Leviticus 4:13
“And if the whole congregation of Israel sin through ignorance, and the thing be hid from the eyes of the assembly, and they have done somewhat against any of the commandments of the LORD concerning things which should not be done, and are guilty;”
In the Book of Leviticus, you will find that there are three levels as to why people sin. The first level as to why people commit sin is because of ignorance. There are times when people do wrong but they don’t know what they are doing is wrong. It is not an intentional wrong, but it is still wrong. The second level is that people commit sin “somewhat against” the commandments of the LORD. This level of committing sin is when people have a feeling that what they are doing or about to do could be wrong, but it is still sin. The third level as to why people commit sin is that they do wrong because they want to do wrong. The verse above reveals several things about these three levels of sin.
First, sin is sin no matter why you do it. Whenever a sin is committed, you are going to have to deal with it as sin no matter why do it. The consequences of sin don’t change because you didn’t know better. Sin has consequences whether or not you knew what you were doing was wrong. Let me illustrate if I may. Just because a person doesn’t know anything about electricity doesn’t change the fact that they will get electrocuted if they touch a live electrical wire. Just because you don’t know anything about electricity doesn’t change what it will do to you if you touch it. Likewise, just because you don’t know if something is sin doesn’t change the ramifications of what it will do to you if you do it.
Second, ignorance is not an excuse to do wrong. Just because you didn’t know something is wrong doesn’t give you an excuse to do it. Too many people want to use ignorance as their crutch for wrong, but the verse above teaches that God still holds you accountable for your actions. Ignorance is a poor excuse to continue in sin.
Third, your attitude towards sin is important. It should bother you when you do wrong, and to use ignorance of sin as a crutch to continue doing it only shows that the attitude of your heart is rebellious. A person who sincerely wants to do right will immediately deal with their sin when they realize they have done wrong. Your attitude towards sin will ultimately determine whether or not sin destroys you.
Fourth, immediate action is God’s expected response towards sin. Verse 14 says, “When the sin, which they have sinned against it, is known, then the congregation shall offer a young bullock for the sin, and bring him before the tabernacle of the congregation.” You will notice that God expects a person to immediately deal with their wrong when they know what they did was wrong. Any delayed response towards sin is rebellion. You cannot continue to play the ignorance card and think that God doesn’t know your heart and mind.
Christian, everyone will at some point do wrong without knowing that they have done wrong, but to continue to do it without dealing with it is wrong. Let me encourage you to study the Scriptures so that ignorance is not your downfall. If you learn what God wants you to do, you have a better chance of avoiding what He doesn’t want you to do. Let your discovery of ignorance be the catalyst to learn God’s Word better so that you can please Him by avoiding sin.