Christ came into the world to save sinners !

1 Tim 1:15

[FONT=&quot]This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

Exactly what sinners did He come into the world to save ? The Angel tells us Matt 1:21

[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Jesus[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: for he shall save his people from their sins.

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]The Jesus here, and the Christ Jesus in 1 Tim 1:15 are one and the same, and so are the sinners He came to save ![/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]

[h=2]Christ came into the world to save sinners !2[/h]
See in todays religions, though 1 Tim 1:15 is quoted often, it is rarely believed; No todays beliefs are Christ Jesus came into the world to make saving of sinners possible, contingent upon what the sinner must do or abstain from doing. This is not the Christ Jesus of the scripture, for you see, the sinners He came into the world to save, He actually saves them, completely !

Lets look at what it means to say that Christ came into the word to save sinners . Its the word hamartólos:

sinning, sinful, depraved, detestable,

hamartōlós (a substantival adjective, derived from 264 /hamartánō, "to forfeitby missing the mark") – properly, loss from falling short of what God approves, i.e. what is "wide of the mark"; a blatant sinner.

devoted to sin, pre-eminently sinful, especially wicked, I miss the mark, hence (a) I make a mistake, (b) I sin, commit a sin (against God); sometimes the idea of sinning against a fellow-creature is present.

hamartánō (from 1 /A "not" and 3313 /méros, "a part, share") – properly, having no share in; to sin, which always brings forfeiture – i.e. eternal loss due to missing God's mark.

is regularly used in ancient times of an archer missing the target (Homer, Aesch., etc). Every decision (action) done apart from faith (4102 /pístis) is sin (Ro 14:23; cf. Heb 11:6)

Unbelief is sin !

Thats why, in order for Christ to save sinners from sin, He must save them from unbelief. Men by nature, we are enclosed in unbelief Rom 11:32

[FONT=&quot]For God hath concluded them all in unbelief,[Why?] that he might have mercy upon all.

[/FONT]Nothing can deliver us from unbelief but the mercy of God which saves us Titus 3:5

[FONT=&quot]Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;[/FONT]

Christ came into the world to save sinners !3

Since unbelief is sin, and Christ came to save sinners from their sins Matt 1:21;1 Tim 1:15, Christ saves them He came to save from their sins from unbelief ! An example is the Apostle Paul himself, who sinned grevioulsy against the Lord, how ? Ignorantly in unbelief. Lets look at the very context of 1 Tim 1:15 and the verses leading up to it 1 Tim 1:12-14

[FONT=&quot]And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry;[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]13 Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]14 And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.

Paul was saved from several sins according to the sacred text, from being a blasphemer, a persecutor,[/FONT]
injurious, ignorance [to include wilful ignorance] and unbelief, specifically in his opposition to the Gospel !

Also to include obstinacy as in Heb 3:12

Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.

In Saving Paul, Jesus Christ saved him from his evil heart of unbelief and obstinacy towards Jesus Christ and His Gospel !

And so that experience is included in his testimony 1 Tim 1:15

[FONT=&quot]This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

[/FONT]Vs 16 says for this cause I obtained mercy ! What cause ? The cause of his sin of unbelief. Remember, God concluded all His Elect Vessels of Mercy in Unbelief Rom 11:32

[FONT=Helvetica Neue, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]For God hath [/FONT]concluded them all in unbelief,[FONT=Helvetica Neue, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif] [Why ?][/FONT]that he might have mercy upon all.
[FONT=Helvetica Neue, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]So Paul says because he did all what he did against Christ and His People in ignorance and unbelief, he obtained mercy !

[/FONT]Paul as an elect vessel of mercy, would not be condemned in unbelief as some Jn 3:18, but to the contrary, would obtain mercy for it, as will all the elect vessels of mercy ! To say that one for whom Christ died can be condemned in unbelief as Per Jn 3:18, is so contrary to Gods purpose of mercy in Christ Jesus, who came to save sinners from their unbelief and opposition to the Gospel !