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Daily Devotions

1 Timothy

1 Timothy 
Day 
Day 14

"The law is not made for a righteous person..."

Text: 1 Timothy 1:9

WHAT WAS THE LAW MADE FOR?

Why was the law given in the first place? Paul’s answer may be found in the following text.

“Knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous
person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the
ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane,
for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers,
for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for
kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is
any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine.”

1 Timothy 1:9-10

1. “Knowing this”

a) This is basic knowledge.
b) This is knowledge that must be borne in mind consciously.

2. “The law is not made for a righteous person”

a) The righteous person does not need the law.
b) However there is no perfectly righteous person on earth, hence the law was given by the Lord.

3. The functions of the law

a) To deter the proliferation of wickedness.
b) To uphold justice.
c) Paul highlighted some categories of the law:-
i) These are just categories.
ii) It is not to be an exhaustive list.

4. “And if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine”

a) This may be called the “miscellaneous” category.
b) “Contrary to sound doctrine”
i) It is too wide to categorise.
ii) Whatever is against “sound doctrine” would be classified here.

UPHOLDING OF THE LAW

Who are the people who were meant to uphold and promote the law?

1. Most of these laws would also be found in the judicial system. Hence the judiciary would be among those who uphold the law.

2. The teachers of the law ought to promote godliness and battle that which is contrary to sound doctrine. False teachers have no part in this because they do not even fully comprehend the law!