The Right and Wrong Ways to Achieve the Moral Conduct Suited to the House of God
Vss. 6-17—Paul breaks off speaking of his charge to Timothy to show, in a parenthesis, that there is a right way and there is a wrong way of producing the right moral conduct in the saints. In these verses, he contrasts the Law and grace, and shows that grace is the only way to produce the desired moral conditions mentioned in verse 5.
This digression was necessary because there were many who had the mistaken idea that adhering to legal principles in one’s life would accomplish the desired end of practical holiness and higher spirituality. Paul shows that such a notion is a misuse of the Law, and such legality will not make any real and lasting effect in the saints. Then, he points to his own life to show what grace can do; it transformed the most impossible case in history. Grace turned the chief of sinners into a model Christian whose life became a pattern for all who would believe thereafter.
Vss. 6-7—Paul says that there were “some” who were lacking (“missed”) the moral qualities stated in verse 5 and had “turned aside” from the doctrines of grace that furthered God’s dispensation. These men were pushing another line of things which Paul calls “vain jangling.” This element was of a Jewish origin (Judaizing teachers) and was the bane of the Christian testimony in the early Church; many epistles warn against this error of mixing Law with grace. Sad to say, Judaic principles still run strong in many Christian circles today.
These judaizing teachers imagined themselves to be “teachers of the law,” but they didn’t “understand” what they were teaching. They were “strenuously” affirming that Christians needed to keep the Law. These men were teaching from the Old Testament Law of Moses, but they were misapplying it altogether. This shows that it is possible to use Scriptural words and phrases in Bible teaching, and yet not know the true meaning and application of them. Let us be careful, therefore, to be “rightly dividing the Word of Truth” when expounding the Scriptures (2 Tim. 2:15).
Vs. 8—Paul goes on to show that "the law is good" if it is used properly. He rightly labelled the produce of human imagination as mere fables (vs. 4), but he couldn’t say that about the Law. It was God’s Law and it was “holy, and just, and good” (Rom. 7:12). It could be used by the Christian to condemn evil and show that the judgment of God was against such who did evil. Thus, it is a useful tool in showing a person that he is a sinner. But, Paul says, “the law has not its application to a righteous man”—that is, a person whom God has declared righteous through his belief of the gospel (Rom. 3:22; 4:5). In Scripture, a Christian is viewed as having died to the law (Rom. 7:4-6). Since the law has nothing to say to a dead man, it has no claim on a believer whatsoever (Rom. 6:14). The legal teachers in Ephesus, evidently, didn’t know this and were attempting to bind the obligations of the law upon Christians, and thus, were making the Mosiac law the rule or standard for Christian living. But the law is not the Christian’s standard—it is Christ. The rule for Christian living is the life of Christ, which is much higher in moral character than the legal commandments of Moses. In fulfilling “the law of Christ,” which is to emulate Him in our walk and ways (Gal. 5:2), we go far beyond “the righteous requirement of the law” (Rom. 8:4; Rom. 14:8-10).
While “the law is good, if a man use it lawfully [properly],” it can also be misused; and if used wrongly, it works mischief among the saints—as Paul’s epistle to the Galatians shows. The law was not designed to give a person holiness; it demanded it of him, but it did not have the power to produce it in him. To insist on the principle of law-keeping for the Christian life is to misunderstand the true meaning and proper use of the law.
The Law Condemns Sinners
Vss. 9-11—The correct use of the law is explained in this next series of verses. Its great purpose is not (and never was) to make men walk rightly, but to show that the judgment of God is against every evil principle in man. It is a sword for the conscience, giving men the knowledge that they have sinned (Rom. 3:20), but it has no power to produce good in man (Rom. 3:19; Gal. 3:19).
Paul illustrates this point by listing a number of offenders whose lives the Mosaic Law condemns. Nine of the Ten Commandments are covered in these things. “Lawless and disobedient,” “ungodly and for sinners,” “unholy and profane,” refers to those who violate the first table of commandments in a general way. The first table (the first four commandments) has its bearing on man’s responsibility toward God. “Ungodly,” refers to living without reference to God. “Unholy and profane,” has to do with corruption in holy things pertaining to God.
The rest of the list pertains to the second table of the law; it has to do with man’s responsibility toward his fellow man.
“Murderers of fathers and murders of mothers.” This violates the 5th commandment: “Honour thy father and thy mother” (Ex. 20:12).
“Manslayers.” This violates the 6th commandment: “Thou shalt not kill” (Ex. 20:13).
“Whoremongers” and “them that defile themselves with mankind.” This violates the 7th commandment: “Thou shalt not commit adultery” (Ex. 20:14).
“Menstealers.” This violates the 8th commandment: “Thou shalt not steal” (Ex. 20:15).
“Liars” and “perjured persons.” This violates the 9th commandment: “Thou shalt not bear false witness” (Ex. 20:16).
The phrase, “And if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine,” summarizes all the commandments, and in a sense, includes the tenth commandment—“Thou shalt not covet.” The other commandments pertain to acts, but this has to do with an inclination of the heart. Paul seemed to come to an understanding of his breaking of the tenth commandment sometime after his conversion (Rom. 7:7-9). Many expositors believe that he learned this when he went to Arabia and passed through the exercises of Romans 7:7-25, and thus, found practical deliverance from the indwelling sin-nature.
Paul adds that this correct use of the Law is “according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God” which he preached. This shows that the Law is in complete accord with the gospel, in the sense that both uphold the holiness of God. However, the standard of holiness proclaimed in the gospel is far higher than that stated in the Law, for the gospel of the glory of God centers around a glorified Christ. Hence, in announcing the gospel, Paul says, "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23). He does not say, "All have sinned and have come short of the Law."
In speaking of "the gospel of the glory of God," Paul is referring to the highest and fullest character of the gospel preached in the Christian era. Elsewhere, he said that he preached "the gospel of the grace of God" (Acts 20:24). These are not two different gospels, but two aspects of the same gospel. The gospel of God's grace announces that God has come down in the Person of Christ, who has accomplished redemption for all mankind. The gospel of God's glory announces that God has raised Christ from the dead and seated Him at His own right hand in the glory. This second aspect of the message tells the fact that there is a glorified Man at God's right hand and that the believer has a position of acceptance there in Him. The other apostles preached the Gospel of the Grace of God; Paul preached it too, but he had a special commission to preach the Gospel of the Glory of God, and therefore, he calls it "my gospel" (Rom. 2:16, etc.)
Stating that God is “the blessed God” coincides with the burden of the Apostle in this epistle. Blessed, means “happy.” The disposition of God as a happy God who desires the blessing of His creatures is in keeping with "the testimony" that is to be "rendered" in this "due time"—the Day of Grace (chap. 2:6). The concept of a "blessed God" is quite the opposite of the ideas that the heathen have of God. They design their idols and images according to their ideas of God, and invariably they depict Him as being sad or angry. The gospel, on the other hand, presents God as He truly is—a happy God who desires the blessing of His creatures.
Grace Converts and Transforms Sinners
Vss. 12-17—In contrast to the Law which condemns sinners, grace converts sinners! Paul points to his own conversion as an outstanding example of the power of grace. It converted him; this is something that the Law couldn't do. The terms of the Law are inflexible and can only condemn a person to death when its terms are not met. But the greatness of “the gospel of the glory” caused Paul (then Saul of Tarsus) to see himself in a light that he had never seen before—as a sinner who had come short of that great glory (Acts 9:3-6). Until that day, he actually thought that he had kept the Law (Acts 23:1), but when the glory of God shone into his soul, he made two great discoveries:
First—that he was a “blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious [an insolent overbearing man].” (Being a “blasphemer” means that he had broken the first table of the Law; being “a persecutor and injurious” means that he had also broken the second table—James 2:10.)
Second—the other great discovery he made was that Christ is the Saviour of sinners.
The gospel enlightened him; it gave him to see himself as a sinner and to see Christ as the Saviour. The gospel caused Paul to see himself as God saw him, and it turned him to the One whom he had rejected, confessing Him as “Lord” (Acts 9:5). There were now two divine things that operated in his soul: "mercy" (vs. 13) and "grace" (vs. 14); these are two things that the Law cannot offer people who realize that they have sinned against God. See Hebrews 10:28.
Vs. 15—The conclusion of the matter is that the "faithful saying" that magnifies the mercy and grace of God in the gospel is "worthy of all acceptation." That is, it is worthy to be accepted by all men. If God can save "the chief of sinners" through His mercy and grace, He can save anybody who accepts the message of the gospel in faith!
Vs. 16—Paul mentions another reason why he "obtained mercy"—his conversion was to be a model ("pattern") for "them which should hereafter believe on Him to life everlasting." The mercy and grace of God not only saved Saul of Tarsus from hell, but it transformed him into a model Christian! Through the power of God, the ultimate sinner became the ultimate saint. This was accomplished by grace—not by the Law. The good news is that that same grace can transform all who believe the glorious gospel. Since Paul's Christian life is a pattern for us, it is not wrong to seek, by grace, to emulate his life of faith and devotion, self-sacrifice, etc. (Eph. 5:1; Phil. 3:17).
Vs. 17—Recalling the incredible mercy and grace of God toward him, Paul breaks into a doxology of praise to "the King of the ages, the incorruptible, invisible, only God." God is the King of the ages: He is "incorruptible" as to His divine nature and "invisible" as to His inscrutable ways. If Timothy had this great Person before his soul, he would not lack in devotion or energy in carrying out Paul's apostolic charge.
Hence, this parenthetical digression teaches us that the necessary state needed in the saints for them to walk according to the due order of the house of God cannot be reached by law-keeping, but by a sense of grace working in the heart.