Abundant Joy

 ^“I give thanks to Christ Jesus our Lord who has strengthened me, because he considered me faithful, appointing me to the ministry— even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an arrogant man. But I received mercy because I acted out of ignorance in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.”

Paul begins this section by writing about his testimony. In verse eleven, he writes about the gospel which was entrusted to him. So it is natural for him to now tell a little of his history.

The first thing he does is give thanks to Christ Jesus who has strengthened him. This verse is so similar to the verses in Philippians, which should not be surprising. “I know how to make do with little, and I know how to make do with a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content—whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me” (4:12-13). This letter to the church at Philippi was written by Paul from prison, and of the letters we have of Paul in the Bible, chronologically it is the one before this letter to Timothy.

Paul then moves on to his testimony. He writes that God had considered him faithful, appointing him to the ministry. He reminds Timothy of who he was. At the end of the seventh chapter of Acts, we read about the martyrdom of Stephen. In Acts 8:1, we read “Saul agreed with putting him to death.” And in verse three, “Saul, however, was ravaging the church. He would enter house after house, drag off men and women, and put them in prison.” But God called Saul on the road to Damascus and radically changed him.

Let’s take a minute here to talk about his name. Is it Saul or Paul? Was it changed at his conversion? No. He had two names. Paul was Jewish, but he was born in the Roman city of Tarsus. He had both a Hebrew name, Saul, and a Roman name, Paul. He had used his Hebrew name Saul for his earlier life because, as we read in Philippians 3:5, he had been very proud of his Jewish credentials: circumcised on the 8th day, from the tribe of Benjamin, and a Pharisee. But after his conversion, as he began his ministry to the Gentiles, it made sense for him to use his Roman name, Paul. In Acts 13, we see him called Paul for the first time. “But Saul—also called Paul—filled with the Holy Spirit…” (v.9) and he is called Paul from this time forward.

Paul describes himself as formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an arrogant man. His blasphemy was that he had denied that Jesus was the Messiah. He had persecuted the church. He says this about himself. “I persecuted this Way to the death, arresting and putting both men and women in jail, as both the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify about me. After I received letters from them to the brothers, I traveled to Damascus to arrest those who were there and bring them to Jerusalem to be punished” (Acts 22:4-5). And he describes himself as arrogant. I have already used the example from this verse in Philippians, but I want to put it here so you can see it in Paul’s words. “For we are the circumcision, the ones who worship by the Spirit of God, boast in Christ Jesus, and do not put confidence in the flesh— although I have reasons for confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he has grounds for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised the eighth day; of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; regarding the law, a Pharisee; regarding zeal, persecuting the church; regarding the righteousness that is in the law, blameless.But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ” (3:3-7) 

Those are in his past. He writes, “But I received mercy because I acted out of ignorance in unbelief…” We can contrast his actions with those of the false teachers. Andreas Köstenberger puts it this way. “When stating that he was shown mercy because he acted out of ignorance in unbelief, Paul draws on the OT distinction between unwitting and deliberate sin (Num 15:22-31; Lev 4:13; 5:18; 22:14; cf. Acts 3:17; 13:27; 17:30; Heb 9:7). In Romans, the apostle described the Jewish rejection of Jesus in similar terms (3:3; 11:20, 23). The false teachers by contrast, are said to have deliberately rejected the faith (v. 19; 2 Tim 2:17-18; cf. 1 Tim 1:5-6; 6:21), which places them in a different category from Paul (though, as mentioned, not beyond the pale of forgiveness).” Even though Paul here says he acted out of ignorance, in another place, he is not as gentle on himself, calling himself “the least of the apostles” and “not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God” (1 Corinthians 15:9).

He goes on here to say that “the grace of our Lord overflowed, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.” We see mercy, grace, faith, and love. I have heard these definitions for mercy and grace. Mercy is not getting the punishment we deserve; grace is getting what we don’t deserve. Paul deserved (as do we all) punishment but instead received God’s mercy. He did not deserve God’s forgiveness, but he received it- which is grace.

Paul was a huge persecutor of the early church. His sins were great. Yet God chose him to be a mighty instrument for his glory. Charles Spurgeon writes, “After Paul was saved, he became a foremost saint. The Lord did not allot him a second-class place in the church. He had been the leading sinner, but his Lord did not, therefore, say ‘I save you, but I shall always remember your wickedness to your disadvantage.’ Not so: he counted him faithful, putting him into the ministry and into the apostleship, so that he was not a whit behind the very chief of the apostles. Brother, there is no reason why, if you have gone very far in sin, you should not go equally far in usefulness.”

What about you? Are you letting your past define you? Are you letting sin define who you are? Remember Paul! Once we accept the gift of salvation, we put that behind us. Let us give thanks to Christ who strengthens us and get to work serving.

Grace be with you!