Acts 26:9

Acts 26:9 says, I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.  Basically, Paul said by his own reasoning he thought he should oppose Jesus of Nazareth, and if we go by our own reasoning, we may as well.  Verse ten adds, Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them.  Verse eleven continues, And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities.  Paul continued in to speak of his own persecution of Christians.  He was actively working against Jesus and had many of His followers put in prison, having received authority from the chief priests.  When they were put to death, he gave witness against them.  This should tell us today that no matter how much we have worked against God, Christ still died to offer us forgiveness.  Christ died to bring forgiveness for the sins of the whole world for all time.  What this means is that many, many people will go to hell, their sins forgiven, but having never believed in what Christ did on the cross, or in some cases that He even existed, was for them.  It is not a matter of will my sins be forgiven but will I by faith in Christ accept that forgiveness.  It is like a person in the desert dying of thirst having a glass of water set in front of him.  He has choices.  He can think the glass but a mirage and ignore it.  He can decide to wait a while to see if it is real or he is rescued so he doesn't need the glass of water.  Even though real, neither of those reactions bring him any relief.  Only when he has faith that the water as real and actually takes a drink will it do him any good.  As long as a person today looks at Christ's crucifixion as anything other than actual fact and accepts it by faith as being done for them, they remain dying without hope.  As Paul taught, all sins, no matter how severe or how small, are forgiven.