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The Bereans and ignorance.

B-A-C

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Dec 18, 2008
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There is an old saying.. "Ignorance is bliss". But is it really true?

I usually attend a men's Bible group with a group of men from my church. But this particular week, I was invited by a friend to their Bible study.
The main topic how do we know what sin was. Are we accountable for things we don't know are sins?

Now I know that's all a can of worms that has been opened here on TalkJesus many times, and that's not really where I am going here.

But one of the men there made a statement, I don't remember the exact wording, but it was similar to...
"If we are going to be held accountable for what we know, isn't it better just not to know anything".

In other words, if I don't study the Bible and learn what sin is. I don't have to worry about it too much.

This guy even admitted this in the "main" reason he doesn't read the Bible.

On the other hand we have verses like....

2 Tim 2:15; Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Acts 17:10; The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews.
Acts 17:11; Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.

It says the Bereans were more "noble-minded" because they studied the scriptures. I attended a college called the Berean Bible College for a while.
The name was no doubt, taken from these verses, that college has since been absorbed into another larger college.

I'm not sure that ignorance is really bliss, ....

Rom 2:5 But because you are stubborn and refuse to turn from your sin, you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself. For a day of anger is coming, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
Rom 2:6 He will judge everyone according to what they have done.

Rom 2:12 When the Gentiles sin, they will be destroyed, even though they never had God’s written law. And the Jews, who do have God’s law, will be judged by that law when they fail to obey it.
Rom 2:13 For merely listening to the law doesn’t make us right with God. It is obeying the law that makes us right in his sight.
Rom 2:14 Even Gentiles, who do not have God’s written law, show that they know his law when they instinctively obey it, even without having heard it.
Rom 2:15 They demonstrate that God’s law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right.
Rom 2:16 And this is the message I proclaim—that the day is coming when God, through Christ Jesus, will judge everyone’s secret life.
(New Living Translation)

It seems people who have never read the Bible, still instinctively know what sin is. It appears they will still be judged for sin, even if they didn't know it was sin.
 
B-A-C

Though a man have no access to a Bible, and is totally ignorant of all it says, he is still guilty as a sinner, and will die, and will be judged by God as the verses show in (Rom 2). Though the man had no special or written revelation from God, he knows God is there and God reads his heart as to his attitude towards Him. (Rom. 1:19-20)

The man you describe in your church knows God is there and makes a willful decision to not know the Bible as it makes him more accountable. He is both right and wrong. He is right in that it makes him more accountable, but he is wrong to not learn what God says in the Bible. Who does he think God will judge the more harshly? The man in some far away jungle who never saw a Bible, or him who has a Bible right at his finger tips and refuses to open it?

Whether the man is Christian or not, I don't know, but it seems odd for a Christian to not to want to open that Bible and take in the Word of God. His spirit is fed from that spring of life by the Holy Spirit.

Quantrill
 
The man you describe in your church knows God is there

Like I mentioned in my post, he doesn't attend my church. But I do agree with everything else you said.
It is like people think they can use ignorance as an excuse to sin.

I guess they seem to think if we cover our ears and say "la la la" very loudly while someone is trying to tell us the truth, God won't hold us accountable?
 
As children of God we desire to know His will for us! If I don't really want to know what God wants of me just so I can tell Him "I didn't know that" at the judgment, what does that say about my heart condition right now?
 
Like I mentioned in my post, he doesn't attend my church. But I do agree with everything else you said.
It is like people think they can use ignorance as an excuse to sin.

I guess they seem to think if we cover our ears and say "la la la" very loudly while someone is trying to tell us the truth, God won't hold us accountable?

Yes. Several years I was witnessing to a man on the job who had a special argument he liked to use on Christians. I don't even remember what it was but he brought it up and I explained it to him and immediately he was face to face with accountability. He instantly said, "but I don't know that".

To some our message is of life. And to some it is of death. (2 Cor. 2:15-16)

Quantrill
 
Psalm 19:12-13
I would have shown the man at the very least the above verse.

I'm also curious to know if he shares the Gospel with others....and as another thought has hit me....do they believe everything they hear from the pulpit or from other believers without checking it out to see if its true. For me personally I have faith in God, but not so much in man.

Thanks for sharing brothers.
With the Love of Christ Jesus.
YBIC
Nick
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