The Glorious Gospel

I Timothy 1:8-11

Can you imagine finding out your whole life was a lie? The people you thought were your parents weren't. The place you thought you were from, you weren't. Even your name was not the one you were given at birth. It was a lie. Even though nothing about who you were as an individual actually changed in that moment, it would create a crisis of identity. Everything you once thought you knew would be called into question. That is exactly what happens to many people when they are confronted with receiving Jesus as Savior. Things they once thought they knew, and believed deeply, they find out are wrong.

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“But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, 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, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust.”

I Timothy 1:8-11

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Paul, before he was saved, was a man of the law. He was a Pharisee. He knew the Levitical law intimately, and he was a professional law keeper. He was so zealous for the law, that he expected others to keep it just like him. He even went so far as to have people arrested and some even killed for not keeping his interpretation of the law. So, even after salvation, if there was one thing Paul was an expert in, it was the law. However, now he viewed it through the lens of grace.

Because of his past, he is very qualified to make this statement. He begins with, "The law is good if one uses it lawfully". We all get sick of politicians using the law to their own advantage and holding themselves to a different standard from everyone else. What would get us arrested, they get away with and face little to no consequences. That is because they are not using the law lawfully. Proverbs 20:10 says, "Diverse weights and diverse measures, They are both alike, an abomination to the LORD." Solomon was saying, having two different standards that you judge by are sinful, or disgusting to God.

Next he says, "The law is not made for those who do the right thing anyway. It is made for those who do not do the right thing." There is no need for a speed limit sign to be posted for that little old lady who never drives above 45. She is obeying the law. The law was not made for her. It was made for those who would drive 80 through a neighborhood if they were not at risk of a ticket , or worse. Paul goes on to list several sins:

• lawless

• Insubordinate (disrespectful or rebellious)

• ungodly ( not devout)

• sinners (devoted to sin)

• unholy (not pure)

• profane (the opposite of holy, common - not set apart for God)

• murderers of parents

• manslayers (murderers)

• fornicators (adultery)

• sodomites (homosexuality)

• kidnappers

• liars

• perjurers (lying under oath)

• and anything else contrary to sound doctrine (God's Word)

What is Paul's standard? What is it that condemns these behaviors, as opposed to other behaviors? He answers that with the next line, "according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust" (v. 11). Many today cannot stand for some of the above-mentioned behaviors to be called sin. However, Paul tells us that they are sin because they are contrary to the Gospel. The Gospel is the good news. It is the good news that Jesus came to give people life when they were dead in their sins. To be contrary to the gospel means, whereas the Gospel gives life, these behaviors (and any other sins) bring death. Paul wrote that to the Romans, "For the wages of sin is death..." (Romans 6:23).

All of us who preach the Gospel, who have had the gospel committed to our trust must proclaim both the lifegiving message of the gospel, and the death sentence of sin. This means telling people those things that bring death. We cannot be concerned with whether they like the message or not. We preach the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15), trust the Holy Spirit to convict them of sin (John 16:8), and God to draw them unto himself (John 6:44). Paul believed it because he had received this salvation. Now, he was fully dedicated to preaching the message that had saved him. We must do the same.

People do not like the message because it reveals to them that their whole life has been a lie. Many of the things they have believed identified them, they learned are sins. It creates a crisis of identity. That is the point. Jesus is calling them to be born again. He is calling them to be identified in Him. He wants them to become a new creation, and for old things to pass away (II Corinthians 5:17). It can be painful, because the old self must be crucified and that old self is putting up a fight.

Father thank You for committing to our trust the gospel message. May we proclaim it boldly! I pray that You open doors for us to be a witness of Your love and salvation. We also pray for fruit to be harvested from our labor.