“We know that the law is not meant for a righteous person, but for the lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinful, for the unholy and irreverent, for those who kill their fathers and mothers, for murderers, for the sexually immoral and males who have sex with males, for slave traders, liars, perjurers, and for whatever else is contrary to the sound teaching that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which was entrusted to me.”
Paul had just said in verse eight that the law was good, provided it was used correctly. Here, he tells how it is to be used. Verses 9 through 11 are one long sentence, one complete thought. The basic idea is this: The law is not meant for righteous people, but for sinners. I could end right now, but there is a lot of interesting content in Paul’s lists.
First, let’s look at Paul’s list. He lists several pairs as the opposite of righteous people. He lists “…lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and the sinner, for the unholy and the irreverent…” before he lists specific sins. All the commentaries I read linked the list to the Ten Commandments. These first three pairs were compared to the first four commandments. As a review, let’s look at them.
- Do not have other gods beside me.
- Do not make an idol for yourself.
- Do not misuse the name of the LORD your God.
- Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
So we see in these six words: lawless, rebellious, ungodly, sinners, and unholy, and irreverent, sins against God, which are the first four commandments.
Paul then moves on to a more specific sin- “… for those who kill their fathers and mothers…” There can be no doubt that he is referring to the Ten Commandments here. Paul lists sinful behavior in other letters. Here are a couple of examples. In Galatians 5:19-21, he writes about the works of the flesh. “Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar. I am warning you about these things—as I warned you before—that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” In first Corinthians 6: 9-10, he writes, “Don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be deceived: No sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, or males who have sex with males, no thieves, greedy people, drunkards, verbally abusive people, or swindlers will inherit God’s kingdom.” But here, in his letter to Timothy, he is writing about the law, and it is fitting that he draws up a list that is in direct comparison to the Ten Commandments.
Let’s continue looking at the commandments in comparison to Paul’s list. Commandment five is “Honor your father and mother.” Paul uses an example of unrighteous people as those who kill their fathers and mothers. Commandment six is “Do not murder” which corresponds directly with murderers.
The last three are a little more complicated. Paul lists the sexually immoral and males that have sex with males next on his list. This would correspond with the seventh commandment “You shall not commit adultery.” Any sexual activity outside of marriage is wrong. Jesus defines marriage as between one man and one woman for a lifetime in Matthew 19. He says, “So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate” (v. 6) and “I tell you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another commits adultery” (v.9). There is to be no sexual activity outside of marriage and marriage is only between one man and one woman. This is directly from Jesus.
Next, he lists slave traders. This corresponds with “You shall not steal.” This one is so interesting! Paul considers slave trading to be the stealing of men. This was a common practice during the 1st century, and it is interesting that Paul uses it as an example for breaking the eighth commandment. Jay Twomey, in his commentary The Pastoral Epistles through the Centuries, writes, “The American abolitionist George Cheever seizes upon 1 Timothy 1:10 and declares that ‘a more tremendous passage against slavery does not exist than this’; if Christians followed Paul’s instructions, Cheever feels, ‘slavery would be abolished from our land’ (in Harrill 2000; 157).”
The last two that Paul mentions are liars and perjurers which correspond with the ninth commandment- “You shall not give false testimony.” He does not directly address the tenth commandment, “You shall not covet,” but when he writes “…and for whatever else is contrary to the sound teaching that conforms to the gospel…” he covers it all. It reminds me of his list in Galatians when he ends with “…and anything similar.” Paul covers all of the bases.
He says, “… anything contrary to sound teaching that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which was entrusted to me.” Sound teaching is important to Paul, and he uses this phrase four other times in his pastoral epistles, twice to Timothy and twice to Titus. At the end of this letter he writes, “If anyone teaches false doctrine and does not agree with the sound teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ and with the teaching that promotes godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing, but has an unhealthy interest in disputes and arguments over words” (1 Timothy 6:3-4a). And in his second letter to Timothy, “Hold on to the pattern of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 1:13). To Titus, he writes, “As an overseer of God’s household, he must be blameless, not arrogant, not hot-tempered, not an excessive drinker, not a bully, not greedy for money, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, righteous, holy, self-controlled, holding to the faithful message as taught, so that he will be able both to encourage with sound teaching and to refute those who contradict it” (Titus 1:7-9) and “But you are to proclaim things consistent with sound teaching” (Titus 2:1). Sound teaching must conform to the gospel message that was entrusted to the apostles.
So let’s end today’s post with this. The law’s job is to point to our sin. The law cannot bring righteousness, it can only show us that we need a Savior. The good news- the Gospel-is that Jesus paid the price for our sins. In Him we have our salvation. He provided the way for our sins to be forgiven. Because of what He did-He lived a perfect life, died on the cross, and rose from the dead to pay the ultimate price for our sins- we by accepting that gift can be adopted into God’s family. “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he richly poured out on us with all wisdom and understanding” (Ephesians 1:7-8).
Grace be with you!
Abundant Joy 