Resources/Articles
Sins Of Ignorance And Weakness
“There are two causes of sin. Either we don’t know what we ought to do or we refuse to do what we know we should. The first cause is ignorance. The second is weakness.”
Augustine of Hippo
There is no sin that is not dangerous. Ignorance continues to infect every generation. People do not know enough truth to act truthfully. Paul encouraged the remedy for such in Colossians 1:9,10: “That you may be filled with the knowledge of His will...that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work.”
One of the problems with ignorance is that weakness arises. Peter, James, and John knew better than to go to sleep while the Lord was praying in Gethsemane. They did so anyway. Jesus sympathized with their condition by saying, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41). Such weak moments have happened to all of us, and it is often because we lack preparation. We’re not ready. We do not know what to do or say.
Instead of weakness, another product of ignorance is rebellion. If we refuse to know what we should do, it often leads to defiance. To do this is a scripturally serious matter (Hebrews 10:26,27). Do we dare reject God so boldly?
Through it all, we still have some personal responsibility. It often happens that we are more ignorant and weak than we ought to be. The person who pleads with the Lord, “But I didn’t know better,” may hear Him say, “You would have known better if you’d had the desire to learn. You didn’t grow because you didn’t want to grow!” (Hebrews 5:12).
