fornicators, sodomites, kidnappers, liars, perjurers; and if any other thing is opposed to sound teaching,
Paul has been saying that the law is good if a person uses it properly. Verse 10 finishes his list of the people the law targets, then leaves it open: anything else "contrary to sound doctrine" belongs there too. Why does Paul measure these sins against the gospel and not against the law?
Who the law is aimed at
The list is a diagnosis, not a description of the believer:
An X-ray is not used on people who are perfectly healthy. It is used to find what may be wrong in the body. So, the law is not made for a righteous man. It is made to expose the many moral ailments that afflict mankind — lawlessness, disobedience, ungodliness, and all these dreadful evils that follow here. There is no need to name them one by one. They include everything that is contrary to sound doctrine.
So what place does the law have for a believer today?
The use of the law is to condemn, to kill, to deal with evil. This never could be the full expression of God. It does keep up a witness to God's hatred of evil, no doubt; those who are presumptuous it leaves without excuse. But if a Christian takes up the law as the rule of his own life, he must first give up his place as being in Christ. He must abandon that righteousness of God which he is made in Him. The law was not enacted for the Christian.
Enslavers named
The word translated "enslavers" is rendered "men-stealers" in older versions. It means people who kidnap others and sell them. Christianity condemned the kidnapper, but it treated slavery itself in another way:
Though slavery came from sin, the law of Moses recognised it and gave rules about it, and for the protection of the slaves. In the New Testament Paul sent Onesimus, a runaway slave, back to his master, who was a Christian. He did not demand his release. Instead he made a beautiful appeal to Philemon: he should keep Onesimus no longer as a slave, but as a beloved brother. The effects of sin were in the world, and God did not bring in Christianity to set the world right. While He shed light on everything and proclaimed grace to all, His purpose was "to take from the Gentiles a people for His name." Christianity taught equal treatment of slaves, as we see in several of the letters that address masters. It condemned kidnappers.
The clause that catches the rest
The standard Paul names at the close of the list is not the law at all:
The law is a most powerful instrument of conviction for sinners. It shows no mercy to the terrible list of sins given in verses 9 and 10. But besides all these there were other things the law did not name, which were contrary to all sound teaching. The Apostle refers to these at the close of verse 10. Notice that he does not say "contrary to sound doctrine according to the holy standard established by the law." He says "in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God," for the gospel sets before us a standard of conduct higher than the law. The law did not set out the most that God could expect from man. It set out the least He demands, if man is to live on the earth. So to fall below that standard, in one thing on one occasion, was to incur the death penalty.
What "sound" means
The word translated "sound" is a medical one. It describes teaching that keeps a soul well:
The word translated "sound" occurs again and again. It is the word from which we get "hygienic," so often on people's lips today. It means healthful. Sound doctrine is indeed doctrine which makes for spiritual health.
So sound doctrine is more than right belief. It shows in how a person lives:
Sound doctrine is not only a correct belief in the gospel of the glory of the blessed God... but sound doctrine also means practical godliness. Sound doctrine produces a holy life, and sound doctrine must lead to a holy life.
The cure, not just the scan
The law could not heal what it exposed, and it could not show God's heart:
The gospel is no less exclusive of evil than the law. But the gospel of the glory of the blessed God is the great remedy that brings health and soundness to the sick. In this, God's glory shines as it could not in the law. The law declared God's righteous judgment, but it could not reveal the love and grace of His heart.
Summary
- Diagnosis — The list of sins is the law's X-ray of a sick humanity. It exposes what is wrong. The law was not written for the righteous person.
- Limits — The law condemns and leaves the guilty without excuse. It was never the rule of a Christian's life.
- Reach — The law's verdict falls on "enslavers," those who kidnap and sell people. Christianity condemned the kidnapper and worked on hearts instead of reforming the world.
- Health — "Sound" is a medical word. Sound doctrine keeps the soul healthy, and it must show up as practical godliness.
- Cure — Paul measures every remaining evil by the gospel, not the law. The gospel is just as hard on sin, and it is also the remedy that heals.