Anchor Devotional
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The Good Law
“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 lawbreakers and rebels.” 1 Timothy 1:8-9
What good is the law, anyway? We often kick against laws we don’t like or that we find inconvenient. And we’ve been doing so since we were babies! But God’s Word shows us that the law, used properly, is good. Paul says the law shows us the darkness of sin lying within each of us ever since we were born. Those “lawbreakers and rebels” are you and me! When the law does its job of condemning sin, it drives us to Christ for mercy and forgiveness.
How might the law be used incorrectly? In the context of Paul’s letter to Timothy, the false teachers were likely using the Word of God as a tool for propping up unbiblical notions, for promoting their own ideas, and for spreading myths instead of the gospel (see vv. 3-4).
The danger is just as real for us today. God’s Word is not meant to be a springboard for fashioning extra-biblical standards for parenting, politics, marriage, culture, and so on. Often, we would like it to say more (or less) than it says. Let’s place the Word in authority over us on all ideas and subjects, to the glory of God.
SCRIPTURE FOCUS
1 Timothy 1:8-11
INSIGHT
Father, help us to be devoted to Your Word and on guard against false teaching that misuses the Bible. Please give us discernment. Amen
THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
1 Samuel 5-6
Psalm 122
1 Corinthians 16
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