Tag: 1 Timothy

Why Jesus Came

This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all. But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life.

1 Timothy 1:15-16 (NLT)
Why Jesus Came

There was no other reason why Jesus came into the world; He came to save sinners, you and I. We must never take this lightly. Jesus loves us and came to save us from certain life in eternal hell. This marvellous truth should so captivate our thoughts that we are driven to our knees in gratitude and worship our wondrous Saviour and Lord.

I don’t know how you perceived yourself before you came to Christ. Paul saw himself as the worst of sinners. No matter how good of a person we thought we were, without Christ we were in the same boat as Paul. We were sinners undeserving of God’s love and favor. Like Paul, we ought to be amazed at the fact that Jesus bothered with us. Our sins made us enemies of God and deserving of His wrath. You without Christ were the worst you have ever been. Whether you were the best or worst of sinners, you were still an enemy of God, undeserving of God’s forgiveness and mercy.

Jesus saves us so that we can tell others this simple truth: “If God can save me, He can save you, too.” We each have a story of redemption to tell. We ought to be telling it over and over again. No one is beyond God’s forgiveness. God is patient with the lost and anyone who is willing can be saved. Our lives are a living testimony of what God can do.

Praise God for His marvellous patience, mercy, and love! I am redeemed! Shout it from the rooftop to all who will listen. Let your voice be heard. People everywhere must be told that Jesus can and does save everyone who comes to Him with a broken, repentant heart.

What Really Matters

Don’t let them waste their time in endless discussion of myths and spiritual pedigrees. These things only lead to meaningless speculations, which don’t help people live a life of faith in God.

1 Timothy 1:4 (NLT)

How much time is wasted arguing over things that really don’t matter? Probably a lot. We sometimes get into some interesting “discussions” that end up doing nothing more than cause hard feelings that sometimes result in broken fellowship that is never quite restored. How sad!! We need to be careful about what issues we choose to get defensive over. As much as we would like to think otherwise, our opinions really don’t matter all that much. What does matter are those things which help us and others to grow in faith.

We need to focus our attention on things that edify the soul and the source of those things is the Word of God. The Word of God should never be argued over. We can have different understandings on interpretations and applications, but they should NEVER be allowed to sever relationships in the body of Christ. We should agree to disagree agreeably on our different understandings and move on to how we can help each other grow in faith.

If we truly love each other as God loves us, we will work very hard to live peaceably with each other and work together for our common good and Christ’s glory on earth. Loving each other ought to disarm those things which divide us. As long as Christ is the focus of our faith and we rally around the cross, we should accept one another as brothers and sisters in Him and help each other become a holy people, a people after God’s own heart.