1 Tim 1

In the first chapter of 1 Timothy there is a warning about false teachers, those who have turned to meaningless talk without a pure heart, good conscience, or sincere faith, desiring to teach the law. They want to be teachers of the law, but do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.

"We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me." v8-11

So, how do we use law properly?
Why is it made only for those who break it?
How is the law similar to the gospel?

So, how do we use law properly? We learn the rules and we avoid breaking them. If we break them, we get punished, justly, and in the future will remember the consequences of being caught breaking them so that we avoid breaking them again. Right? But it only really works if we want to follow the laws. If we seek to just satisfy our own desires, we can blur the rules and ignore them for our own purposes.

Getting to drive you learn all about traffic signs and rules. But shortly after being able to drive a number of people just speed all the time. You've gotta get somewhere as soon as possible. As long as you don't see a cop and aren't driving by the places you typically see them, you go faster. You've never got a ticket before.

But you know what? Breaking the rules has consequences. Not the ones you are expecting.

If you speed, you deserve a high-speed death. The law was put there to avoid the consequence. You can choose to ignore it, but that's the eventual outcome. That ticket isn't a punishment. That ticket is grace for both you and the person you could have hit.


The law was made to protect those who might break it. It was not made to fix the situation, but to assist in avoiding breaking the laws, and the consequences of such.

The laws are not made by the law breakers, but by those whom have never broken the laws for the safety of everyone including those who might break them.

This is the same for the gospel. It was made for those who would break laws because unfortunately breaking the law goes on your permanent record. Once you have broken a law, there is nothing you can do to take it off your record. You can pay the penalty, but when it comes to breaking God's laws everyone ends up paying the death they deserve apart from receiving Jesus' death in their place.

"It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." Matt 9:12-13