1 Timothy 1:14

His abundant grace. The point is that God's grace outweighs Paul's sin!!! It may be that Paul's enemies (especially the circumcision party) tried to discredit and disqualify his apostleship by pointing to his great sin in trying to destroy Christ's church. Gave me the faith and love. By faith, Paul means "the understanding of the power and wisdom of God, which showed him that God does not need anyone to serve him by means of persecution and cruelty (things which are un-Godly)." By love, Paul means the frame of mind that allowed men to choose for themselves in matters of religion (as he did himself). [It is difficult, but necessary, to achieve a balance between "stopping error" and permitting "free choice."]