[Bible Question] The apostle Saint Paul states in 1 Tim 1:13 that he received mercy because he had sinned ignorantly. If you look at the surrounding verses 14/16 the context seem to be mercy shown when he sought forgiveness. Had Paul not done those things ignorantly would his pleas for forgiveness have been rejected? In the Old Testament no sacrifices were made for deliberate sin. What is your interpretation of this scripture. Thanks,
[Bible Answer] Greetings in Jesus’ name. Here is the passage you referred to:
Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners–of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. (1 Tim 1:13-16)
Paul was referring to his pre Christian life when he persecuted Christians (both men and women) to their death (Acts 22:4)! That was his sin. During that time he actually thought he was serving God, while serving the devil! That is how he was the worst of sinners, which only refers to his great wickedness prior to him receiving mercy and getting salvation. [Paul (as a Christian) was holy, righteous and blameless (1 Thess. 2:10; 1 Tim. 1:5; etc.), unlike what the eternal security teachers want us to believe.]
There definitely are different degrees of sin. There is a major difference between judging death inflicted by malice aforethought in contrast to homicide which was accidental (Ex. 21:12-14; Num. 35:20-25; Dt. 19:4-6 cf. 19:11-13). Hebrews 10:27, 28 speaks of deliberate sin. The context of the whole book connects it to those in Hebrews 6:4-6 who fell away and could not get saved again through repentance unlike others (Lk. 15:24; James 5:19,20; Rom. 11:19-23), but why were they so different? The implied answer is they had deliberately committed eternal sin, which is unforgivable. In fact, it is the only type of sin which is not forgivable!
Not The Typical Type Of Sin
Paul’s sin of ignorance, before becoming a Christian, was not the typical type of sin! Neither is the deliberate sin of Heb. 10:27,28 associated with a man trampling the Son of God under foot, treating as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace (Heb 10:29). That same type of extreme sin must be the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit because it is not forgivable. NOTE: Such was a former Christian — one who was sanctified by Jesus’ blood (Heb. 10:29) — who fell to that extreme degree and consequently had the raging fire of hell awaiting him with no hope of becoming alive again as with the Prodigal son (Lk. 15:24)! The Prodigal repented of his deliberate sins and found forgiveness, but the kind of sin in Heb. 10:27-29 has no hope of forgiveness, because it is eternal sin. Eternal sin is NOT sexual sin, drunkenness, murder, bank robbery, etc. Eternal sin is believing/saying Jesus had a demon and by the power of the devil he performed his miracles (Mk. 3:22-30). That was the deliberate unforgivable sin of Hebrews 10 and Hebrews 6:4-6, but not Paul’s horrible sins before his salvation. Remember, twice lost always lost is false as is eternal security. Hopefully that helps. God bless you.
