1 Timothy 1:8-11

The Law (Gr. nomos) is profitable if one uses it properly, according to its original intention ("lawfully," Gr. nomimos, a play on words).

"Here its ’goodness’ is related to its being used properly, that is, treated as law (intended for the lawless, 1 Timothy 1:9) and not used ’illegitimately’ as a source for myths and endless genealogies, or for ascetic practices." [Note: Ibid., p. 45.]

"Thus Paul is saying that the law is not given to apply in some mystical way to people who are already ’righteous,’ i.e., those already seeking to conform to the law. It is, rather, given to deal with people who are specifically violating its sanctions and to warn them against their specific sins (as the list in 1 Timothy 1:9-10 goes on to do)." [Note: Knight, p. 83. See Femi Adeyemi, "Paul’s ’Positive’ Statements about the Mosaic Law," Bibliotheca Sacra 164:653 (January-March 2007):49-58.]

Paul arranged his first six epithets in pairs (1 Timothy 1:9 a). For other Pauline "vice lists," see 1 Timothy 6:4-5; Romans 1:29-31; Romans 6:9-10; Romans 13:13; 1 Corinthians 5:10-11; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; 2 Corinthians 6:9-10; 2 Corinthians 12:20; Galatians 5:19-21; Ephesians 4:31; Ephesians 5:3-5; Colossians 3:5; Colossians 3:8; Titus 3:3; and 2 Timothy 3:2-5. The leading attitude in each pair precedes the resulting action. There is a progression in these three couplets from more general to more specific lawlessness. The first two terms are introductory.

The disobedient

"Lawless" people refuse to recognize law.

"Rebellious" individuals refuse to obey laws.

The following sins are violations of the first through the third commandments: sins specifically against God Himself.

The irreverent

"Ungodly" men and women have no regard for God.

"Sinners" live in opposition to God.

The impure

"Unholy" people are those whose lives are impure.

"Profane" persons treat sacred things as common.

The second group of offenders (1 Timothy 1:9-10 a) provides examples of individuals who break the fifth through the ninth commandments of the Decalogue. They are sinners arrayed against society.

The violent

"Father-strikers and mother-strikers" is a better translation than "those who kill their fathers or mothers." [Note: E. K. Simpson, The Pastoral Epistles, p. 31.] Such people have no respect or affection for their own parents (cf. Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16; the fifth commandment).

"Murderers" kill people deliberately (cf. Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17; the sixth commandment).

The immoral

"Immoral men" deal perversely with people of the opposite sex (cf. Exodus 20:14; Deuteronomy 5:18; the seventh commandment).

"Homosexuals" abuse people of their own sex (the seventh commandment). [Note: See P. Michael Ukleja, "Homosexuality in the New Testament," Bibliotheca Sacra 147:560 (October-December 1983):350-58; and Sherwood A. Cole, "Biology, Homosexuality, and Moral Culpability," Bibliotheca Sacra 154:615 (July-September 1997):355-66.]

The deceitful

"Kidnappers" steal and sell other people (cf. Exodus 20:15; Deuteronomy 5:19; the eighth commandment).

"Liars and perjurers" bear false witness (cf. Exodus 20:16; Deuteronomy 5:20; the ninth commandment).

"Most likely the list is a conscious reflection of the Mosaic Law as law and expresses the kinds of sins such law was given to prohibit." [Note: Fee, p. 46.]

Paul concluded his list (1 Timothy 1:10-11) with a general category of anything contrary to not only the Law of Moses but the larger gospel that Paul preached. That gospel encompassed the Old Testament. "Sound doctrine" does not just describe correct or accurate doctrine but what is healthful and wholesome. [Note: Hiebert, p. 37.] Paul probably did not refer to violation of the fourth commandment because it is not a part of the moral code of the New Covenant. Perhaps he did not mention violation of the tenth commandment because he dealt with that later (cf. 1 Timothy 6:9-10) or because violation of it is unobservable.

"Healthy teaching leads to proper Christian behavior, love and good works; the diseased teaching of the heretics leads to controversies, arrogance, abusiveness, and strife (1 Timothy 6:4)." [Note: Fee, p. 46. See René A. López, "A Study of Pauline Passages with Vice Lists," Bibliotheca Sacra 168:671 (July-September 2011):301-16.]

"Missionaries of one particular cult say that their scriptures are authoritative because they stem from God. Its elders usually insist that the Holy Spirit will ’move in the heart’ to confirm the veracity of their teaching. But when their doctrines do not pass the more objective test applied by the church fathers, what does it matter how one ’feels’ about their teaching? Such counterclaims to authority are clearly wrong." [Note: Towner, 1-2 Timothy . . ., p. 52.]

"It will be clear from any careful reading that this concern for the gospel is the driving force behind the P[astoral]E[pistles]." [Note: Fee, p. 15.]

Paul’s points in this pericope are the following. When a person teaches the Scriptures, he or she should distinguish speculation that goes beyond what God has revealed from the teaching of God’s Word (the method, 1 Timothy 1:4). Second, love for others should be primary (the motive, 1 Timothy 1:5), not a desire to glorify oneself. Third, the teacher should present a portion of Scripture considering the purpose for which God intended it (the meaning, 1 Timothy 1:8-10). Knowledge of the letter is not enough. A teacher should communicate the spirit of the divine Author as well.