Mensa Otabil - Christ Is Our Saviour
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1 Timothy 1, verse 15: 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. This is a very dramatic verse in 1 Timothy where Paul calls himself the chief of sinners, that is, the greatest sinner. The drama is clear when you look at it from the beginning, where Paul calls himself an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. He has been commissioned by the Lord Jesus Christ; he has been enabled by the Lord Jesus Christ. Then, in verse 15, he calls himself the chief of sinners. In other words, he puts himself at the lowest level. The grace of God turned Paul, a persecutor, into a preacher and a murderer into a minister and a missionary. So dramatic was the change in Paul's life when he encountered Christ that the Christians at that time did not believe his conversion; they thought it was a trick.
So what did Paul mean when he says, "I'm the chief of sinners"? Christ came to save sinners, and I'm the chief sinner. Does this mean he was the worst human being on Earth? Was he really the worst sinner in the world, and is there anybody who is the chief of sinners? I know there are people you may know that you look at and say, "That's a proper chief sinner," but is there really such a one? I don't think Paul was saying this in comparison with others. He's not saying, "Others are better sinners; I'm the chief sinner." Instead, he's looking at his own relationship. There are two reasons why he calls himself the chief of sinners. The first is the depth of God's grace.
The depth of God's grace: Paul understood the depth of God's grace that saved him. Remember, he encountered Christ on the road to Damascus, and at that time, the gospel was not on his mind. Christ was not on his mind in terms of making Him Lord; he was going to persecute Christians. Then he had this supernatural encounter; he fell and he got saved. Nobody preached to him then, but he gave his life to Christ. Prior to that, Paul had heard the gospel preached by Stephen, who preached the gospel fully, but Paul did not believe in it and actually consented to Stephen being murdered.
So he understood the gospel, but he didn't believe in it. However, when Christ encountered him, he believed what he had heard, he got saved, and he understood that his salvation was purely the work of God's grace. God picked him when he was going in the opposite direction, and he gave his life to Christ. So that is the depth of God's grace; he understood it. That is why he called himself the chief of sinners: because he didn't deserve salvation. He had just been part of the murder of a Christian, and he didn't deserve salvation, but God saved him.
The second reason was the depth of his gratitude. Paul was very grateful for his salvation. You know, many times Christians take their salvation for granted; we devalue it, and we don't even remember what it cost for us to be saved and for Christ to come into our hearts and for us to be called children of God. If we can look at Paul, we can also have a depth of gratitude for our salvation and a depth of gratitude for the grace of God. That is why Paul calls himself the chief of sinners. It is not in comparison with others; it is because he appreciated the grace of God and what God had done for him. If we do too, then we can also look at ourselves and say we were the worst sinners, but thank God for the grace of God and thank God for what He has done in our lives. Grace and gratitude are why Paul said what he said.
Let us pray. Say with me, "Heavenly Father, Your grace found me and delivered me from all sin. I am grateful for Your priceless gift of salvation. In Jesus' name, amen and amen."