I Am Chief Amongst Sinners

Let me just be brutally honest with the rest of the world here for a brief moment in time.  I am the worst person I know.  By this I mean that I AM THE FOREMOST SINNER IN THE WORLD.

And let me be clear as to exactly what I am saying here.  Dictionary.com defines sin as: “transgression of divine law“, which is a fair definition.  Merriam-Webster eventually gets to that in their definition here (see 2a).  A slightly better definition might be Sin: anything that offends God.  A slightly more refined definition might be: Sin: that which is against the nature of God.

Whereas Evil is defined as: morally wrong or bad; immoral; wicked.  Evil IS sin, however in the humankind preponderance of things, Sin is not necessarily Evil.

That is to say a Sin is telling a lie.  Telling a lie is a transgression of God’s law.  However, depending on the lie, most people do not think of a lie, in and of itself, as evil.  A serial killer such as Ted Bundy is thought of as Evil, and usually (by most) as a sinner.  Ergo humans have a tendency to separate Evil and Sin, usually equating Sin with Evil, but not necessarily Evil with Sin.  But I’ll get back to this in just a minute.

To further clarify, just let me say that in order to Sin you must transgress God’s law or offend the nature of God.  And THE God I am referring to here is NOT Buddha, or Allah, or any of the gods of Hinduism, or Gaia, or any of the Greek gods, or any other god, but rather Jehovah God, the God of Abraham and Isaac.  The God of Israel.  The God of the Bible, the Word of God.  The God I refer to here is the great I AM, the one true God known to the world as a triune being in the parts of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.  The Creator, the Alpha and the Omega, the One that was, and Who is, and Who is to come.

Now I realize that you may have a different god, or no god at all, or perhaps just not agree with my definition or identity of God.  And I need you to understand that I respect that, I really do.  However I need to be perfectly clear here in order for you to understand exactly what I mean when I say I AM CHIEF AMONGST SINNERS.  Because I mean specifically, not generally, and I mean I am a transgressor of God’s law.  THE God’s law.  Because when it comes right down to it, if your God is just a god, or some god, and not THE God, then what does it matter if you’ve sinned against him or not?  After all, eventually it is THE God that matters, not any other god in between.

So, as I keep saying, I AM CHIEF AMONGST SINNERS.  A violator of God’s law.  And God’s law, when you are referring to Jehovah God, would be the Ten Commandments.  In this context I would be found to be an Idolater, a Liar, a Thief, a Coveter, basically one who has violated all the laws of God.  I am the person on the face of the Earth who has grieved the heart of God more than any other.

And I constantly have some people who know me tell me “No you’re not.  There are EVIL people in the world.  There are much worse people in the world than you“.  But are there really?  From God’s perspective we are all sinners (Romans 5:11-13) and (from God’s perspective) Sin is Wicked (i.e. Evil) (2 Chronicles 7:13-15).  Note that in 2 Chronicles 7:14 God says that if his people shall turn from their WICKED ways … he will forgive their SIN.  God equates Sin to Wickedness (and recall that our definition of Evil was those that are wicked).  God goes as far as to declare that even though we speak righteousness, we harbor wickedness within our hearts (Psalm 58:1-3).  From God’s perspective, we have all sinned and come short of the Glory of God, and we are all wicked in our hearts.

OK, but what makes me the most sinful of all the sinners who have ever walked the face of the Earth or who ever will walk the face of the Earth?  Well some two thousand years ago another man, Paul of Tarsus, said that he was chief amongst sinners (I Timothy 1:14-16).  Look at verse 16 there.  The Apostle Paul says: “Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering …“.  The Apostle Paul said “in me first“.  And he said this because he knew, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that redemption must, by necessity, start with him FIRST.

You see, if I am championing YOUR redemption, if I am constantly judging YOU to be the biggest sinner, but I have not been redeemed myself, then all is lost for I have not only failed you, but I have also failed in and of myself.  When it comes to recognizing your need for redemption, it must start with you and nowhere else.

And thus, from my perspective, I AM CHIEF AMONGST SINNERS.  Because the one thing I do know, is that I NEED God’s redemption.  And it begins with me, and nowhere else.

One other thing about understanding your standing with God and the rest of the world.  And this goes to the heart of something I believe we have lost in today’s world.  And that is understanding the songwriter William R. Newell when he wrote “Oh, the love that drew salvation’s plan!  Oh, the grace that brought it down to man!  Oh, the mighty gulf that God did span At Calvary!“, because the greater the understanding of my sinfulness, the greater that mighty gulf that God did span At Calvary.

However, here is the word of encouragement for YOU:  If God would span that gulf At Calvary for one who is Chief Amongst Sinners, as I am, then how much more would God be willing to go for YOURSELF?  I believe the answer is: ALL THE WAY.  I challenge you to check it out and see if I am right.