12I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service. 13Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. 14The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
15Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. 16But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. 17Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
This is amazing. Here is Paul...first of all, Paul's focus is not on himself. Anything that Paul speaks about himself is spoken in a way as to enhance his readers picture of God. This is not my tendancy. If I were Paul and had his ministry, his calling, I'm thinking that there would be times that I would be focused on me for the sake of me. However, he nails this idea in 1 Corinthians 4:7, so this is not new for Paul, this is a theme. What do we have that we have not recieved? This is especially amazing in light of the fact that it is because of mercy that we do not get what we deserve...
In Paul's life, at least at this point, everything is about the fame of Jesus Christ. Even His acts of mercy are to shine forth His beauty, his unlimited patience. This draws people to Himself, which again is about God, but great for man!! His response seems to be a spontaneous burst of praise.
I guess when I read this, one of my longings is to be more aware of who I am and more aware of who God is. Not for some morbid self-depreciation (I think that is a word) but so that I could more clearly be aware of the awesomeness of God, which really is what I was made for and really, when authentically experienced, brings me a great deal of joy.
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3 comments:
the term humble-confidence comes to mind here...
I, too, am trying to emulate Paul in this area but humility is not easily come by!
You didn't post this but it goes along with something you've said a few times in your sermons: the cross of Christ does not speak of our incredible value as much as it speaks of the incredible horror/offence of our sins (I know that I'm not quoting you verbatim - good word, eh? - but that was the general idea).
The only thing I would add is that it also speaks of the vastness of God's love. When we can get the focus off ourselves (our value to God, etc.) then we can have the humble confidence (or be confidently humble) that Paul (Scott's friend and the apostle) talks about.
I was also going to ask: do you not like the second word of v. 14? Just wondering why you got rid of it!!
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