1 Timothy 1

1 Timothy 1:9

1 Tim. 1:9. “Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers.” This may be given as a reason why the precepts of the moral Law were not expressed by God to our [first] parents as well as that positive precept of not eating the forbidden fruit. There is not that need of God expressly and particularly forbidding these and other immoralities to one that is perfectly righteous in his nature, either for the making known his obligation, or for the enforcing it, as to one that is of corrupt nature.

God, in His infinite wisdom, never would have seen cause expressly to reveal the moral Law had it not been for transgressions, or man’s disposition to sin.

1 Timothy 1:19

1 Tim. 1:19. “Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away, concerning faith have made shipwreck.” It seems that it should rather have been rendered the Faith - that is, concerning the doctrine of the Gospel; for in the original it is and this last agrees with the metaphor of making shipwreck. For herein the gospel, or doctrine of faith, is represented as a treasure committed to their care as a treasure is committed into a ship, and so to the care of the master, to be carried safe to such a port. But they, through their unskilfulness and carelessness, have made shipwreck of it and lost it: or if by faith is meant an inward qualification, doubtless they made shipwreck of it, as Simon Magus did, of whom we are told that he believed when others believed, but never had a true faith; for it is plain by what the Apostle Peter says, he then remained in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity; and it must be such a faith as the stony-ground hearers had, who, at the same time that they believed, had no root in themselves, and so were not true saints; and such a faith as those had of whom we are told that they believed on Christ, but Christ did not commit Himself to them, for He knew what was in man; He knew that what was in them was not true, was not to be depended upon.

1 Tim. 5:11