9 We know that the law is not meant for a righteous person, but for the lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinful, for the unholy and irreverent, for those who kill their fathers and mothers, for murderers,
10 for the sexually immoral and homosexuals, for kidnappers, liars, perjurers, and for whatever else is contrary to the sound teaching
11 based on the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was entrusted to me.
vs. 8 - "the law is good" - Paul has been chiding them for turning back to the Law. Don’t get him wrong. He is not saying the Law is wrong or bad. But emphasis and importance of the Law changed when Christ came. He is trying to help them see there is something (make that someone) better than the Law.
This verse is the first half of an Conditional statement. The law by itself is neither good or bad. The ‘goodness’ of the Law is based on whether or not it fulfills its reason why God gave it to us. The Law’s purpose is to get people to deal with their sins. The Law, as defined in the Bible, is only different from the laws the govern our nation, states, and locales, in that it was given by God. Governments write laws to address a harm that has to someone because of the actions of another. If you do not rob banks, the laws against bank robbing do not apply to you. They are on the books, but will not be used against you. You won't be thrown in prison for drug dealing, if you do not sell illegal drugs. You won't get a traffic ticket if you don't run red lights, or stop signs, or exceed the speed limit. The law is there, but it does not apply. Crimes are the symptoms of criminal behavior.
Our sinful behavior show the symptoms of our sin nature. Just as a runny nose, sneezing, coughing are symptoms of a cold or the flu. Our sins betray that we are controlled by our sin nature. The Law establishes ‘rules’ for relationship with God, relationships with other people. The instructions regarding sacrifices, and offerings, and other rituals were to help us see that it was not our doing that brought us peace with God. It was almost always through an item (lamb, grain, goat, bull, ram, etc.) which God provided. You and I cannot make a sheep. We can raise an animal that God provides. That is the message - it is all God plus our obedience and faith.
vs. 9-10 - "not meant for a righteous person..." As noted above the law is good when someone is convicted and turns back, but it does not apply to a righteous person (i.e., someone who is not breaking the Lew). Paul lists fourteen or fifteen behaviors as examples to which the Law applies. There are eight listed in verse 9 and five or six in verse 10.
The list:- Lawless and Rebellious - (9)
- Ungodly and Sinful - (9)
- Unholy and Irreverent - (9)
- Killers of mothers and fathers - (9)
- Murderers - (9)
- Sexually immoral and Homosexuals - (10)
- Kidnappers - (10)
- Liars and Perjurers - (10)
- Whatever else is contrary - (10)
Lawless and Rebellious - Those who break the moral Law of the 10 commandments. Also, those who break the civil law of the country in which they live. Paul is not referring to the Law of the OT which includes sacrifices, offerings, and holy days. Christ, our Savior fulfilled all the law and prophets. Matt. 5:17. - There are those who defy authority just because it is there. I worked with a fellow who was a contrarian - whatever was said, he disagreed with it. It was frustrating to try to work with this guy. There are people who want to defy the government, the church, their moms and dads. There is a little of that in each one of us. When someone says, "Do this; or, do it this way" we bristle just a little. "Who is this guy to tell me what to do?" This is the spirit of Satan that is in our old unsaved nature. It is the remnant of the Fall. Setting your hearts and minds on Christ Jesus mitigates that tendency to rebel against Jesus.
Ungodly and Sinful - Those who keep God out of their lives. He is not part of any thing they do through the day. This is not about whether or not they go the church. They rely totally upon themselves. They are the "masters of their fate", they are the "captains of their souls" - from the old poem "Invictus" by W. E. Henley. - I don't think this means ‘people who commit sin’. We all do that - 'We sin because we are sinners - we are not sinners because we sin.' Again this is part and parcel of our fallen nature. Sinful people are those who refuse to acknowledge they offend God, and refuse to accept His solution - His Son Jesus Christ. In the book of Job, Elihu sarcastically notes that no one admits they deserve the judgement and punishment, but want God to deal with them on their terms not His. (Job 34:21-33). The Psalmist ponders whether it is worth holding on tho God’s way, when the evil-doers seem to prosper. Then he “enters the sanctuary of God, and perceives their end.” (Psa. 73:11-17) Only when our conscience is led by the Holy Spirit will we readily confess our sins, repent and turn away. The prophet Micah noted that it was God who pleads his case, and executes the justice for him when he has sinned against the Lord. (Mic. 7:9-10)
Unholy and Irreverent - These two have to do with refusing to be 'set apart' and not taking God seriously. To be holy is to be different spiritually from the world. God said, "You are to be Holy, for I am Holy." (Lev. 20:7) Think of the times that Jesus commanded His disciples to be different - in love, and compassion, behavior - because if we are just like the non-believers, how would they know we are His? We are his holy temple, so we cannot live unholy lives.
The term 'irreverent' implies being flippant about God. From a dictionary: “Critical of what is generally accepted or respected; satirical; without due respect or veneration; disrespectful.” It is slightly different than living unholy lives. This is not to say we must go around 'straight-laced, sober, and sad' if we are believers.
I think the rest of the list - from here to the end of the list — is more about behavior than attitude. Paul starts with a biggy: murdering your mother and father.
Killers of mothers and fathers - This seems like a big jump - from flippancy to killing. In some ways, the list from unholy to irreverent is about attitude - defiance that drives the behavior. The early part of the list identifies no particular activity. Jesus told us that it is what is in our hearts that causes us to sin. (Matt. 15:19) Acts of sin are the manifestation, or proof, that our condition is lost and hopeless. I am not sure Paul is actually talking about grabbing an axe, or a shotgun and 'doing in' our parents. He may be using a figure of speech, as did Jesus. Matt. 5:20-22. Dishonoring your father and mother is a sin that is clearly spelled out in the Ten Commandments Deut. 5:16.
Murderers - Sin separates us from God. It does not matter if it is murder, or hate, or anger, or jealousy. Sin is a condition of rebellion against God - and its reward is death, consignment to Hell for eternity. Only the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, saves us from that penalty. In human terms, there is no sin greater than murder. Murder cuts someone off from life itself. It is also part of the original 'Law' given to Moses on Mt. Sinai - See Deut. 5:17.
vs. 10 - The list continues:
Sexually immoral - See Ten Commandments - Deut. 5:18. - Most sins (at least those that involve interaction with other people) is 'outside your body' - something you do to or with them. Sex is different - yes, I know that you are doing it 'with' another person - but God has determined, decided that the sexual union of man and woman is more. It is not just an act no different than animals, but a giving of yourself intimately to another, and it becomes more - perhaps spiritual is a better way to put it. Pornography, adultery, prostitution, fornication, rape - all of these activities, sexual sin activities, are a perversion of the original God-given purpose. Sexual intercourse is not just for procreation, but is part of the spiritual bond between man-and-woman. God has given us sex to enjoy, as well as procreate. We are not animals, who mate only when it is possible to make babies. Like any human activity, sex can be perverted, removed from the marriage relationship.
Paul makes it clear in First Corinthians, that since we are now part of the Body of Christ, we are the vessels in which the Holy Spirit dwells and therefore where the Holy God of the universe also dwells, sexual sins are not just you 'having a little fun'. Sinning against your own body (sexual sins) involves God! See: 1 Cor. 6:13b-19 - "
The body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body... Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Should I take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Or do you not know that anyone who is united with a prostitute is one body with her? For it is said, ‘The two will become one flesh.’ But the one united with the Lord is one spirit with him. Flee sexual immorality! Every sin a person commits is outside of the body, but the immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?",Does that not scare you - defiling the home of the Most High God? You may be able to convince yourself that it isn't that big of deal. If that isn't enough, you are also part of the church body (Rom. 12:5 ...”so we who are many are one body in Christ, and individually we are members who belong to one another”.) so your sexual sins affect the other members of the church. It is not just you screwing around.
Homosexuals - Another form of sexual sin. See the Ten Commandments - Deut. 5:18. It is more in the news in the U.S. The modern secular culture wants Christians to accept, (not just tolerate, but approve of) homosexual sin. To quote from an article in The Weekly Standard - "The attack is on religion itself - the freedom of faith to assert itself in public... Freedom of faith, perhaps: Believe what you want, in private. But freedom of religion, absolutely not: Everyone must conform in public." Prepare yourself - we will be asked, nudged, maybe even forced to change how we live our lives, rather than according to the scriptures. Prepare yourself - you must not be surprised when this happens, and must be ready to know how you will respond.
The following are some notes from a November 2015 sermon "What is the Church response to gay or lesbian people?" - part of a series on the church in the community:
The question for the church, "How does a person who is made to feel overwhelming shame be able to seek God?" Often Church's attitude is that homosexuals should feel shame.
The Bible is clear - homosexual sex is not in God's plan. Saying the Bible does not teach homosexual is a sin is a modern interpretation that is wrong. A survey indicates 91% young people say the church as 'anti-gay'. (We should not try to attach it pedophilia - note: most pedophiles are heterosexual).
What does it look like to love our gay neighbors? Our primary goal should not be to get the gays to agree with us about homosexuality, but about the love of God who sent his Son to save.
We need to apologize about the way the church has treated homosexuals. Note: most gays think we are all Westbury Baptist Church. We need to listen to them. We can begin to understand.
Separate orientation from behavior. Attraction is not the sin, what you do with it is sin. We are all tempted, it's what we do with it. We cannot get rid of our temptations. If you tell a person they must get rid of their same sex attraction before they can be a Christian, how can they respond to that? Telling a homosexual that you love the sinner, but hate the sin - is saying to them you hate them. (Part of the protests are fighting for their behavior!).
Need to get over being disgusted with homosexuals. Need to change our definition of defending the faith. "Would you let a gay couple come into your house?" God does not need us to defend Him. Need to be vulnerable towards the gays. (Side Note: I am not sure what this means, or how this accomplished.) It is brutal what we ask them to do - in order for you to be in the church, you must be celibate for the rest of your life.This puts a interesting light on how we react to homosexuals, and how we react reflects on the church, on Christ.
Kidnappers - See Ten Commandments - Deut. 5:19. Kidnapping is a rather extreme form of theft. It is a violation of "Do not steal."
Liars - See Ten Commandments - Deut. 5:20. Is there any thing you dislike as much as having someone lie to you? Doesn't this mean to you the person can no longer be trusted? A loss of faith in that person?
Perjurers - See Ten Commandments - Deut. 5:20. From the dictionary, "The crime of willfully and knowingly making a false statement about a material fact while under oath." False statement is a nice way of saying, "You Lie!", in a legal sense.
Whatever else is contrary - Other stuff - See Ten Commandments - Deut. 5:21. - Things "contrary to the gospel..." There are very few commandments in the new covenant - not at all like the Old Covenant. The two greatest commandments - Love God. Love your neighbor. John writes in his first letter that we all know the 'old commandment' and also the 'new commandment'.
vs. 11 - "based on the glorious gospel" - From verse 10, the "sound teaching" is based on the gospel - the information Paul is imparting is based on the gospel. Christ Jesus, and Him crucified, resurrected - that is the glorious gospel. The Holy Spirit, the Helper, living in you.- that is the glorious gospel. The world will know we are Christians by our love - that is the glorious gospel.
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