Ignorance & Innocence
— by Julie Ackerman Link
Some people avoid going to the doctor because they don’t want to find out that anything is wrong with them. Some people avoid going to church for the same reason. But ignorance of our sickness doesn’t make us healthy, and ignorance of our sin doesn’t make us innocent
Roman law is considered to be the source of the idea that ignorance of the law excuses no one. But the concept originated much earlier. When God gave the law to Israel, He established that even unintentional sin required a sacrifice for forgiveness (Lev. 4; Ezek. 45:18-20).
In his letter to Christians living in Rome, the apostle Paul addressed the issue of ignorance or lack of understanding. When people were ignorant of God’s righteousness, they made up their own (Rom. 10:3). When we live according to our own standards of right and wrong, we might feel good about ourselves, but that doesn’t make us spiritually healthy. Only when we are measured by God’s standard of righteousness (Jesus) do we know the condition of our spiritual health.
None of us can achieve the righteousness of Christ, but thankfully we don’t have to. He shares His righteousness with us (5:21). The good news about finding out what’s wrong with us is that the Great Physician can make us well.
Great Physician, You know my heart. I bow
before You now and ask that You show me
any attitude or action that doesn’t please You.
Make me clean; make me well.
before You now and ask that You show me
any attitude or action that doesn’t please You.
Make me clean; make me well.
God is the Measurer and Healer of our spiritual health.
Even Christ-followers tend to dismiss inadvertently missing the mark with a casual, mental wave toward God, and a, "Oops." The wave and "Oops" usually serve as a time-pressured substitute for confession and repentance. Then we forget about it.
Three problems plague that casual attitude toward sin: First, both the attitude and the sin tend to become habitual. Second, like a brick wall going up, each time we sin, and dismiss it as "Oops," we add another brick to the barrier standing between us and intimacy with Christ. Little wonder, that today's church is so spiritually impotent. And third, the enemy will eventually use that barrier to either harden our hearts to our loving Savior, or as an opportunity to heap condemnation on us so we'll feel unworthy of His grace. Either way, the father of lies has won!
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