{"id":2040,"date":"2022-10-16T14:31:26","date_gmt":"2022-10-16T19:31:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/?p=2040"},"modified":"2022-10-16T14:31:26","modified_gmt":"2022-10-16T19:31:26","slug":"mercy-grace-faith-and-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/2022\/10\/16\/mercy-grace-faith-and-love\/","title":{"rendered":"Mercy, Grace, Faith, and Love"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
\u201cThis is<\/em> a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.<\/strong>\u201d
1 Timothy 1:15 <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Paul wrote to Timothy, who was a leader at\nthe church in Ephesus, giving him\ninstructions and warnings. Some people had already begun not only to turn from\nGod\u2019s Word, but were leading others away from God\u2019s Word as well. Those people\nwere talking foolishly, babbling (called \u201cvain jangling<\/strong>\u201d), and yet they\nwanted to be teachers of God\u2019s Law (see 1 Timothy 1:6-7). They had no idea what\nGod\u2019s Law was, what it meant, or what they really believed themselves. Paul\nwarned that it was wrong to let people such as this become teachers. Because\nthey did not know or understand God\u2019s Law, they could not possibly convey the\nimportance of why God had given the Law. \u201c8. But we know that the law is<\/em>\ngood, if a man use it lawfully; 9. Knowing this, that the law is not made for a\nrighteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for\nsinners, 10. \u2026 and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound\ndoctrine; 11. According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was\ncommitted to my trust<\/strong>\u201d (1 Timothy 1:8-11). We are to understand that the Law\nwas given to reveal the sin in mankind so that they could recognize the\nglorious Gospel message (see Romans 3:20).\nGospel<\/strong> means \u201cthe Gospel plan of salvation, its doctrines, declarations, precepts,\npromises; the Gospel of God of which God is the Author through Christ<\/em>.\u201d\nPeople who did not understand that God\u2019s Law was given to reveal sin, thereby\nmaking known the need for salvation, could not be trusted as teachers of\nsomething they not only did not understand, but also had not experienced for\nthemselves. These people have not received the gift of salvation offered, by\ngrace, which frees one from the confines of the Law.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul never forgot from whence he had come. He\nunderstood and remembered that he was a sinful man whose sin was revealed by\nthat Law. He was thankful that he had been forgiven and placed into the\nministry of proclaiming the Gospel message. \u201c12. And I thank Christ Jesus\nour Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into\nthe ministry; 13. Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious:\nbut I obtained mercy, because I did it<\/em> ignorantly in unbelief. 14. And\nthe grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in\nChrist Jesus<\/strong>\u201d (1 Timothy 1:12-14).\nJust because one breaks God\u2019s Law does not mean they will be condemned. Paul\nhad once done it \u201cignorantly in unbelief.<\/strong>\u201d Understand what he\nrecognized. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

  • Paul understood that he had\nobtained mercy<\/em><\/strong>. \u201cBut God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us<\/strong>\u201d\n(Ephesians 2:4). <\/li>
  • He recognized the abundant grace<\/em><\/strong>\nthat God bestowed upon him. \u201cThat\nin the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his<\/em>\nkindness toward us through Christ Jesus<\/strong>\u201d (Ephesians 2:7). <\/li>
  • God then extended the gift of faith<\/em><\/strong>,\nwhich must be received. \u201cFor\nby grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is<\/em>\nthe gift of God<\/strong>\u201d (Ephesians 2:8). <\/li>
  • Finally, Paul understood the love\n<\/em><\/strong>with which God loved him. \u201cFor God so loved the world, that he gave his only\nbegotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have\neverlasting life<\/strong>\u201d (John 3:16).\n<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Read what Paul then understood: \u201c15. This is<\/em> a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. 16. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting<\/strong>\u201d (1 Timothy 1:15-16). There was a specific time in Paul\u2019s life when he recognized that Jesus had come \u201cto save sinners; of whom I am chief.\u201d Note that Paul recognized that he was a sinner, but that he had obtained mercy from Jesus. After Paul received the gift of salvation by faith, he then understood that he was to be a \u201cpattern.\u201d Pattern means \u201ca pattern or example<\/em>.\u201d Paul believed that if Jesus could save him, a chief sinner (remember he was complicit with murder; see Acts 7:58), Jesus could save anyone<\/em> who would believe in Him by faith. It is this kind of person who can be entrusted to teach God\u2019s Word. Teachers of God\u2019s Word must remember they have been entrusted<\/em> with the truth<\/em> of the Gospel message. The salvation message cannot change. \u201c10. Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead. \u2026 12. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved<\/strong>\u201d Acts 4:10, 12). \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Has your life become a pattern, revealing the mercy, grace, faith, and love bestowed upon you through salvation by Jesus?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Paul wrote to Timothy, who was a leader at the church in Ephesus, giving him instructions and warnings. Some people had already begun not only to turn from God\u2019s Word, but were leading others away from God\u2019s Word as well. Those people were talking foolishly, babbling (called \u201cvain jangling\u201d), and yet they wanted to be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[318],"tags":[353,396,505,322,80,33,262,741,277,359,580,305],"class_list":["post-2040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-picture-with-verse-and-blog","tag-faith","tag-faithful","tag-gospel","tag-grace","tag-jesus","tag-law","tag-love","tag-mercy","tag-paul","tag-salvation","tag-sinner","tag-timothy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2040"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2040\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2042,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2040\/revisions\/2042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}