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MORAL LAW. I Timothy 1:8-11. 3/6/2022. #2.
1 Timothy 1:8-11 [New King James Version]
8 But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, 9 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, 10 for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, 11 according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust.
1. The place of the Mosaic Law
a. Many teach that there is nothing in the OT Law that pertains to the church
a1. Matthew 5:17 Jesus came to fulfill the Law
a2. Romans 6:12-14 not under law, but grace
b. Romans 7 the Law is righteous
a1. All the tenets of the moral law (honesty, fidelity, purity, respect…) are still valid
a2. The Law is the foundation of moral teaching and behavior
c. 3 aspects of the Law have no authority over us
a1. Romans 5 the penalty of the Law has been paid for by Jesus & believers are under
no condemnation because of it (Romans 8)
a2. The ritual of the Law is of no effect, being made void at the cross (Hebrews 10)
a3. The trappings of the Law are superseded by grace (no Sabbath Day observance, Yom Kippur, Tabernacle, Passover…)
d. Legalists try to incorporate restrictive rules
2. The Law is made for the lawless
a. Romans 7:7-8:1 the Law defines sin & convicts sinners; it can save no one
b. A righteous person needs no Law (Romans 2:15-17)
a1. Romans 3:23 = no one is righteous
a2. Isaiah 64:6 = the most righteous fall short
c. Jesus added thought life to sinful acts (Matthew 5)
d. The Law defines sin and assigns guilt
e. This partial list of sins of lawless & rebellious convicts everyone:
a1. General: ungodly, sinners, & unholy
a2. Profane (“cross the threshold”) = to go beyond decency, morals, & honor
a3. Murderers of fathers & mothers
a4. Manslayers (slayers of men)
a5. Fornicators (porneia, illicit sexual intercourse) – only marriage is legitimate avenue for sexual intercourse
a6. Sodomites = homosexuals
a7. Kidnappers = slave dealer
a8. Liars (pseustais, falsehood) = deceiver
a9. Perjurers – to swear a false oath
a10. Opposing sound doctrine
3. Using the Law properly
a. By using the moral law to teach proper Christian behavior, we properly teach holy living
b. If we attempt to bring believers under the Law, we falsely use God’s Law
c. One can be moral without being legalistic
a1. Satan loves when the Word of God is twisted into error
a2. The Word must be used properly
d. Gal. 1 no other gospel is the true Gospel
e. The Lord wants us saved, moral, & serving
f. The heart of sound doctrine is righteous living
Key verse: Romans 7:7-8:17 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead. 9 I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. 10 And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death. 11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me. 12 Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good. 13 Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful. 14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. 15 For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. 16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. 17 But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. 19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. 20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 21 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. 22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.