We began our study of verse 14 by saying, "As we
have been discussing in the above scriptures, verses
12 through 17 speak to a single idea, that of God
calling Paul despite his previous life of
persecuting the Church of God. Again, it is a
passage of joy, thanks and acknowledgement." We pick
up the discussion of these six verses now with verse
15.
This is a faithful saying
- Greek, “Faithful is the word,” or doctrine - ὁ
λογος ho logos. This verse has somewhat the
character of a parenthesis, and seems to have been
thrown into the midst of the narrative because the
mind of the apostle was full of the subject. He had
said that he, a great sinner, had obtained mercy.
This naturally led him to think of the purpose for
which Christ came into the world - to save sinners -
and to think how strikingly that truth had been
illustrated in his own case, and how that case had
shown that it was worthy the attention of all. The
word rendered “saying,” means in this place
doctrine, position, or declaration. The word
“faithful,” means assuredly true; it was that which
might be depended on, or on which reliance might be
placed. The meaning is, that the doctrine that
Christ came to save sinners might be depended on as
certainly true; compare 2 Timothy 2:11; Titus 3:8.
2 Timothy 2:11
It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him,
we shall also live with him:
Titus 3:8
This is a faithful saying, and these things I will
that thou affirm constantly, that they which have
believed in God might be careful to maintain good
works. These things are good and profitable unto
men. ~Barnes Notes
Now from the John Gill commentary:
This is a faithful saying, and
worthy of all acceptation - This is said,
lest it should be thought strange, or scarcely
credible, that so great a sinner should be saved; as
well as to give a summary of the glorious Gospel the
apostle was entrusted with; and in opposition to
fables, endless genealogies, and vain jangling, and
contentions about the law. The doctrine of Christ's
coming into the world, and of salvation by him, as
it is the sum and substance of the Gospel, so it is
a "faithful saying"; in which the faithfulness of
God is displayed to himself, and the perfections of
his nature, his holiness, justice, love, grace, and
mercy; to his law, which is magnified, and made
honourable; to his word of promise hereby fulfilled;
and to his Son in carrying him through the work: and
the faithfulness of Christ is discovered herein,
both to his Father with whom, and to his friends for
whom, he engaged to obtain salvation; and the
faithfulness of ministers is shown in preaching it,
and of other saints in professing it, and abiding by
it: it is a true saying, and not to be disputed or
doubted of, but to be believed most firmly; it is
certain that God the Father sent his Son into the
world for this purpose; and Christ himself assures
us, that he came for this end; his carriage to
sinners, and his actions, testified the same; his
works and miracles confirm it; and the numberless
instances of sinners saved by him evince the truth
of it: and it is "worthy of all acceptation"; or to
be received by all sorts of persons, learned, or
unlearned, rich or poor, greater or lesser sinners;
and to be received in all ways, and in the best
manner, as the word of God, and not man; with
heartiness and readiness, and with love, joy, and
gladness, and with meekness, faith, and fear, and by
all means; for it is entirely true, absolutely
necessary, and suitable to the case of all, and is
to be highly valued and esteemed by those who do
approve and accept of it. It is the Christian
Cabala, or the evangelical tradition, delivered by
the Father to Christ, by him to his apostles, and by
them to the saints, by whom it is cordially
received. The apostle seems to allude to the Cabala
of the Jews, their oral law, which they say was
delivered to Moses on Mount Sinai, and by him to
Joshua; and by Joshua to the elders; and by the
elders to the prophets; and so from one to another
to his times: but here he suggests, that if they
would have a Cabala, here is one, that is firm, and
true, and certain, and worthy to be received,
whereas the Jewish one was precarious, yea, false
and untrue. Indeed, sometimes the words of the
prophets are so called by them; so that passage in
Joel 2:13 is called קבלה, "Cabala", some thing
delivered and received; upon which one of their
commentators has these words,
"whatever a prophet commands the Israelites, makes
known unto them, or exhorts them to, is a Cabala.
And if a prophetic command or admonition, then
surely: such an evangelical doctrine, as follows, is
entitled to this character.
Joel 2:13
And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn
unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and
merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and
repenteth him of the evil.
~John Gill
Now for another look, we go to the
Jamieson, Fausset, Brown commentary:
faithful — worthy of
credit, because “God” who says it “is faithful” to
His word (1 Corinthians 1:9; 1 Thessalonians 5:24; 2
Thessalonians 3:3; Revelation 21:5; Revelation
22:6). This seems to have become an axiomatic saying
among Christians the phrase, “faithful saying,” is
peculiar to the Pastoral Epistles (1 Timothy 2:11; 1
Timothy 4:9; Titus 3:8). Translate as Greek,
“Faithful is the saying.”
1 Corinthians 1:9
God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the
fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
1 Thessalonians 5:24
Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do
it.
2 Thessalonians 3:3
But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you,
and keep you from evil.
Revelations 21:5
And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make
all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for
these words are true and faithful.
Revelation 22:6
And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and
true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his
angel to shew unto his servants the things which
must shortly be done.
...and one of the scriptures from the Pastoral
Epistles referenced in the commentary:
1 Timothy 4:9
This is a faithful saying and worthy of all
acceptation.
~Jamieson, Fausset, Brown
Now to the next phrase in the scripture. This
from Barnes Notes:
And worthy of all acceptation - Worthy to be
embraced or believed by all. This is so, because:
(1) all are sinners and need a Saviour. All,
therefore ought to welcome a doctrine which shows
them how they may be saved.
(2) because Christ died for all. If he had died for
only a part of the race, and could save only a part,
it could not be said with any propriety that the
doctrine was worthy of the acceptance of all. If
that were so, what had it to do with all? How could
all be interested in it or benefited by it If
medicine had been provided for only a part of the
patients in a hospital, it could not be said that
the announcement of such a fact was worthy the
attention of all. It would be highly worthy the
attention of those for whom it was designed, but
there would be a part who would have nothing to do
with it; and why should they concern themselves
about it? But if it was provided for each one, then
each one would have the highest interest in it. So,
if salvation has been provided for me, it is a
matter claiming my profoundest attention; and the
same is true of every human being. If not provided
for me, I have nothing to do with it. It does not
concern me at all.
See this subject discussed at length in the
supplementary note on 2 Corinthians 5:14.
(3) the manner in which the provision of salvation
has been made in the gospel is such as to make it
worthy of universal acceptation. It provides for the
complete pardon of sin, and the restoration of the
soul to God. This is done in a way that is honorable
to God - maintaining his law and his justice; and,
at the same time, it is in a way that is honorable
to man. He is treated afterward as a friend of God
and an heir of life. He is raised up from his
degradation, and restored to the favor of his Maker.
If man were himself to suggest a way of salvation,
he could think of none that would be more honorable
to God and to himself; none that would do so much to
maintain the law and to elevate him from all that
now degrades him. What higher honor can be conferred
on man than to have his salvation sought as an
object of intense and earnest desire by one so great
and glorious as the Son of God?
(4) it is worthy of all acceptance, from the nature
of the salvation itself. Heaven is offered, with all
its everlasting glories, through the blood of Christ
- and is not this worthy of universal acceptation?
People would accept of a coronet or crown; a
splendid mansion, or a rich estate; a present of
jewels and gold, if freely tendered to them - but
what trifles are these compared with heaven! If
there is anything that is worthy of universal
acceptation, it is heaven - for all will be
miserable unless they enter there.
~Barnes Notes
Now the John Gill:
all — all possible;
full; to be received by all, and with all the
faculties of the soul, mind, and heart. Paul, unlike
the false teachers (1Timothy 1:7), understands what
he is saying, and whereof he affirms; and by his
simplicity of style and subject, setting forth the
grand fundamental truth of salvation through Christ,
confutes the false teachers’ abstruse and
unpractical speculations (1 Corinthians1:18-28;
Titus 2:1).
acceptation — reception
(as of a boon)
into the heart, as well as the understanding, with
all gladness; this is faith acting on the Gospel
offer, and welcoming and appropriating it (Acts
2:41). ~John Gill
Now to the next part of the verse and this from
Barnes Notes:
That Christ Jesus came into
the world to save sinners - The great and
unique doctrine of the gospel. He “came into the
world.” He therefore had a previous existence. He
came. He had, therefore, an object in coming. It
makes his gospel more worthy of acceptation that he
had an intention, a plan, a wish, in thus coming
into the world. He came when he was under no
necessity of coming; he came to save, not to
destroy; to reveal mercy, not to denounce judgment;
to save sinners - the poor, the lost, the wandering,
not to condemn them; he came to restore them to the
favor of God, to raise them up from their
degradation, and to bring them to heaven.
~Barnes Notes
Now from Adam Clarke:Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners -
This is one of the most glorious truths in the book
of God; the most important that ever reached the
human ear, or can be entertained by the heart of
man. All men are sinners; and as such condemned,
justly condemned, to eternal death. Christ Jesus
became incarnate, suffered, and died to redeem them;
and, by his grace and Spirit, saves them from their
sins. This saying or doctrine he calls, first, a
faithful or true saying; πιστος ὁ λογος, it is a
doctrine that may be credited, without the slightest
doubt or hesitation; God himself has spoken it; and
the death of Christ and the mission of the Holy
Ghost, sealing pardon on the souls of all who
believe, have confirmed and established the truth.
Secondly, it is worthy of all acceptation; as all
need it, it is worthy of being received by all. It
is designed for the whole human race, for all that
are sinners is applicable to all, because all are
sinners; and may be received by all, being put
within every man’s reach, and brought to every man’s
ear and bosom, either by the letter of the word, or,
where that revelation is not yet come, by the power
of the Divine Spirit, the true light from Christ
that lightens every man that cometh into the world.
From this also it is evident that the death of
Christ, and all its eternally saving effects, were
designed for every man.
~Adam Clarke
Now the John Gill:
that Christ Jesus came into
the world to save sinners - Christ came into
the world, being sent by his Father, but not against
his will, but with his free consent: he came
voluntarily in the fulness of time into this sinful
world, where he was ill treated; and this was not by
local motion, or change of place, but by assumption
of nature; and the end of it was, that he might be
the Saviour of lost sinners, as all men are, both by
Adam's sin, and their own transgressions; though he
came not to save all, for then all would be saved,
whereas they are not; and if he came to save them,
he must have then so far lost his end; but he came
to save sinners, of all sorts, even notorious
sinners, the worst and chief of sinners: and the
apostle instances in himself.
~John Gill
Let's move to the final part of this verse.
This from Barnes Notes:
Of whom I am chief -
Greek, “first.” The word is used to denote eminence
- and it means that he occupied the first rank among
sinners. There were none who surpassed him. This
does not mean that he had been the greatest of
sinners in all respects, but that in some respects
he had been so great a sinner, that on the whole
there were none who had surpassed him. That to which
he particularly refers was doubtless the part which
he had taken in putting the saints to death; but in
connection with this, he felt, undoubtedly, that he
had by nature a heart eminently prone to sin; see
Romans 7. Except in the matter of persecuting the
saints, the youthful Saul of Tarsus appears to have
been eminently moral, and his outward conduct was
framed in accordance with the strictest rules of the
law; Philippians 3:6; Acts 26:4-5. After his
conversion, he never attempted to extenuate his
conduct, or excuse himself. He was always ready, in
all circles, and in all places, to admit to its
fullest extent the fact that he was a sinner. So
deeply convinced was he of the truth of this, that
he bore about with him the constant impression that
he was eminently unworthy; and hence he does not say
merely that he had been a sinner of most aggravated
character, but he speaks of it as something that
always pertained to him - “of whom I am chief.” We
may remark:
(1) that a true Christian will always be ready to
admit that his past life has been evil;
(2) that this will become the abiding and steady
conviction of the soul; and,
(3) that an acknowledgment that we are sinners is
not inconsistent with evidence of piety, and with
high attainments in it. The most eminent Christian
has the deepest sense of the depravity of his own
heart and of the evil of his past life.
~Barnes Notes
Now notice the John Gill commentary on this phrase:
of whom I am chief - or
"first"; not that he was the first in time; Adam was
the first man that sinned, though Eve was before him
in the transgression: it is a most stupid notion,
that some gave into from this passage, as if the
soul of Adam passed from one body to another, till
it came to Paul, and therefore he calls himself the
first of sinners: but his meaning is, that he was
the first in quality, or the greatest and chiefest
of sinners, not only of those that are saved, but of
all men, Jews or Gentiles; and this he said not
hyperbolically, nor out of modesty, but from a real
sense or apprehension he had of himself, and his
sins, which were made exceeding sinful to him; or he
was the chief of sinners, and exceeded all others in
his way of sinning, in blaspheming the name of
Christ, and persecuting his saints, otherwise his
conversation was externally moral, and in his own,
and in the opinion of others, blameless: he was no
fornicator, adulterer, thief, extortioner, &c. but
in the above things he went beyond all others, and
was a ringleader in them; and the remembrance of
these sins abode with him, and kept him humble all
his days; he was always ready to acknowledge them,
and express his vileness and unworthiness on account
of them: hence he here says, not "of whom I was",
but "of whom I am chief". Now such sinners, and all
sorts of sinners, Christ came to save from all their
sins, original and actual; from the law, its curse
and condemnation; from the bondage of Satan, the
evil of the world, and wrath to come, and from every
enemy; and that, by his obedience, sufferings, and
death, by fulfilling the law, bearing its penalty,
offering himself a sacrifice for sin, thereby
finishing it, making reconciliation for it, and
bringing in an everlasting righteousness: and a
great Saviour he is, and an only one; a full,
suitable, able, and willing Saviour; a Saviour of
the soul, as well as of the body, and of both with
an everlasting salvation.
~John Gill
Let us conclude in the Treasury of
Scripture Knowledge:
For, "This is a faithful saying":
1 Timothy 1:19
Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some
having put away concerning faith have made
shipwreck:
2 Timothy 2:11
It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him,
we shall also live with him:
For , "and worthy of all acceptation":
John 1:12
But as many as received him, to them gave he power
to become the sons of God, even to them that believe
on his name:
John 3:36
He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life:
and he that believeth not the Son shall not see
life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
1 John 5:11
And this is the record, that God hath given to us
eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
For, "that Christ Jesus came into the world to save
sinners":
Matthew 20:28
Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered
unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom
for many.
Acts 3:26
Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus,
sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of
you from his iniquities.
Romans 5:8-10
8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that,
while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood,
we shall be saved from wrath through him.
10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled
to God by the death of his Son, much more, being
reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
For, "of whom I am chief":
See 1 Timothy 1:13
above and all we say there.
Ephesians 3:8
Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints,
is this grace given, that I should preach among the
Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
Job 42:6
Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and
ashes.
For the phrase "I abhor myself" notice the
commentary:
Compared with a pure and holy God, he saw that he
was utterly vile and loathsome, and was not
unwilling now to confess it. “And repent.”
~Barnes Notes
From Adam Clarke, "Compared with thine, my strength
is weakness; my wisdom, folly; and my righteousness,
impurity." ~Adam Clarke
What we abhor is the product rather than the self.
This is not self hatred but our abhorring ourselves,
the product of unrighteousness. This is what Paul is
talking about in having seen himself as the chief
sinner. He is speaking to what sin did to his
character. |