The government appears unlikely to try to overturn recent defeats in the Lords on equality legislation.
Earlier this week peers voted to amend the Equality Bill to retain the right of religious organisations to reject candidates for particular roles on grounds such as gender, marital status and sexual orientation.
Questioned in the Commons on how the government planned to respond to the defeat, Harriet Harman said that there would be an official announcement soon.
Andrew Rosindell (C Romford) urged ministers to "finally admit that were it not for the successful amendments in the Lords, the Bill would have further restricted employment for people working in religious organisations".
Harman said: "I would reassure Members that the policy will remain as it is and I would not lead them to anticipate that it's going to be brought forward again in this House."
But the deputy leader of the Labour Party and equalities minister insisted that the government had not been seeking to force churches to appoint gay bishops.
She said that the legislation differentiated between "religious jobs" and "non-religious jobs".
Issuing invoices, even for someone employed by the Church of England was not a religious job, she argued.
"The question is to make it clear that religious organisations, when they are employing people in non-religious jobs, the law applies to them the same as to everyone else.
"We've always been clear that we aren't going to insist that there is non-discrimination in relation to those people in religious jobs, like being a vicar or a bishop, or an imam or a rabbi.
"The law has stepped back from that and said religious organisations can decide themselves how to do it.
"But when it comes to non-religious jobs, they must comply with the law."
But Tory MP Mark Harper said this was not clear in the Bill prior to the government's defeat.
"Her bill unamended didn’t even make it clear that minsters of religion would have to live in accordance of the faith of their religion," he said.
Harman accused Harper of attempting "perpetrate further misunderstanding" about the Bill.
"We have not intended ever, or tried to extend non discrimination provisions to them.
"They are, and will, continue to be expended from non-discrimination laws," she said. "We have not sought to change it".
