9b) the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and insubordinate (not wanting to submit), for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane (common), for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for menslayers,
10) For whoremongers (fornicators), for them that defile themselves with mankind (sodomizers), for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound (healthy) doctrine;
And how are we to use the Law? It is for us sinful people- starting with me, myself, and I. It is to show up sin. It's for our own good if we use it correctly. We must apply it to ourselves first. God says it's worthless for us if we don't start with ourselves first.
The next few verses tell us who the Law is for. This list describes our flesh. This is where we would all be stuck apart from the grace of God. This is who God is reaching out too. This is us. This is where lost people are stuck, and what they need to be delivered from.
(A little rhyme that captures the context)
I'm not lawful
I am awful
To use the law
Lawfully
I must see
This applies to me
lawless: This is a great place to start. The law was made for the lawless. We want to think we are basically good. The children of Israel told Moses they would keep everything the law said to do. But they were deceived. We want to think of ourselves as being all right, as basically good people who do what's right. But we are not. The only way not to be an outlaw, a criminal, is to admit it and seek divine help. To use the law lawfully we must first realize we are lawless. The flesh wants to disobey. If we're honest, we see we are just flat out bad. We rationalize all kinds of reasons we should be able to do something against the law. We are geniuses when it comes to situational ethics.
And paired with, (2 similar things that go together)
insubordinate: (not wanting to submit) We break the law because we don't want to ask God and submit to Him. We want to toss it aside and be free from it. We're unruly. We want to be free from submission to God. We are made by God, and we should be totally willing to be used any way He sees fit. The potter makes a bowl and he can use it any way he wants. We are God's creation and possession, and He can do with us what He wants.
ungodly: We don't want to reverence God. It's not having the fear of God. It''s thinking the fear of God is too extreme. We want to put me, myself, and I first. And paired with,
sinners: Missing the mark, thus not sharing the prize. We wander from the path of righteousness like blind people with no one to lead them. Without the fear of God we have no hope of hitting the bull'seye; only of missing the mark. The flesh is not righteousness.
unholy: We don't want to be completely set apart for God. And paired with,
profane: Lit. means "threshold", easily accessible, common. Not wanting to change: common. We want to give in to peer pressure. and,
father and mother thresher: (it may or may not refer to actual murder) We want to get everything out of them that we can. We use them even when it hurts them. We don't care about their best. We care more about what we can get from them than we care about them as people.
menslayers: We do it in our heart. Mt 5 (you fool), 1 Jn 3:15. God sees it in our heart. We get mad at people and we kill them in our hearts.
whoremongers: Male prostitute. We let people use us for wrong and perverse things: also means fornicators, both male and female.
male sodomizers: Same application. We're bent towards lust. If we abandon God's parameters we can end up in all kinds of sexual perversions.
menstealers: We take advantage of people, we use them for our own gain.
liars: We all are. It's going against what we know to be true.
perjured persons: We try to substantiate our lie. We lie under oath. and,
any other thing contrary to sound (healthy) doctrine: Anything against the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If there is any evil thing that this list missed, the law and the Word of God are to help us see it and avoid it.
Why does it say if there be any other thing than what is in this list? Let me develop a thought that will come back around to answer the question. I would say that on one hand, all sin boils down to not loving God with our whole heart. Or we could broaden our list out a little more and say that all sin is the result of not reverencing God, and our pride, and our selfishness. Or we could broaden it out even more and use this list (liars, sexually perverted, using others for our advantage, etc.) On one hand, this list fully tells our tale. On the other hand, we could come up with a longer list. God chose the most revealing and complete list there is for a list this size. But if you think of something else that's wrong with us, then good doctrine will help with that as well. Good doctrine will help with every messed up thing about us.
Good doctrine isn't to show how educated we are; it is to keep our feet on the right path. It's to keep us healthy. (When we say someone is of sound mind and body we mean they are healthy mentally and physically. A healthy person is given a sound bill of health from his doctor. I like to think on the word healthy instead of sound, since it is more of an everyday word; even though sound is a great translation.) God's doctrine is healthy. It's the opposite of the wickedness of man. All the bad stuff we do is against His doctrine, which is healthy. Good doctrine is like a medical book that shows how to heal people. It's to fix us. It's not to make us puffed up with knowledge. His doctrine is beautiful. Proverbs 2, for example, tells us that if we keep His Word, it will deliver us from the wrong kinds of relationships and from those with evil intent. It's always a good thing. It's helpful, needed, and pure.
Notice that the law showed up everything that is against healthy (sound) doctrine. These principles apply to all sound doctrine (His Word), not just the law. Some people think the standards upheld by the law were greater than they are today. Not so! All sound doctrine, from Genesis to Revelation, shows us that we fall short. Falling short has always been damn serious, not just during the time of the Law of Moses. Whether we are talking OT or NT, it always starts with repentance.