Use the Law Lawfully (1 Timothy 1:8-11)

“But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, 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, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust.” (1 Timothy 1:8-11)

What is it to use the law lawfully?

When Jesus went through the grain fields on a Sabbath, His disciples picked up some grain, rubbed them, and ate. The act of the disciples were caught on spot by the watching eyes of the religious police for the violation of the law of Sabbath. The Pharisees accused the disciples of doing what was unlawful on the Sabbath (Luke 6:1-2).

It was an opportunity for our Lord Jesus Christ to explain the true meaning of the law. So He did. David was in want by King Saul and on the run without food for several days. When they entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread which was lawfully allowed for the priests only to eat.

In answering the question which is the greatest commandment of God, Jesus summarizes into two commands: love the Lord God with all our hearts, with all our minds, and with all our strength and love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:36-40).

God is love. So, the commandment of God is the law of love. The reason God didn’t condemn David who violated the law was because God loved him more than the food restrictions. God knows man’s heart. Apostle Paul says that they kingdom of heaven is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Spirit (Romans 14:17).

Jesus says that He is the Lord of the Sabbath (Luke 6:5). He designed and made the law. He created and invented the law. The law of God represents the character of God. So, the law cannot and will not be changed. All the law of God must and will be fulfilled even one jot or one tittle (Matthew 5:18).

The true reason the law has been given to man is not for us to keep it by trying harder and harder, but to teach how much sinful and fallen we are (Romans 3:19, 7:13). No one can keep the law by trying hard with flesh and blood.

Apostle Paul wrote a letter to his son in the faith, Timothy in which he revealed a truth that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for lawbreakers, and for sinners according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God. The law condemns whenever it is violated in any degree whether small or trivial.

That’s how we use the law lawfully, knowing that we are found guilty in the reflection of the law. Without law there is no condemnation. In Christ, we are not under the law but under grace (Romans 6:14). So, the law cannot condemn us by any means (Romans 8:1).

However, the law is still good because it stands forever, telling us a truth that we have nothing in us to earn the righteousness of God. So, the glorious gospel of the blessed God is still in effect to the poor and the wretched in spirit.

“Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.” (Galatians 3:24-25)