1:15
`` Of course , it can not . Paul was describing the wayward sinner . As for Paul being actually the chief of sinners when he wrote 1 Tim . 1:15 , it is preposterous . He does , indeed , speak in the present tense , ` I am , ' but it is perfectly evident that he makes use of a rhetorical expression which is permissible , without being called in question as to his life . If he was , in reality , the chief of sinners at that time , he could hardly say , as he did , ` Ye are witnesses , and God also , how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe ' -LRB- 1 Thess . 2:10 -RRB- .