"Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners..." (1 Timothy 1:15)
Despite what we may be tempted to think at times, he didn’t come to save those who were
exceptionally moral. Pharisees, outwardly moral though they may be, are inwardly sick. Jesus didn’t come to save the upwardly mobile; the ladder of success can’t get sinners high enough to get into God’s presence. He didn’t come to save the doctrinally faithful; doctrine may be straight, but the heart is still crooked. He didn’t come to save the unusually sacrificial; give away all you have, and you still gain nothing. Nor was his concern only
national; Jews and Gentiles alike need redemption.
No. Any attempt to be good enough or to do enough good in order
to gain God’s favor falls short. Jesus came to save sinners. He came to save
the bruised and broken, crippled and cast out, forgotten and forsaken,
sinful and sorrowful. He came to seek and save the lost and the addicted,
the angry and the hateful, the selfish and the unsatisfied. He came to save the annoying and the awful, the murderous and the rebellious. He came to save those who say hurtful
words that pierce like a sword, who do things that deplete people’s energy
and damage others’ souls. He really did come to save sinners and we, friends,
really are sinners. And it was he and the Father's love that compelled him to come (John 3:16; 1 John 4:10).
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Merry Christmas!