Chief of Sinners

 1 Timothy 1:15

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.

We all realise what Paul had done prior to his conversion (v.13; cf. 1f Acts 22), yet to claim to be "chief" seemed to be pretty audacious! If we take from the angle of being the "greatest", we can certainly imagine many more whom have done more heinously especially when out of malice, whereas, Paul had did it "ignorantly". If we take it from the standpoint of being the "first" (which is actually what the word alludes to), it's even more far fetched, since there are obviously many more before Paul, even just considering the New Testament times.

But as the Greek word here "protos" implies, it is about being "first" but not in rank but priority. Paul is making a statement on behalf of all mankind that God's priority, of sending Jesus to this world, that Jesus died on the cross and was raised the third day, that Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to continue the revelation and establishing of His Word, was for OUR salvation.

The God of the bible is the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. He is the God of Moses, David, Solomon. The same God to Peter and the apostles! He is our PERSONAL God! Our Father in heaven is interested in saving each and every one of us (1Ti 2:4). That is His priority. We are His chief concern. Yes, so much so that He sent His only begotten to die for our sins.

Let us be reminded of the great love of God, that we are not some "by product" that the plan of salvation was some "after thought", but that God knows and cares of every single one of us, in our own special package. What a privilege! What an honour! What a great blessing!

Wherefore it remains that we should live our lives worthy of His Calling, that through our lives and active service, will more souls be drawn to Him.

He made us His priority, shouldn't we do the same?