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1 Timothy 1:15
In 1 Timothy 1:12-14 we learned of the former life of the Apostle Paul/Saul as being a persecutor of Christians and of how God called him to preach the gospel to the Gentiles as his life was changed through his calling from God and salvation in Christ Jesus. In 1 Timothy 1:15 the Apostle Paul humbles himself to God’s grace and mercy of his calling as he refers to himself as the worst of sinners, but in reference to Jesus coming into this world to save sinners.
This is a promise that Christ Jesus came to save us all from sin, even the worst of sinners, and He has called us all to help His kingdom grow.
Paul has realized his sins and has gained understanding for God’s saving grace through Christ Jesus. He has realized and understands the mercy of God being poured out on him as he has not received punishment for his past sins but forgiveness that has touched his heart and led him to his humbled state of obedience to God and his desire to follow God’s will for his life.
We may not be persecutors of Christians, as Paul once was, but we all are sinners, and we all need to realize and understand the weight of God’s mercy and grace on our lives, and of our callings from God through our own salvation in and through Christ Jesus. God has called us all to Himself to redeem us from sin through His One and only Son Jesus as He died sinless on the cross to pay the price for all our sins (John 3:16-17). The Apostle Paul speaks of our individual callings and spiritual gifts from God in Ephesians 4:11- 16 and states, “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head – Christ – from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.” We all play a part in the growth of the body of Christ Jesus. We all have a place in Christ Jesus that He longs for us to fulfill that we all may help His body to grow in the salvation of others. We all are worthy of our callings in Christ Jesus because it is only through Him that we succeed.
Dear LORD,
We all have sinned and fall short of Your glory (Romans 3:23), but we are all saved by Your great love, mercy, and grace shown to us through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, dying for all our sins so that we, through believing in Him may be saved from sin and given a new life in and through Christ Jesus. The Apostle Paul teaches us through Your guidance in his life (Ephesians 4:8–9, NKJV), “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.” Please help us all to walk in the light of Christ Jesus and fulfill Your callings for our lives – In Christ. In Jesus name I pray, amen.