The Lawful Use of the Law - 1 Timothy 1:3-11

Since the earliest times, there has been confusion among Christians regarding the use of the law. Are we free from the law because now we’re under grace? Or does keeping our salvation require us to continually obey the law? Two positions have perennially manifested themselves in the church: firstly antinomianism (no law), the belief that law has no place in the Christian life, because we are under grace. Antinomians teach that there is no need to repent and confess sins, as we’re already forgiven. Secondly, legalism, the belief that we must continue to obey the law in order to be saved.

In this passage, Paul charges Timothy to deal with false teachers in the church. These false teachers were causing confusion regarding the law – they were teaching a mixture of legalism and antinomianism. In response to this, Paul shows us how the law is to be correctly used in the Christian life. What we will see from this text is that because the goal of our faith is love, the purpose of the law is to keep us from sin and to drive us to cling to Christ.

Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.