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Question 26 (ABM) - Is it OK for a woman to wear pants?: Difference between revisions

Question 26 (ABM) - Is it OK for a woman to wear pants? (view source)

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BTS
BTS
=Response from ABM=
BTS,
This answer will follow along the same line as my answer concerning short hair. I apologize for the length of this email.
==Pants==
The women of our sect do not wear pants, we teach that wearing pants is inappropriate for a woman. You quote the old testatement scripture in the law which forbids women to wear a man's clothes, so we can see men and women were not permitted to wear each other's garments in the days of Old Testament. You are perfectly correct though, we are not bound to keep the precepts of the law, but we are however bound to fulfill the spirit of the law. It must be wrote on our heart. The holy life I live today is a fulfillment of the type (or shadow) of holiness established in the law. The spiritual fulfillment of the applicable passage of the law is the establishment of a principle that God does not want men to change themselves to appear as women, or women to change themselves to appear as man. There is an outward component, obviously. But God is most concerned about the inward component of the fulfillment. Our heart. It is not the our outward act which fulfills this precept of the law, but rather a change in our heart. As a Christian who is led by the spirit, I have no desire in my heart to look like a woman. Likewise a woman led by the spirit will have no desire to look like a man.
If I am a Christian, who has been properly taught scripture, I am going to endeavor to maintain an outward difference in my appearance when compared to the opposite sex and conform to the societal norms of presentation of my gender.
Dresses and skirts, for the last several centuries of western society, are viewed as clearly feminine. Pants, for the majority of the last 2500 years have been viewed as clearly masculine. In modern society, western women largely wear either skirts or pants now. In African and Eastern society, they still primarily wear dresses or skirts.
In Bro. Branham's day, the women wearing pants were very clearly and purposefully bucking historic norms and their transition to wearing pants was an obvious sign of their rebellion against God. So Bro. Branham can very fairly make the statements he did at the tim judging women who were so dressed. His statements were accurate for the facts and reality of his day.
Pants are still an ambiguous thing in society and not yet established as fully feminine in my opinion (and the opinion of many). Women still very commonly wear skirts in western society. Skirts are clearly perceived as feminine, and more so than pants. I believe society still perceives pants as masculine. Maybe this is not the case everywhere, but I feel it is true in the community where I live. (I live in an area with many holiness churches of the Wesleyan tradition, Amish, Mennonites, and probably about four thousand message believers in about thirty-five churches in the area.) I never fail to see women dressed in traditional holiness attire when shopping at the stores. So the historic pattern is very much alive here. Besides that, skirts are still commonly wore by women of a non-holiness persuasion. While pants are somewhat ambiguous, skirts are most certainly still universally viewed as feminine.
Ultimately I am of the belief you are, that God wants us to maintain the distinction between the sexes based on the custom of the society we live in. The difficulty we face with this issue in western society is that the trend for women to embrace pants (and short hair, etc) is relatively recent in historic terms. The current societal custom is still fresh so we have to determine, is it now the new societal norm, or is it still an act of rebellion against the historic norm? Based on how we answer that question is how we determine whether it is appropriate or not. Pants have been around for 2500 years, but only for the last forty or so of those years have they been widely worn by women. So for the first 2460 years they were a garment almost strictly worn by men, but the last 40ish years now women wear them commonly too. I do no feel like I can say with certainty that pants are now a feminine garment. I still think many women view them as a masculine garment, including many of the women who wear them.
Given the uncertainty, I believe a Christian, who has a heart committed to pleasing God, will err on the side of caution. Because what is the downside of wearing a skirt? It is still pretty common. As long as the connotation exists in society that pants are masculine, I do not think a Christian woman should wear them. This violates the principle that men and women should not want to look like the opposite sex. (The "want to" being more important in the eyes of God than the actual act)
So you ask in the title of your email, is it OK for women to wear pants? In most cases, it is not ok for a Christian woman to wear pants. In some limited cases, it may be ok. A working woman may have a need to wear pants for example. I do feel we have moved beyond being able to blanket condemn it as Bro. Branham was able to do, and it is viewed case by case now. But the majority of cases still favor a woman not wearing pants.
==The Law of Moses==
The deeper question you ask is about bringing the law of Moses into the new covenant, or perhaps more aptly stated as mixing law and grace. I am not sure we truly disagree here. Let me explain our teachings, which we derived from Bro. Branham's teaching, who derived it from traditional Wesleyan teaching, and see what you think. I feel like you are taking specific instances, like a women's style of dress, and taking it out of context. Those are specific implementations of a principle in the gospel. The principle in the gospel is the truth and the revelation. The specific implementation of that truth may vary based on the specific case, time, or people. Bro. Branham's implementation, I feel, was completely appropriate for the time and society in which he lived. I had no problem with it then, I have no problem looking back on it now.
The idolaters though completely miss the underlying biblical principles, and thus they missed the revelation. So they have ended up holding onto specific implementations which are no longer a fulfillment of the underlying scriptural principles. They do not even see the equation which led Bro. Branham to make his statement, they only see the result. So they fail to understand that an important value in the equation was variable, thus leading to a somewhat different result if the same equation were calculated today. I hope this makes some sense to you. Bro. Branham changed his specific implementations of things over time, a review of this position on different things will reveal that. Likewise he improved his understand of scripture over time. One time Bro. Branham said "Today I can think something, and tomorrow I can think better." We see no reason whatsoever that this progressive improvement of our understanding of scripture should have stopped with the death of Bro. Branham... I think this thought of ours perhaps best explains the state of our beliefs today.
So what is the principles that drove Bro. Branham to do what you consider an act that would "drag one of the Mosaic laws back into the new covenant"?
When Jesus preached the sermon on the mount, he laid out an important part of the foundation of the new covenant. He established  the principles of holiness under the new covenant in that sermon. He says something profound.
Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. - Matthew 5:17-19
Jesus here does not require the believers of the covenant of grace to observe the precepts of the law, but he does oblige them to fulfill the type they established. He goes on to prove his point, and to explain that while the keeping of the law of Moses was merely outward, the fulfillment of the law he would bring would be a greater righteousness and would be inward.
For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. - Matthew 5:20
The Lord then goes on to explain what he means by exceeding their righteousness. In each case, he shows that his followers will actually experience a change of the inward motivation to be unrighteous. Thus they would not merely keep holiness outwardly, but the desire to rebel against the the righteousness of God would also be taken away. For example, the law forbid murder, but not the anger that led to murder. The Lord explains that through the new covenant, the absence of the anger itself if the greater righteousness. The law forbid adultery, but the absence desire itself to lust will be the greater righteousness. As we read the Lord's sermon, we find he explains repeatedly this new standard of holiness. It is inward in nature, but with an outward result.
We cannot ignore that this life we live as Christians is the fulfillment of the type of holiness established in the law.
What causes us to be holy? It is something repeated over and over again: holiness is the result of doing the will of God out of the love of our heart towards him.
:''In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. '''By the which will we are sanctified''' through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. - Heb 10:6-10 (The blood of Jesus now enables us to be sanctified by doing the will of God)
:''For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus. '''For this is the will of God, even your sanctification''', that ye should abstain from fornication: That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour; - 1 Thes 4:2-4
:''But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. - 1 John 2:5
:''Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that '''doeth the will''' of my Father which is in heaven. - Matt 7:21
:''For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, '''This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;''' - Hebrews 10:14-16
:''Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. - John 14:23
There are many scriptures on this topic. But I trust you are familiar with the Wesleyan teachings on this topic. I am not intending to communicate anything beyond classic Wesleyan thought. Jesus brought us grace and truth. Grace to save us, truth to sanctify us. As believers, we are in need of both of these things to fully please God. Salvation is a free gift, received by grace through faith, and thus justifying us. Sanctification is maintained through living the word of God out of our love for God. It is called a second work of grace, separate and in addition to our salvation by faith. Many modern Christians have dismissed the Wesleyan view of sanctification.
The law of Moses is made up of multiple components. One component established a foreshadow through the many sacrifices of the law. It established the principle of a sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin, whereby peace is made between God and man. The death and resurrection of Jesus fulfilled that type, bringing forgiveness for sin to anyone who will accept his atonement. Another component of the law are the portions which symbolized important events of the future. The feast of Pentecost, for example, was pointing to the events that occurred on the day of Pentecost when the church was born. Most elements like this of the law have been fulfilled, but the feast of trumpets and of tabernacles is not yet fulfilled. So in that sense, the law is not yet entirely fulfilled. So there are still elements in that component of law which are useful for our learning and understanding in that regard. Finally, there is the component of the law which represented holiness. Under the law holiness was only ritual and symbolic, but under the new covenant it is what Paul called "true holiness". That is the kind of holiness Christ described in his sermon on the mount, the principles of holiness in the law are brought to life in through the spirit of God.
So the law contains the spirit, or principles, or a foreshadow, of true holiness. We fulfill that in our lives. This fact is inherently obvious in the New Testament. Consider this for example: on what basis did Paul tell women they should dress modestly? Christ never issued such a statement. Paul drew upon the law to inform his view of what Christians should dress and appear like. He explains this in Galatians where he calls the law a "schoolmaster", a tool useful from which to learn. He did not require the keeping of the precepts of the law, but he distilled the principle in the law in combination of the teachings of Christ, to inform his views and used it to create a specific implementation for the Corinthians, for example. That implementation was not strictly the gospel, but the principle behind it was. Paul explains this multiple times saying things like, "I have no commandments of the Lord, but I give you my judgement". Peter likewise did the same in his letter, recommending a particular style of dress, and he specifically sited the old testament as the source of his opinion (1 Pet 3). We find the same with James in his writings, referencing the old testament to establish principles.
So if it is wrong for Bro. Branham to use the law to inform his understanding, why was it ok for Peter, Paul, and James to use the law to do the same in their day?
==Conclusion==
When I consider the full picture, I realize that Bro. Branham was not bringing the law forward into the present, but was instead using the principles set forth in the law just like Paul did. At the time he was alive, Bro. Branham witnessed the transition from a centuries long established societal norm, to the sexual revolution. Given the context of the time, I feel his implementation of the scripture was perfectly justified. The principle behind his position remains as solid as ever. When you pick his statements though, and give no context, it makes him look like a mad man. I feel you do a disservice to people by not giving the full context to your readers. (I am sure you will Bro. Branham did the disservice by not giving the context himself. But I believe he did. That is how I learned it.)
Having spent your time in the message with the idolators, you probably never even heard this subject approached in this manner while you were with them, and reflecting back you see their flawed attempt to implement his teachings word for word, without the light of the revelation which was behind and assume would hold the same position were he still living. It does not seem fair to me that you do not at least put yourself in his shoes and consider the reality of the 1940s and 1950s.
Kind regards
ABM




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