1:151 Timothy 1:15

This is a faithful and trustworthy saying worthy of everyone's full acceptance, that Jesus Christ came into the fallen world to save sinners.ST Apr 8, 1897+2 He gave His life and died bearing humanity's guilt as substitute and surety, with His blood paying the ransom so He is able to save completely all who come to God through Him.Ms 78, 1894, par. 8–9+4 Paul openly calls himself the chief of sinners because he had been a blasphemer, persecutor and injurious person who imprisoned and persecuted God's people to death, yet he received mercy and his experience stands as the pattern of Christ's long-suffering toward all who would later believe.ST Apr 8, 1897+3 Forgiveness and reconciliation are a free gift resting on Christ's spotless righteousness and laid hold of by faith alone, not a reward for works or merit, so the sinner comes just as he is trusting mercy with the plea of helpless need.Lt 297, 1904, par. 15+3 Because He came to rescue even the worst, grievous transgression does not put salvation beyond reach, and this promise is the direct answer to Satan's charge that a sinner cannot be saved, calling all who feel too wicked to take courage and calling His followers to make saving sinners their first work.SC 35.3–4+3

This is a faithful, trustworthy saying worthy of everyone's full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.ST Apr 8, 1897+4 Paul's own confession that he was chief among sinners stands as a pattern of Christ's long-suffering mercy toward all who would afterward believe in Christ for eternal life.ST Apr 8, 1897 He had been a blasphemer and persecutor and injurious person, acting in ignorance and unbelief before he received mercy, and God's grace proved more than abundant toward him with faith and love in Christ, showing that mercy and grace reach even a deeply sinful past.Ms 2, 1897, par. 31–33 The same truth means Christ gave His life to save sinners and to make it possible to share in the divine nature, for He is able to save completely and to the uttermost all who come to God through Him.Ms 78, 1894, par. 8–9+2 Sinners may therefore come to Him just as they are and give themselves fully to Him, and through abiding faith and union with Christ they are justified, become partakers of the divine nature, and receive divine power to bear fruit.Lt 297, 1904, par. 15

The saying is to be met with intelligent belief in the word of God, taking Him at His word with confidence filling the heart.Lt 159, 1905, par. 10 Such right believing produces right doing and the conformity of the whole being to the will of God.Lt 159, 1905, par. 10

Faith itself is not the ground of salvation but the means that takes the blessing, like the eye that sees, the ear that hears, the feet that run, and the hand that grasps.Lt 329a, 1905, par. 4 Anyone may take the salvation Christ provides by letting faith lay hold of it as the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things unseen.Lt 329a, 1905, par. 4 Christ Jesus gave His life to save sinners so that all who love Him may have eternal life in the kingdom He is preparing, and resting and believing in this way gives peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ.Lt 329a, 1905, par. 4

Christ came into the fallen world to save sinners, and saving them was the central purpose of His ministry and the mission God sent Him to fulfill.RH Jun 16, 1904+1 Out of pity for poor sinners He left the royal and heavenly courts to come to this earth to teach men and women what they must do to be saved.Lt 92, 1910, par. 3+1 God's servants share in that same work by preaching the Word in the cities and imparting saving truth to their inhabitants as almoners of His grace.Lt 62, 1910, par. 11 His life on earth had the purpose of saving men and women and helping them understand the plan of redemption and the provisions made for their salvation.Lt 4, 1885, par. 11

He gave His life and died to save sinners, giving His life for the life of the world.Lt 159, 1905, par. 10+1 He died to save miserable sinners and poor outcasts, even those most deeply held by sin.ST Jan 27, 1914+1 He bore humanity's guilt as substitute and surety, was counted a transgressor, and faced the condemnation due to sin so that sinners might be redeemed.ST Jan 27, 1914 His blood paid the ransom for sinners of every race and place, so every soul is precious and purchased by Him.TSSW 32.1–2+1

He came to save perishing, lost, sin-sick souls, people perishing in their sins.Ms 32, 1905, par. 10+2 To them He brings soothing grace and uplifting, health-giving truth.Ms 32, 1905, par. 10+1 This saving work is also described as seeking and saving the lost, and it calls people to cooperate with Christ in helping them and makes them laborers together with God.Ms 9, 1868, par. 2+2 Helpers who care for the sick are to hold Him up before patients as that Saviour, becoming workers together with God by working in humble simplicity and seeking His grace and the Holy Spirit's guidance.Lt 56, 1909, par. 2

He lived for thirty years as humanity's example and endured insult, disgrace, reproach, rejection, and death.ST Jun 24, 1889 He is now the living Saviour, ascended to heaven to intercede for people.ST Jun 24, 1889 His saving work brings sinners into union with Him, a relationship that gives light, peace, and comfort.ST Jun 24, 1889

He came to save sinners, not self-righteous people who feel whole and see no need of a physician.4T 42.2–43.1 Trusting in one's own righteousness never saves, but sinners must feel their sinfulness and need of a Saviour, repent, be converted, and depend on Christ's righteousness and not their own merits.4T 42.2–43.1 He came to vindicate God's law, and in His death the typical law of sacrifices met its fulfillment.ST Dec 19, 1878

His saving mission reveals God's true character and counters the picture of God as stern and unwilling to help.ST Apr 15, 1889 To know God is to know Jesus in this sending and saving work, while those who take the works of God and represent them as being God show they do not know God nor Jesus Christ in His true mission.Lt 232, 1903, par. 4 Sinners can therefore trust Christ's willingness to save, bring their burden to the cross, and answer discouragement with this promise.ST Apr 15, 1889

He has done everything needed for the salvation of fallen humanity.Ms 79, 1886, par. 17 He is able to save completely and to the uttermost all who come to God through Him.Ms 78, 1894, par. 8–9+2 By this He has made it possible to share in the divine nature, so that through abiding faith and union with Christ people are justified, become partakers of the divine nature, and receive divine power to bear fruit.Lt 159, 1905, par. 10+1 Christians are to join themselves closely to Jesus and His power so they can cooperate with Him in saving souls and point the unsaved to Him.Ms 78, 1894, par. 8–9+1

Paul openly calls himself the chief of sinners, acknowledging the seriousness of his sin without minimizing, excusing or softening his guilt, presenting his sin plainly while affirming that Christ came to save sinners, and this confession is genuine repentance without excuse or self-justification.SC 41.1+1 He calls himself chief because he had been a blasphemer, persecutor and injurious person who imprisoned believers, persecuted God's people to death and supported their deaths.Ms 2, 1897, par. 31–33+2 He did this in ignorance and unbelief before receiving mercy, yet Christ accepted his repentance and God's grace toward him was more than abundant with faith and love in Christ.Ms 2, 1897, par. 31–33+1 Enlightened by the moral law and by Christ's revelation, Saul saw himself as a sinner above sinners and saw his own sin and the suffering he had caused Jesus' disciples.RH Mar 23, 1911+3

He repented, turned from sin and became obedient to God's law, giving up confidence in being justified by good works, confessing his unworthiness and pleading for pardon through the merits of Jesus as the crucified and risen Saviour.RH Mar 23, 1911+3 He then trusted Jesus as his Saviour and preached the Jesus he had once opposed, with God's grace transforming him so that Christ and His righteousness became more precious to him than the whole world.RH Mar 23, 1911+3 His low view of himself as chief of sinners reflected his humble estimate of his own progress and that he had not yet attained perfection in the Christian life.GW 143.2+2 He kept this low view even though the Lord had greatly honored him, taken him in holy vision to the third heaven and given him revelations of divine glory which he was not permitted to make known.AAP 7.3+1 Even when falsely accused and mistreated, he acknowledged himself before God as the chief of sinners and relied on Christ who came to save sinners, approaching God without any plea of personal deserving, for no one has a legal claim to God's gifts.Lt 98a, 1897, par. 26–31

His experience shows Christ's long-suffering mercy toward him as a pattern for those who would later believe for eternal life, proving that mercy and grace reach even a deeply sinful past.ST Apr 8, 1897+1 One who feels even more sinful can still take Paul's words and add to them, calling himself chief of the chief sinners, and still have hope, for Christ can save even that.Ms 71, 1907

Forgiveness and reconciliation with God are not a reward for works and are not given because weak, undeserving people have merit, but are a free gift resting on Christ's spotless righteousness.MH 65.3–4+1 No one is commended to God's favor by obedience to the law, and no good works or personal merit can recommend a sinner to God.MH 65.3–4+1 A person's sinfulness and helplessness do not bar blessing but make Christ's redeeming power necessary, so the sinner must renounce self-dependence and rely on Christ's mercy.MH 65.3–4 Even those who consider their moral character correct and outwardly obedient must enter life in exactly the same way as the chief of sinners.AAP 3.3+3

That way is humbling before God, renouncing own righteousness, and pleading for Christ's righteousness to be counted as theirs.AAP 3.3+2 It is complete dependence on Christ for credited righteousness and for strength, giving all credit to the riches of divine grace and not to self, for no one has any claim upon God.AAP 3.3+2 Self must die as Christ takes full control of the will and actions.5T 219.1–3+1 Grace received through faith earns nothing but lays hold upon Christ and appropriates His merits as the remedy for sin.5T 219.1–3+1

A sinner comes to Christ just as they are, not on the strength of good works or personal worth, but by trusting His mercy with the plea of helpless need.Lt 297, 1904, par. 15+3 Being a sinner is no reason to despair or stay away, for people have no goodness or merit to offer, and their helplessness makes redeeming power necessary.ST Aug 8, 1916+2 They must give up self-reliance and self-dependence and cast themselves as unworthy upon His compassion.ST Aug 8, 1916+2 Through abiding faith and union with Christ they are justified and become partakers of the divine nature, receiving divine power to bear fruit.Lt 159, 1905, par. 10+2

Faith connects them with heaven for strength to resist temptation and overcome evil traits, because Christ provides help for both.Lt 297, 1904, par. 15+1 Both repentance and forgiveness are given by Christ, and the merits of His sacrifice are sufficient to present to the Father on the sinner's behalf.SC 35.3–4+2 When sin and guilt are brought against a person, the answer is to acknowledge sin and look to Christ, His merits and His saving love.SC 35.3–4+2 As the sin-pardoning Saviour He receives sinners who come just as they are, reveals to them their sinfulness and Himself, washes their robes of character in His blood, and claims their hearts and service because He bought them with His blood.4T 42.2–43.1

He leads them to take the steps to become His children, including following His example in baptism, without which they cannot enter the kingdom of heaven and will miss eternal life.4T 42.2–43.1 Pardon for even the chiefest of sinners may be found at the eleventh hour by coming to God with no plea except Christ's saving death.Lt 1e, 1890, par. 4 Yet that pardon does not cover transgression left unrepented and unconfessed, so sins should be confessed to God, and sins that have injured others should also be confessed to those parties.Lt 1e, 1890, par. 4 God holds out His hand all day long in invitation to the needy, willing to receive all, welcome all and reject none, for His glory is to pardon even the chief of sinners.ASCOP 27.2+1

He delights in mercy, willing to be a God of love, of peace, a reconciled God, taking the prey from the mighty, delivering the captive, plucking the brand from the burning, and lowering the golden chain of mercy to the greatest depths of human wretchedness and guilt to lift the soul debased and contaminated with sin.ASCOP 27.2 The spotless wedding garment of Christ's righteousness is prepared to clothe the sinner, but the sinner must come and cooperate in the work of saving the soul by availing himself of the opportunities God gives and choosing to accept it, for the Lord forces no one.ASCOP 27.2+1 Mere conviction will not save, and resolutions put off to some future time are never realized.ASCOP 27.2+1 It is terrible to exhaust compassionate mercy and patience by turning away and protracting rebellion, with less and less conviction of sin, less power to break the spell, and less inclination to resist temptation.ASCOP 27.2

Because Jesus entered the world to rescue sinful people, even the worst, grievous mistakes and transgressions do not put prayer, blessing and salvation beyond reach.SC 35.3–4+3 Forgiveness and reconciliation are not a reward for works and are not given because weak, undeserving people have merit, but are a free gift resting on spotless righteousness. Therefore a person who recognizes sin and feels overwhelmed, ashamed, deeply humbled, or too wicked to be saved can take courage and hope in Christ rather than despair, give up in unbelief, or stay away.SC 35.3–4+3

The saying is the direct answer to meet Satan's charge and temptation that a sinner is one who cannot be saved, and it is to be used every time discouragement comes.Ms 7, 1888, par. 29–30+3 It assures that Christ can pardon sins so that though they are as scarlet they shall be as white as snow.Ms 7, 1888, par. 29–30 Throwing this promise of God in Satan's face brings victory and keeps the person on the side of faith and hope instead of doubt, unbelief and constant talk of sin.Ms 20, 1887, par. 14–15

When sin and guilt are brought against a person, the answer is to acknowledge the sin and look to Christ, His merits and His saving love.SC 35.3–4+2 His sacrifice is sufficient for forgiveness and its merits can be presented to the Father on the sinner's behalf.SC 35.3–4+1 Understanding that love and the sacrifice made for sinners deepens both sorrow for sin and gratitude for salvation, so that those forgiven much love much.ST Mar 11, 1889

Awareness of sin is no reason to give up confidence in God's grace or to stop claiming His promises.ST Nov 11, 1889+1 Sinners can trust Christ's willingness to save, bring their burden to the cross, and pray and believe anyway.ST Apr 15, 1889 In doing so they reject Satan's deceptions that God will not hear them and that their defects of character cannot be remedied.

Christ treats the penitent with tenderness and accepts even those who have been chief among sinners when they come in repentance and a sense of sinfulness.4T 614.4 Their past does not prevent them from becoming more favorable to perfection of Christian character than people who received great light but failed to use it.4T 614.4 Such mercy toward the penitent stands in contrast to heavy denunciation of hypocrisy.4T 614.4

Continuing in worldly ambition, refusing to be transformed, looking to men of the world and turning from God to human beings makes a person an instrument of deception in Satan's hands and one of the chief of sinners, at last held fast with no power to break away.Lt 265, 1903, par. 22–23+1 Yet Christ does not want even the chief to lose his soul, and the eternal God has thoughts of mercy and will abundantly pardon through Jesus Christ if he repents and turns with full purpose of heart for a thorough work in the heart.Lt 265, 1903, par. 22–23+1 Now is the opportunity to decide between eternal life and eternal death, requiring tremendous struggle of thorough repentance without listening to flattery and sympathy that would establish him in his sins.Lt 265, 1903, par. 22–23

The verse gives personal hope of salvation because humans are sinners, giving every sinner a right to claim a Saviour.STMW6 3.1+2 One who feels even more sinful can still take Paul's words and add to them, calling himself chief of the chief sinners, and still have hope, for Christ can save even that.Ms 71, 1907 Seeing oneself as a sinner in the light reflected from Calvary's cross reveals both the depth of sin and God as gracious, full of compassion, forgiveness, love, longsuffering and patience.STMW6 3.1+1 That hope leads to love for brethren and to love, pity and prayer for sinners and all who are in error or wrong, with healing, restoring and mending of the bruised, wounded and erring rather than denouncing, condemning and destroying them as though faultless.STMW6 3.1+2

Making the salvation of sinners the first work is the calling of Christ's followers, for He came into the world to save sinners.Ms 47a, 1898, par. 2–5+1 Ministers misunderstand that calling when they allow other matters to divert them into things that cheapen mind or character.Ms 47a, 1898, par. 2–5+1
Believing that trustworthy truth worthy of full acceptance means putting it into practice by caring for the unsaved and pointing them to Christ who is able to save completely all who come to Him.Ms 78, 1894, par. 8–9+2 Churches show they believe it by working for sinners who are outside Christ and apart from Him.Ms 22, 1897, par. 4+1 God's power attends that work when it stays connected to Him and to its source of light, doing the appointed work and reaching people without adopting the world's spirit.Ms 22, 1897, par. 4+1

Followers must let Christ reveal His salvation through them so the world may know that God sent His Son to save sinners.Ms 8, 1905, par. 14–15+1 They do this by joining themselves closely to Jesus and His power in order to cooperate with Him in saving souls.Ms 79, 1886, par. 17 Preparation to meet Him in peace at His coming is made now by seeing Him by faith, which leads to seeing Him in reality when He comes.Ms 8, 1905, par. 14–15
That witness is not given with sadness and gloom and sad, woeful countenances, but with faces illuminated with heavenly light.Ms 8, 1905, par. 14–15 It includes ministry to the sick that attracts them to Christ as the great Physician who longs to restore health and impart peace.Ms 8, 1905, par. 14–15+1 Helpers who care for the sick are to hold Him up before patients as the Saviour of perishing souls perishing in sin, and by working in humble simplicity, remembering their pledge to God, and seeking His grace and the guidance of His Holy Spirit, they become workers together with God, sanctified by Christ's grace and consecrated to open the Scriptures to sinners.Lt 56, 1909, par. 2

Only one who knows Christ as Saviour of perishing, sin-sick souls by personal, experimental knowledge is fit for medical missionary work.Ms 32, 1905, par. 10+1 That knowledge brings soothing grace and uplifting, health-giving truth, with health and peace and fulness of joy in the heart.Ms 32, 1905, par. 10+1 Only one who has Christ as teacher can hold up the Saviour before the sick and dying and speak words imparting God's healing power and the health-giving power of His truth to those who come for treatment.Ms 32, 1905, par. 10+1
Saving sinners is the united work of preaching the gospel and practicing it.13MR 303.2 The gospel is preached by ministry of the word and practiced by medical missionary work, with teaching in schools preparing students to impart truth and minister to both spiritual and physical needs.13MR 303.2 Neither branch is to stand alone, but workers in each are to labor unselfishly and unitedly for the saving of sinners.13MR 303.2

Harmony and unity among people of varied dispositions bear witness that God sent His Son to save sinners, and harmony and union among men of varied dispositions is the strongest witness that can be borne to that truth.8T 243.1+2 Though human beings differ as the things of the natural world differ, with seldom two exactly alike, love and forbearance shown in spite of difference of disposition proves that saving mission.Ms 99, 1902, par. 2 That witness is lived out as people come under Christ's command, let character be shaped and molded in harmony with His, surrender will to His, and work together without a thought of collision.8T 243.1+1 Giving it requires realizing personal danger and inefficiency, placing entire dependence on God and on Christ, and being taught by the Holy Spirit, for however great a claim to knowledge and wisdom, one is ignorant of spiritual things without that teaching.GW 485.1+1 Christ alone is able to keep the souls committed to His trust, imbue them with His Spirit, and fill them with unselfish love for one another, so that those truly converted press together in Christian unity with no division, no unwise authority over those who accept the truth, and the meekness of Christ appearing in all that is said and done.GW 485.1+1
Keeping His meekness and lowliness as the pattern helps believers avoid contention and strife.ST Sep 19, 1900

His example calls followers to work humbly and patiently for people others may consider unworthy, for He died to save sinners including the lost, miserable sinners and poor outcasts, though His work was lightly regarded by some He sought to rescue.4T 132.1–3+1 To be a co-worker with Jesus requires all patience with those labored for, not scorning the simplicity of the work but looking to the blessed result.GW92 399.1 Workers are never to say in the heart to let them go as not worth saving when they do not meet expectations, but to work in the same spirit and manner shown by His example and leave results with God.4T 132.1–3+1 Saving even one soul from ruin is a noble deed outweighing failing ninety-nine times in a hundred, with an amount of good accomplished that can never be measured in this life.GW92 399.1

Because every soul is precious in God's sight and purchased by Christ's blood, who paid the ransom for sinners of every race and place including the chiefest of sinners, workers must be free from every particle of egotism and bigotry, Pharisaism, self-righteousness and contempt.TSSW 32.1–2+1 Those not of our faith are to be labored for with great tenderness, forbearance, interest and sympathy, never wounding them by word or action.TSSW 32.1–2 All believers including children and youth are to be unselfish missionaries, narrow-minded in nothing, broad in ideas and sympathies, revealing Christ in word, spirit and deportment and winning souls by love and Christian courtesy.TSSW 32.1–2 Those forgiven and changed by Him can become loving, persistent workers seeking to save others, and a mother's efforts to care for and guide her children have a place in that work as a laborer together with God.Ms 9, 1868, par. 2+1
Since redemption belongs to the divine nature to reconstruct and not to destroy, faithful servants and laborers together with God must heal, restore and mend those who are bruised, wounded and commit error, and must not denounce, condemn and destroy them as though themselves faultless.STMW6 3.1+1 Hope in Christ exists because humans are sinners needing a Saviour, giving every sinner a right to claim Him, and when one sees himself as a sinner in light reflected from Calvary's cross and cries out in great need for a sin-pardoning Saviour, God is revealed as gracious, full of compassion and forgiveness and love, longsuffering and patient, with the cross revealing both the depth of sin and that compassion.STMW6 3.1+1

Christ came to do true missionary work for poor fallen souls, taking people full of faults and errors subject to humanity and molding them after the divine pattern, educating and training them for immortal life.4MR 327.1–328.1 Caring for and reforming an imperfect, faulty person in this same way follows the work He came to do.4MR 327.1–328.1 His giving His life for the life of the world places a great work in believers' hands, requiring many more consecrated workers to cooperate with Christ in carrying out the plan of salvation, all working under the guidance of the divine Spirit though not all doing the same work, making it their highest endeavor to live as Christ lived and work as Christ worked.Ms 78, 1904, par. 14
Recognizing His great sacrifice in coming from the heavenly courts to save sinners is shown by interest in the salvation of those He came to save.MYP 18.1+1 Youth are to build characters for eternity by doing their best, and those older in experience are to watch over the younger ones, taking them aside and praying with and for them when they see them tempted, so that when youth seek Christ He makes their efforts for others effectual.MYP 18.1 God's servants share in that work by preaching the Word in the cities and imparting to inhabitants of the great cities a knowledge of His saving truth as almoners of His grace.Lt 62, 1910, par. 11