Ephesians 3:8 – To me, the least

To me, less than the least of all saints, was granted this grace: to bring the evangel…

Of all the saints, Paul is the least. So even less then the least. This formulation goes even further than in 1 Corinthians 15:9 where he calls himself “the least of the apostles”. He has, like no other, persecuted the ecclesia of GOD. And that is why he is not worthy to be called an apostle. Nor is he worthy to be counted among the saints. Just as water always seeks the lowest place, grace, by definition, seeks the one who cannot claim it. But precisely because Paul is “the least of all the saints”, he was given the grace to evangelize the nations.

Paul calls himself “the least of the apostles”. “Less than the least of all the saints”. But he expresses it most strongly in 1 Timothy 1:15. There he writes that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom he took the first place. The hint must be clear. If GOD’s grace is able to save “ the first of the sinners”, then there is hope for all sinners. That is what all the nations need to know.

Delen: