Leviticus 4:2
Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a soul shall sin through ignorance against any of the commandments of the LORD concerning things which ought not to be done, and shall do against any of them:
God had to deal with the sins of ignorance because the children of Israel were bound to do things wrong through ignorance. It is noteworthy that God did not excuse them because they sinned through ignorance; rather, He showed them how to deal with this type of sin once they discovered they did wrong. God did not pass over their sins of ignorance, but He made it clear He would show them these sins, and they were to offer the proper sacrifice once they discovered they sinned through ignorance.
However, the believer has no excuse to do sins of ignorance. The believer has the Holy Spirit living within them, whereas the children of Israel did not. John 16:13 says about the Holy Spirit, Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth:… The fact that the believer has the Holy Spirit living within them to guide them into ALL truth shows that the believer has no excuse to say they committed sin ignorantly. Even if you have never read in the Scriptures that something is wrong or have heard from a preacher that something is wrong, you have the Holy Spirit who will tell you something is wrong. Sins of ignorance are no excuse for a believer. Let me share some thoughts about sinning through ignorance.
First, it is still a sin when you do wrong ignorantly. Just because you say you did not know that it was wrong does not make sin right. Sinning ignorantly or knowingly are both wrong, and the believer should never think that because they did wrong ignorantly that God won’t hold them accountable for their sin.
Second, don’t accept ignorance as an excuse. I have heard many say that you can always get forgiveness, and this is true, but to use your ignorance of sin as an excuse to sin shows your ignorance as a believer because you have the Holy Spirit to guide you into truth. Ignorance of sin is never a good excuse to sin because it is simply your reason to sin despite the Holy Spirit telling you not to do it.
Third, study God’s Word and you will learn what you should and should not do. Inside the pages of God’s Word are God’s instructions to know what you should and should not do. It is not God’s fault that you have not studied the Scriptures to learn what is right and wrong. You are responsible and commanded by God to study the Scriptures, and if you obey that command, you will know what is right and wrong.
Fourth, correct your actions once you learn you have done wrong. The best thing you can do is to correct what you have done wrong when you find out that you have done wrong. To continue to do wrong once you have found out that you have done wrong is to add rebellion to your sin.
Fifth, yield to the Holy Spirit. Yielding to the Holy Spirit is the greatest way to overcome known sins and sins of ignorance. If you yield to the Holy Spirit, He will keep you from sin; therefore, you have no excuse to say that you didn't know something was wrong. When you are yielded to the Holy Spirit, He will let you know when something is wrong. The greatest solution to keep from sin is to be yielded to the Holy Spirit continuously.
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