How Paul’s Past Reminds Us Not to Forget Ours.

In 1 Timothy 1:12, Paul writes, “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service.” (1:12)

In verse 11, we read, “…which he entrusted to me.” (1:11), referring to God entrusting the Gospel to him. Well here in verse 12 Paul directly connects those last 5 words.

It’s almost like Paul is reminding Timothy that Christ has given him the strength for this ministry, Christ considers him trustworthy and Christ has appointed him to service.

Instead of appointed, your translation might read “…enabled me…” or “…judged me faithful…”

Any way you slice it, this isn’t just something that Paul decided to do one day. Christ looked down at Paul and said, “I’m going to use that guy to spread the Gospel!”

But where did Paul start?

Before Christ and the mission of the Gospel, what was Paul up to?

“Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.” (1:13-14)

In August I wrote a post series on the Apostle Paul title, “Paul: The Leading Choleric”. We went into detail, exploring the Biblical and historical evidence of Paul’s life. (Click the follow links to read more or scroll down to the next paragraph to continue with this post.)

• Determined to Destroy the Church
• A Miraculous Conversion Experience
• Learning From a Recovery Legalist
• Are We Choosing Freedom

Paul’s Past

We learned through that post-series that before Paul’s miraculous conversion on the road to Damascus, Paul’s name was Saul and as he was a Pharisee. But just simply stating that Paul was a Pharisee before meeting Christ doesn’t give an exact picture.

If you read through Acts 5-7, or perhaps read Paul’s explanation of himself in Philippians 3, you’ll see that before Christ Paul hated the church and anyone who followed Jesus.

He made it his job to hunt them down and make sure they were imprisoned, beaten, punished or as in Stephen’s case found in Acts 7, put to death. Paul made it his personal mission to shut down any teachings of Jesus, no matter what the cost.

Paul Remembers His Past

As we read in these words to Timothy, Paul clearly knows and remembers the terrible life he led before Christ. But he doesn’t wallow in his past. Instead, Paul explains to Timothy, the abundance of grace and love that was poured out on him. But why?

Because Paul acted in ignorance and unbelief, he was forgiven because he was in ignorance and unbelief.

This is like when Christ on the cross, crying out to His father, “…forgive them. They know not what they do.” (Lk. 23:34) Paraphrased, “Father forgive them, they’re in ignorance and unbelief.“

Christ’s forgiveness of Paul for persecuting Christians might be difficult to comprehend. But we can never forget Christ’s immediate forgiveness of the people who whipped Him and beat Him and nailed Him on a cross.

Our Past

What about us?

• Where have we been?
• What have we done?
• What have we been saved from?

For some of us, when we think back to a week before we found Christ or a month before Christ; some of us have painful memories. For some of us, there is shame and guilt in remembering that old life.

But let’s not be naïve. Try to imagine what memories plagued Paul’s mind during the quiet hours of the night, thinking back to what he had done in his past. Thinking back to each and every Christian that was imprisoned or beaten or murdered under his command.

Paul doesn’t seem to forget it. And throughout the New Testament, God leads Paul to reference his past in a several passages.

Caveat

Now, please don’t hear that I’m pushing us back to dwell on our past. That’s not my goal and that’s not what Paul’s doing here.

What we learn from Paul’s testimony is that by remembering our past, we can be brought back to that moment when we first met Jesus Christ.

As terrible as it might be for Paul to think about his former life, it causes him to consider the abundance of grace and love and mercy that was poured on him in that moment he met Jesus.

The same is true for us.

CAN I GET YOUR FEEDBACK?

Think about your life before Christ. What do you appreciate about your current life with Christ after looking back?