---
title: 1 Timothy 1:9
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/1-timothy-1-9/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/1-timothy-1-9.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: 1 Timothy 1:9
testament: NT
section: Letters
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# 1 Timothy 1:9

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> We realize that law is not enacted for the righteous, but for the lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinful, for the unholy and profane, for killers of father or mother, for murderers,

## JW Usage

1 Timothy 1:9 ("law is promulgated, not for a righteous man, but for lawless and unruly ones") does not appear often in Watchtower treatments of civil authority or abuse-reporting. The verse's affirmation that God's design for law targets wrongdoers sits in tension with the organisational practice of applying Deuteronomy 19:15's two-witness rule to shield internal judicial processes from civil-authority engagement in child sexual abuse allegations.

## Protestant Usage

Paul names the purpose of law: "for lawless and rebellious men ... for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers ... for fornicators, men who lie with men, kidnappers, liars, false swearers, and whatever else is in opposition to the wholesome teaching." The Pauline categories track 1 Peter 2:13-14 (submit to every human institution "as a king ... or governors as sent by him to inflict punishment on evildoers") and Romans 13:1-4 (the civil authority is "God's minister ... an avenger to express wrath upon the one practising what is bad"). Combine these texts and the biblical framework is clear: civil authorities are God's provision for punishing wrongdoing, including child sexual abuse. The Australian Royal Commission Case Study 29 documented 1,006 alleged perpetrators identified in JW congregations across 65 years with zero proactive reports to police by elders. The two- witness rule does not appear in Paul's list of law's purposes; Paul's list makes law a tool to protect the vulnerable. Use 1 Timothy 1:9 with pastoral care — this is a grave subject — to recover the biblical frame: protecting children through civil reporting is obedience to God's law- purpose, not disloyalty to God's people.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [The Two-Witness Rule as a Shield for Abusers](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/two-witness-rule-abuse.md) — Deuteronomy 19:15 was never meant to silence children [Authority]