The Saviour’s Purpose (1 Timothy 1:15)

This statement by Paul is one of five faithful sayings contained in the Pastoral epistles. These statements may have been sayings that the early Christians used to summarise what they believed about important doctrines. They cover a variety of important concerns of the Christian faith.

Paul here is giving his testimony to his friend Timothy. Timothy had been sent to Ephesus by Paul to deal with some issues in the church there. Part of the problem there was false teaching connected to wrong uses of the law. The law is designed to show that we are sinners, unable to keep it. But merely preaching the law in such a way is pointless unless it is also accompanied by the gospel.

The Law at Work

What kind of person is produced by preaching the law without the gospel? Paul would say that he, before his conversion, was such a person. His attempts to keep the law had turned him into a self-righteous Pharisee, and in his case had led him into opposing the kingdom of Jesus. Although he did not realise it at the time, his self-righteousness had turned him into a blasphemer, a persecutor of God’s people, and a violent man. Obviously, his experience of the law was not one that flowed from divine grace at work in his heart.

It is important to recognise that self-righteousness does not always produce those responses. Sometimes, it can develop into good activities and such people can have a wide range of good works. Yet there is one common feature that they share with the likes of Saul of Tarsus and that is they are convinced that they can do very well without grace. They imagine that they can obey God’s requirements, even if all the information they have is connected to what God has written on their hearts by nature.

The obvious problem with such people is that they have not used the law in a correct way. As long as they are detached from God, the purpose of the law is to highlight their inability to keep any of it adequately rather than to be a guide to keep some of it externally. While it is good for societies to have standards that are similar to what God requires, we should not forget that the main purpose of the law is to show that we are sinners in thought, word and deed.

We can easily see why this is the case. The law has to do this because we need to see what is wrong with us before we apply to Jesus for mercy. Yet we need to avoid stereotyping what a person under conviction of sin looks like. If the purpose of the law is to create the realisation that something is wrong with us, then the realisation may show itself in a variety of ways.

A person under conviction of sin may be brought there because he is frustrated that he is not consistent in attempting to live a good life. He or she may be brought under conviction of sin because they become conscious that they do not love their neighbour as they should. The point is that the law of God, whether in the Ten Commandments or in the law written in our hearts by nature, does its work and points out to us our need of salvation from sin in ourselves.

A convicted sinner

What does a convicted sinner look like? How do we know if we are such an individual? Paul tells us the answer when he describes himself as the chief of sinners, or the foremost sinner. Was that literally true of Paul? He was a cruel person before his conversion, but there have been plenty individuals in history who have done much worse than Paul.

So why did he conclude that he was the worst sinner? Maybe he thought about his privileges that he had abused. After all, he had been brought up in a family that served God. He had been sent by his family to study under one of the best religious teachers in Israel. As a devout Jew, he would have read about the descriptions of the Messiah, and he had refused to link them with Jesus.

Or perhaps he had observed the amazing responses of believers like Stephen, the martyr whose death Paul had supervised. Whatever else he would have seen in Stephen as he died, Paul would have observed Stephen’s incredible expression of neighbourly love when he asked God not to lay the sin of murdering him against those who were doing it. In all likelihood Paul had never prayed for an enemy in his life, yet he heard Stephen do so. Did it cross the mind of Paul that such a response was truly incredible?

Paul may have had those things, but something else was needed before he would confess that he was the chief of sinners. In addition to what he had done, Paul also realised what he could do. All the sins that he had committed against Jesus had not satisfied his intense desire to commit even more. That was his intention when he met Jesus on the road to Damascus. Jesus met a man who had committed great sins and who intended to commit many more.

Is that not how each of us is before we meet Jesus? We have participated in sinful activities and intend to get involved in many more. It is not possible for us to commit every sin, but that does not mean that we do not want to commit as many as we can. That is what I was like when I met Jesus. I was a sinner wanting to engage in more sins, but he stepped in and changed my outlook.

Why did Paul say he was the chief of sinners? It was not because he was comparing himself with other people. Instead, he made the statement because the Holy Spirit had revealed to him what kind of person he really was. When the Spirit convinces an individual of his sin, he stops focussing on the sins of other people.

What does Jesus show towards those he will convict?

Paul discovered that all his actions had been committed against Jesus. The apostle discovered that was the case when Jesus spoke to him on the road to Damascus. Every action he had taken against the followers of Jesus – all the thoughts and words as well – had been against Jesus personally. Obviously, his sins were more directly against Jesus because they affected Christians to whom Jesus was united. Yet we can also say that our sins are against Jesus because we know the gospel and what it offers.

Paul points out that Jesus was very patient with him while he was engaging in his sinful activities. The apostle says that Jesus showed perfect patience. Perhaps here we see an instance of Paul’s understanding of his sinfulness even as a Christian. In many ways, Paul was an exceptionally patient man as he served the churches. Yet because he was not sinless, there would have been times when his patience would have been thin. But he knew One who had exhibited perfect patience and that was Jesus.

What feature is necessary for perfect patience? One answer might me strong resolve where we persist in an attitude or action despite wanting to give up. Yet we can see how that is not perfect patience – it is imperfect patience because it is not always the outflow of love. With regard to Jesus, there was strong love for Paul even when he was committing great sins.

The salvation he provided

Paul reminds Timothy that Jesus came from another place into our world. The other place was heaven, the place of perfection, the location of holiness, the abode of angels, the destiny of the redeemed when they die. So Jesus came to the opposite kind of world from where he had been. This world is tainted by sin everywhere. The fact that Jesus was willing to come to our world shows the incredible degree of love that he had for sinners like Saul of Tarsus.

Moreover, he came on a specific mission of salvation, which was to save sinners. He did not come to make them salvable, in the sense that none would benefit from what he did. Instead he came to secure salvation. The provision of salvation is connected to deliverance from sin and involved paying its penalty, overcoming its power and removing its presence for and in those who accept the offer of mercy in the gospel. The salvation Jesus accomplished is totally successful in all those who trust in him, and eventually will involve a number than no one can count.

Paul believed that this salvation was the answer to the spiritual needs of every person, which was why he wrote it was worthy of all acceptation. It is such a great salvation, able to deal with the problems caused by sin in every person. He had such incredible confidence in the Gospel that if every person believed it they would all receive great blessings. It did not matter who heard it, they would experience the rich grace of full forgiveness for their sins and the promise of life in glory in the world to come.

The meaning of salvation is said by Paul to be eternal life. Such life is endless, yet it is also very full of grace. Paul had begun to taste some of its features in this life, items such as peace and joy flowing into his soul from the heavenly fountain that is Jesus himself. But such were only foretastes of the incredible fullness that awaits those who trust in Jesus.

Paul makes the point that divine grace through the gospel came in copious amounts – he says that it overflowed. It expressed itself in faith and love. How would faith show itself copiously? I would say that it means that Paul’s faith trusted completely in Jesus, that he now regarded Jesus as the only possible Saviour. Obviously, his faith would become more informed as time went by. Yet from the start his hope and confidence were in Jesus.  

Similarly, the love Paul now had for Jesus was supreme in his heart. As a changed man, Paul would now love those whom he had never loved before, whoever they were. The man who was marked by hatred became a person marked by great love. As a person of love, his supreme affections were given to Jesus and the Saviour possessed the apostle’s heart.

The outcome of praise

Paul pens a doxology in verse 17. Obviously, it expresses his heartfelt adoration to the One who had provided salvation. His focus is on God the Father and he lists several details that are unique to him as divine. There are incredible truths about God listed here, which would be good for us to meditate on. But here they are the response of Paul to the One who sent his Son into the world to save sinners. Such an expression of grace deserves eternal praise from sinners, even from those who regard themselves as the worst.

Preached on 15/1/2015