1 Timothy 1:12-14

Summary retelling of 1 Timothy 1:12-14

Having spoken about the Law, Paul immediately turns to thankfulness to God.  Paul is thankful that God saw fit to give him strength through Jesus Christ.  He is thankful that God has called him into service and that God has judged him faithful (or trustworthy).  Paul confesses that prior to God’s strength that he was involved in a sinful way of life.  He also confesses that it was in his ignorance and unbelief that he was going about his sinfulness.  Now Paul is overflowing with the love and faith that is in Christ Jesus.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Notice how quickly Paul transitions from “Law” to “Grace.”  Paul demonstrates right here what we learned yesterday.  The Law should bring us to grace.  When we realize our sinfulness, we should be thankful for what God has allowed us to do and what God has allowed us to become.  The Law is not there so that we beat ourselves up and only recognize how pathetic we are.  The Law is there so that in recognizing how pathetic we are we can be thankful for God’s grace and then want to get up and do something about how pathetic we are!  So many people use the Law to beat people down when it should be a tool for motivating people for action stemming from our appreciation for God’s grace.

When you think about the Law, is your first impression one of general negativity or one of general positivity?  Why do you think so many people have negativity as their first instinct when it comes to God’s Law (or even laws in general)?  What can you do to help you see the Law as a good thing rather than as something that negatively inhibits?

Second Thought:

Paul confesses two very important things in this letter to Timothy.  First, Paul confesses that he is a sinner.  He has acted against God in some pretty horrible ways.  It is good to have confession because we must be accountable for our actions.  Second, Paul confesses that his sin was out of ignorance.  He sinned because he was ignorant and did not understand.  This is so important as well because we need to realize that many times we go against God because we don’t see the whole picture.  Sometimes we are simply unwilling to see the whole picture.  Sometimes we are just too lazy to try to see the whole picture.  Sometimes we simply aren’t mature enough to see the whole picture.  Whatever the reason, it is important for us to understand that often our sin is out of our genuine ignorance of how God really wishes us to be acting.  For the record, you know the saying: ignorance is no excuse.

Why is confession so important?  What does confession do for us as individuals?  Why is it important to understand that fundamentally our sin comes from a lack of having a basic and fundamental understanding of God?

Third Thought:

Paul then reports that now he is overflowing with the love and faith in Christ.  This is important because it should be the natural conclusion of confession.  Confession leads to repentance.  Repentance implies a change back towards God.  A change back towards God implies restoration and healing coming from God.  Restoration and healing implies that God is using us for His kingdom.  When we are being used by God, we should naturally be overflowing with God’s love and faith.

Again, let me ask why you think confession is so important.  Do you think we can ever get to restoration with God without confession?  Why do so many people want to skip confession?  What is the danger of skipping confession?

Passage for Tomorrow: 1 Timothy 1:15-17