Objection:
1 Timothy 1:9 proves that the Christian has nothing to do with the law, for we read there that “the law is not made for a righteous man.”
Answer:
Let us read the complete passage: “Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;” 1 Timothy 1:9-10.
The first fact that stands out from this Bible statement is that it says nothing about abolishing the law in the Christian dispensation. Instead, it reveals that the law serves a definite purpose in the Christian Era, as it did in the centuries before Christ. The class of people against whom the law is directed—murderers, liars, etc., are found in every period of the world’s history. No text in the Bible proves more conclusively than this one that the law was not done away at the cross.
The only way to attempt to offset this proof would be by contending that murderers and liars, for example, should obey the law, whereas Christians are free from it. This strange conclusion would be brought by following the objector’s logic.
But even that defense of the no-law position is unavailing. Can even the most devout among righteous men rightly claim that they never sin? No. Even the greatest saints have had to claim repeatedly the comforting promise. “If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” 1 John 2:1. The same apostle who wrote that promise also wrote, “Sin is the transgression of the law.” 1 John 3:4. Therefore, every time we confess our sins, we confess that God’s law is still binding and that we desire obedience to it. Then, as we again place our hand in the hand of God and walk in righteousness, we are not brought into conflict with the law, for “the law is not made for a righteous man.”
There is nothing complicated to understand about this text. It is a simple statement concerning the
purpose of law that every judge, legislator, or layperson would agree to today in civil and religious matters. For whom are our criminal laws laid down? For the law-abiding citizen? No, for the lawless, you say. That is right. But is the law-abiding citizen, therefore, freed from the requirements of the statute books? No.
The same is true concerning God’s law. It is directed against the lawless, not against the righteous, who are law-abiding citizens of the kingdom of God. But are the citizens of the heavenly kingdom, therefore, freed from the requirements of that divine code? No.
Furthermore, good citizens in any government do not complain about the law, assuming the law is just. They have little occasion to complain. Their lives are in harmony with it. Even so in the spiritual realm. The man whose heart is right with God finds no occasion to fight the divine law or to tell others that it ought to be abolished. Instead, he says with the psalmist, “O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.” Psalms 119:97. If he is overtaken in a fault and falls into sin, he does not excuse his sinful act by arguing that the law has no claim upon him. Instead, he confesses his sin—his law-breaking—and seeks, through divine grace, to obey God more faithfully.
