And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. 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. Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen. 1 Timothy 1:12-17

Have you shared your personal testimony with anyone recently? Have you told people what Jesus Christ has done for you? Our personal testimonies are the most powerful evidence of Gods power and salvation. People can refute the existence of God, however they can’t refute your personal testimony. They can’t deny the evidence of Gods salvation presented before them. 

This is what the Apostle Paul is sharing with us, he is a walking testimony for Christ. As Paul said “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry” Notice God is the one who qualifies and calls us for ministry, its not man. There are many people in the pulpit today, with seminary degrees, that its clear God has never called to be there. God is the one who calls and qualifies us, if your calling is not supported by scripture, then your calling was not from God

And as the Apostle Paul states, God can use and transform anyone who wants for his service. The Apostle Paul humbly admits “who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor,and a injurious or violent man, but I obtained mercy” The Apostle Paul went from persecuting the Church to planting Churches all throughout Asia Minor. People looked at Paul as a wicked and depraved man, who hated and killed Christians, but he became Born Again in Christ, Paul became a New Creation in Christ, on the Road to Damascus, he literally had a “Come to Jesus” moment, and Paul was transformed by the Holy Spirit.

Some would say “Paul doesn’t deserve mercy” but as Paul says here “the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant” none of us deserve mercy, however this is the grace of God, that through Jesus Christ we can be forgiven and saved. “With faith and love which is in Christ Jesus”. We are saved by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8) Its not by our own works or our own power, its by the power of God through our Lord Jesus Christ

As the Apostle Paul ends “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”, Christ came into this world to save you and me, just like he came for Paul, and not only saved us , but transformed us to be Born Again, Amen!

But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust. 1 Timothy 1:8-11

When people think about the Ten Commandments, or the Moral Law of God, they often view it in a negative perspective. However as the Apostle Paul says here “The Law is good if one uses it lawfully” So what does the Apostle mean by this? How can The Law be “good” when The Law brings death (2 Corinthians 3:6) Well as the Apostle said “if one uses it lawfully”

Without The Law of God nobody would ever know that they are sinners in need of a Savior. As the Bible defines Sin is Lawlessness (1 John 3:4) You are a sinner because you break the moral laws of God. And ultimately this impacts everyones as the Bible says “We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) 

When Jesus was speaking with the Rich Young Ruler (Mark 10:17-27), he asked Jesus “How may I inherit eternal life”? Jesus first made the statement, “Nobody is Good (Morally excellent, sinless) except God” (Mark 10:18) Revealing we are all sinners, but also revealing Jesus Deity as God incarnate. And then Jesus goes on to list some of the Ten Commandments, why? Because the Moral Law of God (Ten Commandments) is a mirror that reflects our sinful nature and our desperate need for a Savior

As the Apostle Paul says here “The Law is not made for a righteous person, but for the Lawless” The purpose of The Law is not to make yourself righteous, its to show you the nature of God and how much you need Jesus Christ. There were false teachers during the time of Paul that would use The Law to preach a false gospel, there are many still today who do the same thing. They basically were teaching Jesus wasn’t enough to be saved, you needed circumcision plus Jesus then you could be saved. Anytime we add something because Christ, it becomes a false gospel

The Apostle Paul then goes on to list sins of the lawless, and since we are in “Pride Month” I just want to point out Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit mentions sodomites, which our modern word would be homosexuals. I’m bringing this to your attention because many false teachers today claim, The Bible never forbids homosexuality. It’s clear here and other passages such as Romans 1 and 1 Corinthians 6.

However we have a living hope, Jesus Christ, as the Apostle Paul also said “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) Amen!

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope; Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine, Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.  1 Timothy 1:1-4

As we begin to dive into the Epistles of Timothy, clearly written by the Apostle Paul, these were basically “Pastoral instructions” for Timothy to run the Church of Ephesus and for other used for other Pastors within the Christian Church. It’s very clear that Paul considered Timothy as his “spiritual son” as he states “my son in the faith” Timothy was believed to be very young when he came to Christ, probably in his teens and had accompanied Paul on many missionary trips. 

Timothy was very well versed in the teachings of Christ through Paul, as he had been working side by side with him for many years. The Church of Ephesus , like many other Churches, had false teachers who had rise up and began misleading many with a false gospel. This was not going to be allowed or tolerated by the Apostle Paul and assigned Timothy to oversee the Church of Ephesus to keep them on the narrow path. We see this today more than ever, false teachers preaching a false gospel, we need to rebuke and expose their heresies for the greater good of the Church

As the Apostle Paul instructs Timothy “that you might charge/instruct/warn that they teach no other doctrine”  As the Apostle Paul said in the Church of Galtia “anyone who preaches another gospel to you , than  we have preached to you, let them be accursed” (Galatians 1:8) The Apostle Paul wants it clear and known, that the true gospel of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:3-5) in the central doctrine of the Church, any false gospels will not be tolerated, let them be accursed! 

So what were they teaching? As the Apostle Paul goes on to say “neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies” If you have been in Christianity long enough, you have heard it all. I’ve heard people preaching the strangest man-made doctrines that I wouldn’t even repeat, and I rebuke them, and you should rebuke them also. Preaching a false gospel is a great sin against God, the majority of our Churches today are preaching a false gospel. A false gospel not only dishonors our Lord Jesus Christ, by minimizing his death and resurrection, but a false gospel can’t save anyone, its a broad road to Hell that just justifies a false teacher. Let them all be accursed!

As the Apostle Paul says here “which cause disputes/questions rather than godly edification which is in faith” False teachers always claim to have a “special revelation” or basically are “works based salvation” These false teachings flood the Church with confusion and take away from the power of God, by grace through faith (Ephesians 2)

As the Apostle Paul instructed Timothy, rebuke the false teachers, rebuke the false gospels, because our faith is in Jesus Christ alone, Amen!