I Timothy 1:9

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“Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers.”

Do the “righteous” need to concern themselves with commandment keeping? Does this verse exempt them from a law that others must keep?

This scripture appears to say that the law is only for the “unrighteous.” But I Tim 1:8 states, “the law is good, if a man use it lawfully”—if he does not use it to strive about picky opinions or questions. Of course, only righteous men (Psa. 119:172) would already be keeping the commandments, anyway. In effect, the law is not necessary to point out for them what they are already doing, and in this way was not “made for” the righteous. Far from being “off the hook,” the righteous are ahead of the curve, so to speak, because they are already seeking to obey God.

To paraphrase Paul, “be careful how you use the law—use it lawfully and properly in the way that you ask questions about it, because the unrighteous misuse it and disobey it.” Hence, it is “made” for them—to point out to them their faults.