Word of Encouragement (7/29/2021)
The prayer we are reflecting on is, “I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent...” (1 Tim. 1:12-13). We have been talking about how it is a privilege to serve Christ and this privilege is something He must grant. Today, we will talk about why Christ granted Paul the privilege to serve Him: “because he judged me faithful.” (We dealt with this topic a few weeks ago in a sermon. So, here is a bit of review.)
We should not consider this strange because we believe in the doctrine of grace. Paul is not denying that we are saved by grace, not by our faithfulness. Paul affirms this doctrine of grace by acknowledging that he was formerly “a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent” (v. 13), that he received mercy (v. 13) and the grace of the Lord (v. 14), that he is chief of sinners (v. 15), and that he was saved to display Christ’s perfect patience as “an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life” (v. 16). When Paul speaks of his faithfulness, he is not speaking of it as his merit, deserving of salvation; he is speaking of the qualification for his service to God. Paul said in 1 Cor. 4:2, “it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.” So, those who aspire to serve God, especially in any official capacity, must also meet certain qualifications. While we are saved by grace apart from our faithfulness (which can never be good enough), God calls those, whom He deems faithful, to His service. If we are not faithful, we may be subjected to His rebuke, though we can still be saved “only as through fire (1 Cor. 3:15).
When God calls us to His service and entrusts us with a responsibility, we should do what Paul does in this prayer: we should see it as a confirmation that God is considering us faithful and give thanks to Him. This should not lead to boasting in our faithfulness and becoming proud. Paul’s words seem to have an element of surprise. Why should he be surprised that God should consider him faithful? From what is written about him, Paul seems to have been a faithful kind of person, both before his conversion as a Pharisee and after his conversion as an Apostle. But he was surprised nonetheless by God’s estimation. How can anyone be faithful enough for God’s standard? No one, including Paul.
So, when God considers us faithful, that doesn’t mean that we are perfectly faithful. Rather, it means that God is almighty and wise enough to use our deficient faithfulness to accomplish His good purpose and, at times, grand purposes. We should not drop down in despair, lamenting that we will never be good enough. Instead, we should be excited that, when we offer our faithfulness to God in whatever measure, God can use it for His glory, thirty-fold, sixty-fold, a hundred-fold! We should strive to grow in our faithfulness so that He might use us even more for His glory!
In addition, how grateful we should be that God is not so much concerned with our giftedness as He is with our faithfulness. Faithfulness is something even the most ungifted person can do with excellence. What are the responsibilities God has entrusted to you? Are there really challenging ones? Before giving up or complaining about them, let us give thanks that God has entrusted them to us because He considered us faithful. And trusting God’s estimation of us rather than our own, let us carry them out by faith.