1 Timothy 1:13Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

“But I received mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief.” Why, then, were the other Jews not shown mercy? Because they did what they did not in ignorance, but knowingly and with very clear understanding.

To be fully convinced of this, hear what the evangelist says: “Many even of the rulers believed in Him, but did not confess Him, because they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God” (Jn 12:42-43).

And again Christ says, “How can you believe, who receive glory from one another?” (Jn 5:44). And the evangelist also says, “His parents said this because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone confessed Him as Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue” (Jn 9:22).

Moreover, the Jews themselves said, “Do you see that you are gaining nothing? The whole world has gone after Him” (Jn 12:19). They were always governed by the passion for authority.

And when they said that no one “can forgive sins but God alone” (Lk 5:21), then Christ immediately did that in which they placed the sign of divine power. Therefore all this did not come from ignorance.

Where, then, was Paul at that time? Someone will probably say he was at the feet of Gamaliel, who had nothing in common with that rebellious crowd. For Gamaliel was the sort of man who did nothing out of vainglory.

How, then, does Paul later appear among this crowd? He saw that this teaching was spreading and becoming dominant, and that all would follow it. During Christ’s life, the people sometimes came to Him and sometimes to the Jewish teachers.

But when they completely separated from the latter, then Paul acted as he did, not from love of power as the others did, but from zeal.

Why, then, did he go to Damascus? He considered the work of the Christians destructive, and feared that the preaching would spread everywhere. But the Jews did not act so. They did everything not from concern for the many, but from love of power.

See what they say: “They will take away both our place and our nation” (Jn 11:48). What fear seized them? A human fear.

We must also consider how Paul, being so learned in the law, knew nothing. For he himself says: “which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures” (Rom 1:2). How then did you not know this, being zealous for the ancestral law and brought up at the feet of Gamaliel?

Those who spent their lives on rivers and lakes, and tax collectors, ran to Christ and received Him. But you, skilled in the law, persecute Him. For this reason he condemns himself, saying, “I am not worthy to be called an Apostle” (1 Cor 15:9).

For this reason he confesses the ignorance that came from unbelief. For this reason he also says that he received mercy.

Why then did the other Jews not receive mercy? Because they sinned not ignorantly, but with full knowledge. For, it says, many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, for they loved the glory of men more than the glory of God (John 12:42-43).

And Christ says: "How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another?" (John 5:44). The Jews themselves said among themselves: "Do you see that you accomplish nothing? The whole world has gone after Him" (John 12:19).

They were always guided by the passion for rule. Again, they themselves said: "Who can forgive sins but God alone?" (Luke 5:21). Then Jesus immediately did what they set forth as the sign of God's power.

Why then did they not believe? Was it from ignorance? But perhaps someone will say: where was Paul then? He was at the feet of Gamaliel, who had nothing in common with the rebellious crowd. He was occupied with his own affairs.

How then did Paul later imprison people? He saw that the preaching was spreading, and finally zeal for the law moved him to this. The Jews, however, did everything out of love for power.

But how did Paul, being so knowledgeable in the law, fail to recognize Christ through the Scriptures? For this very reason he condemns himself, because he suffered from ignorance arising from unbelief. For this, he says, I received mercy.

We hold that He came with pardon to those whom the law considered guilty. Yet did the law consider guilty those who were blameless according to the righteousness of the law?

Therefore, if the Lord granted pardon and forgiveness of sins to those guilty according to the law, will He not grant it to the Apostle Paul, who says that according to the righteousness of the law he was blameless?

But let us hear what he himself says elsewhere: He saved us, not by works which we had done, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit (Tit 3:5).

And again: I was formerly a blasphemer, persecutor, and transgressor, but I received mercy, and so on. In one place he asserts that he was blameless according to the law. In another he acknowledges that he was such a sinner that no sinner should despair, because Paul obtained pardon.

Paul, from a persecutor, became a preacher and teacher of the Gentiles (2 Tim 1:11). “Formerly,” he says, “I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and transgressor. But for this reason I received mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as an example to those who would believe in Him for eternal life” (1 Tim 1:16).

For by the grace of God we are saved from our sins, which are our sickness. In grace, in grace lies the medicine that heals the soul. The soul could wound itself, but it could not heal itself.

Even as regards the body itself, it is in a man’s power to become sick, but it is not in his power to recover. If he exceeds measure, lives intemperately, and does what is harmful to health and undermines it, then one day, if he so chooses, he falls ill.

But once he has fallen ill, he does not restore himself. Therefore, to become sick, he gives himself over to excess. But to be healed, he turns to the physician for health. So too with the soul.

What, then, does grace upon grace mean (Jn 1:16)? Through faith we become pleasing to God. We were not worthy to have our sins forgiven. Yet because, being unworthy, we receive such a gift, this is called grace.

What is grace? Something freely given. What does freely given mean? Something bestowed, not repaid. If it was owed, then it is a received reward, not bestowed grace.

Having received this grace of faith, you will be righteous by faith. And the righteous shall live by faith (cf. Rom 1:17). You will become pleasing to God by living by faith.

When you become pleasing to God by living by faith, you will receive immortality and endless life as a reward. And this too is grace.

Listen to the Apostle Paul confessing grace and, beyond this, striving toward what is owed. Listen to Paul’s confession of grace: “Formerly,” he says, “I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and transgressor, but I received mercy.”

Who was the Apostle before? By his own confession, he was formerly a blasphemer of God Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ. He was an ardent persecutor of Christians, more embittered than all his contemporaries, and a relentless, stubborn offender against them (Gal 1:13-14).

Breathing threats, he was not content with the sufferings of Christians in Jerusalem. No, having armed himself with letters of recommendation, he pursued them throughout Palestine and even beyond its borders, to Damascus.

But in him there was such burning zeal, not according to knowledge, but according to the false disposition of mind in the Pharisaic school. The Lord saw his gifts and his zeal, and turned them to the benefit of His Church.

The holy Apostle says: the Lord, despite my cruelty, had mercy on me, because in Judaism I acted this way ignorantly, in unbelief (1 Tim 1:13). From this the Apostle became convinced that the Lord Jesus does not desire the death of the sinner (Ezek 18:32), but came to have mercy on and save every kind of sinner.

Do you see his humility? He is not content with calling himself a blasphemer and persecutor. He also shows that he did this with particular fierceness. I brought blasphemy to the highest frenzy. For this I was worthy of every punishment, but I was not punished, because I received mercy."

But was this all? Did mercy extend only so far as your not bearing punishment? No. God not only freed us from the punishment threatening us, but also made us righteous, sons and brothers, friends and heirs.

Therefore he says, "grace abounded exceedingly," expressing the thought that these gifts surpassed the limits of mercy. For to act in this way belongs not only to one who shows mercy, but to one who loves and is wholly devoted.

On our part, he says, we contributed only this: we believed that He is able to save us. For we need not only faith, but also love. Even now there are many who believe that Christ is God, yet do not love Him and do not act as those who love Him should.

"St. Paul's heart was not corrupted. He was zealous for the law because in the word of the law he saw the glory of God Who gave the law. Therefore it was only necessary to change his conviction.

He had to see that God's glory now lay not in the word of the law, but in the glory of the Gospel. This changed his way of acting. From a persecutor it made him an even more zealous spreader of the Gospel he had persecuted.

This was accomplished by the Lord's appearing to him" (Bishop Theophan).

In this way Timothy too could act upon the adherents of the law, directing their proper attention to the replacement of the law by the Gospel, and of punishments according to the law by grace.

Do you see his humility, how free he is from self-love, and what a humble soul he has? He is not content with calling himself a blasphemer and persecutor. He also shows that he did this with particular fierceness.

For, he says, I did not merely conceal evil within myself, nor was I content with being a blasphemer myself. I also pursued those who wished to live piously. I brought blasphemy to the highest frenzy.

For this I was worthy of every punishment, but I was not punished, because I received mercy."

And he received mercy because "I acted ignorantly in unbelief." I did not know that in persecuting Christians I was rising up against God and destroying His work.

For I did not believe that Jesus Christ is God, nor that the evangelical divine economy replacing the law is the work of God. "I was blind, I did not see the light. I did not raise war moved by hatred, but while striving for the law" (blessed Theodoret).

"He confesses ignorance, which came from unbelief" (Chrysostom).

"He acted this way not from malice, but from error, which easily receives forgiveness as soon as repentance enters. But whoever knows that what he rejects is true does not act from error, but from evil will. Such a man's wound is incurable. For he, moved by hatred, calls false what he knows to be true" (Ambrosiaster).

St. Paul's heart was not corrupted or damaged by any passion. He was so active in his zeal for the law because he saw, in the glory of the law, the glory of God Who gave the law.

Therefore it was only necessary to change his conviction. He had to see that God's glory now lay not in the glory of the law, but in the glory of the Gospel. This would change his manner of acting.

From a persecutor, he would become an even more zealous spreader of the Gospel which he had persecuted. This was accomplished by the Lord's appearing to him.