PAUL: the Chief of Sinners
1 Tim. 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.
In our text Paul refers to himself as the chief of sinners. The customary explanation of that text is to point out that Paul thought of himself as the chief of sinners. That was his own subjective opinion of himself, and this is an example of his humility in the light of the grace of God in his life.
That explanation is right on target. That was his opinion of himself. Paul thought of himself as the chief of sinners, and he was amazed that God would save such a sinner as felt himself to be.
But we should keep in mind that Paul’s subjective opinion was based on objective fact. Paul really was the chief of sinners. When God appeared to Paul on Damascus Road, he was the world’s most bitter enemy of the Lord and his people. There was no other person in the land who was more dedicated than he was to the destruction of the Lord’s church. He was determined to wipe the church off the face of the earth, and to wipe the name of Jesus Christ from the pages of history.
It might help to go back to the first mention of Paul. The first time we read about Paul he still referred to himself as Saul. He later changed his name to Paul. We may get to his reason for changing his name after awhile, but at that time he was still Saul of Tarsus, the favorite student of Gamaliel. The first time we read about him he was part of the enraged mob who stoned Stephen to death.
Acts 7:54 When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and the gnashed on them with their teeth,
55 But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God.
56 And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.
57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,
58 And cast him out of the city, and stoned him; and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul.
The text tells us that when the council, the Jewish Sanhedrim, heard what Stephen had to say, “They were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.” I am not sure how to read that expression, “they gnashed on him with their teeth.” What does it mean when it says they “gnashed on him.” The dictionaries define to gnash as “to grind the teeth in pain, in anger, or in frustration.” Berry’s Interlinear Translation says that it would be a proper translation to say that they gnashed at him, not on him, and the various commentators agree.
But I have more confidence in the King James Translators than I do in George Ricker Berry. It appears to me that sometimes Berry was different for the sake of being different. The King James Translators were very careful; they were not satisfied with a near miss. If the text means they gnashed at him, why did they say they gnashed on him?
Thayer’s Lexicon is a far more dependable authority than Berry, and according to Thayer epi (epsilon pi iota), the word that is translated on, means upon. He goes on to say that it indicates “upon the surface of.” So, according to Thayer, those enraged members of the council gnashed upon the surface of Stephen.” Thayer agrees with the King James Translators, regardless of Berry and the commentators.
I am inclined to agree with Thayer. It is easy for me to see those council members becoming so enraged against Stephen that they attacked him like a snarling pack of wild dogs, literally gnawing on him with their teeth.
Perhaps, I am judging them too harshly. Perhaps they were too civilized to do any such thing. But keep in mind that these were the same men who not long before had crucified the Lord of Glory.
These were the same men who would rather for a poor woman to spend the rest of her life all bowed over and unable to lift herself up than for the Lord to heal her on the Sabbath day. These were the men who, for more than three years, followed the Lord around, trying to find some way to do away with him. These were the men who delighted to see the Lord in Pilate’s Hall, so beaten that he hardly looked like a man, and who incited the mob to scream, “Crucify him, crucify him.”
I am not inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt. I am not inclined to think they were too civilized to behave like animals.
But then, I notice that it is in verse 54 that we are told that they “gnashed on him,” and then, three verses later, we read that they “ran upon him.” So, perhaps, for all my trouble, I am still reading it wrong. That is only one of the multitude of questions I have never been able to resolve to my own satisfaction.
The first mention we find of Paul, he was part of that enraged crowd. He did not throw the rocks that killed him, but he kept the clothes of those who did. And we read in the next chapter that he “was consenting unto his death” (ch.8:1). He thought killing that preacher was a good idea. Paul got his first taste of Christian blood that day, and he did not lose that appetite until the day when the Lord struck him down on Damascus Road.
The next we read about Paul he was making havoc of the church (ch. 8:3). If he held back when Stephen was stoned, he soon made up for any delay.
Ch. 8:1 And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.
3 As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.
Christians were not safe from Saul’s wrath, not even their own homes. They fled for their lives. Saul’s persecution drove them out of Jerusalem. Only the apostles remained.
But even at the height of the persecution the gospel prospered. Those who were driven out of Jerusalem “went everywhere preaching the word.” It has been said that, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” Persecuting Christians is like spraying water on an oil fire. The water just spreads the fire. The persecution worked to scatter the gospel. God knows how to turn man’s wrath against him, and bring good out of man’s fiercest attacks.
Psa. 76:10 Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee, and the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain.
Saul was not satisfied with driving the Christians out of Jerusalem. He intended to see to it that they never came back. With that same mad-dog ferocity that drove the council to stone Stephen to death, Paul pursued the Christians wherever they fled. When he later confronted the mob in Jerusalem he related his experience.
Acts 22:4 And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women,
5 As also the high priest doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders; from whom I received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were there bound unto Jerusalem to be punished.
We can only try to imagine what the prisons of that day must have been like. They were likely more like dungeons than they were the jails of our day. How filthy they must have been, how filled with vermin, how they must have held the stench and the disease of former prisoners. And yet Saul did not flinch from sending both men and women to be locked up there.
Acts 26:9 I verily thought with myself that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
10 Which thing I also did in Jerusalem; and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them.
What terror it must have stricken in the hearts of those poor women to be torn from their children, not knowing whether they would ever see them again. They were feeling Saul (Paul’s) wrath; how far would that wrath go? After they were locked up, would he take his vengeance against their children? They must have asked themselves, “How will my children survive, if Saul and his henchmen send me to my death?”
11 And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly made against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities.
Saul entered into every house, haling men and women and committing them to prison. They were not safe in their own homes. He forced them to blaspheme, to say vile and vulgar things about the Lord. What fiendish delight he must have gained to hear them repeat the words he forced them to say—words that defamed the very God they loved.
They were not safe even in strange cities. No doubt, many of them fled in the night, trying to escape Saul’s wrath. They had to leave everything behind. When you run away the way they had to, you are limited to how much you can carry in your arms, or on the back of a pack animal. And as poor as most of the early Christians were, they were limited as to how far they could go.
How distressing it must have been to have gone as far as they could go, and to have spent all their money in the process. These Christians were in enormous distress. They were in a strange city, but they still got hungry. They still needed to eat. They still needed to get in out of the rain and the cold.
They had no homes; many of them had no money, and no way to earn money.
After they were cast out of the synagogues, their countrymen were forbidden to employ them, or work for them. They were forbidden to sell to them, or provide them shelter.
The Jews had little communities all over the Roman Empire. No matter where they might have gone, there would be other Jews living there. They could go to their countrymen and plead for help. But who could tell whether the person they went to might be the very one who would go to Saul and tell him where they were.
Vs. 10 And when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them.
Perhaps, they had a brother, or a cousin, in that city, but could he be trusted? Would their cousin turn them in?
Matt. 10:21 And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child; and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.
22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake; but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
It is hard to imagine a man turning in his own brother, or a father turning in his own child, to be put in the dungeon, or beaten with a whip, or stoned to death.
But keep in mind that the Jewish authorities had convinced the people that the Christians were enemies of the state; they were blasphemers of God; they wanted to overthrow the established order. They had convinced the people that the Christians were worse enemies to Israel than the Romans were. At least, the Romans allowed them to practice their religion. The authorities had convinced them the Christians were traitors to their own people and to their own religion. They had convinced them they were doing God service to deliver the Christians to death.
John 16:2 They shall put you out of the synagogues; yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.
Many of the people were so inflamed against the Christians they believed they were doing God’s work by killing them.
And there was Saul, pursuing them to the death, and when they were put to death, he gave his testimony against them. He was one of those who thought that by killing Christians he was doing God service. It was against that background that Saul “went unto the high priest.”
Acts 9:1 And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest.
2 And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.
Saul had already pursued the disciples to strange cities; he had already consigned both men and women to languish in putrid and dangerous dungeons; he had already given the testimony that sent some of them to their death. But he was still breathing out threatenings and slaughter. He was still raging against the disciples. There was no limit to his wrath.
Luke seems almost to be describing a mad dog ranging over the country looking for somebody to attack.
At that time, Saul was, without question, the chief of sinners. Search the record the as much as you will, and you will not find anybody who harbored more hatred for the Lord and his people. You will not find anybody more determined to do away with the Lord’s church, anybody more determined to wipe the name of Jesus Christ from the pages of history. Like a mad dog he was ranging over the country looking for his prey.
No other person led the attack against Christians the way Saul did. It is no coincidence that it is immediately after Saul’s Damascus Road experience that we read:
Acts 9:31 Then had the churches rest throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified, walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost and were multiplied.
The churches had rest, because the chief sinner had been saved. It is on Damascus Road that the scene totally changes. It is at that time the Lord comes into Paul’s life, and from that point on nothing is ever the same.
God reached right into the camp of the enemy and saved the chief sinner, and the Jewish authorities had nobody quite like him to take his place.
Acts 9:3 And as he journeyed, he came near to Damascus; and suddenly there shone a light from heaven;
4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said unto him, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest; it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou oughtest to do.
7 And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.
Skeptics read that seventh verse and they imagine they have found a contradiction. Years later, when Paul addressed the Jews at Jerusalem, he said,
Acts 22:9 And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid, but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me.
Those who love to mock the Bible read those two passages and they want to know, “Which was it? Did those men hear the voice or did they not? Luke tells it one way in chapter nine, and Paul tells it another way in chapter twenty-two.”
But there is no contradiction. People only imagine there is a contradiction, because they are so careless in reading. The Bible is as precise as any surgeon’s scalpel. The Bible always says what it means, and it always means exactly what it says.
Notice that Paul says, “They heard not the voice of him that spake to me.” Those five words are the key to the problem. They heard Paul’s voice when he answered the Lord, but they did not hear the Lord’s voice when he spoke to Paul. The Lord was dealing directly with Paul. He was talking directly to him, and what he said was for his hearing only. He was not talking to those other men, and there is no reason they should hear.
God can do anything he chooses to do, and when he chooses to talk to his child—out of the hearing of the crowd—he has no problem doing it. If you and I can whisper in the ear of our friend without the crowd hearing, do you imagine God has any trouble speaking in the heart of his child without the crowd hearing?
That question illustrates an important principle. Somebody is forever asking why we Primitive Baptists don’t have seminaries for our preachers. The answer is simple enough. The Bible is not all that hard to understand. The Bible always explains itself better than we can explain it. We should simply accept the fact that the Bible always means exactly what it says. Read it, believe it, and let it explain itself. Our main job is to read it carefully—be quiet—and listen.
Those who like to claim credit for their own salvation tell us that God has broadcast a general call to salvation, but if you want to be saved, you must take the first step. You must do your part. You must do something to earn your salvation.
I wonder how they will make Paul fit that formula? What had he done to commend himself to the Lord? How will they show that Paul was seeking the Lord when the Lord came to him?
Paul was not seeking the Lord. He was on his way to Damascus seeking the Lord’s disciples. He intended to arrest them, and bring them back to Jerusalem to be beaten, and imprisoned, and, perhaps, to be put to death.
If ever there was anybody who did not deserve to be saved, Paul was that man. Of all people, he did not deserve to be saved—and God saved him anyway. If ever there was an example of salvation by grace, Paul is the best of all examples.
I have difficulty understanding exactly what the members of the council did when they ran on Stephen and gnashed on him with their teeth. But there are some questions about which they can be no doubt.
We should have no difficulty in understanding that Saul of Tarsus was saved by grace and grace alone. There are ever so many questions you and I will never be able to answer. But salvation by grace is not one of them. The Bible makes it as clear as divine revelation can make it that there is nothing in the sinner to commend him to God. If salvation for heaven is not entirely by the grace of God—plus nothing and minus nothing—then nobody will ever be saved.
1 Tim. 1:12 And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry;
13 Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious; but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.
14 And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.
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.
16 Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.
Notice that this is the same passage in which Paul refers to himself as the chief of sinners. So we are still dealing with the same subject. In verse thirteen he refers to himself as a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious. So, it is in that context that he refers to himself as the chief of sinners.
To blaspheme is to say vile and vulgar things about God. When our Lord was brought before Pilate, he was beaten until he hardly looked like a man. They took a whip and literally plowed his back. They jerked out his beard, and spat in his face. On the cross they denied him the modesty of his clothing. Considering the conditions of his trial and crucifixion, it is not hard to imagine some of the shameful things they must have said about him—what dirty little lyrics they put together to mock him.
When Paul was on his way to Damascus to arrest disciples, he must have taken a large crowd with him. Had he taken just a few people, when he told the disciples he was there to take them back to Jerusalem, they, no doubt, would have looked at his few helpers, and they would have explained to Paul that they preferred to stay right where they were. He clearly would have had enough people with him to bring the Christians back, whether they wanted to come or not.
And, no doubt, as that mob made their way along, marching toward Damascus, they struck up some of those marching songs soldiers are noted for. David prophesied of those songs a thousand years before.
Psa. 69:12 They that sit in the gate speak against me, and I was the song of the drunkards.
I don’t want to even think about what vile and blasphemous lyrics those marching songs must have contained. And I can imagine that, being in charge of the entire matter, Paul was singing as loud, and as enthusiastically as any of them. It was at that time, as Saul was leading that crowd to Damascus to arrest disciples that God came into his heart.
Acts 9:3 Suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven;
4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
If ever anybody was stopped in his tracks, Paul was stopped in his tracks that day. For the rest of his life Paul would look back to that day as the day the Lord struck him down, and brought him to his knees. On that day the chief of sinners came face to face with the Savior of Sinners—and nothing was ever the same again.
Is there anybody who would attempt to show what Saul was doing to seek the Lord? Is there anybody who would attempt to show what he was doing to commend him to the Lord? Now, back to our text.
1 Tim. 1:16 Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.
Notice that Paul says he is the pattern. A pattern is a form— any kind of form—that shows how something is done. It may be a dress pattern, or it may be the blueprint for a 747 jetliner. A pattern is a form that shows how something is done.
We have Paul’s word for it that he is the pattern. He is the example that shows the way God saves sinners. The text tells us that God put Paul first; he set him in the forefront as a clear example—a clear pattern—of the way sinners are saved. If there was ever a clear example of salvation by grace, Paul is that example.
God only has one way of saving sinners. The way one sinner is saved is the way every sinner is saved. If Paul was saved by grace and grace alone, every sinner is saved by grace and grace alone. If there was nothing about Paul to commend him to God, there was nothing about any of us to commend us to God.
That person, who imagines he deserves to be saved, denies that he is saved the way Paul was saved. And, for that matter, he puts himself in some mighty questionable company.
God knew there would be those who imagined they would live in heaven, because they are better than other people, and he gave an example of the kind of mindset that produces that opinion.
Luke 18:9 And he spake this parable unto certain that trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others.
10 Two men went up into the temple; the one a Pharisee and the other a publican.
11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other; for everyone that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
There are a lot of people who are turned off by religion and religious people. If you were to ask one hundred people, “What is the one thing you find the most objectionable about religious people,” what do imagine the most common objection would be?
I suppose that is what you might call a rhetorical question. I ask the question for the purpose of answering it. The one thing that turns the most people off with regard to religion and religious people is the self-righteous, holier-than-thou attitude of ever so many religious people.
But, you can be sure that the Bible provides no ground for any such attitude. The facts are quite the opposite. The gospel of grace strips away every ground for self-righteousness. If you ever see heaven, it will be by the grace of God; it will not be because you are better than other people.
Notice that the Pharisee had a self-righteous attitude. He was sure he was better than other people. Of all people, he was sure he was better than the publican.
Also, notice that he was not so much praying to God as he prayed . . . . with himself. He was delivering his little soliloquy. He was congratulating himself on what a fine person he was. If he was addressing God at all, he was reminding God about how righteous he was, what a fine person he was. He was afraid God might not have noticed.
But God was not the least bit impressed. God knew more about the Pharisee than the Pharisee knew about himself. God knew he did not have any compassion for his fellow man, and no real respect for God. Anybody who thinks God needs to be reminded of our accomplishments, has a low opinion of his Maker.
For all the Pharisee’s boasting, it was the publican who went down to his house justified. God placed a far greater value on the publican’s humility than he did on the Pharisee’s arrogance.
The publican may not have done all the vile things Paul had done, but he had the same opinion of himself as Paul had. He knew that—apart from the mercy of God—he had no claim on God. He knew that, if he ever saw heaven, it would be by grace and grace alone.
There is nothing that will remove a self-righteous attitude from religion the way it will to realize that salvation is by grace, and there is nothing that will so effectively remove the fear of death. No matter how high an opinion anyone may have of himself, and no matter how proud he may be of his accomplishments, in his heart of hearts, he knows it is not so. In the deepest recesses of his heart he knows that he does not deserve to live with God in heaven. It is no wonder he is so afraid to die. Knowing as much as he does about his own track record, he dreads to stand before God in judgment.
John 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Among many other things, knowing the truth of salvation by grace makes us free from the fear of death.
1 Cor. 15:55 O death, where is they sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
The truth of the gospel teaches us that on that final day the only entry on our account will be the imputed righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. If the Lord Jesus Christ carried our sins to the cross and put those sins away, we will never face them any more. If you can figure how far it is from the farthest eastern point on the globe to the farthest western point on the globe, you will have figured how far God has removed our sins from us.
Psa. 103:12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
THE END