# 32 2019 Devotion, 1 Tim.1:14. Grace! Read verses 12-20. The purpose of these devotionals is to draw Gremar and I closer to God and grow spiritually by applying His Word to our daily living. All passages are taken from the NIV.
1 Timothy 1:14 “The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.”
Paul thanks God for strengthening him, for His trust in him and for His mercy by “appointing me to His service.” Paul “acted in ignorance and unbelief.” He gives us “a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance”. We find 5 trustworthy sayings that most commentators consider to be confessions of faith in the early church, four are found in Timothy and one in Titus. Also, Paul encourages Timothy by reminding him about prophecies made about him; hold “on to faith and a good conscience”.
Along with Paul we profess: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”, we confess our sins. As sinners we are “shown mercy so that in me (in us) Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life.” We are not only shown mercy to the point of salvation but we are the example of that mercy to those who do not yet believe. As a church and as individual believers we are the body of Christ in this broken world, the only place in the world where Christ is actively displayed. That is what Christ by Paul suggests to Timothy and now also to us, fight the good fight with a strong faith and a good conscience.
Paul also mentions two former followers of Jesus who had rejected a good conscience and “have suffered shipwreck with regard to the faith.” Those who reject salvation after receiving it are much worse off than when they did not yet believe: a strong warning for those once saved, but now reject God’s grace.
We end with the benediction from an early confession: “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.”
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Heavenhigh 