Grace That Fulfills the Law

Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted. 

(1 Timothy 1:8-11 ESV)

Paul was one to draw a sharp distinction between law and gospel, identifying the gospel as a superior covenant, but never discounting the law. Paul had great respect for the law, and always made it a point to proclaim it as good. As he stated in Romans 7:12, “the law is holy, and the commandment holy, righteous and good”.  He was careful, however, to make the case that the law was of no use in obtaining righteousness, and could not justify or sanctify anyone. The law was a perfect standard of holiness which was establish by God, but a standard has no power to bring about what it demands. The only power the law has is to condemn law-breakers.

This is why he states in 1 Timothy that “the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient”. What is meant by that? That those who keep the law have nothing to fear from the law? Yes, those who keep the law have nothing to fear from the law – as a motorist has nothing to fear from a police cruiser if he obeys the traffic laws. However this analogy breaks down in the case of the law of God if we realize, with Paul, that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) In other words, human beings do not have the ability to keep God’s law. While many of us think that we have nothing to fear from the law because we have kept it, close scrutiny of our lives in accordance with the literal law of God proves otherwise. Which of us has kept the letter of the law let alone the intent of the law by an act of human will? According to scripture, none of us.

Enter the gospel, which states that Christ kept the law on our behalf. Christ lived the perfect life and died the perfect death in our place. He satisfied the judgment of God on our behalf so that the law no longer condemns, as Paul states in Romans 8:1. It would seem as if God has cast off all restraint and liberated us to do as we please. If we are justified entirely apart from the law (Romans 3:21) then the demands of the law mean nothing to us and hold no power over us. Can they simply be tossed aside, ignored; left to gather dust as we revel in our new-found freedom?

Note something interesting in this passage from First Timothy. Paul says that law is intended for a certain kind of people – the lawless and disobedient. He lists many of them in the passage, and then ends the list with the catch-all that the law is for those who do “whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine…” He then establishes where this sound doctrine may be found – “in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.” He brings this full circle so that we may understand that the aim of the law and the aim of the gospel are one and the same – true righteousness. Both covenants point to the same expectation of God – holiness – but seek to achieve it in very different ways. The law demands righteousness which it cannot bring about, and the gospel brings about righteousness which it does not demand. The law appeals to the flesh and results in condemnation, the gospel appeals to the Spirit and results in sanctification.

So each of the two ‘words’ of God – law and gospel – have a specific place. Law is not meant to be used to bring about righteousness in the just – those who have been justified in Christ. That is the purpose of the gospel. The ‘lawful’ use of the law is the make people realize that they have no power to keep the law to the satisfaction of God so that they will seek the savior (Galatians 3:24). By the same token the gospel is not to be used to bring about lawlessness or licentiousness in those who have been justified in obedience to the gospel. In the end, the law and the gospel are not at odds with one another as they both seek to bring about righteousness. Were the law empowered to bring about the righteousness it demands, it would bring about the righteousness which the gospel actually delivers.

Here is what Paul says: “For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” (Romans 8:3-4 ESV) In the end, the righteous requirement of the law is met in us by the Spirit in accordance with the gospel. That is the gospel truth.

God Bless