First Timothy 1:15

The Apostle Paul wrote in First Timothy 1:15, “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” If righteousness could have come by the keeping of the law, then Jesus would not have needed to come into the world. Why did Jesus come into the world? Did He come to be a light? Did He come to be a teacher? Did He come to be an example? Jesus was all of these things and more, but He came into the world to save sinners. Jesus Himself said, “The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Who are the sinners? The sinners are you and I. The sinners are everyone who has sinned. The sinners that Jesus came to save includes every human being in the world. “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Paul not only included himself among the group of sinners, he also made this humble statement: “Of whom I am chief.” He called himself the chief of sinners. Paul knew that his relationship with God was due entirely to the grace and mercy of God through Christ.

Why did Jesus come into the world? He came into the world to save sinners. Why did Jesus come into the world to save sinners? “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.” God loves the soul of every human being in the world no matter what they have done, and Jesus came into the world to die for them all. This proves the love of God as nothing else can.

Once a person becomes saved through faith in Jesus, then God has a new purpose for their life. Paul spoke of his own purpose in First Timothy 1:16 that says, “Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on Him to life everlasting.” God saves us freely by His great mercy. Jesus paid it all. There is nothing for us to pay in order to inherit salvation. But there is something for us to do after we become saved. There is a specific purpose for which God wishes to use our lives. For some of us, the path that God has for us to walk is not noticed by man, but it is by God. The cause and the purpose that God gave to Paul has been noticed by many because that was God’s will for him.

In order for Christ to make something out of Paul, Paul said that Jesus had to show “all longsuffering.” The Lord certainly has to have a lot of “longsuffering” if He is going to make anything out of any of us. How weak we can sometimes be: how quickly we can fail Him. But He never fails us, and He never fails to continue to work in our lives to make us what He wishes us to be. Do not ever think that God has given up on you. “A bruised reed shall He not break and smoking flax shall He not quench.” “The gifts and calling of God are without repentance.” If God showed “all longsuffering” in the life of Paul in order to make something out of him, then God will certainly do the same in our lives.

Paul said that God had showed mercy to him in order to make Paul a “pattern to them which should hereafter believe on Him to life everlasting.” All believers have Paul as a pattern of how to be a follower of Jesus Christ in this world. As believers we have Jesus as our pattern for the way life ought to be lived by a human being walking this earth, and we also have Paul as a pattern in a different way: how a sinner who has been saved from his sins follows Jesus in this world. Of course, in a way we are all patterns or examples or role models. We all influence those who around us. Everyone is either an influence for good or an influence for evil. One of the things that God is doing in our lives is making us to become the right kinds of influence.

In First Timothy 1:17 Paul gives praise to God and to Christ. After thinking about and writing about the grace of God and the mercy of God that was shown to him, the chief of sinners, Paul had to stop to give praise and honor and glory to God. Paul wrote, “Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and ever, Amen.” So many wonderful things are said about God in this one verse! A Christian song has been written using this Bible verse. Such thoughts can put a song in our hearts.

Paul was sitting in a prison in the Roman judicial system, but Paul knew that Caesar was only a temporary ruler. Everywhere we are reminded in the Bible that the kingdoms of this world will pass away and so will their kings. It is the best of all circumstances to be a part of the kingdom that is ruled by the King eternal. He is also immortal. Of course, human beings are not immortal. All of us have death that awaits us. It will come sooner for some, but it will come for all. “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” If all of the problems of the world were fixed, we still would not have fixed much because we would all still die. Life is precious and death is the greatest enemy of mankind. But what a wonderful fate awaits those who have a King immortal! We will share in His immortality. For us death will be a peaceful sleep, and a joyous passing through the gates into heaven.

We have a King invisible. Most people who seek after a country or a nation seek after one in this world, one that they can see. But “no man has seen God at any time.” We are reminded to be like Abraham and to seek “a country that has foundations whose builder and maker is God.” We cannot see God, but we know that He is nevertheless always with us. Jesus said, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

We are reminded that this great King who is eternal, immortal, and invisible, is also “the only wise God.” He is the only God. There is only one God. If someone prays to God then they pray to the same God to whom I pray, because there is only one God. The greatest manifestation of the only God is Jesus Christ His Son. If you worship the only God, then why not worship Him through the greatest and highest of any revelation that has been given. That revelation can be found only in Jesus Christ. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”

In First Timothy 1:18 Paul speaks directly to Timothy and he writes, “This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before unto thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare.” Timothy was a young man who had entered the ministry. Evidently he had entered the ministry based upon the principles of divine truth that Timothy had heard some time in the past. That is what prophecies are: the speaking forth of divine truth, sometimes relating to events in the future, but not always.

In the charge that was committed to Timothy first of all he is reminded that he is in a war. The Christian life is a war. It is not a war against flesh and blood in regards to other people, but it is a war of good against evil. It is a war of your flesh against your spirit. It is a war of sight against faith. We are ill-prepared to follow the Lord in this world if we forget for a moment that we are in a great conflict that will have serious consequences. We are not ignorant of the weapons of our warfare.

In First Timothy 1:19 Paul makes a couple of important points to Timothy concerning Timothy’s responsibility to serve the Lord. Are you ready for the warfare of the Christian life? You will be if you keep in mind what it says in this verse, “Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck.” If you are going to serve Christ in this world, according to the Apostle Paul, there are two very important things that you must hold on to: faith and a good conscience. Some things are indispensable if we are going to serve God; others are not. Some things are absolutely necessary; others can be done without. We do not have to have buildings and lands and properties and programs and budgets to serve God. But we do have to have faith and a good conscience. Paul had already mentioned faith and a good conscience in First Timothy 1:5. Now he mentions them again.

“Without faith it is impossible to please God.” “The just shall live by faith.” Live by faith, exercise your faith, build up your faith. As Paul says in First Timothy 1:19, hold on to faith. Faith is something that can die out or slip away, or as it says here it can be “made shipwreck.” If you build up your muscles through exercise, you must continue with an exercise program to keep them built up. They will not stay that way without the proper attention. The same is true concerning your faith. Faith has to do with trusting God and believing God. “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” When you hear and know and rely upon God’s promises, then you can live by faith. If you stop hearing or thinking about or relying upon God’s promises, then you cannot live by faith. Faith is relying upon God daily and relying upon His promises. Any philosophy that discredits or denies the promises of God or the truthfulness of His Word will war against faith. That is one of the reasons that false doctrine is so bad. It will destroy faith instead of build it up. There are few things more important than building up faith.

Because we are physical and material creatures in a material world, every day we are aware of our physical needs to exist in this world. The problem is that we can easily do what everyone else does in the world to satisfy those needs. If we are not careful, we will go after them with the will of man and with the arm of flesh. If we do not hold on to faith, we will seek our own will instead of God’s will; and we will trust in our own devices and plans just like the people of the world, instead of trusting in the promises of God. “The just shall live by faith.” Every day we must ask ourselves if we are living by trusting in the Lord or living by trusting in the plans and abilities of man.

We must hold on to faith, and we must also hold on to a good conscience. Our ability to live for God in this world is directly related to having a good conscience. You cannot live by faith without a good conscience. You cannot live by faith if you know that there is something between you and God. If you do not have a good conscience, the way to get one is through confession of sins and the cleansing that Jesus Christ can give. Do right until the stars fall so that you can keep a good conscience. If and when you sin, confess and forsake your sin quickly so that you can once again have a good conscience and a cleansed conscience. First John 1:9 says “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Paul spoke of two individuals whose faith did make shipwreck. The Bible says in First Timothy 1:20, “Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.” Perhaps Paul mentioned these two individuals to Timothy as a reminder to Timothy that the same things could happen to him. Anyone who thinks he stands should take heed lest he fall. It may be that these two men fell away from faith because of false doctrine. Paul said that they needed to “learn not to blaspheme.”

When Paul said that he had delivered these men unto Satan, Paul was probably referring to church discipline. There is a way of handling problems in the church. The first thing that should always be done when there is a doctrinal or ethical problem is that the person or persons involved should be talked to individually. Galatians 6:1 says, “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meakness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.” If going to someone individually does not work, eventually the matter must be brought before the church. Individuals have testimonies in the world, and the congregation as a whole and as a unit also has a testimony and a reputation in the community. If a person refuses to change in regards to false doctrine or immorality, then that person’s membership in the congregation must be taken away. Of course, it is never taken away permanently without the chance of ever being restored. That is why Paul said that he had delivered these men so that they would “learn” not to blaspheme. God does not cast us off forever. He may chastise us if we need it, but it is only for the purpose of teaching us something that we need to learn. Restoration is always possible if there is repentance.

The Bible says in First Timothy 2:1, “I exhort, therefore, that first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men.” We are reminded very well what our attitude should be to all other human beings. We should pray for them, even those who have been obliged to leave our fellowship because of doctrinal errors. No one is left off the list. No one has failed so much that they do not need to be prayed for. Jesus told us to love our enemies. If we can pray for them, then we have taken a step in the right direction. It is no wonder that the Bible tells us to pray for “all” men. God loves all. Jesus died for all, and Jesus wants to save the soul of every person. Have you allowed Jesus to save you?

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