So when looking at 1 Timothy,
and like I said, I know we've all read from this chapter before,
but this chapter is basically about Paul writing a letter to
Timothy talking about false doctrine, what he was probably getting
ready to get into in false teachers, and actually contrasting the
law of Moses or the law of sin to the law of God. But he also talks about himself. And what
I would like to do today is focus on two verses in particular in
1 Timothy. And that is verse 13 and 15.
In verse 13, Paul says, and this
is after he describes false doctrine and basically man in our own
nature. This is who we are before Christ
comes to us. In verse 13, And he's speaking
of himself here. He said, who was before a blasphemer
and a persecutor and injurious, but I obtained mercy because
I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And in verse 15, he says, and
this is after talking about the exceeding abundant faith and
love of God, he says, this is a faithful saying and worthy
of all acceptation. that Christ Jesus came into this
world to say sinners of who I am chief. And one thing I notice
here is that Paul referenced himself in two tenses. A past
and present, or if you would, a before and after. He said,
I was before a blasphemer. But then he said, talks about
himself at the same time, that Jesus came into this world to
say sinners of who I am chief. And in these verses, Paul was
speaking of himself. He says, I was before a blasphemer.
And when Paul says this, and we know the story of Paul, he's
calling Christ an imposter and a liar and unbelieved, just like
everyone who knows Christ has done. He said he was a persecutor
and injurious. He calls it death of God's people.
He thought he was doing God a favor by doing this, by taking these
things out on believers. But like every unbeliever, he
has a hatred of God, the hatred of the Gospel, and the hatred
of the revelation of God's holiness in himself. And like I said,
we know the story of Paul, where God knocked him off his horse,
and in the bright light of his holiness, he put scales over
his eyes, And he shut everything out to Paul except his word. And he was called up to the third
heaven, if you remember. And Paul said he'd heard unspeakable
words not lawful for man to utter. This is Paul. He said, I was
before a blasphemer. This is what I was. And that
is what every redeemed believer was. But in the very next verse,
what does Paul say? He says, but Paul, he said, I
obtained mercy. And this mercy was not asked
for. It was not sought after. It was not merited. And in ourselves,
it wasn't even desired. He didn't deserve it. He didn't
earn it. You know, he even says, he says
in verse, let me see. I think he says in verse 15, but I obtained mercy because
I did it ignorantly in unbelief." We don't obtain mercy because of that, but rather it was indeed mercy
that God would pardon us or Paul and would pardon and justify
such an ignorant and unbelieving person as we are, as Paul said
he was. I was before a blasphemer. And
this faith is not attainable in ourselves. Like I said, it
is completely unmerited. And God's saving faith to us
will not allow us to make a work of it. He knocks us off our horse,
everyone here. And Paul said, he said, this
case wasn't singular. If you look, In verse 16, he said, Paul's
case was not singular. It wasn't one time. All will say before, just like
Paul, and I'm sure anybody that has been saved by the grace and
mercy of God has said, I'm the chief of sinners and will call
Paul a liar. But Paul was a pattern. He said
every sinner that comes to God by faith, unmerited, undeserved,
authored and finished by Christ, is a chief of sinners. All who Christ commands that
come to Him do so as the chief of sinners. We hear that saying,
you know, there's too many chiefs, not enough engines. Well, I tell
you, the people of God are nothing but that. They're nothing but
chiefs. He said, I am the chief of sinners,
not was. I was before a blasphemer. And
Paul is the example of Christ's patience and long-suffering.
But in Romans 5, 8, here's what we know, but God commandeth his
love towards us, in that while you were yet sinners, Christ
died for us. And God reveals himself to his
sheep and his people through faith and not of yourselves.
It is a gift of God. And other than that, before that
happens, we would just walk through this world with no regard for
anything, with no regard for Christ, with no regard for His
sacrifice, just like there was no problem at all. And this was the same as Paul
persecuting the church. And it could be the same as a
sinner sitting in this church today, hearing the Gospel preached.
In the before, he said, I was a blasphemer. In the before,
I sat right here and listened to the gospel without a care
in the world. Oh, it was merciful that Christ would put us in this
place to hear the gospel. But until He comes to us in quickening
power, we would walk through this world without a care in
it. So do you know Paul references
himself in the before and after? Do you know when you find out
who you were before? You don't find that out until
the after. We're completely blind. I remember, I know right now
we bought a house that we're redoing some things in it. We're
redoing the bathroom right now. So you always take some before
and after pictures. You like to see what it looked
like before, and then when you get done, you like to see some
pictures of the after. I remember In the comic books
and wrestling magazines, see an old Charles Atlas program. You see this 97-pound weakling
that gets dirt kicked in his face on the beach. But then if you do this Charles
Atlas program, and after you get this big muscled-up guy,
only then do you find out who you were before. Paul said I
was before a blasphemer. And there was a time when we
did not believe and did not know what it was, what it even meant
to believe. You know, I remember like Amazing
Grace, there was a time when that song, it's a beautiful song.
The song Play on the Bagpipes is one of the most beautiful
songs in the world to me. But there was a time when we
sang the song and heard the words. I mean, do you remember the first
time you ever sang Amazing Grace and knew what it meant? That
was in the after. That was after faith came. I
could care less if I ever heard the music again. Amazing Grace,
how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was
blind, but now I'm found. I once was lost. Scripture, for by grace are you
saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is a gift
of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. I remember
learning that, learning that Scripture under the instruction
of sovereign grace. I remember being proud to know
it. I remember in self-righteousness saying to myself, I understand
what sovereign grace is. I didn't have a clue who it was
about. The gospel, I mean, through Christ's
infinite mercy, I sat in the gospel for years, listened to
Rupert preach, listened to, you know, loving it. I debated with most anybody. I would understand it through
natural ears, if you would. But I had no clue who the gospel
was about. This is what we discover after. We don't know who we were
before. There was a time when you hated
Christ. Didn't know it. It didn't bother
our soul. It was a time we were at enmity
against God. And there was a day with Paul,
you said, I am the chief of sinners. A sinner out, not only that you
are the chief among sinners, but that you have sinned against
God and God alone. And that's what David said, I
sinned against Christ alone. against His law, against His
face and against His justice, against everything true and right
and good, against the revelation of self in all eternity. That's
what we sin against. And I'd like to illustrate this
first point. If you could turn to Job 33 of
an illustration of the state of our soul before and after. And we'll start reading in verse
18. And in Job 33, in verse 18, he says, He keepeth back his
soul from the pit. and his life from perishing by
the sword. He is chastened also with pain upon his bed, and the
multitude of his bones with strong pain, so that he abhoreth bread
and his soul dainty meat. His flesh is consumed away that
it cannot be seen, and his bones that were not seen stick out.
Yea, his soul draw nears unto the grave, and his life to the
destroyers. If there be a messenger with
him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to show unto man
his uprightness." This is who we are before. And this is what Paul said when
he said, I was before a blasphemer. I was before injurious. Is this how we see ourselves?
It is by Christ's mercy and grace alone that we do. This is how
Paul saw himself, and this is a spiritual picture of who we
are. Under the law before, under the law in prison, locked up,
we cannot get out. We have no desire to do so. We're
under complete dominion of sin and unbelief, but we don't see
it. We have no hope. no hope at all. And this is how
Paul described it in 1 Timothy 9 and 10, and he is referring
to himself here. Knowing this, that the law was not made for
a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for
the ungodly, and for sinners, for unholy and profane, murderers
he called murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers and
manslayers, whoremongers for them that defile themselves with
mankind, for men-stealers, liars, perjured persons, And he even
wraps it up by saying anything else, and if there be any other
thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, this is who I was before. And Spurgeon has a good description
of the state of our soul. He says we are broken at the
foot of a steep cliff. Every bone we have has been broken
by the fall, and yet we look to ourself. We have a pile of sin on top
of us that's buried, and yet we still look to ourself for
trust. Our sin, we have mountains of it all around us. Overwhelm
us. Floodwaters of guilt surrounds
us. Yet we seek after our own righteousness. We're crushed
to atoms. Every particle of our body reeks
with conceit. And though ground to powder,
our very dust is pungent. The Holy Spirit alone renders
the sinner totally helpless and makes him receive the humbling
truth that salvation is of the Lord. This is who we are before. So if you look in Job 33, this
is a reference to who we are after, an illustration. After
the Holy Spirit reveals the humbling truth, salvation is of the Lord.
In verse 25, he says, His flesh shall be fresher than a child's.
He shall return to the days of His youth. He shall pray unto
God, and He will be favorable unto Him. And He shall see His
face with joy, for He will render unto man His righteousness."
And Christ has made all things to us then. And he says, our
flesh shall be fresher than a child in return of the days of his
youth. I think recently in one of the bulletins it even said,
he might die of old age, but in Christ we will be in the days
of our youth by his faith, by his mercy. So what causes this
change? There's nothing that we can add
to. What causes it? How does faith come? It is by
the quickening of the Spirit. Breathing life into the soul
of a dead sinner, just like with Paul, by knocking us off our
horse. How it comes, go back to Job 33 and we'll read verse
24. It says, Then He is gracious
unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit.
I have found a ransom. And that's how faith comes. In
Christ alone, all things that I demand, I have found a ransom
for. Everything that would be put
to you is put on Him. And with these words, I have
found a ransom, we see. Nothing more, nothing less, and
it is revealed to a dead sinner that we have absolutely nothing
to do with it. You didn't move a muscle. Not so much as a finger. Just
like Lazarus, you were dead. And we hear these words, I have
found a ransom, just like what Lazarus, he says, come forth.
And that's a commandment. And you will say with Paul, just
like in verse 17, he says now unto the king, eternal, immortal,
invisible, the only wise God be glory and honor forever and
ever. Amen. And similar to the psalm
we just sang in 1 Timothy 6, he says, "...dwelling in the
light which no man can approach unto, which no man hath seen,
nor can see, to whom be honor and power everlasting." You see,
Christ is eternal and immortal. His mercy endures forever. I
remember, I think, Ray or Carl reading one of the psalms. Every
verse said His mercy endures forever. He's the Lord. He changes not. You know, us
being the sons of Jacob, we're not consumed. When it says, He
is invisible, so divine in nature, so that natural man cannot see.
He dwells in light, inaccessible, hid from our eyes. But in Christ,
who we are made to righteousness in, we can see Him. We have access
to Him. But in Christ, by faith and spirit,
we see we have access to God through Christ. In Colossians
2, 9, it says, for in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead
bodily. So what is this salvation conditioned on? What is salvation
conditioned on? If it had anything to do with
us or doing our part, we would never do it. This saving faith
alone comes by the undeserved grace and mercy of God and His
Son and the substitutionary sacrifice. But it's only for sinners. In
verse 15, he says, this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation
that Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners of whom
I am chief. He said, I was before a blasphemer.
But now I'm the chief of sinners. And only after faith comes do
we see either of those. And normally, the before and
after, we like, obviously before you think it's not as good and
after it's better. But here, before and after is
different. Before, just like with a Charles
Atlas, you're a 97-pound weakling. After, you become more developed.
Before, you restore a car. It's rusty and dented. After,
it looks like a showpiece. But here, this before and after
is not natural. This is spiritual. The before and after in Christ
This is a spiritual change. Outward man does not change here.
He said, I was before a blasphemer. After, he says, I was a chief
of sinners. He says, O wretched man that
I am. Who would want this? But see, this is an inward change
by the quickening of the Spirit. The eternal, unchanging mercy
of God. Outward man is unchanged. It
is by mercy alone that Paul can say, I am the chief of sinners. O wretched man that I am, who
shall deliver me from the body of this?" He said, O wretched
man that I am, not I was. He said, I was before a blasphemer. Like I said, outward man is unchanged.
He must increase and I must decrease. And this is of the Spirit. That
which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born
of the Spirit is spirit. In John 3.31, he says, He that
cometh from above is above all. He that is of the earth is earthly,
and speak of the earth. And he that cometh from heaven
is above all. And Christ alone reveals that
to a man. Grace and mercy through faith
comes to a sinner in the Spirit, which is completely foreign to
us. We have no idea what that means. And when this faith comes
in the after, And I know we sang this song before, but it's so
true. It says, I know not how the saving
faith to me he did impart, nor how believing in his word brought
peace within my heart. I know not how the spirit moves
convincing men of sin, revealing Jesus through the word, creating
faith in him. You see, we're dumbfounded. We
obtain mercy in ignorance and unbelief. having nothing to do
with us whatsoever, completely of Christ. In John 3, 8, speaking of this
faith, it says, The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest
the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it comes, and
whither it goes. So is every one that is born
of the Spirit. And all things are revealed spiritually
in Christ, you know, just like the hymn we just talked about.
And if you remember David Edmondson, when he came down, he talked
about, what do we know? We know not how the Spirit moves,
but we do know one thing, we know whom. And this, the best scripture
I've found to show how faith comes to us and where does it
come from. In Philippians 3.20 it says,
for our conversation is in heaven. It doesn't happen in the natural
mind, this is spiritual. For our conversation is in heaven,
from whence also you look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like
unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is
able even to subdue all things to Himself. And we hear all the
miracles in the Bible. I mean, how many miracles did
people see throughout Christ's life that He performed? You know,
feeding of the 5,000. How many people did He make,
you know, did He heal? But if you want to see a miracle
on this earth, and every sinner that has been redeemed by Christ
has seen this miracle, and that is the Spirit that convinces
us of who we are. And that's a miracle that cannot
be undone. We cannot hear, unhear this conversation
that is in heaven. We are subdued. And you hear
John talk about, oh Lord, arrest our soul, arrest our mind. Christ
subdues us. That's what he does. Daniel Parts
in a recent bulletin, I think it was a couple weeks ago, he
talked about this. before and after. He didn't reference
it so, but he said, natural man, here's the Word of God preached
and knows facts and doctrine. I did. I sat right here for years
and did. We can debate and argue the gospel
of Christ. I would. We boast of being in
a sovereign grace church and talk of justification and sanctification
of being through Christ. I did. Before, this is what we
do. Paul said, I was before a blasphemer. And only by saving faith do we
not debate the gospel, but believe Christ who is the gospel. We're
not self-righteous of being in a gospel church, but know what
it is to be in the Christ of the church. Not declare justification
and sanctification to be through Christ, but declare Him to be
our only righteousness and holiness. And with Paul, this is what we
would say, that I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord, so then
with the mind, I myself serve the law of God, but with the
flesh, the law of sin. So what is this, if Christ has
made unto us wisdom, if this is spiritual? And this is one
thing that I thought about. What is spiritual wisdom? before
and after. You know, I remember in blindness
listening to the gospel thinking that one day I would understand
all things intellectually about, I would understand the doctrine
more. I would understand everything I read more and more. But the
wisdom that Christ becomes to us is not something learned in
a book. I mean, I'll be honest, I can pick up a book from John
Gill or Robert Hawker and I can probably put myself to sleep
in five minutes reading it. That's not wisdom. I pray that
God would reveal His Word to me. I do. We pray that in mercy
He would reveal to us more and more about Him. That is our hope. But the wisdom God talks about
is by faith alone. The wisdom is Christ. What is
this wisdom? I have found a ransom. That's
wisdom. It's finished. It is finished. Your debt's paid. It's already
done. That's wisdom. Salvation is of
the Lord. Believe. God alone does this. That's wisdom. In 1 Corinthians, God said, But
God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the
wise, and has chosen the weak things of the world to confound
the things which are mighty. And base things of the world
and things which are despised hath God chosen. Yea, in the things which are not bring
to naught things that are." Why? Why is this wisdom that only
God can do, that no flesh should glory in His presence? How many
smart people out there will boast in that? But of Him are ye in
Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption, that according as it is written,
If you glory, you will glory in Him alone. That is wisdom. And he says in 1 Corinthians,
And I, brethren, this is Paul, when I came unto you, I came
not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto
you the testimony of God. For I know, for I determine not
to know anything among you, say Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
That is spiritual wisdom that in the after we see. And even in Romans 7.24, I referenced
a few minutes ago, Paul said, I am the chief of sinners. But
in Romans 4, he also references himself presently. He says, O
wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this
death? But I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord, so with
the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the
law of sin." And recently Don Fortner preached a sermon called
Our Soul's Greatest Trouble. And he referenced, this was what
Don preached on, that our soul's greatest trouble was the old
wretched man that I am. For I know that is in me that
is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. For to will is present
with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not. For
the good that I would, I do not, but the evil which I would not,
that I do." And this is what Don said, our soul's greatest
trouble is a sinner that we mourn the warring between the members
of our flesh and the law of God. And this never goes away. It's
constant. It's a constant thorn every single
day. We see how little and cold our love for Him and how little
regard of what our sin is. But before, our soul's greatest
trouble is one that we aren't even aware of. until Christ reveals
it to us. And that, our soul's greatest
trouble, is the fact that we are completely blind to. And
that is the eternal separation from God without a substitute,
without a mediator, without a sacrifice, without Christ Himself pleading
the causes of our soul before the throne of grace. And that
trouble, every other trouble pales in comparison to that.
And we're content to be blind to it. But only in the after
do we even see it. In the words of Matthew, this
is our soul's trouble. And then will I profess unto
them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work
iniquity. It's like Judas said, like Judas who God said of, he
said, it would be better if you were never born. That's our soul's
greatest trouble before. And apart from God opening our
eyes to this, and seeing Christ, we'd never know. We would be
content just to walk, live our life walking down the street
content. But somebody who has found themselves
to be a true sinner, And Christ alone reveals this. A sinner
that is one before God Almighty Himself, an eternity-bound sinner,
so as by faith that is authored and finished by God, confess
themselves to themselves that is nothing but themselves sin. God alone does that. And Paul says, knowing the grace
of our Lord was it seeming abundant with faith and love which is
in Christ. He said, this is a faithful saying, worthy of all acceptation
that Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners of whom
I am chief. You know, Paul says in the present,
I'm the chief of sinners. Oh, wretched man that I am, not
that I was. And when we see the state of
our soul and our soul's greatest trouble, which is our eternal
separation from Christ, you know what we hear? When we see that,
we hear, I have found a ransom. And we are free from that trouble.
And we hear the Word of God, which is in power. And we find
ourselves, you know, the Word of God being a stumbling block.
But now, by faith, we see. And this stumbling block becomes
a cornerstone. We sit there and see ourselves
from day one, face down in the dirt, the whole time. Didn't
even know it. Didn't even care. But Christ reveals that Himself
to be a cornerstone. And the truth is, to a redeemed
sinner, the only before was in Christ. We talk about before
and after. But if you were one of Christ's people, if you were
elect, there was never a before. Christ in His sovereign providence
and mercy, this is before in Christ. In John 17, Father, I
will that they also whom Thou hast given me Be with me where
I am, that they may behold my glory which Thou hast given me,
for Thou lovest me before the foundation of the world. According
as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love." I
can't understand that. I don't even try to. By faith
in Christ, that's who we are. But for us, it was manifest in
the last times for you. So in the after, what is the
evidence? And this is another thing we
all struggle with. What is the evidence of this?
The Scriptures describe the saints of God as complete, without blemish,
holy, blameless, spotless, Chosen of God, redeemed by Christ, regenerated
by the Holy Spirit. This is who God says we are. I don't see it. Not in myself. And if I did see it, why would
I say with Paul, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver
me from the body of this death? So most days we're blinded by
our own flesh, our own sin, our own shame. We can't see the forest
for the trees. in the after, even after faith
comes to us. So often we doubt Christ, we
question our salvation, we look to ourselves for assurance, we
constantly think, am I saved? What if I'm deceived? What if
I'm a hypocrite? Is it me? That's what the disciples
said when Christ said, one of you will betray me. He said,
is it me? That's what we say. What confirmation
do we have that we're a child of God or one of God as a lamb? What confirmation do we have
that we're a sheep, not a goat? Or a wheat, not a tare? The only
thing we have is faith in Christ. That's it. There is nothing else. And that faith is authored and
finished, complete and preserved to God in Christ. And that's
it. And we can no more unsee that
than we could save ourselves. We can no more unhear the conversation
in heaven than we could raise ourselves from the dead like
Lazarus. It's the quickening spirit that
says to us, it's already done. Salvation of the Lord, that is
wisdom. It's the same voice, by faith, when there's nothing
left in us. Just like the woman at the well,
if you remember her, when she references the Messiah, or Paul.
Paul says, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
By faith, the answer is, I am He. That's all we have. And Todd Norbert probably said
the best thing I can remember of as far as referencing this,
and he said, The only time a sinner knows this, the only time we
have assurance by faith in Christ, is when by grace through faith,
we look to Christ and we believe that everything God demands of
me, He looks to and finds only in His Son. That's it. That's the only time we believe
on Christ and have faith and have assurance. It's when Christ
lets us see that. In Matthew, he said, while he
yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them and behold,
a voice out of the cloud said, this is my beloved son in who
I am well pleased. Hear ye him. And to his people,
this is not a request. And when He says here, you do.
And if you're here today and do not
know Christ, because before and after, there has to be a death
before there's a rebirth. If you're here today and do not
know, no one knows who they are. I know there's still sheep that
are lost. And the only reason I know this is because the world
has not ended yet. And in Romans it says, But they
have not all obeyed the gospel, for Isaiah said, Lord, who hath
believed our report? But in Romans it says, So faith,
come by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. This is my
beloved Son, and who I am well pleased. Hear ye him. And in
Lamentations it says, It is good that a man should both hope and
quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. And what a mercy
it is that God has allowed us to hear the gospel. I mean, you
sit sometimes, you just think of all the places and people
that here we are. That it is by mercy that He even
gives us any kind of inclination or desire to be here in the flesh. And He does this to the praise
of the glory of His grace wherein He hath made us accepted in the
beloved. And like I said, we are secured,
apprehended, arrested, subdued by Christ through faith, authored
and finished by Him. Not yours, not mine. I think
John, a couple weeks ago, said, I can't give you my faith. If
I could, you wouldn't want it. Because my faith is worthless.
The Bible says, talks about a grain of a mustard seed. How about
a grain of a tobacco seed? That's pretty small. It's not
even worth that. Faith come by Christ alone. That's
it. Not as though I had already attained,
either were already perfect, but I follow after, if that I
may apprehended, for which also I am apprehended of Christ. He
is able to subdue all things to himself. So, this is the before and after. Paul said, I was before a blasphemer. But now he says, O wretched man
that I am, who shall deliver me from the bodies that's dead?
And I hope our desire is to be found in Christ alone. That is
my hope. I hope I can say with Paul, coming
not with excellency of speech or wisdom, but determined not
to know anything among you, but Christ and Him crucified." And
he says hereafter that we see what John Newton saw when he
wrote Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch
like me, that Paul says he is, that we are. I once was lost,
but now am found, was blind, but now I see. Another of my
favorite hymns is that talk about wisdom, the wisdom, content to
let the world go by, to know no gain or loss. And that question we have, O
wretched man that I am, by looking to faith in Christ alone, we
can say with Paul, I thank God through Christ Jesus. So with
the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the
law of sin. And I pray that we can rest in that spiritual work,
not of our own, lest any man should boast. And in the after,
proclaim two wonders, the wonders of His glorious love and our
own worthlessness. Paul said, I was before a blasphemer, but hereafter I know. This is
what I hope I know. But what things were gained to
me those I counted lost for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all
things but lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do
count them but done, that I may win Christ and be found in him,
not having my own righteousness which is of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which
is of God by faith. And in the after, through faith
by Christ, we will know that.