1 Timothy 1:10
What does 1 Timothy 1:10 mean?
for the sexually immoral, for homosexuals, for slave-traders, for liars, for perjurers, and for any other thing contrary to the sound doctrine;
The short answer
1 Timothy 1:10 is the tail end of a sentence Paul began in verse 9. He has just said that the law was not made for righteous people but for the lawless, and then he gives examples: the rebellious, the ungodly, murderers of parents, and finally the group named here — "the sexually immoral," "slave-traders," "liars," "perjurers," and anything else "contrary to the sound doctrine."
At first glance this looks like a random catalog of shocking sins. It isn't. The list quietly follows the shape of the Ten Commandments. Attacking father and mother recalls the command to honor parents. Murder, sexual sin, and stealing people (that is what slave-trading is — kidnapping human beings for profit) track the commands against killing, adultery, and theft. Lying and perjury echo the command against false witness. Even the order matters: the list moves, as the Decalogue does, from offenses against God toward offenses against one's neighbor. Paul is not inventing a new set of taboos; he is applying the logic the law already had.
Then comes the pivot. All of this is measured against "the sound doctrine" — literally, healthy or health-giving teaching. In these letters, that phrase is shorthand for the gospel itself, the message about Christ that Paul says was "committed to my trust" in the very next verse. So the verse holds two things together. The law functions like a diagnostic tool: it names what is broken in us and around us. The gospel functions like medicine: it is the healthy teaching that corrects error and restores people. Paul's point in the whole passage is that his opponents in Ephesus were misusing the law — treating it as a playground for speculation — when its real job is to expose sin and drive people toward the good news that heals it.
What scholars say
Towner answers the question of whether this vice list is random, showing how it echoes the Decalogue's sequence of sins against God followed by sins against fellow humans; Collins then unpacks the closing phrase, explaining that in these letters "sound teaching" stands for the Pauline gospel — a healthy message that encourages the community and corrects opponents.
“There is a striking correspondence to the Decalogue from the reference to "killing fathers and mothers" through to "liars and perjurers." The first three pairs of sinners have also been thought to reflect the earlier parts of the Decalogue, but the precision of these connections is not quite so compelling, and correspondence is rather to be found in the impression of opposition to God that these early vices collectively produce, and in the sequential listing, evident in the Decalogue, of sins against God followed by those perpetrated against fellow humans. The list echoes the Decalogue in such a way that the relationship is close enough not to be missed and broad enough to appeal to the Hellenistic ear of the church that would have overheard this letter.”
“It is said to have been heard from Paul (2 Tim. 1:13) and is described as a precious treasure (2 Tim. 1:14). “Sound teaching” is a cipher for the Pauline kerygma. Accordingly, the Pastor writes about “sound teaching according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which has been entrusted to me” (1 Tim. 1:10–11). The message concerns Christ Jesus (1 Tim. 6:13), as does the mystery of godliness (1 Tim. 3:16). As Paul’s true son in faith, Titus is to hold on to this treasure (Titus 1:9; cf. 2 Tim. 1:13–14) and to speak out the healthy message (Titus 2:1, 8). In doing so he can encourage the community (Titus 1:9) and correct opponents (Titus 1:9, 13; 2:8).”
What it means for you
This verse invites an honest use of both mirror and medicine. The law's list is meant to be looked into, not aimed at others — it names real harms we do to God and to people, from dishonesty to exploitation. But Paul doesn't leave anyone standing in front of the mirror. The standard here is "sound doctrine," teaching that makes people well, and that teaching is the gospel Paul himself received as an act of mercy (he calls himself the chief of sinners a few verses later). So let the diagnosis be real, and let the cure be real too. A faith that only catalogs sins has stopped halfway; healthy teaching both tells the truth and heals.
1 Timothy 1 in context
Paul opens 1 Timothy by urging Timothy to stay in Ephesus and confront teachers who have wandered into myths, genealogies, and empty talk — people who want to be experts in the law without understanding it (1:3–7). Verses 8–11 are Paul's correction: the law is good when used as intended, aimed at lawlessness rather than at the righteous. Verse 10 closes that vice list and pivots to the gospel entrusted to Paul. The chapter then turns personal, as Paul recounts the mercy he received as a former persecutor (1:12–17) and charges Timothy to fight the good fight (1:18–20).