THREE PURPOSES OF THE LAW – 1 Timothy 1:5
I Timothy 1:5 Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:
Paul is reminding Timothy that if he trace the law to it root, he would find love as the foundation. Jesus told us when asked what the greatest commandment was that we are to love the Lord with all our heart and the second commandment is to love our neighbor as ourself. We learn from John 3:16 that the whole foundation of the salvation message begins with God�s love for us.
Timothy had served with Paul and thus was pretty knowledgeable on Paul’s teaching of the importance of love in the church. In this passage in addition to love, there are two other things other then love that are a purpose of the law. The second purpose of the law is so that we can maintain a good conscience and the third purpose is so that our faith is not compromised.
As for a good conscience, as we obey the law, this enables us to worship God and have fellowship one with another not fearing the consequences of our actions. When one sins, they have a guilty heart and they are not free to openly fellowship with others because sin has a way of destroying not only your fellowship with God but with other Christians. When you violate the law, the Holy Spirit convicts you of your sin and Satan is working on you to try to cover up your violation so that no one knows of your wrong.
The law is also designed to ensure that your faith is not compromised. No one likes a hypocrite. In fact, the world is watching you to see if there are any areas of your life that do not match up to the high standards that you propound. The world does not mind if someone who does not hold high standards does not live up to high standards, but it does have a problem when someone purports to live by a higher standard and then fails to live up to that high standard.
When you live according to the law, you are living your life pleasing to the Lord. Your testimony is uncompromised, you have a clear conscience, and you are demonstrating to the world the love of God. You cannot afford to be a fake Christian. In the world that you live in today, they are quick to pick up if you can only talk the talk but not walk the walk. It does not matter if you have been going to church your entire life and you know the meaning of all theological terms if your life is not a demonstration of the power of God in your life. The world sees your love for them and the world sees the demonstrations of your faith.
Just as one of the purposes of the church is edify the members, so also the purpose of the law is to demonstrate to the world the love of God and their need for a savior. The law is not only designed for the sinner but also for the saint. The law is your guide to maintaining a good conscience before both God and man. The law is your tool to ensure that when the world looks at you, there is nothing that they can see that hinders your testimony or the power of your faith. You should live your life pleasing to the Lord. God is placing people in your life that you can touch. However, you have a duty to God to follow HIS law so that your faith is uncompromised and so that when the world looks at you they do not see anything that causes them to reject the truth that you demonstrate.