1 Timothy 1:12-20

Remember where you came from. Remember your roots. Remember where it all began. Now, we’re not talking here about our heritage, the cultural legacy that we’ve received. We’re not talking about getting back to tradition. 1 Timothy 1 is not about recapturing the good old days.

It’s actually about remembering the bad old days. It’s remembering where we’ve come from in our relationship with God. It’s remembering back to when we’ve rebelled, and it’s remembering God’s response to that rebellion. And unless we remember, unless we go back to the bad old days, something strange will happen.

See, God’s response to our rebellion was grace. And for a while, we enjoyed that grace. And then we moved on. We began to do good things, but we forgot the grace. We began to be holier people, through the working of the Holy Spirit, but we forgot the grace. We became such good Christians that we forgot HOW we become good Christians. And that’s when things begin to fall apart. We forget how we got here, which means it’s up to us to stay here. It’s up to us to be good Christians, and not up to God’s grace. It’s up to us to get the obedience done, and it’s not up to God’s grace. And at that point, we begin a slide back down into sin. From sin to grace to holiness and back to sin. Because we forgot where we came from.

Paul is writing to his protégé, his student, Timothy. He’s just been talking about those who reject God’s law, who scorn sound doctrine, who live in defiance of the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me, Paul says.

And then it’s like Paul gets a flash of memory. He was entrusted with the glorious gospel of the blessed God. He! Paul! Verse 12:

Paul was appointed to talk about the cross of Christ. He was given a task to talk to as many people he could in as short a time as possible about Jesus dying on the cross to transform them from sinners into saints. He was considered faithful.

Which sounds a little arrogant at first, doesn’t it? Doesn’t it sound like Jesus watched Paul, saw some pretty impressive qualities about him, his leadership style, his education, his connections as a Roman citizen. And considering how qualified Paul was, the Jesus said, "Sure, I want Paul on my team."

Well, that’s about as far off the truth as we can get. Jesus considered him faithful, appointing him for service, IN SPITE of Paul’s so-called qualifications. Paul was not qualified in the least. And Paul knows it. He remembers the bad old days. Verse 13:

Paul is honest here. It would be great to just shove that under the rug, and hope people forget. After all, Paul never did those things. That was Saul. That was some other person. That was years ago. Let’s just let that be in the past. After all, everyone’s human, right?

And Paul has a good long list of holy accomplishments that should be able to erase all of that bad stuff. Yes, he put Christians in jail. Yes, he saw a man beaten to death with rocks, he stood by and approved of Stephen’s death, and he watched. In a court of law today, he would be guilty of Yes, he was out in front calling Jesus a liar for his claim to be God. But look at what he’s done. He’s been around the civilized world three times, preaching the gospel. He’s planted dozens of churches all over the place. He’s written the Bible, for goodness sake. Can we just forget about all of that other stuff, please?

And Paul says, "No. Because the good things would never have happened if Jesus had not shown His mercy. In fact, this is why Jesus showed His mercy, so that people could look at a blaspheming, hating murderer and see what God can do. They can’t see the power of God unless they can see what had to be changed. A nice person doesn’t need much changing. A nice person doesn’t need much grace. A sinner does. A sinner turned saint shows the power and the grace and the love of God.

And so we go back to our bad old days. We don’t just shove them under the rug. We recognize where we came from. But I want to be careful here because some of us are very good at going back to the bad old days, and then we stay there. We stop with the first part of verse 13. We remember, very clearly, the sins, the shame, the guilt. We get used to the guilt. It doesn’t seem right to be without the guilt.

So, while Paul brings us back to where we’ve come from. But then he moves us on. Verse 13 reminds us of Jesus mercy, and verse 14 brings us to the grace:

The language Paul uses is extravagant. This is not just a dribble of grace, sprinkled here and there. This is a swimming pool of grace, drenching, immersing, pouring over us. This is not grace equal to the sin. This grace drowning out all the guilt, overwhelming the shame, wiping out the memories.

We’re not going to know the abundance of the grace of God unless we think back to the abhorrence of our sin. We’re going to remember our niceness, our basic goodness, and God’s grace will quietly fade from the picture. When we remember a few of our sins, vaguely, then God’s grace becomes that spotty sprinkling, here and there, covering a few of the nasties that lurk in our past. When we forget our sinfulness, OUR sinfulness, not the sinfulness of other people, not the sinful tendencies of people in general…when we remember OUR awefulness, OUR guilt, that’s when we remember grace. That’s when the flood of grace washes over us like a tidal wave. That’s when we remember the gospel.

Which brings us to the point. Verse 15:

This is what Paul’s life is centered around. This is why he’s gone around the world three times. This is why he keeps going back into situations where people want to kill him. Because he was a sinner and because Jesus saved him. Because there are other sinners, and because Jesus can save them too. This is what Christianity is all about. This, right here, is the one line that describes the entire message of the Bible. It’s the truth that all Christian doctrine works to explain and understand. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. If this message is not on our minds on a daily basis, if this isn’t the core of what we do every day, then we’re not giving it full acceptance. We’re moving away from the gospel.

But if we start with our sin, and don’t end with our sin but move on to grace, and we see what Jesus’ death and resurrection has done to us, and we share this information, we talk about it, people will be changed. In other words, if we live the gospel, other people will be saved. Verse 16:

How can Jesus show His grace, His patience with us, if we keep up our disguises as pretty good people? What would He have to be patient with, if we’re basically good? Why would we need His grace, if we really haven’t done anything wrong?

Unfortunately, this is how some people see Christians. Christians are nice people, but they’re not real. They don’t have problems, they don’t have sin, they are good people, good Christian people. This has a couple of effects. First, when this is how we’re viewed, then when we do something wrong, when we do sin, those who are watching pounce on us. That’s when we hear that the church is full of hypocrites, people who claim to be good, but really aren’t. That’s one effect.

Another effect is that people don’t really dare come to church. They don’t want to hang out with Christians, because Christians are just so good, or so it seems. In their despair, in their loneliness, in the screw ups of their lives, how can they relate to people who keep smiles on their faces, who seem to have their lives so together, who keep their sins hidden way down deep?

And if they can’t come close to Christians, then how will they know the gospel. After all, Paul says in Romans 10:14,15:

St. Francis gave us this great line:

And the way we do that is to be real. To know the depth of our sin, to know the way out of that sin, and how to show the gratitude for getting us out of the sin. To live the gospel. To be open about our mess ups. To not shove them under the rug, but bring them out in the open. Not in defeat, not even in shame, but in joy. Paul gave us his awful resume of being a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent person. But then he went to the grace and mercy of Jesus and he arrives at verse 17:

From the depths of guilt to the wonder of grace to the burst of gratitude, Paul is overwhelmed with the gospel. It’s like verse 17 just explodes out of him, he’s so filled with joy at what the Lord has done.

Wouldn’t it be great if this was our reaction to our salvation? A spontaneous explosion of worship and praise! If only the Christian life were that exciting. If only we were that affected. But we’re not, really, are we. Instead of the burst of praise, we’re just not as affected:

And usually this is because we didn’t go back to the bad old days. We ignore where we’ve come from, and we forget how we got here, which means there’s really no reason to praise. The gospel is old and we don’t love to tell the story anymore. And we don’t really have an effect anymore. Our salt has lost it’s saltiness. Our light is hid under a bushel.

Which is why Paul tells us why he’s talking about this right now, in verse 18:

If we know the wonder of God’s grace, shown to us in Jesus, we’re going to live like it. Why would we go back to that old sinful life when we know how bad it is, and how great the new life is? If we’re living in the effect of Jesus’ resurrection, if we’re living in the power of the new life that Jesus has given to us, why would we go back to the old life.

Except, some have. Verse 19:

They forgot where they came from. They ignored the grace of Jesus. So of course they went back to their sinful lives. And what can Paul do? How can Paul convince them? They need to be convinced again. So, Paul says, in verse 20:

To be taught not to blaspheme. Hhmm. Who else needed to be taught not to blaspheme? It was Paul himself. And the only way he learned, and the only way they’re going to learn, is by seeing the grace that Jesus shows. Maybe, this time, as they endure the pain of living in sin, maybe this time they’ll see God’s grace, and they’ll remember. Maybe this time they’ll remember the gospel, of how they’ve sinned, and of how Jesus saved.

And maybe this time we will too. Maybe we’ll remember that Jesus came to save sinners, and that’s us. Maybe we’ll acknowledge our sins, the actual sins we’ve done, while we’re thrilling in the grace of Jesus. Maybe, with the wonder of that good news, we’ll keep fighting the fight, holding on to the faith, keeping a good conscience, and exploding in praise: