My Weblog: The Gospel Preacher.

In Numbers 15:25, it is written, " 25 ^aAnd the priest shall make an atonement for all the congregation of the children of Israel, and it shall be forgiven them; for it is ignorance: and they shall bring their offering, a sacrifice made by fire unto the LORD, and their sin offering before the LORD, for their ignorance. "  In this passage of Scripture, God makes possible atonement for sins committed in ignorance.  A sin committed in ignorance is a mistake, because the person who committed this type of sin did not know any better at the time that this type of sin was committed.  Ignorance of God's will is never acceptable.  God has commanded us, as His children ( see Galatians 3:26, 27, for example ), to search the scriptures daily.  In Acts 17:10, 11, it is written, " 10 And ^athe brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Be-re´-a: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.  11 These were more ¹noble than those in Thes-sa-lo-ni´-ca, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and ^asearched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. "  God does not want us to be ignorant of His will.  One passage of Scripture, where there tends to be some confusion, is Ecclesiastes 7:15-18, which reads as follows, namely: " 15 All things have I seen in ¹the days of my vanity: ^athere is a just man that perisheth in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man that prolongeth his life in his wickedness.  16 ^aBe not ¹righteous over much; ^bneither make thyself ²over wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself?  17 Be not ¹over much wicked, neither be thou foolish: ^awhy shouldest thou die before thy time?  18 It is good that thou shouldest ¹take hold of this; yea, also from this withdraw not thine hand: for he that ^afeareth God shall ²come forth of them all. "  What was Solomon ( see Proverbs 1:1 and Ecclesiastes 1:1; 12:9, for example ) teaching here?  Is a little sin or wickedness ( see Hebrews 5:11-14 and 1 John 3:4, for example ) okay?  In Romans 6:23, it is written ( please read this entire chapter to get the imediate context ), " 23 For ^athe wages of sin is death; but ^bthe gift of God is eternal life ¹through Jesus Christ our Lord. "  God says that the wages of sin is death, which implies that no amount of sin is okay to Him.  If a little wickedness were acceptable to God, then why did God say in 1 Timothy 5:22, " 22 Lay hands ¹suddenly on no man, neither ²be ^apartaker of other men's sins: keep thyself pure. "  Again, in James 1:27, it is written, " 27 ^aPure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, ^bTo visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, ^cand to keep himself unspotted from the world. "  And, again, in Ecclesiastes 9:8, it is written, " 8 Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no ¹ointment. "

An answer to the meaning of Ecclesiastes 7:15-18 is found in Colossians 2:23, which reads as follows, namely: " 23 ^aWhich things have indeed ¹a shew of wisdom in ²will worship, and humility, and ³neglecting of the body; ⁴not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh. "  Solomon, in Ecclesiastes 7:15-18, was warning us to avoid the two extremes: ( 1 ) the neglecting of the body, for example, and ( 2 ) the satisfying ( i.e., the indulgence — ESV, for example ) of the flesh.  Thus, in Ecclesiastes 7:15-18, Solomon simply employed a detailed method of saying, " Be holy. "  In 1 Peter 1:14-16, it is written ( please read all of this chapter to get the immediate context ), " 14 As obedient children, not ^afashioning¹ yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: 15 ^abut as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of ¹conversation; 16 because it is written, ^aBE YE HOLY; FOR I AM HOLY " ( Emphasis mine, R.E.W. ).  If God thought it would be okay to be a little wicked, why would He command us, as His slaves, to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?  In 2 Peter 3:18, it is written, " 18 ^aBut grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.  ^bTo him be glory both now and for ever.  A-men´. "  God has commanded us to stop sinning.  In 1 Peter 4:1, it is written, " 4 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin " ( Emphasis mine, R.E.W. ).  To cease from sin means to be dead to sin.  In Romans 6:1-4, it is written, " 6 What shall we say then?  ^aShall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?  2 ¹God forbid.  How shall we, ²that are ^adead to sin, live any longer therein?  3 ¹Know ye not, that ^aso many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ ^bwere baptized into his death?  4 Therefore we are ^aburied with him by baptism into death: that ^blike¹ as Christ was raised up from the dead by ^cthe glory of the Father, ^deven so we also should walk in newness of life. "

As human-beings, we do not have the ability to be physically perfect, but we can be spiritually perfect.  In Matthew 5:48, it is written ( please read all of this chapter to get the immediate context ), " 48 ^aBe ye therefore perfect, even ^bas your Father which is in heaven is perfect. "  Additionally, in Colossians 4:12, it is written, " 12 ^aEp´-a-phras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, ¹saluteth you, always ^blabouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand ^cperfect and ²complete in all the will of God. "  Thus, being spiritually perfect means to stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.  This means that our lives, as Christians, must be in perfect alignment with God's will.  In the event that we, as children of God, do commit sin, we can repent, pray to God, confess our sins, and forsake them ( see Proverbs 28:13 and Acts 8:5-25 ( especially verse 22, for example ), for example ).  Part of our responsibility, as Christians, is to pursuade sinners ( see Matthew 26:36-46 ( especially verse 45, for example ), for example ) to obey the gospel message and live for Christ ( see John 3:16, 17, and 36; 14:6, 15; Acts 15:1-21 ( especially verse 7, for example ); 2 Corinthians 5:14, 15; and Ephesians 1:1-14 ( especially verse 13, for example ), for example ).  In Proverbs 11:30, it is written, " 30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and ^ahe that ¹winneth souls is wise. "  If we will strive to be holy, as God is holy, then we will perfect holiness.  In 2 Corinthians 7:1, it is written, " 7 Having ^atherefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God " ( Emphasis mine, R.E.W. ).  Please seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read ( see Isaiah 34:16, for example ). 🕮