SINS OF IGNORANCE – Charles Spurgeon
Sins of Ignorance
Introduction: The Possibility of Sins of Ignorance
“And if a soul sins and commits any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the Lord; though he knew it not, yet is he guilty, and shall bear his iniquity. And he shall bring a ram without blemish out of the flock, with your estimation, for a trespass offering, unto the priest: and the priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his ignorance wherein he erred and knew it not, and it shall be forgiven him.” Leviticus 5:17, 18.
It is supposed in our text that men might commit forbidden things without knowing it. No, it is not merely supposed, but it is taken for granted and provided for. The Levitical law had special statutes for sins of ignorance, and one of its sections begins with these words, “If a soul shall sin through ignorance against any of the commandments of the Lord.” If you will, at your leisure, read the 4th and 5th chapters of Leviticus, you will find, first of all, it is supposed that a priest may sin. They knew nothing of infallible priests and infallible popes under the Mosaic Law! It was known and recognized that priests might sin and sin through ignorance, too. “The priest’s lips should keep knowledge,” but as they were compassed with infirmities, they learned to have compassion on the ignorant by being made, themselves, conscious that they were not perfect in understanding. In the 4th chapter, a sacrifice is prescribed for “the priest that is anointed, if he sins according to the sin of the people.” The highest in office, who ought to be best read in the things of God, might, nevertheless, err through misunderstanding, forgetfulness, or ignorance. The priests were teachers, but they needed, also, to be taught. As Trapp says, “The sins of teachers are teachers of sins” and, therefore, they were not overlooked but had to be expiated by trespass offerings. Further on in the chapter, it is supposed that a ruler may sin (see verse 22). A ruler should be thoroughly acquainted with the Law which he has to dispense, but yet he might not know every point and, therefore, might err. Therefore it is written, “When a ruler has sinned, and done somewhat through ignorance against any of the commandments of the Lord his God concerning things which should not be done, and is guilty. Or if his sin, wherein he has sinned, comes to his knowledge; he shall bring his offering.” There existed no fiction among the Jews that the king can do no wrong—however excellent his intentions, he might be misinformed upon the Divine Law and so fall into error. Errors in leaders are apt to breed mischief and, therefore, they were to be repented of and put away by an expiatory sacrifice. It was, also, according to the Law, regarded as very likely that any man might fall into sins of ignorance, for in chapter four, verse 27, we read, “And if any one of the common people sins through ignorance, while he does somewhat against any of the commandments of the Lord.” The sin even of the most common person was not to be winked at and passed over as a mere trifle, even though he could plead ignorance of the Law! It was not to be said, “Oh, he is quite an insignificant person and he did it in ignorance and, therefore, there is no need to take any note of it.” No, on the contrary, he was also to bring his trespass offering that the priest might make an atonement for him. Ignorance was common enough among the common people, but it did not constitute a license for them, nor screen them from guilt.
The Reality of Sins of Ignorance
But we need not, dear friends, go to these Scripture references, for we are well assured by our own observation and the verdict of our own experience that sins of ignorance are possible, for we have often, ourselves, sinned in this fashion, and we have had to mourn deeply over the fact when we have been convinced of it. Very much in which we once allowed ourselves we would not do again, for we see the evil of it, though once we judged it to be right enough. An enlightened conscience mourns over sins of ignorance which it would never do if they were innocent mistakes. The word rendered, “ignorance,” may also bear the translation of inadvertence. Inadvertence is a kind of acted ignorance—a man frequently does wrong for lack of thought, through not considering the outcome of his actions—or even thinking at all. He carelessly and hastily blunders into the course which first suggests itself and errs because he did not think about whether or not it was right. There is very much sin of this kind committed every day. There is no intent to do wrong and yet wrong is done. Culpable neglect creates a thousand faults. “Evil is worked by lack of thought as well as lack of heart.” Sins of inadvertence, therefore, are undoubtedly abundant among us and in these busy, thoughtless, railway days they are apt to increase. We do not take time enough to examine our actions! We do not take good heed to our steps. Life should be a careful work of art in which every single line and tint should be the fruit of study and thought, like the paintings of the great master who was apt to say, “I paint for eternity.” But, alas, life is often slurred over like those hasty productions of the scene painter in which present effect, alone, is studied, and the canvas becomes a mere daub of colors hastily laid on. We seem intent to do much rather than to do well—we want to cover space rather than to reach perfection. This is not wise. O that every single thought were conformed to the will of God!
The Guilt of Sins of Ignorance
Now, seeing that there are sins of ignorance and sins of inadvertence, what about them? Is there any actual guilt in them? In our text we have the Lord’s mind and judgment—not that of the Church or of some eminent divine—but of the Lord God Himself, and, therefore, let me read it to you once again. “If a soul sins and commits any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the Lord; though he knew it not, yet is he guilty, and shall bear his iniquity.” Sins of ignorance, then, are really sins needing atonement because they involve us in guilt! Yet let us clearly understand that they greatly differ in degree of guilt from known and willful sins. Our Lord teaches us this in the Gospels, and our own conscience tells us that it must be so. The Savior puts it, “That servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes.” He who knew not his lord’s will was less punished than the intentional offender, but he was still beaten—and beaten with stripes, of which a few will be far more than you and I may wish to bear! The fewest stripes that will come from the hand of justice will be enough to grievously afflict us! One stroke has made good men lie in the dust and moan in sorrow. Sins caused by ignorance are punished, for the Prophet says (Isaiah 5:13), “My people are gone into captivity because they have no knowledge.” And again in Hosea, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” Paul, also, tells us, “the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God.” These are to be punished, it seems, though their sinful ignorance is mentioned in the threat. Yes, and according to my text there is sin in ignorance itself, for the 18th verse declares, “the priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his ignorance wherein he erred.” Ignorance of the Law among those who dwelt in the camp of Israel was essentially sinful. The Israelite had no business to be ignorant. The Law was plain and within his reach. If he neglected to study the statute, his breach of the statute could not be excused by his neglect, seeing the neglect was, in itself, an act of omission of a censurable kind. Willful ignorance of the Lord’s will is, in itself, sin, and the sin which comes of it is grievous in the sight of the Lord our God. Blessed be God, the solemn declaration of the text concerning the guilt of sins of ignorance needs not drive us to despair, for a sacrifice is permitted for it! The offender, on discovering his error, might bring his offering and pay the trespass money for any damage which he had caused by his action. And there was a promise given in connection with the atoning sacrifice which was, no doubt, often realized by the contrite in heart— “It shall be forgiven him.” Be it ours, this morning not to attempt excuses but to seek forgiveness! May the Spirit of God work in us a tender-hearted confession of that sin which we did not, before, know to be sin. And while we are confessing it, may the Divine Spirit apply the precious blood that we may have a sweet sense of pardon. May the Lord make us rejoice in the Truth of God that, “the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
The Commandment Honored
The teaching of my text does three things, of which I shall speak. First, by it the commandment is honored. Secondly, by it the conscience is enlightened. And thirdly, by it the Sacrifice is endeared.
1. The Commandment of God is Honored
I need not multiply words to prove it so. The Law of God is, by this solemn sentence, lifted into a place of dignity. If it is really so, that to break one of its precepts involves us in guilt, even if we did not know that we were offending, then is the Law, indeed, enthroned upon a terrible eminence and girt around with fire. Enlarging upon this thought I would observe, first, dear friends, that hereby the Law is declared to be the supreme authority over men. The Law is supreme, not conscience. Conscience is differently enlightened in different men and the ultimate appeal as to right and wrong cannot be to your half-blinded conscience or to mine. I might condemn what you allow and you would scarcely tolerate what I approve—we are, neither of us, judges, but both culprits upon trial when we come under the Law. The ultimate appeal will be to, “Thus says the Lord”—to the Law itself, which is the only perfect standard by which the deeds and actions of men can be measured.
The Law of God, from the supremacy into which this text lifts it, says to us, “You will not be excused because your conscience was unenlightened, nor because it was so perverse as to put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. My demands are the same in every jot and tittle, whatever your conscience may condemn or allow.” Conscience has lost much of its sensitiveness through the Fall and through our actual sins, but the Law is not lowered to suit our perverted understanding. If we break the Law, although our conscience may not blame us, or even inform us of the wrong, the deed is still recorded against us—we must bear our iniquity.
The Law Above Human Opinion
The Law is also set above human opinion, for this man says, “You may do that,” and a second claims that he may do the other, but the Law changes not according to man’s judgment and does not bend itself to the spirit of the age or the tastes of the period. It is the supreme judge, from whose infallible decision there is no appeal. Right is right though all condemn, and wrong is wrong though all approve. The Law is the balance of the sanctuary, accurate to a hair, sensitive, even to the small dust of the balance. Opinions continually differ, but the Law of God is one and invariable. According to the moral sensitiveness of a man will be his estimate of the act which he performs, but would you have the Law of God vary according to man’s fickle judgment? If you would desire such a thing, God’s infinite wisdom forbids it. The Law is a fixed quantity, a settled standard and if we fall short of it, though we know it not, yet are we guilty and must bear our iniquity unless an atonement is made.
The Law is Glorified
This exalts the Law above the custom of nations and periods, for men are very apt to say, “It is true I did so-and-so, which I could not have defended in itself—but then, it is the way of the trade—other houses do so, general opinion and public consent have endorsed the custom. I do not, therefore, see how I can act differently from others, for if I did so, I should be very singular and should probably be a loser through my scruples.” Yes, but the customs of men are not the standard of right! Where they have been, at first, correct through strong Christian influence, the tendency is for them to deteriorate and sink below the proper standard. Habit, perpetuity and universality of wrong at last enable men to call the false by the same name as the true—but there is no real change worked thereby—the customary wrong is still a wrong, the universal lie is still a falsehood. God’s Law is not changed! Our Lord Jesus said, “It is easier for Heaven and earth to pass away than one tittle of the Law to fail.” The Divine Law overrides custom, tradition and opinion—these have no more effect upon the eternal standard than the fall of a leaf upon the stars of Heaven. “If a man does any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the Lord; though he knew it not, yet is he guilty.” All the customs in the world cannot make wrong right! If everybody that ever lived from Adam down to this hour had done a wrong thing and declared it to be righteous, yet would it make no moral difference in the evil deed. A thousand ages of whitewashing cannot make a vice a virtue. God’s commands stand fast forever and he who breaks it must bear his punishment. Thus you see that by the declaration of my text, the Law of God is enshrined in the place of reverence.
Conclusion: The Law is Glorified and Guilt Addressed
The teaching of the text does three things: First, by it, the commandment is honored. Secondly, by it, the conscience is enlightened. And thirdly, by it, the sacrifice is endeared.
The Commandment of God is Honored
Through this revelation, the Law of God is glorified and the deep reverence for its unchangeable nature is instilled in all of us.
The Guilt of Ignorance and the Role of Atonement
Introduction: The Importance of Knowledge in the Law
If, again, the guilt of an action depended entirely upon a man’s knowledge, we should have no fixed standard at all by which to judge right and wrong! It would be variable according to the enlightenment of each man and there would be no ultimate and infallible court of appeal. Suppose the statute book of our own country should be constructed on the principle that, in proportion only to a man’s knowing the law, should be his guilt in breaking it? We should have numbers of persons truthfully pleading ignorance and a great many more endeavoring to do so—and such a simple and easy method of obtaining acquittal would become popular at once! The art of forgetting would be diligently studied and ignorance would become an enviable inheritance. We would have gentlemen brought up for being drunk and disorderly who had paid 40 shillings and costs a score of times, who would still say that they did not know that they could be punished again since they had paid the fine so often! Ignorance would be so continually pleaded that there would be practically an end of all law and the very foundations of the State would be undermined! The thing cannot be endured—it is absurd upon its very face. Moreover, ignorance of the Law of God is, itself, a breach of the Law, since we are bid to know and remember it. Thus spoke the Lord by His servant Moses—“You shall lay up these, My Words, in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. And you shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. And you shall write them upon the doorposts of your house, and upon your gates.” Knowledge of the Law was a duty and ignorance a crime. Can it be possible, then, that one sin is to be an excuse for another? It is a sin, on a man’s part, to refuse to search into the Word of God. Can it be that because he commits this sin, he is to be excused for the faults into which his willful ignorance leads him? It is out of the question!
The Role of Atonement for Sins of Ignorance
If sins of ignorance are not sins, then Christ’s intercession was altogether a superfluity. You remember that our text, last Sunday morning, was, “He made intercession for the transgressors,” and we illustrated it by the text, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” But if there is no sin when a man does not know what he does, why did our Lord pray for pardon for ignorant transgressors? Why ask forgiveness, if there is no wrong? The correct way of putting it would have been, “Father, I do not ask You to forgive, for there is no offense, seeing that they know not what they do.” But by the fact of His having pleaded for forgiveness, it is clearly proved that there is guilt in the sin of ignorance. The work of the Holy Spirit, too, would be an evil instead of a good work in the hearts of men if ignorance were an excuse for sin, for He has come to convict the world of sin. But if unconvicted of sin they are innocent of sin, why convict them of it? Of what use is it to quicken a conscience and to enlighten it and make it bleed over a transgression if it would be no transgression, provided that conscience had never been made cognizant of it? Who is he that shall so blaspheme the Holy Spirit as to say that His work is needless and even idle? Sins of ignorance, therefore, must be sinful!
The Consequence of Willful Ignorance
Look at one other consequence which would follow from the contrary doctrine. The more wicked a man is, the more hardened he becomes and the more ignorant he grows as to the beauty of holiness. Everybody knows that. A sin which troubles a child when at home with his godly father will not trouble him at all when he gets to be 50 years of age, provided he has indulged in a course of vice. From one sin to another, the man descends, and, as he descends, his mental and moral eyes grow dim and he perceives less and less the sinfulness of sin. If a man who has arrived at the utmost pitch of infamy can commit any atrocity without the smallest idea of its being wrong—if he can cheat, lie, swear, and I know not what, and yet call it all nothing and wipe his mouth—if that man is guilty of less sin because of the growing deadness of his conscience and the limited degree of his spiritual knowledge, then, truly, things are turned upside down! But it is not so. The test of the guilt of an action is not a man’s conscience, nor his perception of evil, nor his knowledge, but the Law itself! Sin is a transgression of the Law of God, whether that Law is known or unknown. The statute stands immovable and immutable—and the sinner, blind though he may be—if he falls upon it shall be broken.
Conscience and the Awakening of Guilt
Once again, I am sure that many of us now present must have felt the truth of this in our own hearts. You who love the Lord and hate unrighteousness must, in your lives, have come to a point of greater illumination where you have said, “I see a certain action to be wrong. I have been doing it for years, but God knows I would not have done it if I had thought it wrong. Even now I see that other people are doing it and thinking it right, but I cannot do so any more. My conscience has, at last, received new light and I must make a change at once.” In such circumstances, did it ever come to your mind to say, “What I have done was not wrong because I did not know it to be wrong”? Far from it! You have justly said to yourself, “My sin in this matter is not so great as if I had transgressed willfully with my eyes open, knowing it to be sin.” But yet you have accused yourself of the fault and mourned over it. At least I know I have. A man like John Newton, who in his early years had been connected with the slave trade and thought it right, as most Christian men did in those times, did not excuse himself in his later years when his conscience was awakened to the iniquity of slavery. Do you think that the good man would say, “I was quite right in doing as I did because everybody else did it and I knew no better”? Ah, no! It was right or wrong whether he knew it or not and his conscience, when it became enlightened, told him so. My conscience and your conscience may need to be enlightened about several matters which now we are doing complacently enough, without any notion that we are sinning—but the action bears its own character of right or wrong—whatever our judgment may be. Does not this show us the utter impossibility of salvation by works? If you expect to be saved by keeping the Law of God, you must be a bolder man than I dare to be! I know that I cannot keep the Law of God and the doctrine of my text makes it impossible beyond all other impossibility, because the Law accuses me of doing wrong even when I do not intend it and am not conscious of it!
The Road to Heaven through Christ’s Righteousness
O you who hope to be saved by works, how can you ever enjoy a moment’s peace? If you think your righteousness will save you if it is perfect, how can you ever be sure that it is perfect? You may have sinned ignorantly and that will spoil it all! Think of this and be dismayed! I beseech you, believe our testimony when we assure you that the road to Heaven by your own righteousness is blocked! Ten great Krupp guns which fling, each one of them, a bolt huge enough to dash your soul to Hell, stand pointed against you if you attempt to make your way to Heaven by that steep ascent! There is another path! Yonder Cross directs you to it, for it is the signpost of the King’s highway! That royal road to Heaven is paved with Divine Grace—God freely forgives the guilty because they trust in Christ! That path is so safe that no lion shall be there, neither shall any ravenous beast go up on it—but as for the road of Legal Righteousness, attempt it not, but listen to what we have further to say to you!
The Value of the Sacrifice
III. By the grand and awful truth of the text, THE SACRIFICE IS ENDEARED.
Just according to our sense of sin must be our value of the Sacrifice! God’s way of delivering those who sinned ignorantly was not by denying their sin and passing over it, but by accepting an atonement for it. “The priest shall make an atonement concerning his sin wherein he has erred, and knew it not, and it shall be forgiven him.” The forgiveness was to come through atonement! How greatly you and I need an atonement for our sins of ignorance, seeing our ignorance is great! O blood of Christ, how much we need You! O Divine Substitute, how greatly do we require Your cleansing blood! How gracious it is on God’s part to be willing to accept an Atonement, for if His Law had said there shall be no atonement possible, it would have been just—but infinite Grace devised the plan by which, through the Sacrifice of Another, pardon is possible for the ignorant sinner! Behold how generous God is, for He has Himself provided this Sacrifice! The man who had erred under the Law had to bring an offering, himself, but ours is brought for us! Jesus, the Son of God, was not spared by the great Father, but He gave Him out of His bosom that He might bleed and die! The Incarnate God is the great Bearer of the sin of ignorance! And today He can have compassion on the ignorant and on them that are out of the way, for He has made an Atonement for them.
The Efficacy of Christ’s Sacrifice
Under the Law, this atonement was to be a ram without blemish. Our Lord had no sin, nor shade of sin. He is the spotless Victim which the Law of God requires. All that Justice, in his most severe mood, could require from man by way of penalty, our Lord Jesus Christ has rendered, for in addition to His Sacrifice for the sin, He has presented a recompense for the damage, as the person who sinned ignorantly was bound to do. He has recompensed the honor of God and He has recompensed every man whom we have injured. My Brothers and Sisters, has another injured you? Well, since Christ has given Himself to you, there is a full recompense made to you, even as there has been made to God! Blessed be His name, we may rest in this Sacrifice! How supremely efficacious it is! It takes away iniquity, transgression and sin.
The Mercy of Christ’s Sacrifice
My dear Hearers, you are bound to confess your sins to God—but if pardon were offered you upon the condition that you should mention every sin you have committed—not one of you would ever be saved! We do not know, and if we ever did know, we cannot remember all our shortcomings and all our transgressions! But the mercy is, though we do not know them, HE does and He can blot them out! Though we cannot weep over them with a distinct knowledge of them because they are not known to us, yet Jesus bled for them with a distinct knowledge of them all—and they are all put away by His unknown sufferings—all cast into the deeps where an angel’s eye can never trace them! By the immense and unsearchable agonies He endured for us and by His merits, infinite as His Divine Nature, our Redeemer has taken away that thick darkness of iniquity which we were not capable of comprehending! O believing Sinner, the debt you know not, your glorious Surety has nevertheless borne and discharged for you! Blessings on His name. Rest in Him and then go your way and rejoice! Amen.