What Was Paul Ignorant About in His Conversion Experience According to Martyn Lloyd-Jones?

What was Paul referring to when he said he "did it ignorantly in unbelief" in 1 Timothy 1:13?

According to Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Paul was referring to his previous state before conversion, when he was "a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious." Despite Paul's exceptional intellect, religious education, and zeal, he was profoundly ignorant in spiritual matters. This ignorance was not a lack of intellectual capacity or education, but a spiritual blindness that prevented him from seeing the truth about himself, the law, sin, and God's mercy.

How can a highly educated person like Paul still be spiritually ignorant?

Lloyd-Jones explains that intellectual knowledge doesn't equate to spiritual understanding. Paul was highly educated under Gamaliel, familiar with Greek literature and Jewish law, yet completely ignorant of spiritual realities. This demonstrates that spiritual ignorance is not remedied by secular education or even religious training alone. As Lloyd-Jones states: "Far from having enlightenment, they're blinded by the God of this world. They don't know. It's pure ignorance."

What four specific areas of ignorance did Paul have before his conversion?

According to Lloyd-Jones, Paul was ignorant in four crucial areas:

1. Ignorance about himself - "He'd never really faced himself" and was "ignorant of his own ignorance." He thought he was righteous but didn't realize he was "the chief of sinners."

2. Ignorance about God's law - He knew the letter of the law but missed its spirit. He thought keeping the law meant not committing external acts, but failed to understand that the law addresses inner attitudes and desires.

3. Ignorance about sin - He didn't understand that sin is "a deep, powerful principle in the very warp and woof of man's existence" rather than just external actions.

4. Ignorance about God's love and mercy - He had "never seen any need for it" because he was "self-satisfied and self-contained."

How does Lloyd-Jones challenge modern views about knowledge and faith?

Lloyd-Jones directly challenges the modern notion that increased knowledge makes faith obsolete. He states: "There is no new knowledge whatsoever which the world has today and which it did not have 100 years ago, which makes the slightest difference to these things." He argues that modern scientific advances haven't answered the fundamental questions about human nature, the purpose of life, or what happens after death. The modern person who rejects Christianity because of "knowledge" is actually rejecting it because of ignorance about these deeper realities.

What does Lloyd-Jones teach about sin's power in relation to God's law?

Lloyd-Jones explains Paul's profound insight that sin is so powerful it can even use God's good law to stimulate more sin. He references Romans 7, where Paul states that the law, intended to restrain sin, can actually inflame sinful desires: "Sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence." This demonstrates why moral instruction alone cannot make people moral. Lloyd-Jones uses this to explain why self-improvement efforts inevitably fail without Christ - they don't address the fundamental power of sin within human nature.