—married, single, family, Body of Christ—we need to know that it is God’s will for us to operate as a team.
The last chapter and the last verse of the Old Testament tells how God is making family unit teams with fathers and children. His prophesied work is to bring healing and restoration for the mess we make in our life and in our family. His work and His way are to put family members together as a team. We are to believe, pray, and yield our life to His goodness, love and power and allow Him to work in and through us to establish God’s team in our life. We are to eagerly pursue His gifts and graces to bring about His full plan for our life and in the life of our family. We are God’s team to reach the world with Jesus by the power of His Spirit. Malachi 4; 1 Corinthians 12:31; 14:1
“Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So, guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth.” Malachi 2:15 ESV
To have the anointing, to have the presence and power of the Lord reigning in our home, is to dwell in the secret place of the Most High (Psalms 91:1-16). With God’s presence and power reigning, the promises and prosperity of God can be fulfilled in our life personally, in our family, in our churches, and in society around us. We are God’s Team reaching out to the world with Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit, all to the glory of God.
Handmaidens of the Lord—The Single Woman Ministry
With truths already established that there are to be men and women together in ministry as God’s team, I now want to focus on the single woman ministry. A single man, a man who is not married, as a whole, is readily accepted in the church. That single man should be connected to others of like mind for the purpose of spiritual support and accountability. A single woman, a woman who is not married, on the other hand, is not as a whole, always so accepted by the church. Just like the single man ministry, the single woman ministry needs to be connected to others of like mind for the purpose of spiritual support and accountability. We need to see what the scriptures show concerning this issue of the single woman ministry.
And on my servants and on my handmaidens, I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. Acts 2:18
“Handmaiden” in the Greek is a female slave (Strong’s Concordance G1399). “Prophesy” in the Greek is “to foretell events, divine, speak under inspiration, exercise the prophetic office” (Strong’s Concordance G4395).
In our present time, God pours His Spirit out on “all flesh” so that “your sons and your daughters shall prophesy” (G4395) (Acts 2:17). It is clearly stated that sons and daughters will speak forth by the inspiration of the Spirit in an equal way. The prophecy of Joel 2:28-30 quoted by Peter, does not favor one gender over the other. The emphasis is that by God’s Spirit they will speak. The authority of being able to speak is that it is by the Holy Spirit. Gender is not an issue.
This is foundational to understanding the place of women in the church today. We need to remove our “way man has taught us” glasses and put on our “way the Word teaches” glasses. We need to clearly see what God has to say concerning a single woman ministry, and concerning the liberty that women have to speak in the world and in the church. Our minds need to be renewed to what the Word says.
In short, we see that in God’s kingdom a woman has just as much liberty to speak, teach, preach, pray, get the sick healed, cast out demons and raise the dead as the man. The liberty to speak and minister is not gender based. It is based on faith, the cleansing blood covenant of Jesus Christ and the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
The way of God in His kingdom is that we all be a loving servant, submissive to God and to one another. There is no man who is to usurp domineering authority over other people with contentious pride and legalistic strife, and neither is there any woman to usurp domineering authority over other people with contentious pride and legalistic strife. The law of the kingdom, the authority and liberty of the kingdom, is love, faith (dependence on God), humility and obedience to the Word in the anointing and the leadership of God. A little yeast of self-righteous legalism or of proud, self-asserting domination is an enemy that will spread throughout the whole loaf. Such operation of the flesh in male or female will work to side-track and bind the operation of the grace of God in the lives of the people. Galatians 5:1-9; Acts 20:19-21, 28-32; 1 Timothy 2:11-15; 1 Timothy 6:3-5; 2 Timothy 2:23-26; 3 John 1: 9-10
Liberated Women
It was women who first brought the news of the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ to the men. The men did not believe the women and were reproved by the Lord for their unbelief (Luke 24:1-26). When the men did not believe the testimony of the women, Jesus called them “slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken”— “slow of heart” means “unintelligent, sensual and dull” (vs. 25, Strong’s Concordance G453, G1021). He basically told the men they were being stupid for not believing the report the women had delivered to them. In another place it says He “upbraided” them (Mark 16:14). That means “to defame, that is to rail at, chide, taunt” (Strong’s Concordance G3679). It was women who brought the first message of the resurrected Lord to men.
When Paul wrote to Philemon, his greeting was also to Apphia, a woman, and Archippus (Philemon 1:2). He greeted Phebe, “our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea,” along with several other women when he wrote to the Roman church (Romans 16:1-16). He referred to “those women which labored with me in the gospel” (Philippians 4:2-3). Paul greeted Claudia right along with the men he greeted in his second letter to Timothy (2 Timothy 4:21). The women were part of the gospel ministry just as the men. John wrote to the “elect lady and her children” that they watch to keep the “doctrine of Christ” for a full reward. He brought greetings to them from the children of “thy elect sister.” 2 John
In the Old Testament and in the transition from the age of the law to the age of the Spirit, the women had liberty to speak and to hold prophetic office. In this present time in the kingdom of God, women have liberty to speak and hold prophetic office. This is established by the plainly written Word of God, and it is established in the meaning of the word to “prophesy,” (to speak forth under the inspiration of the Spirit) which applies to both men and women. Deborah—Judges 4:4; Anna—Luke 2:36-38
All ministry of married men and women and of single men and women, is to be done in love, faith, truth and humility by the anointing of the Holy Spirit. All ministry is to be done by submission to God and to one another to serve and build each other up in the Lord Jesus Christ.
For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus…There is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:26-28
The Lord has set single man and single woman ministries equally free to freely minister in the capacity that God leads them. God’s leadership will guide them to be accountable to Him and to other like-minded members of the body for the good of all and for God’s glory.
By the Word of God, the single woman is free to minister and hold office in the kingdom of God and in the church. Jesus Christ (“Christ” meaning the Spirit-anointed Messiah-Deliverer) paid the price to redeem all people to be freed and trained to go and reap the harvest by the power of the Holy Spirit until the end of the age. Any teaching not in line with this doctrine of Christ, of God’s anointing on both male and female, is of the spirit of antichrist. It is a religious spirit and a doctrine of the devil working against the clear purpose and power of God working in the earth today. 1 John 2:18-20; 1 John 4:1-6; 2 John 1: 1-13; 1 Timothy 4:1
Each person, male and female, is to stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has set them free, and by love serve one another (Galatians 5:1-16). By that same love, every person, male and female, is to reach out to the world and represent and preach the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit to bring all mankind, both male and female to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
This is the heart and mind of the Father who is seeking His little lost sheep who are wandering in the darkness of the world and being beaten down by the devil. The love of Christ constrains us. We judge that if He died for all, then we which live, both male and female, henceforth should not live unto ourselves, but unto Him who died and rose again. We know no man after the flesh—it is not according to gender. If any person is in Christ, they are a new creation old things and old orders have passed away and all things have become new. The new creation men and women are to be equally liberated ambassadors and ministers of reconciliation. Men and women have equally been made the righteousness of God in Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:14-21
Men and women are to be operating in the power of Jesus’ name and anointing, listening to the heart of the Father, reaching those lost, bruised, beaten up sheep for Jesus. He paid the price to rescue them. Men and women are to work together with Him to reach the lost sheep. We will each give account to Him, both male and female, for what we have done, or not done, in His abundant mercy and grace in His mandate He has given to us all.
Shake the shackles off your mind and heart. Follow Jesus Christ and let no man, woman, doctrine or religious system dictate to you or deter you from fulfilling the holy call God has on your life. Jesus purchased you for Himself. Live to please Him alone with all submissiveness unto Him. “For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.” Galatians 1:10
It was after Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman, and her going and telling the men in the city about the “Christ,” that He told His disciples to lift up their eyes and look on the fields, for they are white already to harvest. He said to pray the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers to work and reap the harvest. Those laborers are to be both male and female, as the Samaritan woman had just demonstrated with Jesus’ full endorsement. John 4:35-38; Matthew 9:38
God’s “new thing” (Isaiah 43:18-21) started being revealed with Jesus, then through His people on the day of Pentecost. It was both men and women who God anointed on that day. Now is the day for men and women and boys and girls everywhere to rise up in the power of the anointing of the Spirit of God and proclaim the goodness of God through Jesus Christ to all people. Now is the time for the supernatural power of God to work through yielded vessels to bring about the inheritance and reward for which Jesus suffered and died. Souls saved and built up strong in the faith are His reward. Now is the time for people to be liberated in the Lord in spirit, soul, and body by the anointing of the Spirit of God.
Handmaidens, daughters, servants of the Lord! rise up and take your place in Him. Be teamed up with the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, and reach the world for Jesus! The harvest is truly plenteous, but the laborers are few! Be that laborer who will hear the Lord say to you:
“Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” Matthew 25:21
Conclusion
It has been repeatedly demonstrated throughout the New Testament the passion that women have had for the Lord—
the outreach of the Samaritan woman (John 4),
the financial and ministry assistance given to Jesus throughout His ministry by women of means (Luke 8:3),
the breaking of the alabaster jar with expensive ointment poured out upon Jesus by a woman (a year’s salary) (Matthew 26:1-13; Mark 14:3; Luke 7:37),
the faithful following of Jesus by women, and the vigil of women as Jesus went to and hung upon the cross. He addressed them as they were following Him in the last hours: “Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children” (Luke 23:27-31, 49);
women prepared the spices for His burial (Luke 23: 55-56),
women were the first to enter His tomb after the resurrection (Luke 24:1-3), and
women were the first to proclaim His resurrection to the waiting men (Luke 24:9-11), who did not believe them!
And modern man tells these passionate women to keep silent in the church! Give me a break! Come on! Get the big picture! The old adage, “You can’t see the forest for the trees”—Get your eyes off of two “trees” of scriptures (1 Corinthians 14:34-35; 1 Timothy 2:11-15), and get your eyes on the whole “forest,” and see how these two scriptures smoothly fit into the whole of the plan, the Word and the ways of God.
The woman is a vital team member with no lesser position in the Lord than a man. In fact, according to Proverbs 31:10-31, the virtuous woman, the woman who reverences God, is a strong team member who the husband can trust in and rely upon. She is not afraid of work. She helps bear the responsibility of the provision and maintenance of the household. She supports and honors her husband, and in turn, the husband loves, freely praises and exalts her publicly for her good character and good works. They pull together as a winning team of mutual respect and honor.
The woman who is submissive and obedient to the Lord does not need a man’s validation in order to minister. She is free to minister. The man who is submissive and obedient to the Lord will give her validation, even though she does not need it. And, that works both ways. The point is not whether you are male or female. The point is each being submissive and obedient to the Lord. Our minds need to be renewed from seeing women from man’s point of view to seeing women from God’s point of view.
My wife recently started a ladies group called Ladies OP—Ladies On Purpose. Her goal in having the meetings is to bring healing and self-esteem to women by helping them to see how God sees them. When men and women understand how God values them, there is healing from how other people view us, and from how we might even view ourselves. God’s value of every man and every woman is such that He gave His only begotten Son in sacrificial death, that we might all stand together as one in Him, in His righteousness and clothed with His Holy Spirit. Our identity and self-esteem are based on and built on Jesus Christ Himself.
Again, I say, life and ministry in the kingdom is not gender based. It is based on the cleansing by the blood of Jesus, on the anointing of the Spirit and on the leadership of the Lord. The Father and Jesus and the Holy Spirit have taken the lid off. This operation of God was prophesied to happen, and it is abundantly clear that God works this way in the New Testament and in this present day.
Now it is all hands-on deck. We are all to work together as a team, fulfilling our respective call of God and role in the operation of the Spirit of God. Mutual submission to the Lord and to one another in the Lord is God’s call to every believer. We are to know no man after the flesh. Distinctions are not made according to whether we are male or female, Jew or Greek, bond or free, or rich or poor. We distinguish ourselves in the kingdom of God by the Spirit of God in our life and by the love and passion of the Lord in us to reach the world for Jesus and liberate and strengthen the Body of Christ.
Please read the following scripture that I alluded to earlier. I added the bracketed comments for clarity and emphasis.
14. For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: 15. And that he died for all, that they which live [both men and women] should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. 16. Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh [not according to gender or social status]: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. 17. Therefore if any man [man or woman] be in Christ, he [man or woman] is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 18. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us [men and women] to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us [men and women] the ministry of reconciliation; 19. To wit, that God was in Christ [in the person and anointing of Jesus], reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us [men and women] the word of reconciliation. 20. Now then we [men and women] are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us; we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. 21. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we [men and women] might be made the righteousness of God in him. 2 Corinthians 5:14-21
God wants to establish us in His plan and purpose to reach the world for Jesus. Any purposeless, legalistic, disorderly, chattering, talk or teaching by women in the church is to be corrected. Any purposeless, legalistic, disorderly chattering, talk or teaching by men in the church is to be corrected. What applies to some particular situations with women in some churches in the New Testament does not mean women are to keep silence in every church across the land! The correction is simply a matter of being orderly for the good and edification of all.
Does the woman have her role in the home? Absolutely! But she is not limited to the home. She can work in the world. Does the man have his role in the world? Absolutely! But he is not limited to the world. He can work in the home. God has ordained that we work together as a team with love, honor, flexibility and purpose in the Lord to have a godly home and reap the harvest. The heartbeat of God is that we live together in His presence and to go out and reap the harvest. Men and women are equally called, equipped and sent to reap the harvest by the leadership of the Holy Spirit.
Women! Don’t allow any voice to put a restriction on your obedience to God. Be free to play your part as a member of God’s Holy Team with all submissiveness to Jesus Christ as your Lord!
Men and women! Be the team God has called you to be and let’s take Jesus out to the world in the power of the Holy Spirit in all love and boldness. Let’s present Jesus Christ, the suffering, resurrected Savior, with clarity and simplicity in the power of the Spirit. Jesus took our sins away, He took our sicknesses away, and He defeated the devil on the cross. When people really see this, they are changed, they are born again, they are healed, and they are delivered from oppression.
With God, all things are possible. You are God’s Holy Team with God. So, go with God, and know that all things are possible!