The Worst Kind of Sinner?

What would you consider to be the worst kind of sinner?

It would be interesting to do a survey on that and see what Americans (or others) would answer. But it’s not hard to guess what some of the answers would be: Murderers! Rapists! Racists! Child abusers! Politicians! Billionaires! Sexual deviants! Terrorists! Generally speaking, we humans like to think we’re good people, and one of the ways we reinforce that belief is by comparing ourselves to “really bad” people who do “really evil” things we can’t see ourselves ever doing.

But if we actually want to know what the worst kind of sinner is, it’s not an opinion poll that we need. We must go to the source: God is the one who defines what is sinful and what is holy, so it’s in his Word, the Bible, that we’ll find our answer.

And it might not be what you think it is.

At the very beginning of his first letter to Timothy, the Apostle Paul — writing by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit — relates how

… the law is not laid down for a righteous person, but for lawless and rebellious people, for godless people and sinners, for unholy and worldly people, for those who kill their fathers and those who kill their mothers, for murderers, for sexually immoral people, for homosexuals, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers (1 Timothy 1:9,10)

That’s quite a list of sinners there, isn’t it? Undoubtedly various people today would compare that list to their own ideas of “the worst” and feel they got it right.  And if we were to stop reading there, that might still seem like a reasonable conclusion.

But Paul doesn’t stop there, because his purpose is not to point out the bad people so Christians can better identify themselves as the good ones. He’s concerned with something much bigger and much more important.

And he starts by giving thanks:

I give thanks to the one who empowered me, namely, Christ Jesus our Lord, that he treated me as trustworthy, appointing me into his ministry. He did this even though formerly I was a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a violent man. But I was shown mercy, because I acted ignorantly in unbelief. The grace of our Lord overflowed on me along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. (1:12-14)

Most believers are probably familiar with Paul’s story, but we have a tendency to kind of brush off the importance of what he was like before his conversion because we know so much more of his mission work, teaching, and suffering for the cause of Christ. Yet Paul didn’t see things that way, and in telling us that, he makes an important point:

This saying is trustworthy and worthy of full acceptance: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,” of whom I am the worst. But I was shown mercy for this reason: that in me, the worst sinner, Christ Jesus might demonstrate his unlimited patience as an example for those who are going to believe in him, resulting in eternal life. (1:15,16)

He tells us who the worst sinner is, and he says it twice: Paul.

This is not some kind of self-deprecating hyperbole that we can dismiss as “just his perspective”. He’s telling us an important truth: the kind of sinner he was before his conversion is the worst kind of sinner (and since that’s still part of his story, he speaks in the present tense).

And the kind of sinner he was before was not just one who did particularly bad things; it was one who actively opposed and worked against the gospel — who tried to separate sinners from the good news of their Savior. That is the worst.

Because there is forgiveness for every sin and every sinner at the cross of Christ, but if sinners are kept from hearing that message or are turned away from it, they remain lost and unsaved. There is salvation in no one other than Jesus; if people are kept from Jesus, they are left in their sins — dead, condemned, subject to the wrath of God.

So we understand why Paul calls himself the worst of sinners. And we understand that the worst kind of sinner is not defined by any particular evil acts, behavior, or speech. It’s defined by doing what Paul was doing before his conversion: opposing the gospel, trying to separate sinners from the good news of their Savior.

This is still done by Christ’s enemies today and will continue until the Lord returns in judgment. It can involve the imprisonment and execution of pastors and missionaries because of what they teach about Jesus. It can be theologians, teachers, and preachers — and podcasters, celebrities, and influencers — who subvert the Scriptures with false doctrines and assertions, substitute lies for truth, and strip salvation from the gospel and victimize unsuspecting sheep. It can be seemingly well-intentioned defenders of God’s holiness who demand perfection and focus so much on eliminating evil that no message of grace, forgiveness, or mercy survives their striving.

Don’t do that—any of that.

Be like Paul. Own your sinful past and present. Use the law to recognize what’s good and what’s evil. And embrace, protect, and promote the gospel of Christ as the greatest message ever to be heard — which it is. It’s for your forgiveness, for other sinners’ salvation, and for the redemption of the world.

It’s the best kind of gospel — the only kind.