1 Timothy 1:8-9a

1 Timothy 1:8-9a – We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for the lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious.

           Before we were saved we were governed by the law. It showed us what was right and what was wrong. We would try and follow the law, not because we wanted to do what was “right”, but because we wanted to avoid the consequences of breaking it.

           When we accepted Christ we changed. He came into our hearts and made us new from the inside out. We have been made righteous before God and He calls us His children. No longer does the law have power over us because we have been freed from it.

           Just because we are free from the law doesn’t mean we can break it and get away with it. Rather it means that the law cannot touch us because we are abiding to a higher law; the law of Christ. He has instilled in us a desire to obey out of Love, rather than duty.

           Christ has called us to a higher standard of living. He says that we are no longer judged by what we do; now we are judged by our hearts. If you think it, you have done it. It is now our thoughts and motives that convict us. As Christ renews us in heart and mind we begin having the desire to what it right. It is a change in attitude.

So you can see that we are no longer controlled by the law since we now live by a higher standard. If we live according to the standard that Jesus set for us the law will never touch us, because we will be far from breaking it. As we fall deeper in Love with God it will become easier to obey Him. Our obedience will be motivated by Love instead of necessity.