Honoring God’s Investment-2

HONORING GOD’s INVESTMENT-II—1Timothy 1:12-17

Paul reminded Timothy of the significance/gravity/weight behind God’s investment in us.

We must recognize the significance/gravity/weight of God’s investment.

When do we honor the gravity of God’s investment?

We honor the gravity of God’s investment when we are Thankful.

Previously we found that We honor God’s investment thru Thankfulness for...

1. His FAITH In ME/Us(:12)

2. His MERCY(:13)

3. His EXCESS(:14)

4—We honor God’s investment thru Thankfulness for...

His SIMPLICITY(:15)

Explanation: (:15)

:15—“This is a faithful saying & worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.”

Concerning his previous statements regarding God’s mercy, grace, faith & love, Paul then explains simply that there is a “faithful saying” which sums it all up. This statement is “worthy of” “acceptance”—by “all” of faith.

Its truth is summed up in the fact that Christ Jesus(anointed Messiah of YaHWeH’s salvation) actually entered “the world,” i.e, the world of mankind—the one in which we live—with the express purpose of “saving sinners.” And Paul recognizes himself as the “chief” of sinners.

When a person sees himself/herself as ‘the chief of sinners,’ such a person is able to receive, as did Paul, the gracious mercies of God by the faith & love had in Christ. They are able to live by God’s power rather than by the calling of their own flesh.

“Faithful/Trustworthy”[See :15]—pistov—Trusty, faithful; Easily persuaded

“Saying/Statement”—logov—Of speech....A word, What someone has said, Discourse, Doctrine, teaching, Anything reported in speech such as A narration, narrative, Matter under discussion, thing spoken of, affair, a matter in dispute, case, suit at law, The thing spoken of or talked about; event, deed.; Its use as respect to the MIND alone....Reason, the mental faculty of thinking, meditating, reasoning, calculating, Account, i.e. regard, consideration, Account, i.e. reckoning, score, Account, i.e. answer or explanation in reference to judgment, Relation, i.e. with whom as judge we stand in relation, Reason would, Reason, cause, ground; In John, denotes the essential Word of God, Jesus Christ, the personal wisdom & power in union with God, his minister in creation & government of the universe, the cause of all the world's life both physical & ethical, which for the procurement of man's salvation put on human nature in the person of Jesus the Messiah, the second person in the Godhead, & shone forth conspicuously from His words & deeds. Strong—Something said (including the thought); by implication, A topic (subject of discourse), also reasoning (the mental faculty) or motive; by extension, A computation; specifically (with the article in John) The Divine Expression (i.e. Christ).

“Worthy”—axiov—weighing, having weight, having the weight of another thing of like value, worth as much; Befitting, congruous, corresponding to a thing; Of one who has merited anything worthy.

“Acceptance/Acceptation”—apodoch—Reception, admission, acceptance, approbation. Used 2X.

“Save”—swzw—To save, keep safe & sound, to rescue from danger or destruction

“Sinners”—amartwlov—Adj.—Devoted to sin, a sinner—Not free from sin, Pre-eminently sinful, especially wicked.

“Chief/Foremost”—prwtov—First in time or place; First in rank; First, at the first. Strong—contracted superlative of pro; Foremost (in time, place, order or importance)

pro—a primary preposition; "fore", i.e. in front of, prior (figuratively, superior) to.

Argumentation:

CHRIST SAVES SINNERS:

1Cor. 15:1-4—“Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received & in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you--unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, & that He was buried, & that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,”

Col. 1:27-28—“To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we preach, warning every man & teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.”

*1Pet. 3:18—“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,”

*Rom. 5:6-11—“For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.”