1 Timothy 1:13
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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