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. 1 Timothy 1:15
The context of this lovely verse is interesting: Paul is reminding Timothy about his sinfulness before God reached him on the Damascus road, what a blasphemer he was, how hurtful he was to the Lord’s cause and people. Is it any wonder that at the end of this beautiful Gospel text that he appends this reference to his rank among sinners. Was Paul just being modest or self-effacing? I don’t think so. I think he really did understand his own sinful nature and the deep sinfulness of his own soul. He really did see himself as the worst sinner possible. He sets an example for us when he declares that it was not just that he was the chief of sinners, but that he is the chief of sinners. He understood that, just because he was saved, that he had not left his sinnerhood behind. No, Paul understood what we need to grasp too, that we who are saved are still sinners. We still have a sinful nature, we are still subject to temptations and lusts, we are still capable of making shipwreck and of causing shame to the Name of our Lord. Paul never got away from that awareness, and neither should we.
How many times do you see a dirty, down-and-outer on the street corner and confess to yourself that there, but for the grace of God, is you? How many times do you realize that, apart from the intervention of God, your name might well be among those in the crime and courts section of the newspaper, your name in the headlines about some horrible criminal activity? We sit comfortably with our Bibles in our laps in our meetings and feel ourselves far above all the sinfulness and weaknesses that we see around us. Smug, that’s what we are. And we are wrong. We have nothing to be smug about. Only God’s grace has given us a better position.
Are you the chief of sinners? No, if you could see my heart, you would have to take second place. -Jim MacIntosh