1 Timothy 1:15–16: “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.”

July 8th, 2022 by Pastor Ed in devotional

This familiar axiom, “to save sinners,” emphasizes that Jesus Christ did not come to redeem those living under some illusion of their own righteousness, but self-aware sinners. As Jesus said when He was criticized for sharing a meal with sinners, it is the “sick” who need a physician (Luke 5:31). Being a sinner, recognizing that you are one, is the first qualification necessary for becoming a child of God.

There is a grave danger in taking the terms sin and sinner out of our vocabulary, a growing trend among many pastors in the church today who are deliberately leaving out these terms and ideas because they don’t want to offend anyone. Paul was not afraid of the term, because he realized that all men are guilty sinners. And when the apostle says, “of whom I am the worst” we take that to mean: “The worst sinner has already been saved, so you don’t have that excuse!” He was arguing that God saved a sinner such as him, so that he would be an encouragement, “a pattern to those who are going to believe,” that no one is so great a sinner they can’t be saved by Jesus Christ’s shed blood. Songwriter and former slave trader John Newton said it this way: “Amazing grace! How sweet the sound / That saved a wretch like me!”

There is an old story of a man who came upon Michelangelo chipping away with his hammer and chisel at a huge shapeless piece of rock. The man asked the sculptor what he was doing. “I am releasing the angel imprisoned in this marble,” he answered. Jesus Christ is the only one who can see and release the hidden hero in every man. A hero in the faith is an example to others, leading them to know the God that hero serves and follows. Paul was a hero to young Timothy and to many others in the 1st century, and he continues to be so almost 20 centuries later.

“LORD, please conform us today just a little bit more into Your image.”