This is the man who was blameless before the law? Now, what Paul says (there in Philippians 3) about being blameless before the law is the truth. But it must not mean what some people are interpreting it to mean, because a man who is a blasphemer is not blameless. A man who is a persecutor, a man who is an insolent man, is not blameless.
We are dealing with one of the most outstanding characters in all of the Bible. Yes, one of the most outstanding people who has ever lived on the face of the earth. But there was a time in his life when he considered it meritorious conduct to persecute the church and even be, perhaps, directly responsible for the murder of innocent people.
So when he says (in Philippians 3) that he was blameless before the law, he was blameless before the Pharisaic law. He was blameless before the laws of Judaism. It means (when we put this together with I Timothy 3) that he did what he did in ignorance and good conscience; that is, he did not go against his convictions at the time. Paul's perceptions, his convictions, and his conduct regarding truth were not in agreement with God's Word. They were in agreement with Judaism!
God had to strike this man temporarily blind, in order to get him to really see.
