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I received mercy for this reason
Why did God save me?
That’s a tough one to answer. As I’ve grown in my faith — particularly over the last few months — I’ve begun to realize how sinful I am. It feels like every action of mine is laced and corrupted with sin. My attitude is rarely where it should be, and my motives are rarely pure. If I were God, I know that I would have given up on me long ago. So why doesn’t He do so?
1 Timothy 1:12-17
12 I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, 13 though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. 16 But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. 17 To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
My salvation is entirely due to God’s grace. The faith and love which characterize my walk with God did not come from myself at all; they are gifts from God (v. 14). There is nothing about me or my own ability to choose God that caused Him to save me. I was neither smart enough nor righteous enough to decide that He is Lord. It was His gift of faith that caused me to believe. In fact, I was a desperate and wicked sinner — the “chief of sinners” (from vv. 15-16). Thankfully, saving sinners is Jesus’ specialty.
So why did God save me? I received His mercy in order that Jesus Christ could show His patience toward me (v. 16). Even as I sin daily against Him — far more than against anyone else! — He loves, forgives, and blesses me. I know I can’t possibly be that patient.
God is glorified through His patience toward me (v. 17). It’s tempting (and foolish) to believe that because God has His glory in mind first and foremost, that we are just incidental to Him. But in fact, God’s love, mercy, and patience toward us is all wrapped up in His glory. I can have full confidence that He will never give up on me because His patience is the very thing He’s working to display.
I’m praying that God will never let me lose sight of His mercy and patience. Truly He is “the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God” (v. 17).
Satan is scary (but not that scary)
The Perspectives course I’ve been taking has done a great job of showing how different the American worldview is from many of cultures. One emphasis a spiritual blind spot in our mindset: the “excluded middle.” Most Western Christians simply ignore a whole tier of spiritual beings that other cultures — and the Bible as well — readily acknowledge. We are content to think about the natural world and about God, but we rarely consider the presence of angels and demons. In other cultures, demons are a very real foe, and demonstrations of Christ’s power over “the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12) are a very effective tool for evangelism.
This provides a bit of a background for the following passage:
1 Timothy 1:18-20
18 This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, 19 holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, 20 among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.
“Handed over to Satan”! What a frightening thought! Paul is carrying out discipline against those who will not repent even when faced with the authority of the church (1 Corinthians 5:4-5). Satan is far more intelligent and far stronger than we are. “His craft and power are great, and, armed with cruel hate, on earth is not his equal.” Yet Jesus Christ has defeated the power of the devil and will one day crush him underfoot. He who is Lord of the universe holds the power over all He has created. Satan’s doom is sure.
Lucifer in Starlight
by George Meredith
On a starred night Prince Lucifer arose.
Tired of his dark dominion swung the fiend
Above the rolling ball in cloud part screened,
Where sinners hugged the spectre of repose.
Poor prey to his hot fit of pride were those.
And now upon his western wing he leaned,
Now his huge bulk o’er Afric’s sands careened,
Now the black planet sheltered Arctic snows.
Soaring through wider zones that pricked his scars
With memory of the old revolt from Awe,
He reached a middle height, and at the stars
Which are the brain of heaven, he looked, and sank.
Around the ancient track marched, rank on rank,
The army of unalterable law.
Growing up with doctrine
Among several themes repeated over and over in 1 Timothy is the demand for good teaching and doctrine. Paul insists that Timothy guard the doctrines of the faith:
1 Timothy 4:6-7
6 If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. 7 Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness.
Note that Timothy’s training in godliness is identified with his training in “the words of the faith and of the good doctrine” (v. 6). Godliness requires good doctrine; anyone who rejects doctrine as important rejects godliness. We all adhere to some sort of doctrine; the question is whether it is sound doctrine or “irreverent, silly myths” (v. 7).
One chapter in Future Men, entitled “Doctrinal Meat,” has especially stood out to me. Douglas Wilson insists that boys should be taught doctrine, particularly the sovereignty of God, while growing up. Parents often refrain from this because they think their sons won’t be able to understand it, or it’s not that important, or the church will take care of it. Yet when college students grow in their faith, it’s because they’ve been challenged — for the first time — with doctrine. They’ve never thought through the gospel or the sovereignty of God or His glory. When they do, they grow in their faith like never before. This is what has happened to me, and it’ll continue to take place until the day I die and see God “face to face” (1 Corinthians 13:12).
I feel like it’s not my place to criticize them, but really, parents and churches are doing their children a real disservice when they fail to challenge them spiritually. They’ve wasted many years of their children’s lives by putting their schooling or athletics or whatever else before their spiritual education. And then they wonder why their families have no spiritual heritage — why, even if their children become believers, they feel spiritually disconnected from their parents.
My hope is built on nothing less
Sometimes life as a Christian can become a real drudgery. I feel a lot like I am besieged on all sides, and I struggle with “the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul” (1 Peter 2:11). Sometimes, I even envy unbelievers for being able to live life however they want to. All these thoughts come about when I lose sight of the reason why I believe:
1 Timothy 4:7-10
7 Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; 8 for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. 9 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. 10 For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.
Each day, thousands of students head down to the Co-Rec to work out so that they can be healthy and look good. However, once their bodies wear out and die, this exercise will have been useless. But if we train for godliness, it will help us immensely not only now, but through all eternity. There is so much promise, so much potential, in the pursuit of God.
Ultimately, it has to be the pursuit of God that drives us. My faith tends to devolve into rote actions and behavior — endless tasks with no goal in sight. It’s a recipe for depression. I need to keep my eyes fixed on Jesus — to set my hope on God. I need to remember that regardless of my training toward godliness, it is God who is my Savior, not me. God is alive and active in saving me each day, and there is a goal which I will reach at the end of my life — it is to be in the presence of “the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God” (1 Timothy 1:17).
Prayer and self-indulgence
Prayer is usually a real chore for me. It’s very frustrating to stay focused on talking to someone whom I can’t see. I often do it only because I know I’m supposed to.
While Paul is talking about the behavior of widows in the following passage, I believe that what he says can apply to the rest of us as well:
1 Timothy 5:5-6
5 She who is truly a widow, left all alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day, 6 but she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives.
This contrast is something I hadn’t considered before. Prayer directly opposes self-indulgence because it is an act of love toward God and toward those we pray for. The reason I struggle with it so much is because there are a million other “fun” things I could be doing instead — I would rather indulge myself in the things that provide temporary satisfaction (but ultimately kill). The godly widows that Paul knew would set their hope on God despite the fact that they were alone (v. 5).
I want to remember as I pray that I’m not doing it for my own sake but because I love the Lord. “…We make it our aim to please him” (2 Corinthians 5:9).
