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Fight the Good Fight - The Priority of Grace

At our church, we’re working through 1Timothy. A couple of weeks ago I preached on 1Tim 1:12-20. It’s one of those key passages so I thought it might be of use to a wider audience.

1Tim 1:12-20
Eph 2:1-10

Some things are worth fighting for

Some things are worth fighting for.
The great failure of British diplomacy in the late 1930’s was not taking Hitler seriously enough. Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain famously came home from the Munich conference in the Autumn of 1938 proclaiming “peace for our time”. He had badly underestimated quite how dangerous Hitler was and, less than a year later, Britain and her allies found themselves at war with Nazi Germany. By 1940 Chamberlain had resigned and was replaced by Winston Churchill. In his first speech to Parliament upon appointment Churchill spoke these famous words:

.... You ask, What is our policy? I will say; “It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us: to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy.“ You ask, What is our aim? I can answer with one word: Victory - victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory there is no survival.

Some things are worth fighting for. Some things are worth fighting for because the consequences of not doing so are terrible. And so we fight.

That’s the situation in our reading this morning as we continue in Paul’s first letter to Timothy, the young church leader in the town of Ephesus. “Fight the good fight”, Paul tells Timothy, because the alternative is too terrible to allow to happen.

Now, we already know that Timothy was in a fight. Last week Sturt showed us how the letter opens up with Paul reminding Timothy to “command certain men not to teach false doctrines”. There were people in the church who were teaching things that simply weren’t true. They were talking, I wonder if you remember, about myths and genealogies and, worst of all, were teaching wrong things about the Jewish Law, claiming to be experts in the subject but actually being clueless. What they were teaching, Paul told us, was contrary to the gospel. We’re not sure exactly what the false teaching was but it seems, by looking at the rest of the letter, to have been about telling Christians that they had to follow certain rules and that, Paul tells us, is contrary to the gospel. It cuts against the gospel to tell people they have to do things to be right with God.

The problem with insisting that people keep laws, is that it denies grace.

And the glorious gospel of God is all about grace. So that is what Paul now wants to be sure that Timothy, and we, are clear on. Grace is worth fighting for.

Grace

…is for the ignorant (vv.12-13)

No-one knew more about grace than Paul himself.

I wonder if you know the story of Paul. He used to be called Saul. You can read all about him in the bible in Acts, from chapter 8 onwards. Saul hated the church and he hated Jesus. He was a Pharisee – a Jew who concentrated on living the best life he could so that he would win and keep approval in God’s eyes. He worked hard at it. And he also persecuted the Christians. He went, the Bible tells us , from house to house, from city to city, dragging off men and women and putting them in prison. And worse.

And this went on until one day, while he was riding to Damascus, the risen Lord Jesus Christ Himself stopped Saul and changed not just his name but his very being. Saul was converted. But more than that, Jesus appointed this man who was destroying the church to a position of leadership. To be an Apostle. And Saul, now called Paul, went from destroying churches to planting them.
And you’ve got to ask “why?” Why would Jesus do this? Why would Jesus choose this man? It’s tempting to think that, deep down, there was something about Saul that Jesus wanted to use. He was, at least, a great organizer and manager, in the same way that Himmler of the Nazi SS was. Surely that could be put to better use? But no. Because that is not what grace is. Grace does not find the kernel of goodness and make it grow. See what Paul writes in v12:

1 Timothy 1:12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service. 13 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.

Jesus considered Paul faithful while he was still persecuting the church. Jesus looked at Saul and decided that he was going to be the Apostle Paul, even when he wasn’t. Even though he was a blasphemer and a persecutor and a terribly violent man. Despite this, Jesus considered him faithful. Jesus treated Saul as He wanted Paul to be, not as Saul was. Without Jesus doing this, Saul had no chance. His whole mind and heart was set against Jesus. He was ignorant and unbelieving. He did not know Jesus so how could he possibly enter in relationship with him? He was unbelieving, so how could he possibly live the life of faith which is the heart of being a Christian?

He had absolutely zero chance of becoming a Christian. His whole life was headed in the other direction. A life of ignorance; not just in his head but – far more seriously – in his heart meant he had no means at all of getting right with God.

Yet, even though he was like this, Christ Jesus considered him faithful. He considered Saul the violent blaspheming persecutor as faithful. And that, friends, is grace. Grace is not God simply providing and announcing the gospel. That, in and of itself does not save. Saul had heard that gospel. He had, no doubt, heard a lot about Jesus in his position. But that was not grace.

Rather, Grace is God changing people so that they do respond to the gospel. Let me say that again so that we’re clear.

Grace is not God providing and announcing the gospel. Grace is God changing people so that they do respond to the gospel.

And Paul thanked Christ Jesus for it. Saul was ignorant and unbelieving. Simply unable to respond to the gospel that he had heard. So the Lord Jesus Christ graciously turned him into Paul.

…is for the worst of sinners (vv.14-16)

But not only was Paul unable to respond to Jesus, which, looking back, he considered the worst of his problems, he was also unworthy of responding. He was a sinner. And it was on the sinner Saul that the Lord poured out his grace abundantly, along with faith and love. This is such an important thing for us to grasp that Paul highlights it for us.

15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.

So why save Saul? Because there was something in him worth saving? Not at all. In fact, quite the opposite. When he wrote to the Ephesian church, our first reading today, he described the position of those who don’t know Jesus as “dead in transgressions and sins” and “by nature objects of wrath”.

Friends, we need to be clear on how disastrous sin is. Sin is a terrible terrible thing. Sin is the way we turn away from God and from His Son Jesus and we say “no thanks” or “yes, but on my terms”. And that is a terrible thing because either way it is saying no to the God of the universe. Saying no to a God who deserves all our energy, all our devotion. And God is not happy when we say no. Like it or not, He gets angry with it. We are rightly described as “by nature objects of wrath” because it is who we are as sinners that makes us people that God is angry with.

And it is for those sorts of people, people like you and I, that Jesus came for. Not for people who tried their best, not for people who had reached out, certainly not for people who are innocent. [pp]No, Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom Paul was the worst.

And that’s why Paul got saved in the first place. As an example. As an example that God loves to save the scum, the absolute worst. Just stop and think for a minute who you think could never be a Christian. Who you think is just too bad, too immoral, too anti-God and anti-Jesus to have a chance. Persecutors like Saul, slave traders like John Newton. God changes them and saves them not just out of love, but also to prove a point. Jesus Christ does it as an example! To prove a point.

As though Jesus says “See that guy Saul? He hates me. He kills my people and he reckons you get right with God by being good! Idiot! Unbelieving idiot. He’s not got a chance. He’s actually an offense to me.

I’m having Him. I’m changing him. He’s mine. I’m pouring out grace and faith and love on him.
Now look at him. He’s a new man. And it’s all my work, all my grace.”

…is worth shouting about (v.17)

No wonder that Paul responds as he does. He had a one-way ticket straight to hell and God stopped the train and pulled him out of the carriage. Who would not be grateful for that? Who would not thank God and tell other people?!!!

17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

What other response is there to this grace than to praise God who has done it? What other way is there to live the Christian life than, every day, to remember that it is God who saves, from first to last – and thank Him for it? Who else should get the praise but God? The Reformers of the 16th Century understood this. One of their catchphrases was “soli Deo gloria!” To God alone be the glory. They understood from the Bible, from passages such as this one that we are looking at, that if we say that people have anything at all to add to their salvation then we are taking the glory away from God and having it for ourselves.

Some things are worth fighting for (vv.18-20)

Hold on to faith and a good conscience

So why make such a big deal of this? Why stop in the letter and take the time to point this out? Why stop in a sermon series and spend a whole week just thinking about the gospel which, surely, we already know? Well, because if we don’t get this right then we are in terrible trouble.

Because, the glorious gospel of God is worth fighting for.

The glorious gospel of God was under attack in Timothy’s Ephesus. And the glorious gospel of God is under attack today.

Remember the false teachers? They were telling Christians in Ephesus that they had to do certain things to keep being right with God. But, Paul reminds us, the gospel has nothing whatsoever to do with what we do. It’s about what God does!

And Timothy has to get this right. Not just personally but throughout the church that he leads. He must fight the good fight. He must oppose the false teaching and hold onto faith and a good conscience. He must hold onto faith since faith, or trust, is the opposite of what the false teachers are teaching. They teach that we need to keep doing things to keep God happy but the sound doctrine of the Bible teaches that God does everything and we simply need to trust him, to have faith in him.

And he must hold onto a good conscience. Now, to have a good conscience in Paul’s writing, is to hold to what we know to be true as God reveals it. Later on in this same letter he will describe the false teachers as having a “seared conscience” since they have walked away from God’s truth.

And this isn’t just about how we think about the gospel, it’s worked out in the way that we live. We must live as though we believe this.

We see this working out in the rest of the letter. From chapter 2 onwards we are going to see Paul set out a whole host of instructions on organizing the church. None of it is there to show us how to be good to get right with God. That would be to replace the gospel. Rather, those instructions show us how to live lives in the church that conform to the glorious gospel.
Now we have to be careful, because the very same things that are good for us can also, if we do not use them properly, end up with us denying the gospel.
Let me give a few examples to start you thinking how this works out.

Personal prayer and bible reading. Now I am the first to encourage you all in it. We all know it is a good thing to read God’s word and to respond in prayer. And we also know that it is great to become disciplined in it. Get up half an hour earlier to make the time. Set aside your lunch hour. Whatever it might be.
But what if you don’t do it? What if your discipline slips? What if that slip becomes a habit? And then what if we say to ourselves, “I am no longer worthy to be a Christian for I am not doing my personal prayer and bible reading? Then we have become a false teacher for we have put something, even a good thing, in the place of God’s grace.

What about how we view others? Think of your friends, either inside or outside the church. Think of the worst things that they do. Obvious sins. Things that the Bible is clear on. Think how easy it is to think “oh, they could never be a Christian because they do that!” Well, then we have made doing the right thing replace the grace of God.

Think about the good things that other people do. It’s so easy to speak about how someone has “Christian behavior”, “Christian values” and so on. To think more of them and their status in front of God. But that isn’t grace.

Now, of course, that is not to say that people will not change when God seizes them in grace. It is also not to say that we should not speak to our brothers and sisters about sin. But we must always be clear that being good is never going to be what swings it for them. This is so important when talking to our unbelieving friends. It’s so easy for us to talk about sin in terms of immoral behavior, as though that were the biggest issue. But it’s not. Remember, Paul names his ignorance and unbelief as the real problem. If we go on and on about behavior then we give the message that behavior must change and everything will be ok. But living a good life saved no-one. No, we must talk to people about ignorance and unbelief for knowing Jesus and trusting him is what will save them.

Beware of blasphemy

To suggest otherwise is a terrible mistake. Paul has an intense word for such teaching. He calls it “blasphemy”. 2 blasphemers in Ephesus were Hymenaeus and Alexander who, more than likely, were some of the false teachers from earlier on in chapter 1. Paul tells Timothy to throw them out of the church until they change what they’re saying, that’s what it means for them to be “handed over to Satan”.

Imagine that! Throwing these 2 men out of the church because they’re telling other people to be good!!! But it needed to be done. That’s how serious this is.
It’s blasphemy for it replaces what Jesus does with what we do. It puts us in Jesus’ place. Do you see how serious that is? This false teaching denies Jesus his rightful place in the gospel and it denies people salvation because it turns them away from trusting the grace of Jesus to trusting their own actions.
Hymenaeus and Alexander had shipwrecked their faith. They hadn’t just got lost on the Harbour, they’d sailed their boats out of the Heads, ignored the lighthouse and steered them straight into the rocks. And they were telling other people to join them.

Getting this right is vitally important. Because people’s eternal futures are at stake.

Some things are worth fighting for. People’s eternal futures are certainly worth fighting for.

Winston Churchill spent the better part of the 1930’s warning about the rise of Nazi Germany. Year after year in Parliament he gave speeches berating the government for not taking the threat seriously. They didn’t and well over 40 million people lost their lives in the Second World War. Churchill ended up winning a war which he had fought even harder to stop happening in the first place.
2000 years earlier Paul writes to Timothy. And the stakes are even higher for Timothy is responsible for souls, for the eternal future of those in his care.
“fight the good fight” Paul tells Timothy. Fight for God’s glorious gospel of grace, because the consequence of not doing so are terrible. They were terrible then and they are terrible today. Let’s pray.

Posted by on 06/14 at 10:26 AM

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