1 Timothy 1:6-11
Summary for 1Tim 1:6-11: 1:6-11 a Paul now elaborates on the false teachers and turns their subject matter against them. 1:6 b Some people is probably a put-down, demoting the false teachers to a general class of opponents of the Good News (cp. Rom 3:8 c; 1 Cor 4:18 d; 2 Cor 3:1 e; Gal 1:7 f).• They were professing believers who had missed the whole point of the Good News and had turned away.
1:7 g Their aspirations to be teachers of the law of Moses were ironic; their handling of the law was deficient in the light of the Good News, and they neither understood nor fulfilled the law (see 1:8-11 h).
1:9 i the law was not intended for people who do what is right: As a general principle, the virtuous person needs no law. For Christians, a righteous life results from faith apart from the law (see Gal 5:16-26 j; Eph 2:11-14 k; Titus 2:11-14 l; cp. Rom 8:1-17 m; Jas 2:14-16 n).
1:10 o This list portrays the ultimate tendencies of the false teachers’ teachings, their underlying spiritual state, and the superior righteousness of the Good News (see Matt 5:20 p; Gal 5:22-23 q).
• that contradicts the wholesome (or sound, healthy) teaching: See also 1 Tim 6:3-4 r; 2 Tim 1:13 s; 4:3 t; Titus 1:9 u, 13 v; 2:1 w, 8 x. This addition to the list is both a closing generalization and a powerful assertion. Righteousness is now defined more perfectly by the Good News than by the law, but law still speaks to all that is opposed to the Good News. The false teachers’ reliance on the law, therefore, underscores their departure from Paul’s teaching.
1:11 y Titus 2:11-14 z gives a fuller version of Paul’s idea here.
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