1 Timothy 1:13 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

But I obtained mercy, &c.— It is not to be supposed that the apostle, by saying because I did it ignorantly and in unbelief, meant that his ignorance and unbelief were deserving; or were a proper cause of his obtaining mercy: for it would be strange indeed to imagine, that there was any merit in an ignorance which was owing to a wilful rejection of the clearest means of knowledge; and in unbelief, which is itself a heinous sin, with an entail of damnation upon it, under the light of the gospel: accordingly the apostle in the next words speaks with high admiration of the grace of the Lord Jesus, as exceeding abundant towards him, who considered himself as the chief of sinners: but his ignorance and unbelief did not shut him out of the sphere of mercy, as it left him a capable subject of it, according to the grace of the gospel; whereas, had his blasphemy and persecutions been maliciously practised, contrary to his knowledge and belief of Christ's being the true Messiah, they would have amounted to the unpardonable sin.