Pastor John,
I enjoyed Allison’s email and your response (below). My thought was, for a sinner to be saved from the coming judgement, they first have to be saved from sinning!
Paul was describing that deliverance from sin in 1Tim. 1:15–16 when he said, “of sinners, I was the worst … but I was shown mercy….”
Redemption from being a sinner committing sin was the mercy Paul was rejoicing about.
It is amazing how religion conducted in the name of Jesus, but without the spirit and power Jesus gives, redefines the “mercy” Paul spoke of to mean that God in this new covenant no longer sees, or just doesn’t care, that men live a sinful life.
By that, men are saying, as you have pointed out, that the sacrifice Jesus, which was made for sin, didn’t change fallen man who needed redemption; it changed God, who was already perfect! That is absurd for so many reasons, but those are our thoughts and our reasoning as humans without Jesus.
Jerry
==========
Good evening, Brother John.
Brad and I just read the 6-4 Thought for the Morning* where you mention Article 4 of from the Baptist church your sister ended up in. You speak emphatically about salvation not being “…wholly of grace.” But what jumped out to me was the phrase “… salvation of sinners…” right before that.
Is it right to think that salvation can come to sinners? It feels wrong. There’s a step missing. A sinner’s sins have to be washed away through repentance and the baptism of Holy Spirit. No sinner is going to be saved!
~Allison
==========
Hi Allison
You are right in that salvation is a process, and that in the end, if a person is still a sinner, he will not be saved. However, it is also right to say that God saves sinners because that is what we all were when He called us to His Son. That is why Paul could rightly say this to Timothy:
1Timothy 1
- This saying is true, and worthy of all acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – among whom I am the worst,
- but I was shown mercy for this reason, that in me, as the worst of sinners, Jesus Christ might demonstrate utmost patience, as an example for those who afterward would believe in him for eternal life.
I am glad you asked that question. Such questions spring from a knowledge of the truth, not an ignorance of it.
Pastor John