Question:

Is someone sinning in God’s eyes who is committing a sin but honestly does not think that it is a sin?

Answer:

The Bible often speaks of sins of ignorance (Leviticus 4:2; 5:15; Numbers 15:24; Luke 23:34; Acts 3:17; 17:30) which, nevertheless, require a sacrifice or forgiveness.

If one truly has sinned, wouldn’t his conscience bother him?  Not necessarily.  Everyone is born with an innate sense of right and wrong about certain major behaviors.  Even pagans have a sense of the wrong of sins like murder, stealing, and rape.  But one’s conscience can be “seared with a hot iron” (1 Timothy 4:2) so that the heart may be hardened concerning even these gross sins.  Also, our consciences need to be instructed.  How?  By reading God’s Word.  The apostle Paul exercised himself “to have always a conscience void of offense toward God, and toward men” (Acts 24:16).  The Holy Spirit uses Scripture to convict us of sin, so we need to read and memorize Scripture so as to give the Holy Spirit material with which to speak to our hearts.

If a young Christian, uninstructed in the Word, sins, does God hold him responsible?  God is very patient with His children (see, for example, Luke 22:24-30), but He does expect us to grow in the knowledge of His Word (1 Peter 2:2) and live accordingly.  If a true believer in Christ sins, we know that Christ died for that sin (1 Corinthians 15:3) and has already forgiven that sin (Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14).  The important question is whether the one who has sinned changes his ways if Scripture is brought to his attention or if he persists in his sin.  Sin has consequences.  It adversely affects the believer’s relationship with the Lord.  “If I regard iniquity in my heart [that is, keep on sinning], the Lord will not hear me” (Psalm 66:18).  “When I kept silence, my bones waxed old … Thy hand was heavy upon me…. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin” (Psalm 32:3-5). “Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7).