“But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display His perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in Him for eternal life. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.” 1 Tim. 1:16,17
Devotional Thought For The Day
Is this also true of you? Were you given mercy and graciously brought to faith and new life as an example of God’s perfect patience? We do not tend to think of ourselves and our relationship with God in this way. Rather, we think it good that we have been saved and we are grateful to God for His mercy and His love, but we want to consider ourselves good examples of what it means to be a good and decent person. This creates grave and painful contradictions within us when we recognize our sin, and the older we get, and the more spiritually mature and sophisticated we get, the more we should recognize the utter wretchedness of our sin. If we assume that we are models of Christian virtue then we must somehow explain away our sin, modify our judgment of ourselves from the absolute to the relative, and delude ourselves; or else we must shrink back into fear, dread, and despair at our sin.
What might we learn from the lives of other children of God, as recorded in Holy Scripture, as to why they received mercy? Paul identifies himself as the foremost of sinners, and asserts that he received mercy from God as an example of the nature of God’s glorious grace, patience, goodness, and love. Might the same be said of Noah? [read Gen. 9 all the way to the end] Could the same be said of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? [read the chapters of Genesis which chronicle their lives] Could the same be said of Moses? [read Exodus] Could the same be said of Sampson [Judges 13-16], and Jephthah [Judges 11], and Gideon [Judges 6], and Barak [Judges 4]? Could the same be said of Eli and Samuel [1 Sam. 3:11-14; 1 Sam. 8:1-3]? What about David and Solomon? What about the disciples – all of them? You see, in reality every single person who has ever come to faith and trust in God is not a prime example of goodness, decency, and righteousness, but rather an example of God’s perfect patience, of His glorious grace, mercy, forgiveness, and love.
It is the same for every Christian today! Yes, there is some degree of godliness that we see in our fellow Christians, but we are also keenly aware of their weaknesses of faith and of their continuing battle against sinfulness. It sometimes appears as though some are greater and bolder sinners than others, and so as we all live in repentance and joy in God’s forgiveness it seems that some are greater examples of God’s patience, forgiveness, and love, than others. But in reality such judgments are quite skewed – like comparisons between pots and kettles. Truth be said, we should all have the same appraisal of ourselves as Paul, and should all marvel at the amazing love of God that would “save a wretch like me.” This is depressing to the sinful self, yes even lethal to it, but is fullness of joy in the love of God and His gracious and free gift of mercy, forgiveness, and eternal life. We do not diminish God’s glory in such humility and confession but rather magnify the glory of His grace and love, and God is love.
It would be a dramatic improvement to our “fellowship with one another” [1 John 1:7] if we were to live in this integrity and honesty, to understand that our only hope is the gracious cleansing of Christ’s blood, and to look at others not to judge and dismiss them, but rather to marvel at God’s perfect patience with all of us. By such faith in God’s grace and mercy, and by living humbly out of this faith in God, Paul did become exemplary in his behavior – though never perfect [see Romans 7]. And if he is exemplary, then he is also exemplary in his confession of his sin and unworthiness, and his complete faith and trust in the mercy of God – and we would do well to follow his example. This will negate the terrible inner contradictions we feel as we recognize and confess our sins to God. Then our joy and hope in life will not be in any respect in ourselves, but solely and completely in the gracious mercy and love of God. And this would also make us exemplary.
Prayer For The Day
Dear Lord Jesus, forgive us for the twisted logic of our sinful nature, which seeks any possible way to take pride in ourselves. Humble us and enable us to acknowledge that we too are examples of Your perfect patience and mercy. May we look at others in the same light of Your gracious and merciful love, that we see them as examples also of Your grace and patience. Give us fellow believers who share the same understanding so that we truly have fellowship with one another and be strengthened in our faith and our joy in Your gracious love. In this way help us to truly praise You. Amen.