- If I am ignorant in my heart,
- am I therefore innocent in my heart?
Still Guilty Before the Lord
Lev 5:17-19
In former times, when someone sinned unintentionally and did not know it, they were still held accountable before the Lord. As soon as their sin was brought to their attention, they had to make a guilt offering to be forgiven, for they were "certainly guilty before the Lord".
Distinction Between Sins of Ignorance and Defiance
Num 15:27-31
God certainly made a distinction between sins of defiance and sins of ignorance. He saw a difference in the guilt of one who was defiant and contemptuous, and the guilt of another who was misled and mistaken. But let us be clear that this was a distinction between two modes of guilt, not between guilt and innocence.
God's Way of Dealing With Ignorance
Heb 5:1-3
The ministers of God's word dealt "gently with the ignorant and misguided" but did not leave them in their ignorance.
1Tm 1:12-16
Look how God dealt with Paul. God did not treat his ignorance as an excuse or a desirable state, but as needing correction by the enlightenment of truth.
Acts 3:17-19, Acts 17:30-31, 1Pe 1:14-15
God calls on those who have sinned in ignorance to repent.
| | | |
In Some Cases God Blames People For Their Ignorance
2Pe 2:12, Eph 4:17-19
These are strong condemnations of ignorance. In some cases people are wilfully ignorant, and their ignorance is their own fault.
God's Son Sojourned On Earth To Dispel Ignorance
Mtt 4:16, Lke 1:78-79
Jesus came into the world to "shine upon those who sit in darkness" and thus he was called by Zacharias "the Sunrise from on high".
We Have a Ministry To Dispel Ignorance
2Cor 4:1-6
We too must shine. To our minds, the ignorance of some might seem not far from innocence, but we cannot think of that ignorance as good. Ignorance is the want of knowledge.
Wherever we find that want, we are obligated to "give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ". otherwise we can never look Jesus in the face.
|