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…
—1 Timothy 1:8-9

It is often said that the law is needed for sinners, to bring them to Christ, since it is written that “the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ” [Gal.3:24]. First, a “tutor” [in Russian, literally “a child-leader”], not a “guide”. The Gentiles were never God’s children, to be “led as children”. And second, it says the law WAS, not that it is now. Yes, until the fullness of time had come and God sent His Son, the Jews, though they were God’s children, lived in the bondage of the law, which was their “tutor to bring them to Christ”, because all the elements described in the Old Testament point to Him. But when Jesus died and rose again, by His precious blood He redeemed those under the law [that is, the Jews], so that through faith in Him they might receive the adoption promised to the fathers [Gal.4:1-5].

So what is Paul writing to Timothy about when he says that “the law is made for the ungodly and for sinners”? “Doesn’t my neighbour, who sleeps around, need to be told that he is breaking the commandment ‘do not commit adultery’, so that he repents and comes to God?” If that were so, Paul would have preached the law to the Gentiles, but in his sermon in Antioch we read something completely different [Act.13:39]. Jesus would have said to Zacchaeus: “Zac, you know the commandment ‘do not steal’, so repent of your sin and I will forgive you.” But in Luke 19 we read a completely different story: no law, no conviction of sins, but only the grace of the Lord, who went into the house of the chief of tax collectors to sit at the same table with him.

And for whom did Jesus use the law? For the young ruler, who boasted of his keeping of the law. In God’s eyes Zacchaeus was righteous, which is why Jesus called him a son of Abraham [Luk.19:9], and the young ruler was a sinner, because he relied on keeping the law and not on God. When I was reading today’s verse from Timothy, the Lord drew my attention to an interesting detail: in 1 Timothy 1:9 the righteous person is singular, while the lawless and sinners are plural. Jesus said to the young ruler: “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God” [Luk.18:19]. The young ruler did not see Jesus as the Messiah and Saviour, but saw Him as a teacher who teaches the law and keeps it in an exemplary way, which is why he called Him good, and Jesus showed him that there is only One who is righteous and good.

Paul writes: “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” Those who do not believe and reject God’s righteousness [Christ] and seek to establish their own righteousness do not submit to the righteousness of God, and they themselves rank themselves among the lawless and sinners [Rom.10:3-4]. Paul writes to the Jews: “Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God… You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? You who say, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law?” [Rom.2:17-23]. Do you see how, and for whom, Paul uses the law? That is why he writes to Timothy about such people: “desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm” [1 Tim.1:7].

The essence of the sound doctrine that Paul mentions more than once, and of the good news itself, is in the words: “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.’” [Rom.1:17]. Everyone who has received and believed in the Son of God becomes a child of God, created in righteousness and holiness. He becomes the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus [2 Cor.5:21]. We believers now have a new nature — the righteousness of God. If you have received Christ into your heart, you can look in the mirror and say: “You are the righteousness of God in Christ, and you will be it forever.” Glory to the Lord for this wonderful gift of righteousness, thanks to which we will forever be righteous, holy and blameless in His eyes.