“The saying is
trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this
reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience
as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life”
(1 Timothy 1:15-16, ESV)
(1 Timothy 1:15-16, ESV)
Paul, who confessed to being Public Sinner Number One (see previous post), says he now has become the first
and foremost demonstration of God’s perfect patience. God waited and waited
while Paul was blaspheming and persecuting (read 1 Timothy 1:13). The depth of Paul’s sin only demonstrated
the depth of God’s perfect patience. God was holding back His righteous acts
against Paul’s sin for a very long time so that he might be saved.
If God’s perfect patience
applied to Paul and his day, how much more does it apply for this past 2,000
years of world history and especially to the world today in which we live. I
don’t know about you, but I’m sick and tired of sin. I’m fed up with it as I face
it day by day in my own life. I wish the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil will go away! Moreover, I’m sick and tired of sins that I see
around me that laugh at God, no fear and respect for God, and ignorance of
God’s grace and perfect patience in this world. If a mortal man like me feels like this, I wonder how a holy God must feel who sees sin infinite times over
with His all-seeing and all-knowing attributes. Surely, most surely God must be
a God of grace, mercy, and perfect patience! He is! But why?
The reason for God’s
perfect patience is that “an example”
might be given for “those who were to
believe in him for eternal life” in this age of grace. Paul is
saying that God’s grace in saving him was an example for every believer like
you and me. This example is big enough to include anyone no matter what the
nature of his or her sin or how great it might be. This week I had the privilege
of dealing with a college student who honestly thought he was too great a
sinner to be saved by Christ. So I showed him 1 Timothy 1:12-17 and explained
that Paul was the Public Sinner Number One and yet God shows His grace and
mercy and saved him (and I gave my testimony). Nobody needs to fear that God
wouldn’t receive him or her – only repent and believe in Jesus Christ, the Son
of God.
God “is patient toward
you, not wishing that any should perish,
but that all should reach
repentance” (2 Peter 3:9)
THINK BIG.
START SMALL. GO DEEP.
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