Abundant Grace

1 Timothy 1:5-17......

The apostle Paul begins his letter to Timothy, warning him of false teachers swaying from the truth and the law. The Law is important to the sinner because it is what reveals to us that we are sinners! It is the great condemner, Romans 3:20 “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” ..........Paul went on to say in Romans 3 that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God and in Romans 3:24 “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:”

Justification did not come by the law it come only in Jesus Christ.

The Law was a revealer of sin, a mirror to reveal our filthiness, a plumbline to show how much out of plumb we were with God.

The law cannot save only the Grace of God through the Person and Work of Jesus Christ!

Paul is discussing this very thing to Timothy. He was also warning him of those that have swayed from this Truth.

Paul tells Timothy that these men have turned to “fruitless” discussions!

They were caught up with a desire to look sharp, rather than preach and teach the true salvation that comes love through a pure heart!

They try to teach the law but they have no grasp of the reality of the law.....maybe they were to teaching righteousness through the law......being justified by the law.

Paul says that the law is not for the righteous....to which we no that.....Romans 3:10 “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:” ......Psalm 14:1 “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, There is none that doeth good.”

The law is for the lawless, which we all are!

Then Paul begins to describe the lawless in verse 9-10.....

Paul covers a lot of ground here and yes he mentions homosexuality, but before that he mentions the sexually immoral, that covers more ground than just the homosexual, but these are all condemned by the law of God.....

Paul adds something here that just in case you think you might be clear of condemnation.....”and in other things that is contrary to the Law (sound doctrine)”

Just in case you were thinking you were not guilty!

In the midst of Paul’s writing, he gets carried away, I would say inspired by the Holy Spirit, but he gets so overwhelmed about what God has chosen him to do, that he takes a moment to declare what he was and where he is at this point!

All of what Paul was telling Timothy was the glorious Gospel, which Paul gets overwhelmed by the goodness of God and says 1 Timothy 1:11 “According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.”

Committed to Paul’s trust, that is what overwhelmed Paul!

The fact that God saved him and then on top of that committed to Paul the preaching of the glorious Gospel to the Gentiles!

Paul mentions in his writings abundant grace , abundant mercy....That is what is talking about.....he considered himself not no where near deserving of any love shown from God!

He goes on to explain what he was before and that it was only Christ that gave him this new life and he was not worthy of any grace!

Verse 15 he states that Jesus came into the world to save sinners, which Paul was chief......that means the highest rank “first”.....among all peoples Paul is the greatest sinner!

That is how Paul viewed himself!

Other places he stated this........1 Corinthians 15:9 “For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.”

Ephesians 3:8 “Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;”

Least of the apostles, least of the saints, that is how Paul viewed himself and believing that gets us to the doxology of praise that Paul tears out in the next few verses....we will get to that in just a minute.

Paul obtained mercy, he didn’t do anything to get it, Christ Jesus did, Paul just recognized the true Christ on the road to Damascus in Acts 9...........Paul was on his way to persecute people for believing in the Christ.....

Paul speaks of his ignorance, because he did what he did not because he knew Christ and rejected Him but because he thought what he was doing was right.....

That does not make him innocent, but it makes redeemable which he was redeemed on that day........”who are you Lord”.....then Christ revealed Himself to Paul and after that Paul asked “what would you have me to do”

I believe what Paul says in Romans 7:9 “For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.” that speaks to this encounter with Jesus!

Paul speaks of who he was......

blasphemer....slanderer....Paul had denied Christ by word and deed....ignorantly mind you!

Persecutor......Paul hunted down Christians like wild animals

Injurious......he was violent and abuser......some say that this word in the Greek hints of a violent man who enjoys being violent!

This is why Paul was so overwhelmed by the Grace of God through Jesus Christ!

Paul often referred to Jesus as Christ Jesus, because Christ means anointed deliverer, Messiah and Paul knew the deliverance through Jesus Christ on an extreme level!

The Grace and Mercy that was shown through Jesus Christ was more than abundant.........this an extreme amount of love given by Jesus!

That Grace and Mercy was given out of love and it produced faith and love in Paul!

Paul tells us that the phrase: “Jesus came into the world to save sinners” , is phrase that is worthy of full acceptance!

Paul knew that because he was the number one sinner......as the FBI has the most wanted list, Paul considered himself number one on God’s sinner list!

Verse 16 because of God’s Grace Paul found mercy, so that in Paul, the foremost sinner, Jesus’ could show His perfect patience!!

Paul’s deliverance as the chiefest sinner would serve as an example of the patience of God through Christ......

John 3:17 “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”

2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

There have been many notorious sinners throughout history.....many we can name.....

Matthew, Zacheaus, the demon possessed man at the Gaderenes, the woman at the well, the woman caught in adultery,.......many others that had encounters with Jesus and were delivered from their sin.........

I heard a preacher talking about a woman in North Carolina that was convicted of killing her family and sentenced to death, she listened to this preachers tapes and called for help with the Gospel, she repented and was saved, she was justly executed but she lives forever with Christ!

The list can go on and on......one preacher received a call from a man dying form aids.....he was a homosexual and wanted to discuss the Gospel....the preacher went to the hospital and taught this dying man the forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ....the man repented of his sins and passed from this life to the glorious life with Jesus !

The list is exhaustive and can go on and on......Paul now gets caught up in his deliverance and begins to praise God!!!

As Paul is telling Timothy these things, he gets caught up in the Grace that has been shown to him and goes right off into basically what is being sung and declared in Heaven as we speak......

I was thinking the other day, as I closed one of my prayers.....how unworthy I am to make any plea to God!!!

I know some of you might say, don’t beat yourself up, but I would dare say that one of the greatest Christians that ever lived seemed to live in the idea that he was not worthy of any Grace from the blessed, glorious, pure, and holy God........

I would also say that the heart of Paul’s transgression and the reality of God’s Grace through Jesus Christ, exuded from Paul like sweat does through outside in Pollard, AL in the summer!

You can see Paul’s worship in that the God Grace was given to the foremost sinner!

Truthfully, we are not worthy to go before God in prayer, not at all, no one is, except for Jesus!

If not for Christ Jesus, we would have no way to the Father......we would be orphans with no hope!

Hebrews 4:14-16 “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

Mercy and Grace is what is needed, every time that God hears your prayer, your are shown favor that you didn’t deserve.......and when those prayers are answered.....that is what Paul is talking about when he says “abundant grace or mercy”!!!

Paul knew this believed it and lived it!

Do we know this and believe or have we become spoiled brats and expect God to take care of us!

Paul, originally was a a violent man, who got his thrills out of hurting innocent people, had completely changed by the Grace of Jesus Christ.......

Paul’s old man spoke volumes to how much Grace Jesus showed him!

Does your old man speak that to you? or do you think that you are good?

There is only one that is Good and that is God.....in 3 persons!