Neither my recall, nor a google search, can confirm for me if we’ve talked about this before (though I’ve a suspicion we have…) but I was discussing this with my son the other night. If Paul insists that of all sinners, HE is the worst, and it’s pretty clear that Paul believes he is going to be saved, then wouldn’t that mean Paul believes ALL will be saved??
Unless we dismiss the comment as mere hyperbole; employed to emphasize God’s goodness and our fallen condition and so on…
Thoughts??
Bobx3
There may have been a bit of hyperbole to it, but I think Paul really did think he was the worst because of his former position as a Pharisee. Like Jesus, he saw the height of the hypocrisy involved, and Jesus’ strongest words were against the religious elite. Paul is a self-described former “Pharisee of Pharisees”.
i expect it’s hyperbole. i think he’s just saying if Christ could save him, He can save anyone!
but really if Jesus CAN save the worst of sinners, then surely He can save them all? it does sound like he takes it for granted that salvation is for all.
I like the way the NLT translates it:
15 This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all. 16 But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life.
Paul, having had a tremendous revelation of the goodness, mercy, love, righteousness of God, also had a tremendous revelation of the depravity of sin which he had been bound to, so bad that he thought evil of what was good and good of evil, so twisted, wicked, depraved! And even though he was so messed up, even persecuting the church, God sovereignly saved him, revealed to him His love, so that he’s become an wonderful example of God’s grace!
So was it hyperbole? Yes, it was meant to highlight just how evil he was and how gracious and forgiving God is.
Yes, I do think it’s hyperbole. Paul saw himself as having been exceedingly sinful, to be sure, and he was right. However, I don’t get the impression that he intends this as a precise statement.
There are several things here to consider, and overall I think you could take this as a supportive universalistic statement (Jesus certainly compelled Paul, and if He did that, and is no respecter of persons, it could be taken to follow that He will likewise eventually compel anyone and everyone else who needs it (probably all of us).
However I wouldn’t bring this up as a primary argument for universalism. There are so many other statements in scripture that support universal reconciliation that we don’t need to resort to more oblique references imo, except as a matter of interest to those of us who like to delve into the details.
The argument against this writing being universalistic would be obvious; that Paul (though compelled) had turned to Christ and was therefore eligible for salvation while others have NOT turned to Him, and that while they COULD be saved, they will not be saved until/unless they also turn to Christ. It’s a great find, btw. I hadn’t ever seen it this way, and you’re right. It does support UR – though rather at a distance (imo), still compelling. 
Blessings
Cindy
Yes Cindy; that probably would be the argument, which is in and of itself sad.
The following question has been weighing heavily on my mind lately: Are we saved because we believe, or do we believe because we are saved?
So hyperbole yes – but not just hyperbole, for it contains a great truth…
I agree Cindy. But I think this brief statement gives us a huge window into the mind of a truly penitent sinner. The clearer one’s view of God it seems, the clearer the view of his own sin! With this clarity, the last thing on Paul’s mind would have been a hierarchy of sinner’s; not-so-bad to worst. Seeing God clearly means seeing ourselves clearly! And the sins of others simply never come into consideration. So Paul’s statement reflects, I think, a clarity of the holiness of God.
If that’s all such clarity brought however, despair should be the result. But it’s not!! 
For a final act of that clarity of God is a clear vision of His grace! In this way I think Romans 5:20 says the exact same thing; where sin abounds, there grace abounds all the more.
Very cool stuff!!
Bobx3
No, I don’t think it’s hyperbole. Paul considered himself the chief of sinners because he put to death the very servants of the Almighty. True, he thought the disciples were the enemies of God, and that Jesus was an imposter, but after Jesus appeared to him, he realized that He was the Messiah, and that he, Paul, had no excuse for putting to death Jesus’ disciples.
“Heresy” is often nothing more than the rejection of widely held error. 
love your saying
The following question has been weighing heavily on my mind lately: Are we saved because we believe, or do we believe because we are saved?
great question
Hi Bob,
Was Paul really the worst? Certainly not. But Saul of Tarsus was not a very nice guy. In fact, when Jesus knocked him off his horse on the Damascus Road, Saul was on a mission of murder.
I think Paul wanted Timothy to bear in mind that he (Paul) was no different than anyone else in need of the salvation and healing and reconciliation that is in Christ.
Love,
Andy
I think if Jesus knocks somebody down, makes them blind and then reveals Himself to them audibly and undeniably, the likelihood of their turning to Jesus increases to roughly 100%.
Whaddaya think?!
Love,
Andy
I have to agree with Paidon. I see no reason to consider Paul’s statement as hyperbolic. It is interesting to note that as Paul progressed through his christian life, he described himself as more sinful. Many christians would attest to the statement that as we grow closer to God we become more conscious of the magnitude of our own sin. That being the case, it is entirely possible that all mature christians might envisage their own sin as the ‘worst’ and really mean it because they have a greater concept of the enormity of it to a Holy God. I think the scripture is informative with regard to how I should view my own sin.
I do not see the text as supportive of universalism in any way
Andy! No kidding!
I’m voting with those who do not think Paul was using hyperbole here. His encounter with Jesus opened his eyes to the truth and then transformed him. Its a point I often throw in as part of a discussion about EU, but I don’t usually make it a main argument.