1Timothy 1:12-17

1Timothy 1:12-17

God’s Advice For Daily Living: Be Saved By His Grace

Part 2 of God’s Advice For Daily Living series on 1 Timothy

October 21, 2007

Last week we began looking at the Epistle of 1 Timothy – the first of 3 – 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus – “Pastoral Epistles” that Paul wrote to address every day problems the early Christians were facing.  Paul gave some very practical advice for how to live every day as a Christian.  The advice he gave is still great advice – in fact it is God’s advice – to us today. 

God’s advice for daily living.

That’s our theme as we look at 1Timothy. 

            Last week we looked at 1 Timothy 1:1-11 and saw one piece of advice God gives us:   be conformed to Christ instead of conformed to the world.  Today we are going to look at 1Timothy 1:12-17 – and see a second bit of advice God gives us for our daily lives: be saved by His grace. 

            Listen to God’s word in 1Timothy 1:12-17:

            Read Scripture

             Be conformed to Christ

            Be save by God’s grace

            2 pieces of advice God gives us for living our lives – every day – as His people.

 Be saved by God’s grace.

Be saved by God’s grace.           

Some of you may remember how – in 1998 — many proponents of the death penalty stepped out of character momentarily to plead for mercy on behalf of Karla Faye Tucker, a convicted murderer sentenced to be executed by the state of Texas. Karla had committed an unspeakably horrible crime. A drug addict and prostitute, she and 2 others broke into her ex-boyfriend’s apartment and brutally murdered him and another woman. She was found guilty and sentenced to death.

Once in prison, she met Christ and her life changed dramatically.

For 14 years she lived her faith as a model inmate. As the day of her execution approached, the media began to broadcast the story of her life and her complete change once she discovered Christ. She was the subject of stories on ABC New’ Nightline and was a guest on Larry King Live and the 700 Club. Those who saw her on TV had a hard time imagining the cold-blooded murderer she had been. It was clear that her life had been changed by Christ, Those who had known her before she became a Christian talked about how she was a completely changed person.

    Karla petitioned the authorities for a change in her sentence from death to life in prison. Many people advocated Tucker’s cause, standing up for her as character witnesses or sympathizers. They included prison guards, former prosecutors, the detective who arrested her, and the brother of the woman she murdered. The Pope and Pat Robertson also spoke in support of her. Repeatedly, on national TV, she gave credit for the change in her life to Jesus Christ. Her petition, however, was not granted – and she was executed for the crime she committed.

Karla isn’t the first “bad sinner” to change her ways. Other notorious murderers have made the same profession of faith while in prison. While some people suspect the validity of these “jailhouse conversions”, the fact is many times they are real and the changes they produce are permanent.  

Another high-profile criminal conversion in recent history is that of Charles Colson, former staff person of President Richard Nixon. Though he was not guilty of murder, he committed crimes during the Watergate era that earned him a prison sentence. While in prison he met Christ. The change in his life was dramatic, and it cannot be denied that the church (and society as a whole) has reaped the benefits of his conversion. After his release from prison, Colson established Prison Fellowship, a jail ministry that spans the globe, and has become a significant leader and spokesman for the evangelical church.

It’s hard to imagine that a person’s life can move in one direction for decades, and suddenly, miraculously, change its course. But it happens. Some of you here today are living proof of that.  Many of us – and many other Christians – are.       This kind of phenomenon can also be seen in Scripture. There are countless examples—but probably the best known is that of Paul. He was an enemy of the church – and considered it his job to eliminate the threat of Christianity by killing Christians. Then one day, on a trip to Damascus to kill the Christians there, he had a face-to-face encounter with Christ and his life changed forever. Eventually Paul became the most significant person (besides Jesus) in the history of the church.   Granted, these are all extreme examples, but hopefully they remind you of a wonderful truth taught in the Bible:

 It doesn’t matter who you used to be.

No matter how bad you think you are, God can and will forgive you. He can and will give you the strength to change your life.

A second piece of advice for daily living that Paul gave to Timothy – and that God gives to us – is:

Be saved by God’s grace.

            Be saved by God’s grace.

In 1 Timothy 1:12-17, Paul expounds this very principle. He mentions three important truths that underline this fact. First of all…

1. God loves you in spite of your past.

Paul acknowledges that he had a past to live down. He said:

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength…even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man… (v. 12-13)

In verse 15 he goes on to say that he was the worst of all sinners.

Now — some of you may be thinking: Paul wouldn’t say that if he knew me! Well, the fact is, God loves you in spite of whatever sins you have committed. There is nothing you can do to keep God from loving you. It doesn’t matter who you used to be – you can be changed – and saved by God’s grace.

Be saved by God’s grace.

            Be saved by God’s grace.

We see this wonderful truth throughout Scripture, especially in the Gospels. Jesus never judged an individual based on their past. When people came to Him who had committed sexual sin, or had dabbled in the occult, or had spent their lives cheating others in business, His message was the same: “I do not condemn you; go and sin no more.” People found love and acceptance in Jesus in spite of what their past had been. You can, also.

Be saved by God’s grace.

            Be saved by God’s grace.

A pastor once shared with me how a woman came into his office and told him that God could never love her; she had committed the worst possible sin. In a fit of rage, she said, because her baby wouldn’t stop crying, she shook him so hard that his brain was permanently damaged. Every day she was reminded of the fact that her own child was forced to live with the consequences of her sin. The guilt was too much for her. She told the pastor that she had no right to be a mother, she had no right to be a Christian, in fact, she had no right to live.

 “God couldn’t possibly love me after what I did,” she said.

My friend said that his response to her was that God loved her, in spite of her past.

Be saved by God’s grace.

            Be saved by God’s grace.

             When I was in Seminary my roommate my Freshman year and good friend for the following years was J Hammet.  J’s father, Jerry, was a Presbyterian minister – the Presbyterian Chaplain at the University of South Carolina for years and pastor at Bethesda Presbyterian in Camden before retiring.  Jerry and his wife Betsy had 2 boys – J and Chris.  They also had a girl.  When the girl was a little over a year old, however, Jerry and Betsy went to play tennis at some courts in Columbia, and had their daughter outside the courts in a playpen.  While they played, someone kidnapped their daughter and killed her.  The murderer was arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced to death.  Jerry, in what I have always seen as one of the truest acts of Christian ministry I have ever known, visited this man who had killed his daughter, and told him that – regardless of what price he had to pay for his crimes – God loved him and offered him forgiveness.

             God loves you in spite of your past.

             Paul’s message to Timothy was:

 Be saved by God’s grace.

            Be saved by God’s grace.

           God’s advice to us is :

 Be saved by God’s grace.

            Be saved by God’s grace.

Regardless of what you have done, there is nothing you can do that will cause God’s love for you to change. He loves you so much that He could not possibly love you more, and He will never love you less. I am not saying this so you will have an excuse to sin; I am saying this so you will have reason to hope. No matter what you have done, or no matter what has happened in your life, God doesn’t view you as a second-class citizen. He doesn’t consider you a has-been. His love for you is as great as it ever was. It doesn’t matter who you used to be, God loves you in spite of your past.

Be saved by God’s grace.

            Be saved by God’s grace.

             God loves you in spite of your past. 

Paul underlines another truth about God’s grace and love here in 1 Timothy 1:12-17:  

2. God will save you in spite of your past.

The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. (v. 14)

He goes on to remind us of this basic Biblical truth:

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. (v. 15)

When I say that God will save you, this is exactly what I mean. First of all, He will forgive you completely and wipe the slate clean. Secondly, He will change you into the type of person he wants you to be. When a person accepts Christ, he or she becomes a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). That is only the beginning of all that God does in your life. In Philippians 1:6 Paul writes that God will finish the work He began in you; in Romans 8:29 he writes that God will help you become conformed to the image of His son, Jesus Christ. You see — it doesn’t matter who you used to be, God will save you in spite of your past, and He will change you in spite of your past.

Too often we use the past as an excuse: “I’ve always been this way…I’ve always had a problem with my temper…I just don’t have any self-control…I come from a long line of alcoholics…” and on and on. We tell ourselves that this is who we really are and there is nothing that can be done about it. Well, I’m telling you today: there is something that can be done about it. God can do something about it. God can change you. God can part the Red Sea, can make the earth stand still, can hold back the rain for years at a time, can heal the sick, and can raise the dead. And he can change you into a better person.

Be saved by God’s grace.

            Be saved by God’s grace.

God loves you in spite of your past.

God will save you in spite of your past.

One day John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church, was riding on horseback through the English countryside when he was stopped by a man who  said, “Your money or your life.” As the man took Wesley’s money, Wesley said, “Sir, you may someday regret this sort of life you are living. If you do, remember, the blood of Jesus cleanses you from all sin.” Many years later, at the close of a Sunday evening service in which Wesley had just preached, a man approached him, begging for the opportunity to speak to him. It was the same man who had robbed Wesley years before. Now he was a successful businessman and a faithful Christian. The words Wesley had spoken to him proved to be life-changing. The man said to Wesley, “I owe it all to you.” Wesley said, “No, not to me, but to the precious blood of Christ which cleanses us from all sin.”

Be saved by God’s grace.

            Be saved by God’s grace.

God loves you in spite of your past.

God will save you in spite of your past.

God can save you and he can change you—no matter what kind of past you’ve had. For some people this change is immediate — for others it is a lengthy process – but for everyone, it is a promise that we can cling to: It doesn’t matter who you used to be, God will change you in spite of your past.

Be saved by God’s grace.

            Be saved by God’s grace.

God loves you in spite of your past.

God will save you in spite of your past.

There’s a third truth about God’s love and grace Paul underlines here in 1 Timothy 1:12-17:

3. God can use you in spite of your past.

Paul writes:

[Christ] considered me faithful, appointing me to his service…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 in him and receive eternal life. (v. 12, 16)

If any man could have been written off as being a “has been” it would be Jim Bakker. When the scandal of his personal life and PTL hit in the 1980’s he became the object of world-wide ridicule.  He lost the enormous PTL empire, was sent to prison, and hit absolute rock-bottom. Most people said that he would never work in the ministry again. While Bakker was in prison he read the Gospels again and made an amazing discovery: much of what he had preached during the PTL heyday was not biblical. While in prison he committed his life again to knowing and serving God. He served his prison term, and now works in a church in South Central Los Angeles. Gone are the Armani Suits, the cars, the jewelry, the “air-conditioned dog-houses”, and all the other symbols of excess that characterized his PTL years. He is now a support-staff member in an inner-city church, telling people about Jesus.  He is being used by God to change people’s lives. Friends — if God can use Jim Bakker after the mess that he went through, he can use you, too.

Be saved by God’s grace.

            Be saved by God’s grace.

God loves you in spite of your past.

God will save you in spite of your past.

God can use you in spite of your past.

Look at some examples from Scripture. Moses was a great man of God; God used him after he committed murder. David was Israel’s greatest ruler; God used him after he committed murder and adultery. Paul was the most significant figure in the days of the early church; God used him after he committed murder. Peter was a primary leader of the early church; God used him after he denied Christ. John-Mark was Paul’s traveling companion; God used him even after he quit and abandoned the ministry.

As long as you have breath…as long as you have a life that you can surrender to God, He can use you. It doesn’t matter who you used to be.

An important piece of advice God gives us for daily living is:

 Be saved by God’s grace.

            Be saved by God’s grace.

God loves you in spite of your past.

God will save you in spite of your past.

God can use you in spite of your past. 

It comes down to this. You can forget the past, because God has forgotten the past.  He is concerned with who you’re becoming, rather than who you’ve been. If there are mistakes you made years ago, or months ago—or even days ago—I want you to know that God is willing to put it behind you and give you a chance to start over. You may have to live with the consequences of your mistakes, but you don’t have to live with the guilt or the shame. He will set you free from all of it, and he will give you a chance to start again. It doesn’t matter who you used to be. In spite of your past, God loves you, he will change you, and he will use you—if you open your heart to him.

This is indeed a piece of advice God gives us for daily living.  Amen.