The End of the Commandment (1Ti.1:5-11)

THE END OF THE COMMANDMENT

(1 Timothy 1:5-11)

A.  In these verses, Paul advises of the relevance of the Law of God to the Christian.

      1. Paul had been given a commandment to preach God's word. 

            1TI 1:1 c/w TIT 1:3.

      2. The end or sum of the word of God is here considered. 

B.  When all is said and done, the preaching and receiving of God's word should come  to a particular conclusion. "Now the end of the commandment is:"

 1.  "charity out of a pure heart." ROM 13:8-10.

  a.  Charity governs our liberties. 1CO 8:1; GAL 5:13.

  b.  Charity should adorn all our duties. 1CO 16:14.

  c.  Charity crowns brotherly kindness. COL 3:12-14; 2PE 1:7.

  d.  Charity covers sins. 

                  1PE 4:8 c/w JAM 5:19-20; PRO 19:11 c/w PRO 17:9.

  e.  Charity must be born of a pure heart, the only kind of heart that is     blessed and which shall see God. MAT 5:8.

   (1)  Charity is not necessarily defined by handouts. 1CO 13:3.

   (2)  When one gives to some cause or person to primarily benefit

    himself or serve as a cloak for sin, it is not out of a pure heart.       MAR 12:41; MAT 6:1-4; MAR 7:11-13.

                  (3)  Judas was very forward to give to the poor. JOH 12:4-6.   f.  Charity is selfless obedience to God's laws with the genuine

   well-being of others at heart. 1PE 1:22.

 2.  "a good conscience." Conscience is the soul's witness against itself in

  God's court. ROM 9:1; JOH 8:9.

  a.  Saints must not only have faith, but a good conscience. 

                  1TI 1:19; ACT 24:16.

  b.  Conscience is violated when actions do not accord with convictions

   and knowledge. This is very important in discretionary areas.

   1CO 8:7-12; ROM 14:22-23.

  c.  A clear conscience makes for a clear confidence. 1JO 3:21; 1PE 3:16.

 3.  "faith unfeigned."

  a.  Feigned: "Of attributes, actions, diseases, etc.: Simulated,      counterfeited, pretended, sham."

  b.  When faith is nothing but a cover for ulterior motives, it is a feigned     faith. MAT 23:14; 2PE 2:3; ACT 15:5 c/w GAL 2:3-4; GAL 6:12.

  c.  When faith is superficial and goes no further than an oral confession or    outward form of service, it is a feigned faith.

   EZE 33:30-33; MAR 7:6; TIT 1:15-16.

  d.  Perilous times are marked by "form only" godliness. 2TI 3:5.

C.  Some had turned aside from these three things to vain jangling. v.6.

 1.  Jangle: "To speak or utter in a noisy, babbling, discordant or contentious    manner."

 2.  The loosest chassis makes the most noise.

 3.  Curiously, these swervers who had missed the whole point of the law had

  aspirations to become teachers of the law. v.7.

  a.  They had no understanding or knowledge of that which they

   promoted. c/w LUK 6:39.

            b.  Mark how different this is from Christ's and the apostles' ministries.      JOH 3:10-11; 2TI 1:11-12; 1JO 5:20.

D.  It is not wrong that N.T. ministers should use the Law in their teaching: "the law is  good, if a man use it lawfully" (v.8). 2TI 3:15-17.

 1.  Consider these lawful uses of the law in N.T. teaching:

  a.  Bringing forth comfort and patience from O.T. lessons. ROM 15:4.

  b.  Demonstrating its prophecies and figures of Jesus Christ and His work.

   JOH 5:39; HEB 10:1 c/w HEB 9:11.

  c.  Extracting examples for our admonition. 1CO 10:6, 11.

  d.  Convicting men of sin and the futility of self-righteousness.

   ROM 3:20; GAL 3:10.

  e.  Putting a check on sinners. vs.9-10.

  f.  "It is the grace of God that changes men's hearts; but the terrors of the    law may be of use to tie their hands and restrain their tongues." 

                  (B.A. Atkinson, remarks in Matthew Henry's Commentary)

   See 2CO 5:11.

 2.  Consider these unlawful uses of the law in N.T. teaching:

  a.  Maintaining the obsolete division between believing Jew and Gentile.

   EPH 2:14-15.

  b.  Imposing obsolete O.T. Jewish ordinances upon N.T. Christians.

   GAL 3:23-25; COL 2:14-17.

            c. Promoting law-works as a dispensational alternative to Christ's

                  righteousness and sacrifice. GAL 3:21; HEB 10:4, 11. 

  d. Promoting law-works justification as an adjunct to Christ's work.

   ROM 11:6; GAL 2:21; GAL 5:3.

E.  In vs.9-10, Paul lists those crimes which are basically breaches of the second table  of  the Ten Commandments.

 1.  The Ten Commandments were of a two-fold character.

 2.  The first table dealt with laws that governed man's interaction with God.

  a.  "Thou shalt have no other gods before me."

  b.  "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image...."

  c.  "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain...."

  d.  "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy...."

 3.  The second table dealt with laws that governed man's interaction with his    neighbor.

  a.  "murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers,...manslayers" are

   violations of the fifth and sixth commandments:

   (1)  "Honour thy father and mother...."

   (2)  "Thou shalt not kill...."

  b.  "whoremongers....them that defile themselves with mankind" are

   crimes of a sexual nature and would be generally forbidden by the

   seventh commandment, "Thou shalt not commit adultery...."

  c.  "menstealers" would violate the eighth commandment, "Thou shalt

   not steal."

  d.  "liars...perjured persons" would violate the ninth commandment,

   "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor."

  e.  "any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine" would include

   the tenth commandment, "Thou shalt not covet...," of which he

   later warns. 1TI 3:3; 1TI 6:10.

 4.  The layout of the Ten Commandments places man's duty to God before his    duty to his neighbor. This agrees perfectly with Jesus' summation of the    message of the law. MAR 12:28-34.

            a. This agreement is because Paul's gospel was not his own but Christ's.

  b.  All that Paul had just written was according to the gospel that Christ     authored and entrusted to Paul. v.11.

            c. How much it behooves us to understand the Law through the gospel of

                  Paul!