The Apostle Paul was very direct when he looked at his own depravity and unworthiness. In I Corinthians 15:9 he calls himself the least of the Apostles, and in Ephesians 3:8 he calls himself the least of all saints. It was with humble gratitude that Paul accepted the title of Chief of Sinners here…even to the point in this verse of exclaiming I am (still) the worst, rather than I was (in the past) the worst. Paul stilled attached himself to his history & record of being a blasphemer, persecutor, and violent man…thus giving the excessive grace of God and His overflowing & unmerited mercy the honor due. This kind of increasing awareness of his own sinfulness in relationship to God’s overwhelming grace is addressed in this quote by Charles Spurgeon, ” My faith rests not in what I am, or shall be, or feel, or know, but in what Christ is, in what He has done, and in what He is doing in me.”
Safetypinlove 