1 Timothy 1:15 Christ Came

1 Timothy 1:15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners - of whom I am the worst.

This is one of the greatest evangelistic texts in the New Testament. It is the first of the five trustworthy sayings of the pastoral letters (the others are in 1 Timothy 3:1 and 4:9, 2 Timothy 2:11 and Titus 3:8) and one of two where Paul says that it deserves full acceptance (1 Timothy 4:9 is the other). The heart of the verse simply says that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. In preaching the verse you would perhaps begin with the name Christ Jesus, explaining what this name points to - the God man, the Messiah who saves. Perhaps the next point should focus on his coming into the world (this is the part that makes the text an appropriate one for an Advent message). Finally, there is why he came - to save sinners. Alternatively, one could begin with sinners, showing that we are all such, and work back to the coming and the fact that he is Christ Jesus. The final phrase of whom I am the worst is a little difficult in that Paul says it of himself. It is understandable that he should and is the zenith or rather nadir of his self-description, being preceded by the admission that he is the least of the apostles (1 Corinthians 15:9) and the least of all the saints (Ephesians 3:8). How to apply that to others is problematic. If Paul is the worst sinner then I am not, but may be Paul was only the worst to that point. At the very least it teaches us not to have too high an opinion of ourselves. It certainly points us to the greatness of Christ and his salvation.