I Timothy 1:15-17
The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And I am the foremost of sinners; but I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience for an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Without realizing it, many phrases we hear during the Divine Liturgy or other services, or we read in our daily prayers, are direct quotes or paraphrases from Scripture. Today, we heard in the epistle reading the scriptural source for a phrase contained in one of our most common prayers.
In his first letter to Timothy, Saint Paul writes:
This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptance: that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am first (I Timothy 1:15).
During each Divine Liturgy just before we partake of the Body and Blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we recite the prayer in English and Slavonic, which begins:
I believe, O Lord, and I confess that Thou art truly the Christ, the Son of the Living God, Who camest into the world to save sinners, of whom I am first.
In this prayer, we acknowledge our shared humanity with Saint Paul, recognizing our continuous struggle to achieve what God created us to become—often unaccomplished due to our self-centeredness, our desire for autonomy from others, and from God.
In his advice to Saint Timothy, Saint Paul then candidly lists various sins and identifies himself as a sinner for blaspheming, persecuting, and insulting Jesus and His followers, allegedly due to the Law. He then explains:
I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief (I Timothy 1:16).
According to Saint Paul, the Law could identify sin but couldn’t change it—it required a gift from God through Jesus Christ. (See Galatians 3:11ff.)
The mercy God showed to Saint Paul transformed him with qualities of faith and love “in Christ Jesus,” which is the goal of the commandment Saint Paul now preaches. The saint’s extreme sinfulness displays the power of God’s mercy to transform lives. Saint Paul writes:
I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience for an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life (I Timothy 1:17).
Our journey in life involves turning away from sin and realizing that we become our true selves only by receiving ourselves from others and from God. It’s about communion and self-denying love. Saint Paul found that the Law, seen abstractly, lacked love, while the aim of our charge is love from a pure heart, good conscience, and sincere faith.