The Salvation of a Sinner
Notes
Transcript
1 Timothy 1:12-17
I love to hear salvation stories. It used to be common for churches to host individuals who would share their story of God’s grace. In fact it was not uncommon for churches to devote a Sunday night service for the purpose of church members sharing their testimonies.
It seems as if those days are all but gone, I’ve heard the excuses:
We don’t want folks glorifying sin.
We don’t want to scare the children.
We don’t won’t to offend people who may not be delivered from sin yet.
Nothing good has come from the disappearance of public testimonies in our churches. The truth is, testimonies are both biblical and helpful.
They are biblical- our text today is a testimony of a salvation.
They are helpful- Our churches are full of people bound by sin who would be encouraged to hear of a saint delivered from the same sins torturing them.
It was only a couple of years ago that my own sister was saved at a testimony service. We had prayed for over twenty years for her to be saved. She came to church to hear our own mother give her testimony. She was saved that morning.
A testimony is nothing more than the story of the salvation of a sinner. Every Christian has a testimony but not every Christian shares their testimony. Paul was known to share his testimony.
He shared it with the Jews in Acts 22
He shared it with King Agrippa in Acts 26
He shared it with believers in 1 Tim. 1
It didn’t matter who you were.
You could be religious like the Jews.
You could be royalty like Agrippa.
You could be redeemed like the church.
Paul would share his story of salvation with you. This morning I want us to see five reasons why Paul was so eager to share his testimony.
1. He never forgot Who saved him (12).
A. The Person of Christ.
Paul calls Him Christ Jesus. This is important because it encompasses the fullness of Who Christ is. He is the God-Man.
He is Christ- He comes from heaven
He is Jesus- He comes to earth.
He is Christ- He is God
He is Jesus- He is man
He is Christ- He is King
He is Jesus- He is servant
He is Christ- He is eternal
He is Jesus- He was born
The truth is only a God-Man could save us. The Savior must be perfect- Only God is perfect.
The Savior must be a human- He represents the human race.
Paul recognizes our great God who became man to represent us and offer himself up as a perfect sacrifice. He is Christ Jesus our Lord!
B. The power of Christ.
“Who hath enabled me”
Paul gave himself no credit for living the Christian life. He said the Lord “enabled” him.
Paul had been a Pharisee. He had the power to:
Not eat pork
Rest on the Sabbath
Keep himself clean from the Gentiles
He did not have the power to become a Christian much less live the Christian life.
Do you see the phrase “He counted me faithful”. That doesn’t mean God knew Paul would be faithful so He chose Paul. In 1 Cor. 7:25 Paul says he was only faithful because of the mercy of God. God enabled him to be faithful.
Think of all Paul endured:
Imprisoned
Deserted 2 Tim. 4:16-17
Beaten, shipwrecked, stoned, homeless, hungry, hated. But he kept going. He remained faithful. How? The resurrected Christ was living in him. Paul was not only amazed that he was saved. He was amazed that he was living the Christian life.
Every day of his life was a reminder that Christ had saved him. It’s easy to remember Who saved you if you wake up every day determined to live for Him! You realize that not only can you not save yourself but you can’t live the Christian life a single day by yourself. We need Christ!
Paul was eager to share His testimony because every day he woke up and thanked the God who saved and enabled him.
2. He never forgot what he was saved from (13).
A. Paul lists his sins in verse 13.
1. A blasphemer. He said awful things about Jesus. He cursed the wonderful name of our Lord. He was like the torturers of Christ who said :
If you be the Son of God prophesy and tell us who hit You!
If You are the Son of God come down from the cross!
After putting a crown of thorns on His head mocked Him saying “Hail King of the Jews!”
Paul cursed Christ with his lips.
2. A persecutor.
The Bible says Paul made havoc of the church. He entered into homes arresting men and women hauling them off to prison. Families, children included, lived in fear because of Paul.
3. Injurious. The Greek word combines the ideas of arrogance and violence. Acts 26:11 says Paul punished Christians and compelled them to blaspheme. It takes a lot to get someone to blaspheme. It’s very likely physical pain was used to get Christians to turn their backs on Christ. Paul tortured believers.
Paul was thankful that the God of grace would reach down and save a sinner like himself. He never forgot who saved him. He never forgot what he was saved from. If he had a Baptist Hymnal I’m pretty sure he would sing:
‘Alas and did my Savior bleed and did my Sovereign die, would He devote that sacred head for such a worm as I!
At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light and the burdens of my heart were rolled away, it was there by faith I received my sight and now I am happy all the day!”
B. There are two important words in verses 13-14.
1. The first word is “mercy”. Mercy is the removal of misery. If someone is thirsting to death you have mercy on them by giving them a drink. Their misery disappears.
Nothing is more miserable than the weight of our own sins. When conviction falls upon us and we realize we are lost and undone we are full of misery. When Christ comes into our life He extends us mercy. We drink the living water and the misery of our sin is relieved.
Mercy gives us assurance. It gives us confidence. Our sin is removed!
2. The second word is grace. Grace is the undeserved favor of God. It is not earned. It is not owed. Grace is the removal of guilt. Your guilt before God is removed the moment you are saved. There is therefore now no condemnation!
But look closely at verse 14. The grace of God is exceeding abundant!
In the Greek language Paul adds the preposition “huper” to the word “abundant” to describe grace. It’s not just abundant grace. It’s super abundant grace. There is no such thing as a little grace because there is no such things as a little sin.
Paul says God gave him super abundant grace to remove his sins and he gave him mercy to remove his misery.
3. The grace of God empowered Paul.
The result was faith and love. He had faith in the finished work of Christ and love toward God and people because of the grace of God.
Don’t you hate it when you buy something that needs batteries but you forgot to get the batteries? You look on the box and it says “batteries not included”. You have what you need but don’t have the power to enjoy it. With salvation, batteries are included. With grace comes mercy, faith and love. You don’t have to make another trip!
3. He never forgot how he was saved (15).
This is one of five trustworthy statements Paul gives (3:1, 4:9, 2 T. 2.11 and Tits 3:8).
Paul is highlighting what he’s about to say. He wants us to particularly listen to this.
A. It’s a simple message.
With nine words he preaches the gospel! Only eight in the Greek! Thank God for the simplicity of the gospel. Listen to our simple gospel:
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners!
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved (Acts 16:31)
God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him shall be saved (John 3:16).
I don’t mean it’s shallow. It’s a deep gospel. In this simple statement we see:
The eternality of Jesus “Came into”
The humanity of Jesus “Jesus”
The universal sinfulness of mankind “sinners”
The substitutionary atonement “save sinners”
The incarnation “Christ Jesus”
Five major doctrines are contained in these nine words, yet it’s a simple message.
B. It’s an incredible message.
1. An incredible condescension. What a condescension it was for Him! He came into the world. He came into our sinful, dark, dying world.
If I am being honest I am uncomfortable in Haiti.
I’m in the minority
It is absolute chaos when driving
There are garbage heaps everywhere
It stinks
You would be uneasy there too. But me going to Haiti is nothing compared to Christ coming into this world.
2. An incredible salvation.
He came to save sinners! What a word! It could have said He came to:
Judge sinners
Extinguish sinners
Crush sinners
But it says save sinners!
What it does not mean to be saved:
That you would start going to church
That you would get baptized
That you would do better
Christ didn’t humble Himself, become a man, endure insults, beatings and death just to get us to go to church, get baptized and do better!
If “saved” means that to you, you’re missing what it means. When you get saved:
A dead person comes to life
A guilty person on death row is pardoned
A filthy person is washed
An unrighteous person is given righteousness
A lost person is found
A blind person is given sight
Saved doesn’t simply mean I’m going to heaven. Saved means heaven has come to me. I love that song:
Born of his spirit with life from above,
into God's family divine,
Justified fully through Calvary’s love,
Oh what a standing is mine.
And the transaction so quickly was made,
When as a sinner I came,
Took of the offer, Of grace he did proffer,
He saved me, Oh praise His dear name.
Heaven came down and glory filled my soul,
When at the cross the savior made me whole,
My sins were washed away,
And my night was turned to day,
Heaven came down and glory filled my soul.
The gospel of Jesus Christ has transforming power. It is the power of God unto salvation (Rom. 1:16). The joy and abundant life Jesus offers comes with the new birth.
I don’t get excited just because sinners are coming to church. I’m glad they come, but that doesn’t excite me. Suppose you knew a cancer patient who needed a tumor removed. He makes it to the doctor’s office and sits down in the waiting room. He is surrounded by medical professionals. All the equipment is nearby. But he chooses to sit in the waiting room. You would not be happy until he places himself under the surgeon’s knife and had his cancer removed.
For some of you this sanctuary is the waiting room. You are surrounded by Christians. Everything necessary for your salvation is here. But you must go beneath the Great Physicians knife. He must cut your heart of stone out and replace it with a heart of flesh.
Are you in the waiting room or are you among the new creations? Believe this incredible message! This message is what changed Paul and it is what has changed every born again person since the Day of Pentecost!
4. He never forgot the purpose of his salvation (16).
A. Paul said his salvation was a testimony of the patience of Jesus Christ. Paul’s salvation was so marvelous many in the early church thought he was pretending so he could capture more Christians (Acts 9:26).
Once established, Paul’s testimony gave God great glory. If Paul could be forgiven, anyone could.
The purpose of every salvation is to point others to the grace of God.
You may think “I don’t have a testimony like that!”
You say:
I grew up in church.
I’ve never done anything really bad.
I’m a good person compared to others.
You need to stop believing yourself and start believing the Bible. The Bible says a lot about us. It says :
We are all lost.
We are all sinful.
We are all dead.
We are all blind.
Our righteousness is like filthy rags.
You’re testimony is the same as every other testimony. You were a lost, sinful, spiritually dead, spiritually blind, unrighteous person headed for judgment.
When you think of your salvation you need to also think of grace in another way. There are things that God, by His grace, has kept you from.
B. Grace doesn’t just rescue you from where you’ve been it rescues you from where you were headed.
Imagine if you would a man traveling down the interstate one night. He gets a call from his wife. He left his wallet at home. He gets off at the next exit turns around and goes home. Just ahead on the interstate was a tragic accident killing all involved. That call, that exit ramp, that turn around saved his life.
Salvation is like that. We heard the call, we exited our old life, and we turned around to go home. If we hadn’t we have no idea what might have happened.
Some of you have never been drunks but if you hadn’t come to Christ you may very well be one today.
Some of you have never done drugs. But if you hadn’t come to Christ you may very well be an addict today.
Some of you have been married for many years. But if you hadn’t come to Christ you may very well be grossly immoral today.
The old timers used to say “But for the grace of God there go I.”
God saved you to show the world He is a patient and loving God. When you think of your salvation do not merely think of the sins you have committed think of those sins you would have committed had Christ not drawn you to Himself.
5. He never forgot the glory of God (17).
A. Nothing helps your worship like remembering your salvation. As Paul ends his testimony he breaks out into praise. It’s as if he is overcome with joy in sharing his testimony and he exclaims:
Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
I think Paul is saying “Enough about me!” “ Let’s praise God!”
The King eternal- The One who has always existed
The immortal- The One who will always exist
The only wise God- Perfect in knowledge.
The invisible- only seen by those He reveals Himself to.
Think of the invisible God for a moment. It’s him we’re giving glory. Someone may ask “ How can you worship a God you cannot see.
We can worship a God we cannot see because He has done a work in us we cannot deny.
B. When you experience salvation you know it. It is a transformation. You know you didn’t transform yourself. This is why Paul begins and ends his testimony with praise.
Have you experienced the saving grace of God? You’ll know if you have.
Ilust. – Pastor Julio in Haiti told me he was in revival and fifteen people had been saved. He said they were having baptism on Friday night. He explained that each candidate would stand before the church and give the testimony of their salvation before they were baptized. I asked him what would happen if they didn’t. He looked confused and said they would not be baptized then.
Our baptism is not about us. It is about the glory of God. Our salvation is for the glory of God. It’s our responsibility to share our testimony for the glory of God.