God CAN Save
I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy … The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly … Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – of whom I am the worst 1 Timothy 1:12-15
There are at least two great lessons from this passage.
Firstly, don’t ever lose sight of where God found you. Paul was never ‘caught up’ in some obsessive kind of way about his beginnings. He didn’t dwell endlessly on his life before Christ; but at the same time he never lost sight of how far the grace of God had carried him. He recognised all too clearly that he had been as merciless a persecutor of God’s people, the Christians, as the pagan nations at their worst had been to Israel.
So don’t dwell on your past. Don’t live in your past. Don’t highlight what you once were; but don’t ever forget how far God’s brought you.
Secondly, if God could save you, he can save anyone. Paul describes himself here as the worst. The word means ‘first, chief, greatest.’ ‘But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example of those who would believe on him and receive eternal life’ (1:16). The Christians hiding from Saul when he scoured the countryside for them could hardly have believed God would go after him, stop him in his tracks, save him and turn him into a world-changing apostle.
Do you know someone you think God couldn’t save?
Think again.
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