1 Timothy 1:8Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Even then it remains good. But what he says has this meaning: if someone fulfills it in deed. The phrase, “if one uses it lawfully,” must be understood here in this way.

But when people explain it in words and transgress it in deed, this means not fulfilling it as one should. Such a person also fulfills it, but not to his own profit.

Still, something else may also be said about this. What is it? If you fulfill the law properly, it will lead you to Christ. For since the goal of the law is the justification of man, and yet it cannot accomplish this, it leads to Him who can.

One may also fulfill the law properly in another way, namely, when one keeps it from abundance. What does “from abundance” mean? Just as a horse is said to use the bridle properly when it neither leaps nor bites, but simply wears it as an adornment, so the one who lives chastely fulfills the law properly, not from necessity imposed by the letter.

Who, then, will fulfill it properly? The one who knows that he has no need of it. Whoever has attained such moral perfection that he fulfills the law not from fear of it, but for virtue alone, fulfills it rightly and without stumbling.

This happens when someone fulfills it as one who does not fear it, but rather looks with disapproval upon the punishments laid down in it. On the other hand, by “righteous” he here means the one who has already been perfected in virtue.

Therefore the one who fulfills the law well is the one who does not need its guidance. The first elements of letters are taught to children. Yet one who completes them not from them, but from other sources, gains greater experience in learning and uses knowledge much better.

So too, one who is above the law is no longer guided by the law. For whoever fulfills it not from fear, but from love of virtue, fulfills it much more perfectly.

Therefore the one who fears punishment and the one who seeks honor do not fulfill the law in the same way. Nor do the one who is under the law and the one who is above the law fulfill it alike.

To fulfill the law properly means to live better than the law prescribes. For the one who fulfills and keeps the law well is the one who does more than the law commands, and who does not need its guidance.

For the most part, the law forbids evil. Yet a man becomes righteous not by this, but by good works. Therefore those who refrain from evil deeds like slaves have not yet fulfilled the goal of the law. Thus it was appointed to punish transgression.

Accordingly, they too fulfill the law, but only because they fear punishment. “Do you wish not to fear the authority? Do what is good” (Rom 13:3). Thus one may say that the law foretells punishments only to the lawless.

But what benefit can the law bring to one who does works worthy of crowns? In the same way, a physician is useful to one who has wounds, not to the healthy, nor to one who is in good condition.

The commandments are very good if we use them lawfully. By our firm conviction that the good and righteous God would not command the impossible, we are instructed both in what to do in easy matters and in what to ask for in difficult ones.

For nothing is difficult for love. For love alone the burden of Christ is light, or love alone is itself that light burden. Cf. Matt 11:30. Instead of the word onus, used in the Vulgate, Augustine uses the synonym sarcina.

Indeed, one may fulfill the law unlawfully. This happens when someone interprets and understands the commandments in his own peculiar way, then fulfills them according to that understanding. The Pharisees did this, as do transgressors of the law in every age, concealing themselves behind a false interpretation of the law.

What is the purpose of the law? What thought did the Lawgiver have before giving the law? The Apostle himself defines this when he says that the law was a guide to Christ (Gal 3:24), that the law was a shadow of the good things to come in the New Testament (Heb 10:1), and that Christ is the end of the law (Rom 10:4).

In other words, to fulfill the law according to the thought of the Lawgiver means to bring one to Christ, to believe in Him, to recognize one's sinfulness through the law, and to die to sin in order to live for Christ.

Therefore the Apostle goes on to add that the law is not laid down for the righteous man. Here the righteous man is one justified by faith in the merits of Jesus Christ, according to His goodness. That is, he has renounced the law by virtue of the law itself (Gal 2:19).

The Apostle's thought is directed against the Jewish teachers of the law, who considered fulfillment of the law necessary even in Christianity. The Apostle says that for a Christian, justified by faith in Jesus Christ, the Mosaic law has no significance. Compare Rom 3:19-21.

Nevertheless, this thought of the Apostle may also be taken in a general sense. For a holy man, a righteous man, there is no need for the law. The law already lies in his conscience, and he fulfills it without external inducements.

By contrast, unrighteous people, who do not heed the promptings of conscience, need the law. It restrains their criminal intentions to some extent and protects good people from the malice of the impious. The Apostle lists sixteen kinds of crimes for which the law is laid down.

This is the chief thought of verses 8-10. Further on it is said that the time of the Gospel preached by the Apostle has come (vv. 11-14). Therefore one must believe (vv. 15-17) and follow what is preached (vv. 18-20).

According to St. John Chrysostom, the Apostle says, as it were: "If you use the law in the proper manner, it will bring you to Christ. For since the aim of the law is the justification of man, and yet it is unable to do this, it brings him to the One Who can."

"The law is not laid down for the righteous man, because he does not wait for the law to teach him what he must do. He has within himself the grace of the Holy Spirit instructing him."

"He uses the law lawfully, that is, as the law commands, who prefers Christ to the law" (blessed Theophylact).

"The lawless and disobedient live according to their own will and become a law to themselves. In this respect they resemble the righteous, for the righteous also are a law to themselves. But the righteous are a law to themselves for every good, while the others are a law to themselves for every evil, for the impulse of self-pleasing and the passions. The impious and sinners may be distinguished in this way. The former are transgressors of the law and of relations toward God. They have no fear of God and honor nothing sacred. The latter are transgressors of the commandments in relation to themselves and their neighbors" (Bishop Theophan).

First of all, they do not understand the meaning of the law, which is well known to the Apostle. They do not know that the law is useful, καλο'ς, only when people relate to it properly, νομίμως.

Thus, according to the Apostle's well-known view, they should see in the law only a means of knowing their sins and their guilt. See Romans, chapter 7.

They do not know that for the righteous man, δίχαίος, that is, of course, for the Christian justified by the grace of God, the Mosaic law is not obligatory. The Apostle recognizes no other way of justification. Such a man must fulfill the teaching of the Gospel.

The Mosaic law was given for people who stood at a low stage of moral development. The Apostle formed this view of the law entirely correctly, on the basis of the Gospel of the blessed God entrusted into his hands. This Gospel also makes people blessed (vv. 5-11).

The law is a tutor unto Christ. It is the shadow, but Christ is the body. Follow this tutor, walk along this shadow, and you will come to Christ, the promised Deliverer. Before Christ came, you were all under tutelage and walked by the shadow.

But when Christ came, the tutelage ended, and the shadow had to be left behind. Yet you keep repeating: the law, the law. Therefore you use it unlawfully. You employ it contrary to its meaning and spirit, and so you do not know what you are saying.

Because of the special significance of this passage, we record what the holy Fathers and teachers said when discussing it. Blessed Theodoret writes: "I do not censure the law, but the bad teachers of the law. For I know that the law is useful for those who intend to observe the aim of the law. This is what the words mean: if one uses it lawfully, that is, if one follows the aim of the law. The aim of the law is to bring us to Christ the Master, and after His coming the law no longer has force. The Apostle said this also in the Epistle to the Galatians: Through the law I died to the law, that I might live to God (Gal 2:19). For, he says, by obeying the law itself, I do not keep the law."

We read the same in Ambrosiaster: "The Apostle does not deny that the law given through Moses is good, provided its meaning and the purpose for which it was given are acknowledged. But he knows the law and the purpose for which it was given who, on hearing the preaching of Christ, leaves the law. He uses the law lawfully who knows how to distinguish in it what was given for a time from what does not cease. He recognizes that what in it pertains to the mystery of Christ is no longer to be observed for the future after Christ's coming. For that would mean believing that He Who has already come is still to come."

Blessed Theophylact says likewise: "He uses the law lawfully who is brought by it to Christ. Since the law has no power to justify, it conducts the one seeking righteousness to Christ. This is its aim. Therefore he uses the law lawfully, that is, as the law itself commands, who prefers Christ to the law."

This is taken from Chrysostom, who says: "If you use the law in the proper manner, it will bring you to Christ. For since the aim of the law is the justification of man, and yet it is unable to accomplish this, it brings him to the One Who can accomplish it."