<p>1:14 <i>And the grace of our Lord abounded exceedingly, with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus</i>- See on :13 <i>I obtained mercy</i>. God's grace to him was indeed outstanding. But the sense seems to be as in the GNB: &quot;Our Lord poured out his abundant grace on me and gave me the faith and love which are ours in union with Christ Jesus&quot;. &quot;Grace&quot;,<i> charis</i>,carries the idea of 'gift', and there is here a reference to the Lord's gift of the Holy Spirit to Paul after his baptism, the point of our &quot;union with Christ&quot;; see on :12 <i>Him that enabled me</i>. The gift of the Holy Spirit was fundamentally a gift of a new spirit, a mind / psychology. And it included such internal spiritual, mental attributes as faith and love. That a sinner like Paul should be given such a transforming gift was grace / gift indeed. And in this, he is the pattern to all who subsequently believe- we too receive that same gift. See on :16 <i>Believe in Him</i>.</p>