1 Timothy 1:12-17

Thanking God for His Gracious Gift No one understood the impact of sin on his life like the apostle Paul did (Romans 7:24-25). Grateful for the salvation afforded him through Christ and the opportunity to tell others about it, the apostle burst into praise. The word "enabled" suggests a giving of strength, which Paul appropriately attributes to Christ

(1 Peter 4:13). In his life before Christ, Paul spoke against the Son of God and his church, or blasphemed. He also persecuted the body of Christ, even to cities outside of Jerusalem (Acts 22:4-5; Acts 26:9-11). Coffman says the word "insolent" describes "a person who takes a savage personal delight and a malicious enjoyment in the afflictions inflicted upon another." With this rising tide of charges against him, Paul surely felt he was in a hopeless state, but God gave him mercy. Sin had blinded him to the point that he believed he was doing the very works God would have him to do (1 Timothy 1:12-13; Acts 23:1).

God's grace is only in Christ, where we also find the source of our faith and love. Just as much as Paul's sin abounded, just so God's grace abounded (Romans 5:20). Here was a man who had violently opposed Christ and his cause, yet Jesus came to save him. It is completely true that Jesus came into the world to save sinners (Luke 1910; Matthew 9:12-13). We ought to totally accept the idea that Jesus came to save sinners. By saving the terrible persecutor of his body, Jesus said to all lesser sinners that he would save them, too. Paul became God's example of just how far his mercy could go. Guthrie says the word "pattern" presents two ideas to us. It "may be understood either as an outline sketch of an artist, or as a wordillustration expressing an author's burning purpose."

Thus, all who follow Paul's conversion should see God's intent to save all sinners. This should cause us to believe on Christ with a look forward to eternal life through complete obedience (1 Timothy 1:14-16).

It is natural that one saved from such sins that he may have thought unforgivable would burst forth with thankful praise. In this expression of praise, we have an apt description of God. He is eternal, without beginning or end (Hebrews 13:8; Hebrews 7:1-3; Hebrews 7:20-25). He is immortal in that he will not die and invisible because he is a spirit (Exodus 3:14; John 4:24). There is only one God, not a plurality of them as the Greeks thought (1 Timothy 1:17; Ephesians 4:6).