"Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
Under the Levitical economy God required that atonement should be made for sins of ignorance. "If a soul commit a trespass, and sin through ignorance, in the holy things of the Lord; then he shall bring for his trespass unto the Lord a ram without blemish out of the flocks, with thy estimation by shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for a trespass offering: And he shall make amends for the harm that he hath done in the holy thing, and shall add the fifth part thereto, and give it unto the priest: and the priest shall make an atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering, and it shall be forgiven him" (Lev. 5:15,16). And again we read, "And if ye have erred, and not observed all these commandments, which the Lord hath spoken unto Moses, even all that the Lord hath commanded you by the hand of Moses, from the day that the Lord commanded Moses, and hence-forward among your generations; Then it shall be, if ought be committed by ignorance without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one young bullock for a burnt offering, for a sweet savor unto the Lord, with his meat offering, and his drink offering, according to the manner, and one kid of the goats for a sin offering. And 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" (Num. 15: 22-25). It is in view of such scriptures as these that we find David prayed, "Cleanse Thou me from secret faults" (Psa. 19:12).
Sin is always sin in the sight of God whether we are conscious of it or not. Sins of ignorance need atonement just as truly as do conscious sins. God is Holy, and He will not lower His standard of righteousness to the level of our ignorance. Ignorance is not innocence. As a matter of fact ignorance is more culpable now than it was in the days of Moses. We have no excuse for our ignorance. God has clearly and fully revealed His will. The Bible is in our hands, and we cannot plead ignorance of its contents except to condemn our laziness. God has spoken, and by His Word we shall be judged.
And yet the fact remains that we are ignorant of many things, and the fault and blame are ours. And this does not minimize the enormity of our guilt. Sins of ignorance need the Divine forgiveness as our Lord’s prayer here plainly shows. Learn then how high is God’s standard, how great is our need, and praise Him for an Atonement of infinite sufficiency, which cleanseth from all sin.
"They know not what they do." This does not mean that the enemies of Christ were ignorant of the fact of His crucifixion. They did know full well that they had cried out "Crucify Him." They did know full well that their vile request had been granted them by Pilate. They did know full well that He had been nailed to the Tree for they were eye-witnesses of the crime. What then did our Lord mean when He said, "They know not what they do?" He meant they were ignorant of the enormity of their crime. They "knew not" that it was the Lord of Glory they were crucifying. The emphasis is not on "They know not" but on "they know not what they do."
This Cross-intercession of Christ for His enemies met with a marked and definite answer. The answer is seen in the conversion of the three thousand souls on the Day of Pentecost. I base this conclusion on Acts 3:17 where the apostle Peter says, "And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers." It is to be noted that Peter uses the word "ignorance" which corresponds with our Lord’s "they know not what they do." Here then is the Divine explanation of the three thousand converted under a single sermon. It was not Peter’s eloquence which was the cause but the Saviour’s prayer. And, Christian reader, the same is true of us. Christ prayed for you and me long before we believed in Him. Turn to John 17:20 for proof. "Neither pray I for these (the apostles) alone, but for them also which shall believe on Me thro’ their word" (John 17:20).
It only remains for us to add a word on the blessed Completeness of Divine forgiveness. Many of God’s people are unsettled and troubled upon this point. They understand how that all the sins they had committed before they received Christ as their Saviour have been forgiven, but oftentimes they are not clear concerning the sins which they commit after they have been born again. Many suppose it is possible for them to sin away the pardon which God had bestowed upon them. They suppose that the Blood of Christ dealt with their past only, and that so far as the present and the future are concerned, they have to take care of that themselves. But of what value would be a pardon which might be taken away from me at any time? Surely there can be no settled peace when my acceptance with God and my going to Heaven is made to depend upon my holding on to Christ, or my obedience and faithfulness.
Blessed be God, the forgiveness which He bestows covers all sins — past, present and future. Fellow-believer, did not Christ bear your "sins" in His own body on the Tree? And were not all your sins future sins when He died? Surely, for at that time you had not been born, and so had not committed a single sin. Very well then: Christ bore your "future" sins as truly as your past ones. What the Word of God teaches is that the unbelieving soul is brought out of the place of unforgiveness into the place to which forgiveness attaches. Christians are a forgiven people. Says the Holy Spirit: "Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin" (Rom. 4:8)1 The believer is in Christ, and there sin will never again be imputed to us. This is our place or position before God. In Christ is where He beholds us. And because I am in Christ I am completely and eternally forgiven, so much so that never again will sin be laid to my charge as touching my salvation, even though I were to remain on earth a hundred years. I am out of that place for evermore. Listen to the testimony of Scripture: "And you being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath He (God) quickened together with Him (Christ), having forgiven you all trespasses" (Col. 2:13). Mark the two things which are here united (and what God hath joined together let not man put asunder) — my union with a risen Christ is connected with my forgiveness! If then my life is "hid with Christ in God" (Col. 3:3), then I am forever out of the place where imputation of sin applies. Hence it is written, "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 8:1) — how could there be if "all trespasses" have been forgiven? None can lay anything to the charge of God’s elect (Rom. 8:33). Christian reader, join the writer in praising God because we are eternally forgiven everything.*
*It should be added by way of explanation, that it is the judicial aspect we have dealt with. Restorative forgiveness — which is the bringing back again into communion of a sinning believer — dealt with in I John 1:9 — is another matter altogether. (by AWP)
None of the sins of none of those who are not in Christ have ever nor ever will be taken away in the Christ-less and Grace-less hell they will be consigned to,confined to and tormented in for eternal ages for sinning against the Eternally Holy One.
Rom. 4:7,8 "Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed the man to whom the Lord will in no way charge sin."
Psalms 32
1 ¶ A Psalm of David. A Contemplation. Blessed is he whose transgression is lifted, whose sin is covered.
2 Blessed is the man to whom Jehovah does not charge iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
3 When I kept silence, then my bones became old, through my howling all day.
4 For by day and by night Your hand was heavy on me; my sap was turned into the droughts of summer. Selah.
5 I confessed my sin to You, and I have not hidden my iniquity; I said, I will confess over my transgression to Jehovah; and You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah.
6 On account of this let every godly one pray to You, at a time of finding; surely, when great floods come they will not reach him.
7 ¶ You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah.
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you, My eye shall be on you.
9 Be not like the horse, like the mule, with no understanding; with bit and bridle his gear to be held in, that they do not come near you.
10 Many sorrows are to the wicked; but he who trusts in Jehovah, mercy embraces him.
11 Be glad in Jehovah and rejoice, you righteous ones; and all the upright in heart, shout for joy.
