Appointed to His Service

1 Timothy 1:12-17 ESV

“I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”

The Controversy over Paul’s words

I am going to get this out of the way first, for there is a part of this passage of Scripture that has become a stumbling block to some people who want to find an excuse to continue in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord and to not feel guilty about it. Many are taking Paul’s words out of context here and they are claiming that Paul, who told everyone to emulate his life, was regularly giving in to sin. For it appears to some that when he said “sinners, of whom I am the foremost,” that he was speaking in present tense.

But then look at verse 13. For he said there that “formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent.” So he made it clear that this was his former life, not his present life. But he still regarded that he was the worst of all sinners, not that he was presently living in such sin, but that he believed that he, of all sinners, had committed the most heinous of all sins when he had persecuted and murdered those who were following Jesus Christ with their lives.

Now, many people are also taking Paul’s words out of context in Romans 7 and they are, again, claiming that Paul was regularly giving in to sin, which they then use to excuse away their own habitual sin. But we have to read Romans 7 in the context of what Paul taught in Romans 6 and in Romans 8, for if that is what he was teaching in Romans 7 then he would be claiming that he, who was teaching everyone else, was one of the biggest hypocrites of all, and that he was condemning himself to hell (1). 

Appointed to God’s Service

If you read all of Paul’s writings in the New Testament, it will become quite clear that Paul led an exemplary life, a godly life, a holy life, and a life fully committed to Jesus Christ and to his gospel, even if it meant suffering for the sake of the name of Jesus and for his gospel, and even if it meant his death. And why did they persecute Paul? For the same reasons that they persecuted Jesus, because he told the people the truth and not the lies.

Paul told the people that if sin is what they practiced, if it was what they obeyed, that it would lead to death, not to life eternal. In fact, they would not inherit eternal life with God. And he told them that God is going to judge each one of us according to our works, and for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. For, he said that we are all going to reap what we sow.

[Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10; 2 Co 5:10; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11]

Now, because Paul was faithful in service to the Lord, and because he did walk in obedience to the Lord’s commands, the Lord Jesus was able to use him mightily to spread the truth of the gospel and to expose the lies of the enemy. Paul became a faithful servant of the Lord who took God seriously and who followed the Lord wherever he led him to go, even if it meant being hated and persecuted and beaten and imprisoned for doing no wrong.

Now the beauty of this testimony is that Paul was in the midst of persecuting the Lord’s servants and messengers when the Lord stopped him dead in his tracks, and when he gave him a new life in Christ Jesus, and when he called Paul to his service. And that is grace! – Not grace which coddles people in their sins and which does not call them to repentance, but grace that forgives sin and that gives us new lives to be lived for the glory of God.

In other words, no matter what your past life has been, God can transform you. He can change you. He can make you into a new creation in Christ Jesus fully devoted to the Lord and to his service. And he can use you mightily, too, to reach many people with the truth of the gospel, and to encourage (exhort, urge) the body of Christ in their walks of obedience and in surrender to the Lord and to his will for our lives.

So, what does Paul’s testimony teach us? It teaches us that none of us are too far gone to ever be used of the Lord if only we will turn from our sins and turn to the Lord to follow him in his ways and in his truth. It doesn’t matter where we have been. What matters is where we are now. Jesus performed a complete turnabout in the life of Paul, for he took him from being a persecutor and a murderer of Christians to the one God used to write most of the books of the New Testament, which is our gospel.

So never believe the lies of the enemy that God can never use you because of where you have been. But know that he can’t use you if you continue in the life of sinful addiction and if you do not die to sin and now live to God and to his righteousness, in his power and strength. For the Scriptures teach that if sin is what we practice, and not obedience to our Lord, that we don’t even know God, we are not born of God, we are of the devil, in fact, and we will not inherit eternal life with God.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10; 2 Co 5:10; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; 1 Pet 1:17-21; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

So, let his grace transform you. Let him take you from a life of living in sin and for self and to give you a new life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Bow the knee to him today in full surrender of your will to the will of God the Father. Repent of your sins, turn, and now follow Jesus in obedience to his commands from here on out. Give your life fully to him to be used for his service, then walk in his love and grace in doing whatever it is he has called you to do for his glory and praise.

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer 

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897

Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,

Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,

Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,

Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,

Holy and harmless, patient and brave;

Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,

Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg 

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(1) Was Paul a Hypocrite?: https://runwithit.blog/2023/05/13/was-paul-a-hypocrite-ii/