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1 Timothy 1:13
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13 Who [ho] was [on] before [proteron] a blasphemer, [blasphemos] and [kai] a persecutor, [dioktes] and [kai] injurious: [hubristes] but [alla] I obtained mercy, [eleeo] because [hoti] I did [poieo] it ignorantly [agnoeo] in [en] unbelief. [apistia] KJV-Interlinear
13 even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. And yet I was shown mercy, because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; NASB
Your sins are not the issue in life, grace is.
Rom. 5:20
20 And the Law came in that the transgression might increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, NASB
The Law came into the world to demonstrate mans inability to live a perfect life. Once sin was recognized and defined, then its increase, is not the rise in the number of sins committed, but the accurate recognition of the sins that were already being committed. If you do not think you are a sinner, then you do not count your sins. Thus your count is zero. But once you recognize the definition of sin, then your count jumps off the chart. Thus the awareness or increase in the accurate count of what is already there.
But no matter what the sin count, and there are a lot of sins when you add the sins of all of humanity, for all of human history, grace is by far greater than any number of sins. Grace is by far greater than any category of sin.
Paul violated all ten of the Ten Commandments, even though he thought he was abiding by them all.
And for that matter, all people, that includes you, have violated all ten of the commandments. The first five dealing with God and the second five dealing with man. And all you have to do is go no further than your own thoughts. Then of course there are your actions and so forth, but once the thought has been entertained, then the sin line has been crossed.
The sin count is irrelevant. Whether you have murdered millions, or hated a single time, murder is murder and sin is a sin. There is no such thing as a good sin or a bad sin. Any sin, whether a little white lie or something more atrocious, is sufficient basis for permanent separation from God. Adam took only a single bite of the forbidden fruit.
And when we are born, at that moment, we are born spiritually dead. In Adam all have sinned. Our sin nature was handed down through birth, since the time of Adam. So we start out life with a strike out. We are born spiritually dead.
Then comes grace and grace is greater than sin or death, but a person has to believe in Christ and in so doing, accept Him as Lord and Savior and that includes the entire plan of God, and so forth. Believing is Christ is a single and simple thought, but it embraces a huge array of doctrinal principles that apply to salvation. And grace is one of them.
Pauls sins are well documented, Acts 26:10, 11, Acts 9:4-5; 22:7-8; 26:14-15, Acts 8:1, 3 and 9:1..
As a blasphemer, persecutor, and violent aggressor, Paul rejected truth in his pursuit of noble deeds, he rejected the rights of individuals in the name of his own personal beliefs, and he carried out his agenda even to the point of executing people in the name of good. All of this was the activity of evil, and nothing less. But he thought he was doing the right thing.
Lack of truth prevented him from knowing his error. But that did not prevent him from being held responsible for his own thoughts and actions. Guilty is guilty whether you know it or not.
Where grace is the policy of God, mercy is the action of grace. Mercy is the action of forgiveness that cancels out all of the flaws, blemishes, taints, sins etc., in ones life.
Grace is the policy made possible by means of the work of Christ on the Cross, wherein He took all of the sins of the world onto Himself and paid their price (death) in full. Thereby, paving the way for God to apply mercy to each one of us. Mercy is the removal of all of the misery that accompanies sin.
Grace removed the guilt of sin, and mercy removes the repercussion of misery that accompanies sin, through Gods compassion.
And why was this applied to Paul, who was the worst type of sinner?
Because Paul sinned in ignorance, and then repented. His repentance is his expression of faith for salvation, and confession after salvation, during the rest of his life. He was obedient in this respect, because this is Gods mandate and Paul did that which was expected of him.
And this applies to you as well. Salvation requires faith, and that takes only one single moment of thought in your life. And then confession is required of you on a daily basis, in order for you to maintain your fellowship status, and thus be able to grow up in your spiritual life.
Both faith one time, and confession many times (on a regular basis during the rest of your life), are mandated by God in order for you to receive the actions of grace – mercy.
But Paul did these things (sin) in ignorance. But once known (gospel or doctrine), then he is held accountable for his acceptance of Gods mandate or for his rejection. And this applies to us all as well.
Ignorance means simply, not knowing of something, before you actually come to know it. Ignorance goes away when you know something and then make a conscious decision to ignore or reject it.
Paul did not know of salvation by faith until that fateful day when Christ met him on the road and confronted him. Paul believed and therefore was saved. He could have rejected Christ and of course we would have never heard of Paul.
The Pharisees, for example, knew what they were doing, Jesus stood right in front of them and told them so, but they rejected Jesus as the Messiah. Those who continued to reject Jesus, were not saved, but those who finally believed in Jesus, received salvation.
And this is one application of grace and mercy because of ignorance.
There is also an application of grace and mercy with regard to ones spiritual growth when you have believed, but then turn away from doctrine during your life. Your salvation remains in tack of course, but your growth and blessings are reduced or removed, Heb. 6:4-6, when you knowingly ignore your responsibilities.
Ignorance of the spiritual life does not remove the mercies and blessings that accompany your spiritual life, but once you become aware of your spiritual responsibilities, and know that you are required to study and grow, etc, then your ignorance no longer applies, because you know, but you consciously ignore your responsibilities.
Do not think that your ignorance is better, because when God keeps you in this world, and brings you to the knowledge of doctrine, then He has a greater purpose for you, so you are far better off knowing what is expected of you, and then following through with it.
Knowing ones responsibilities, and ignoring them and continuing in willful sin (namely rejection of truth or rejection of ones responsibilities), then that can result in permanent judgment against you, Heb. 10:26-27. And for unbelievers that means the Lake of Fire, and for indifferent believers, that can mean none of the additional blessings, or no participation in blessings, that are available to mature or growing believers. And these permanent restrictions will last forever. Unless of course you change your ways and get with the study program, etc.
And there are two more principles related to ignorance. One for or unintentional sins, Num 15:22-29, and one for intentional sins, where the guilt shall be held against the person, Num. 15:30-31.
These two broad principles cover all peoples born into this world. Many will not live for a very long time, such as babies, or young children. Or many will not ever possess the mental cognizance to understand anything. For these and other similar examples, the principles of grace and mercy for ignorance, apply. They will be saved automatically, with no appropriate blessings lost, as God applies fairness in these cases.
So, you may be a habitual liar, you may be sitting on death row, you may have been married and divorced a thousand times, you may be a gossip, a prostitute, a thief, a self-righteous person, you may be a nag and a rag, you, whatever you are or have been or will be, is not the issue in life.
Gods grace is the issue, not you. And following that, your willingness and commitment to change yourself, by obeying Gods mandates, not by setting up your own standards of conduct.
If you are an unbeliever, then all you need do is believe in Christ, ‘Father, I believe in Jesus Christ.’ And that ends and concludes the salvation issue in your life. Now you are a believer and the issues of believers now apply.
If you are a believer, then what you think of doctrine, is the issue, the daily issue in your life. For your attitude toward doctrine will determine your spiritual growth, or lack of it. And that (your spiritual growth) will determine your blessings, or lack of them, for both now and in eternity.
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