1 Timoteo 1:8-11

The True Purpose Of The Law And Who It Is For (1 Timothy 1:8-11 ).

But we know that the law (nomos) is good, if a man use it lawfully (nomeows), as knowing this, that law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and unruly, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers (or ‘smiters/cudgellers’) of fathers and murderers (or ‘smiters/cudgellers’) of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for abusers of themselves with men, for menstealers, for liars, for false swearers, and if there be any other thing contrary to the sound doctrine, according to the gospel of the glory of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.’

Paul then describes the true purpose of the Law and defends it. It is not the Law (either the Law of Moses or the Old Testament) that is at fault. Indeed it is good if it is used rightly, for its purpose is to convict the heart of man and act as a mirror to show him what he really is, and is then to show him the way in which he should go (this might suggest that here the Law of Moses was especially in mind, confirming the Jewish connections of these teachers). Had we all been fully righteous the Law would not have been necessary. It is because we are not, and because of what is in our hearts, that it is needed. It is a manual for sinners. It is there to deal with all matters that are contrary to sound teaching, the sins of the flesh and mind. It is there to show us what God requires of us. And this was true of all law. As Romans 1-3 shows us, this task of the Law was very much a part of sound doctrine.

For the ungodly the Law is a pointer to Christ because it draws their attention to their sin. It is not offering them a way of becoming righteous, and they can never be accounted as righteous by God by obeying it, because they are unable to keep it completely. However, by demonstrating that they are unrighteous the Law reveals their need to be saved (Romans 3:19; Galatians 3:23-24). It is like a mirror that they look in and discover how filthy they are. It hammers home to them their true moral situation in order to bring out their sinfulness and in order to convince them that they are condemned. That is the purpose of the Law for the unbeliever. And the more they struggle to keep it, the more it holds them down and condemns them.

But for the believer it is something very different. It is a welcome guide to the will of God. From it he comes to know the mind of God and what God is like. This is revealed especially in the Sermon on the Mount which might be called ‘the Christian Law’, although in it Jesus is in fact bringing out the real meaning of the ancient Law. It shows a Christian how he can fulfil the desire of his heart, and that is to please his Father. So he is ‘under the Law of Christ’ (1 Corinthians 9:21), and delights in it because he wants to please Him. The Christian does not seek to justify himself by the Law, but neither does he fling it aside. He embraces it. He knows that it is the mirror of all that is good. Indeed it shows him the heart of Christ.

For being ‘under the Law’ can signify two different situations. The first is of a man coming to judgment. He is to be judged ‘under the Law’. It reveals what God’s requirement is for him, and what God will demand (Romans 3:19-20). And by it he is revealed as utterly condemned. He is left without hope. For whatever he may do in the future, he cannot erase the past. So the Law leaves him in a hopeless position. It is inconsequential as to what the level is at which he has failed. Having committed one sin he has become guilty of all (James 2:10). He is established as guilty before God (Romans 3:20). But it can then help him no further. His only hope is to turn to Christ for salvation.

But the Christian has been delivered from being ‘under the Law’ in this sense. For him Jesus has taken it out of the way, nailing it to His cross (Colossians 2:14). He is no longer under the Law but under grace (Romans 6:14). No finger any longer points at him. He is free from condemnation (Romans 5:1), because Jesus has delivered him from the curse of the Law by being made a curse for him (Galatians 3:10-13). The Christian is counted as righteous through faith in the redemption of Christ achieved through the shedding of His blood (Romans 3:24-25). He has done for us what the Law could not do, by offering Himself for us once for all (Romans 8:2-3). But this was in order that the righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us as we ‘walk after the Spirit (Romans 8:4). Thus this does not mean that he casts aside the Law, except in regard to its position as an accuser and a harsh slavemaster. It means that he embraces it. He has begun to walk in the way of life, and he recognises that that was the original purpose of the Law, to be a road map for how he should live. Like the Psalmist he says, ‘O how I love your Law’ (Psalms 119:97). From it he discovers the heart of God. It has now become to him ‘the law of Christ’. He is ‘under the Law of Christ’, the Law as revitalised and renewed and brought back to its proper function by Him (Matthew 5-7; Luk 6:20-49 ; 1 Corinthians 9:21; Galatians 6:2; Galatians 5:14). It is there to be his guide. It may often convict him in his heart, but it can never again condemn him. It is rather a help along the way as he delights to do His will.

But let us once stray from the way and it springs immediately into effect. It once again faces us up with what God requires. It is for ‘the lawless and unruly, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for cudgellers of fathers and cudgellers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for abusers of themselves with men, for menstealers, for liars, for false swearers.’ Here is a typical Pauline list (compare Romans 1:24-32; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 5:20-21) although here, as in 1 Corinthians, especially stressing the responsibility of those who do such things. Note how it includes both religious and secular behaviour. For to the Law ignoring God and treating Him as irrelevant is as heinous a sin as being a murderer, if not even moreso. And as Paul has said to Christians, ‘such were some of you but you have been washed, you have been made holy, you have been accounted as in the right in the Name of our Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God’ (1 Corinthians 6:11). In other words he says, ‘you were like that, but you are no longer like it, through the work of Christ and through the power of the Holy Spirit’.

For the truth is that you cannot be a deliberate Law-breaker and a Christian. The two ideas are incompatible. And once you begin to stray back into those ways the Law acts like a mirror and pulls you up and says, ‘Consider your position. Look at yourself. If you are His this way is not for you, and if you continue in it without a torn conscience it will simply demonstrate that you are not one of His’. Thinking in terms most prevalent today no man can help being filled with sexual desire, it is the way of men, but if he sins sexually outside marriage then the Law will pull him up, and if he is a Christian he will truly repent. And if he does not, and seems to get away with it, it may simply indicate that he has never been a Christian at all (although God often acts in the long term for He has plenty of time. He acts in His own way. It is not for us to finally judge). No man can help being a homosexual, and God loves homosexuals as much as He loves heterosexuals (indeed he does not categorise us in that way at all. Those are our distinctions). But let him stray into being a ‘practising homosexual’, in other words into indulging in sexual sin outside Biblical marriage, then the Law will pull him up, and if he is a Christian he will truly repent. And if he does not, and seems to get away with it, it may simply indicate that he has never been a Christian at all. And the same applies to all who are ‘lawless and unruly’, including ‘liars’. God takes no prisoners. We must either join forces with Him in Christ, and submit to Him, or be lost for ever. And we cannot argue about His terms.

‘For the lawless and unruly, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers/cudgellers of fathers and murderers/cudgellers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for abusers of themselves with men, for menstealers, for liars, for false swearers.’ Note how, having first analysed sinners, the list is very much built around the last six commandments. It begins by analysing sinners, what they are and what they do. They are lawless and thus they refuse to obey the Law and are unruly. They are ungodly and so they offend against God. They are unholy and therefore they behave profanely and treat sacred things in that way. It then continues by turning to specifics in terms of the commandments and the law of the covenant. It is for ‘father-strikers and mother-strikers’, who are those who have no respect for their own parents or for their families (see Exodus 20:12; Exodus 21:15; Exodus 21:17); it is for ‘murderers’ who have no respect for life see Exodus 20:13; it is for ‘immoral men’ (fornicators) who have no respect for women, see Exodus 20:14; Exodus 22:16; Deuteronomy 22:22-30; it is for ‘practising homosexuals’ (abusers of themselves with men) who have no real respect for other men, otherwise they would not do it, see Leviticus 18:22; Leviticus 20:14; Romans 1:27; it is for ‘men-stealers’ (kidnappers) who have no respect for anyone, see Exodus 21:16; Deuteronomy 24:7; it is for ‘liars’ and ‘false-swearers’ who consider nobody, see Exodus 20:16; Exodus 23:1; Revelation 21:27. Indeed Revelation 2:2 speaks of false teachers as ‘liars’, an idea which may be in mind here in view of the context.

So we can see plainly that the Law is good. What is at fault is its misuse. And to use it as a source of wild speculation, as these so-called teachers did, is to misuse it, and even degrade it. The preaching ministry of the church is not the place for speculation. And we ourselves need to beware when we study the Bible, that we do not misuse it by fantasising and letting ourselves be carried away with our own ideas. Yet that is precisely what these Teachers were doing.

‘And if there be any other thing contrary to the sound doctrine, according to the gospel of the glory of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.’ So the Law is to be a buffer against all unsound teaching and unsound behaviour. And what is sound teaching can be discovered by considering ‘the good news of the glory of the blessed God’, the message committed to Paul’s trust. But what is ‘the good news of the glory of the blessed God? It is that He is holy and without blemish, and calls on us to be so too, wanting to rid us of every spot and stain. It is that He is truly righteous, and offers to bring us within His righteousness and make us righteous. It is that He is hugely compassionate and has revealed His compassion through the cross And we recognise this by beholding His glory. We can consider in this regard Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 4:6 where the glory of God is revealed in the face of Jesus Christ. The good news of the glory of the blessed God is thus also the ‘good news of the glory of Christ’ (2 Corinthians 4:4), that is, of ‘Christ Jesus as Lord’ (2 Corinthians 4:5). Compare 1 Timothy 1:2. But here Paul wants to keep the close association with God lest any separate the Son from the Father, ‘the Lord’ from God, and thus he speaks of the blessed God. Thus sound teaching is found in the Apostolic message concerning God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ and in what constitutes their glory, a glory revealed in the requirements of the Law. This last point is what is being emphasised here. The Gospel is the good news that through Christ men can be brought into a position where they are accounted righteous, and then where they begin to live in accordance with the Law, as they walk with Him Who is the supreme example of the Law-keeper. And they do it because Christ now lives in them and through them (Galatians 2:20). They walk in the Spirit. So the Law points all men in that direction, and away from sin and darkness, so that they can be delivered through Christ, and then continues ever to act as a warning sign against hypocrisy, assisting them in their walk with Christ. It is one of God’s tools in men’s redemption, both on behalf of non-Christians and on behalf of Christians, and that is what makes its misuse so heinous.