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From Sinner to Saint – 1 Timothy 1.12-17
A little girl was shopping with her mom. She was impressed by the automatic doors. When she came close to the grocery store, she asked her mom, “Will they open for me?” The door of heaven is open for all who will come to God through Jesus (Revelation 22.17). No one has ever been so immersed in sin that the door will not open for them. The Apostle Paul is a very good example.
Some false teachers in Ephesus were misusing the Law of Moses. The law is good, Paul wrote, if it is used lawfully (1:8-9). In verses 10-11, Paul refers to sound (healthy) teaching that is according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which had been entrusted to Paul.
The law of Moses had defined sin but it did not defeat sin. Paul uses himself as an example in 1:12-17 (he uses “I” or “me” eleven times in this paragraph!) but the focus is on what Christ has done.
PAUL’S BACKGROUND – 1:12-13:
“I was formerly a blasphemer” – Do we like it when bad things are said about us? Paul blasphemed the church, and when he did this, he blasphemed Christ. He was “a persecutor;” -words represent only one way through which Paul persecuted the church. He persecuted also through his actions (Acts 8:3). Also, he was “a violent aggressor.” The Greek word means violent, but it also means “impertinent” or “rude.”
Then he writes, “sinners, among whom I am foremost of all” (vs 15). In the eyes of Paul, who would have been least deserving of the sacrifice of Christ, than he? In fact, he uses the present tense (“I am”) with an emphatic pronoun (“myself”). This is hyperbole just as David’s statement is in Psalm 51:5. Have you ever felt that way? Does the door of heaven open for you? Paul found out that the door of heaven opened for him…
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“Christ Jesus our Lord …has strengthened me.” The power to change comes always from Jesus. If we want to live for Jesus, we can do this only through Jesus. But, Jesus had a plan for Saul of Tarsus…
“because He considered me faithful” Although Paul was a blasphemer and a persecutor, God saw something better in Paul.
“and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant” – If the mercy of God is the Atlantic Ocean, the grace of God is the Pacific Ocean. Observe the way in which Paul accentuates the grace of God – “was more than abundant.” This is a compound word, a practice that Paul uses quite a lot – “a super-overflowing of abundance” of grace (cf. Rom. 5:20). In the end, we all need the grace of God.
PAUL’S FUTURE (vs 16-17):
Why did Christ show his patience in Paul? Not only for Paul but “as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.” Paul is an example of a sinner whom Christ came to save – he is an example that no one can commit any sin which can not be forgiven. Jesus saved Paul so that he would be an example for us – there is not any sin which cannot be forgiven.
That is the message Paul would share with our modern world, burdened as it is under the unforgiving weight of sin.
–Paul Holland
