The Law is Good

Text: 1 Tim 1:8-11 


The Law refers to the Mosaic Law, the Ten Commandments. The Law God gave to us is perfect and is still applicable to us today. In 1 Timothy, we read that in the Ephesian church, false teachers were teaching the wrong doctrines concerning the Law. As these false doctrines were spreading, the Apostle Paul sent instructions to Pastor Timothy in Ephesus to correct the teachings and to reprove the false teachers.

1.    The Law according to the false teachers:

Verse 8 tells us that the Law is good because it originates from a good God. The Law is for our benefit if we use it lawfully. However, the false teachers taught that to be saved and accepted by God, salvation by grace alone is not enough. They taught that there is a need to obey and do the works of the Law in order to be saved. This shows that man is self-righteous, thinking that they are saved because they have kept the Law. In reality, they are just boasting and doing what they want to do.

2.    The Law according to God:

Verses 9-10 tell us that the Law does not cause man to be righteous. Rather, the Law shows how man had fallen short of the standard of the Perfect God. God’s Law reveals how wicked and corrupt we are. We are all guilty according to the Law. The Law cannot save us. It condemns us. We can never be righteous by keeping the Law, because we can never keep the Law fully. Jesus Christ is our only hope of salvation.

3.    The law in relation to the Gospel:

God sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us on the cross so that we might be saved. We are no longer under the Law when we accept Jesus. Instead, we are under His grace. Once saved by grace, the Law serves as a lamp/light to guide us in our lives on earth. The Law shows us how to be holy as God is holy and how to love and forgive one another just as how God loves and forgives us.

The Law is good if we understand and apply it correctly. The Law is not for salvation, but for our Christian living. May God help us.