Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions

As some of you may know, I am daily reading through Scripture in its order.  Today’s devotion included I Timothy 1:8-11 which is quoted below.

^“But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully, realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted.”  I Timothy 1:8-11.  (Emphasis added.)

Regarding the phrase “law is not made for a righteous person”, this Scripture is consistent with Galatians 3:24-25:  “Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.  But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.”

Regarding the phrase “law is not made for a righteous person”, this Scripture is consistent with Galatians 2:16-17:  “nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.  “But if, while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have also been found sinners, is Christ then a minister of sin? May it never be!  “For if I rebuild what I have once destroyed, I prove myself to be a transgressor.  “For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God.”

Regarding the phrase “law is not made for a righteous person”, this Scripture is consistent with Romans 7:6-11:  “But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.  What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “YOU SHALL NOT COVET.”  But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead.  I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died;  and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me;  for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.”

Regarding the phrase “law is not made for a righteous person”, this Scripture is consistent with Galatians 5, verses 4, 5, 18, 22, and 23:  “You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.  For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness.  … But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.  … But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

Although there are more consistent Scriptures, I will conclude this article with Paul’s testimony in the same chapter of I Timothy 1 which is consistent with the phrase “law is not made for a righteous person”.  “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.  Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.”  1 Timothy 1:15-16.