Today's encouragement comes from 1 Timothy 1:15, where Paul wrote these great words:
"This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief."Are we sinners today? If so, then we are legitimate candidates for forgiveness and salvation. Jesus Christ did not come to earth to seek and save self-righ-teous and pompous religious know-it-alls. Instead, He came to redeem hope-lessly lost, messed-up wretches. People who think of themselves as “good” do not need a Savior. These kinds of “good" people go to hell. Bad people, redeemed by Jesus' blood, and who end up loving Him, and being HIs true church, go to heaven.
. . . Still, true Christian churchmen who are regenerated in Jesus’ blood and resurrection view themselves (now) as sinner-saints—knowing that Christ-likeness is getting the ascendency, and the flesh is getting beaten down.
[Puritan quote of the day: "Thus God is said in Scripture to impute righteous-ness to them who believe, not because they have this righteousness in them, but because He reckons it as theirs, and reckons them righteous by it.”
—Obadiah Grew, in, "The Lord our Righteousness"]
