Timothy, my son, the saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And I am the foremost of sinners; but I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience for an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory to the ages of ages. Amen.
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Timothy was a young man of Lystra who was chosen by Paul to be his companion on his second missionary journey. Timothy’s father was Greek and his mother a Jewess. Timothy was personally ordained by Paul but had to be circumcised as he was not a true Jew and at that time there was some real confrontation between the Judaisers and the Gentiles and Paul wished that Timothy’s ministry be not side-tracked by such a non-issue. So Timothy submitted to circumcision to avoid the futility of any argument.
The letter to Timothy is both personal and pastoral. It is believed that Paul wrote this letter in about 65 A.D., before his second imprisonment in Rome and, perhaps, from Macedonia. Timothy, the Bishop of Ephesus was confronted with some church members who taught a doctrine different to that of Christ and it was necessary for Paul to excommunicate several of them.
The major theme of this epistle is the pastoral care of the faithful. What was important is how to manifest the kingdom of God on earth. Therefore the governance of the church is integrally connected with both apostolic doctrine and true worship. Some other aspects are also covered in the epistle which include the role of the clergy, how to best combat heresy, how to care for widows, women and slaves and for ministry to the world in general.
Therefore, the purpose of the letter was to guide Timothy as he encountered pastoral challenges as well as giving answers in terms of doctrine. Paul reinforces that the true spirit of God’s law is not legalism but love. Therefore the world is not inherently evil for God created the world. Further, salvation is not through the intellect or through knowledge but through faith which calls out people from their sinful condition.
The central thesis of Paul’s teaching is plain: he declares that Christ came into the world to save sinners of whom he, Paul, is the first. Why does Paul consider himself to be the greatest sinner? Paul’s focus is not upon what he does well in the name of Christ but rather upon his failings. Clearly this demonstrates that we need to focus not our good deeds or what we perceive to be our good virtues, but rather on the fact that we understand and appreciate just how much further we have to go. This is known as spiritual growth. The focus upon spiritual growth is not for pride or self-satisfaction but that we may know something of Christ. The focus should thus be upon our failings and weaknesses as to how little we know of Christ and, even more so, how unworthy we are through our own personal endeavours to be considered by Christ as a good and faithful servant.
This is a most important and salutary lesson. Paul calls upon us to keep our failings in remembrance. It is the remembrance of our failings and the consequences of what will befall us should we find the doors of the kingdom closed, that should be uppermost in our minds. That should motivate us to more urgent action. And if we need any further incentive we only have to look at the example that we have in Christ Jesus. Christ self-emptied and took on, whilst fully God, the form of a servant. In this way, he was condemned to death and through his bodily death we are saved. This was an act of supreme love. This saving act was a once only sacrifice for the remission of sins and undertaken by Christ as a manifestation of his unconditional love for us all.
Christ forgives all. If we are truly repentant, Christ accepts all. One of the greatest persecutors of the church before his transformation is Paul himself. This is the beauty of Christianity. One can take a broken and flawed vessel and transform it into a thing of exquisite beauty. One can take a Mary of Egypt and transform her into a life of virtue. One can even take a king such as David who transgressed so abominably in taking Bathsheba as his wife from Uriah and transform him into David the greatest king and poet, full of repentance and love for God. David who was the root of Jesse from which Mary and Joseph both come, thereby fulfilling the prophecy of the birth of Christ.
Paul readily acknowledges that, of himself, he can do nothing. It is the mercy of God freely given that empowers and vivifies him. One of the things that astonishes the believing Christian is the mercy that is freely given by God to us sinners. But I just wonder how many of us fully appreciate what this mercy means. If mercy is given and richly bestowed upon you by God then you have an obligation to respond to it with love, reverence and with acknowledgement of your unworthiness. Further, you are obliged to keep working in the vineyard of the Lord for the Lord. If you fall away for whatever reason then whatever good work you have done will be lost. Allow me to explain. We all know the parable of the workers in the vineyard and how they each, notwithstanding how long they may have worked, received the same reward at the end of their labours. But what if a labourer decided to cease employment halfway through the agreed time, would he be entitled to anything? If we think of the vineyard as our time on earth and our work as the labour of those who struggle in the field then the answer must be no. Why? Because if you fall away then, in this life, you have denied God and turned away from him. That is to say you no longer believe in him. If you no longer believe in him then how can you expect any reward – because for you God does not exist. Indeed, how could you expect a reward from someone who does not exist?
Further, we are told very clearly in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ that when Christ returns for the second judgement, he will do so in accordance with that judgement. In other words we will be judged on our actions and our works. It will be all about justice and not about mercy. It will be about what is done by you and not about the giving of forgiveness to you. So you are on notice that in this life mercy can be extended to you – provided you seek it through repentance. After you die that opportunity is lost and then at the second judgement you will be judged upon what is written about you in the book of life – and woe betide you if you are found wanting.
So, here’s the thing: to be saved you must believe in Christ. To receive the mercy of Christ – you must believe in Christ. To seek the love of Christ – you must first believe that Christ exists. If you do not believe in Christ then how can you receive mercy? If you do not believe in the life to come then you cannot receive something you do not believe in. Your denial of Christ simply becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Now, in this world, you can seek repentance, forgiveness and mercy. They can be freely given to you. If you have no such belief then it logically follows you will not seek any of those things and if you do not seek them then the kingdom of heaven will be shut to you as a result of your own foolishness. And you will have all eternity to reflect upon the enormity of such foolishness.
