"Unintentional Sins of Ignorance" vs "Presumptuous, Willful Sins"

From considering certain passages of Scripture, there seems to be a distinction between habitual, willful rebellion against God, and "falling" into certain sins of which one immediately repents when confronted and convicted of those sins.

As a basis, I will post two passages of Scripture that deal with this, and then Matthew Henry's take on them since I found it to provide good insight.

"22 'If you sin unintentionally, and do not observe all these commandments which the Lord has spoken to Moses-- 23 all that the Lord has commanded you by the hand of Moses, from the day the Lord gave commandment and onward throughout your generations-- 24 then it will be, if it is unintentionally committed, without the knowledge of the congregation, that the whole congregation shall offer one young bull as a burnt offering, as a sweet aroma to the Lord, with its grain offering and its drink offering, according to the ordinance, and one kid of the goats as a sin offering. 25 So the priest shall make atonement for the whole congregation of the children of Israel, and it shall be forgiven them, for it was unintentional; they shall bring their offering, an offering made by fire to the Lord, and their sin offering before the Lord, for their unintended sin. 26 It shall be forgiven the whole congregation of the children of Israel and the stranger who dwells among them, because all the people did it unintentionally. 27 'And if a person sins unintentionally, then he shall bring a female goat in its first year as a sin offering. 28 So the priest shall make atonement for the person who sins unintentionally, when he sins unintentionally before the Lord, to make atonement for him; and it shall be forgiven him. 29 You shall have one law for him who sins unintentionally, for him who is native-born among the children of Israel and for the stranger who dwells among them. 30 'But the person who does anything presumptuously, whether he is native-born or a stranger, that one brings reproach on the Lord, and he shall be cut off from among his people. 31 Because he has despised the word of the Lord, and has broken His commandment, that person shall be completely cut off; his guilt shall be upon him.'"-Numbers 15:22-31

"26 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries."-Hebrews 10:26-27

Matthew Henry on Numbers 15:22-29
Verses 22-29
"We have here the laws concerning sacrifices for sins of ignorance; the Jews understand it of idolatry, or false worship, through the error of their teachers. The case here supposed is that they had not observed all these commandments, v. 22, 23. If they had failed in the offerings of their acknowledgment, and had not brought them according to the law, then they must bring an offering of atonement, yea, though the omission had been through forgetfulness or mistake. If they failed in one part of the ceremony, they must make it up by the observance of another part, which was in the nature of a remedial law. 1. The case is put of a national sin, committed through ignorance, and become customary through a vulgar error (v. 24)—the congregation, that is, the body of the people, for so it is explained (v. 25): All the congregation of the children of Israel. The ceremonial observances were so numerous, and so various, that, it might easily be supposed, some of them by degrees would be forgotten and disused, as particularly that immediately before concerning the heave-offering of their dough: now if, in process of time, upon consulting the law, there should appear to have been a general neglect of that or any other appointment, then a sacrifice must be offered for the whole congregation, and the oversight shall be forgiven (v. 25, 26) and not punished, as it deserved, with some national judgment. The offering of the sacrifice according to the manner, or ordinance, plainly refers to a former statute, of which this is the repetition; and the same bullock which is there called a sin-offering (Lev. 4:13, 21) is here called a burnt-offering (v. 24), because it was wholly burnt, though not upon the altar, yet without the camp. And here is the addition of a kid of the goats for a sin-offering...Thus atonement shall be made for the soul that sins, when he sins through ignorance, v. 28. Observe, (1.) Sins committed ignorantly need to have atonement made for them; for, though ignorance will in a degree excuse, it will not justify those that might have known their Lord's will and did it not. David prayed to be cleansed from his secret faults, that is, those sins which he himself was not aware of, the errors he did not understand, Ps. 19:12. (2.) Sins committed ignorantly shall be forgiven, through Christ the great sacrifice, who, when he offered up himself once for all upon the cross, seemed to explain the intention of his offering in that prayer, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. And Paul seems to allude to this law concerning sins of ignorance (1 Tim. 1:13), I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly and in unbelief. And it looked favorable upon the Gentiles that this law of atoning for sins of ignorance is expressly made to extend to those who were strangers to the commonwealth of Israel (v. 29), but supposed to be proselytes of righteousness. Thus the blessing of Abraham comes upon the Gentiles.

Verses 30-36

Here is, I. The general doom passed upon presumptuous sinners. 1. Those are to be reckoned presumptuous sinners that sin with a high hand, as the original phrase is (v. 30), that is, that avowedly confront God's authority, and set up their own lust in competition with it, that sin for sinning-sake, in contradiction to the precept of the law, and in defiance of the penalty, that fight against God, and dare him to do his worst; see Job 15:25. It is not only to sin against knowledge, but to sin designedly against God's will and glory. 2. Sins thus committed are exceedingly sinful. He that thus breaks the commandment, (1.) Reproaches the Lord (v. 30); he says the worst he can of him, and most unjustly. The language of presumptuous sin is, "Eternal truth is not fit to be believed, the Lord of all not fit to be obeyed, and almighty power not fit to be either feared or trusted.'' It imputes folly to Infinite Wisdom, and iniquity to the righteous Judge of heaven and earth; such is the malignity of willful sin. (2.) He despises the word of the Lord, v. 31. There are those who, in many instances, come short of fulfilling the word, and yet have a great value for it, and count the law honorable; but presumptuous sinners despise it, thinking themselves too great, too good, and too wise, to be ruled by it. What is the Almighty that we should serve him? Whatever the sin itself is, it is contumacy that incurs the anathema. It is rebellion added to the sin that is as witch-craft, and stubbornness as idolatry. 3. The sentence passed on such is dreadful. There remains no sacrifice for those sins; the law provided none: That soul shall be cut off from among his people (v. 30), utterly cut off (v. 31); and that God may be for ever justified, and the sinner for ever confounded, his iniquity shall be upon him, and there needs no more to sink him to the lowest hell. Thus the Jewish doctors understand it, that the iniquity shall cleave to the soul, after it is cut off, and that man shall give an account of his sin at the great day of judgment. Perhaps the kind of offence might be such as did not expose the offender to the censure of the civil magistrate, but, if it was done presumptuously, God himself would take the punishment of it into his own hands, and into them it is a fearful thing to fall. In the New Testament we find the like sentence of exclusion from all benefit by the great sacrifice passed upon the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, and a total apostasy from Christianity."

Matthew Henry on Hebrews 10:26-27
"the description he gives of the sin of apostasy. It is sinning willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, sinning willfully against that truth of which we have had convincing evidence. This text has been the occasion of great distress to some gracious souls; they have been ready to conclude that every willful sin, after conviction and against knowledge, is the unpardonable sin: but this has been their infirmity and error. The sin here mentioned is a total and final apostasy, when men with a full and fixed will and resolution despise and reject Christ, the only Saviour,—despise and resist the Spirit, the only sanctifier,—and despise and renounce the gospel, the only way of salvation, and the words of eternal life; and all this after they have known, owned, and professed, the Christian religion, and continue to do so obstinately and maliciously. This is the great transgression: the apostle seems to refer to the law concerning presumptuous sinners, Num. 15:30, 31. They were to be cut off.

2. From the dreadful doom of such apostates. (1.) There remains no more sacrifice for such sins, no other Christ to come to save such sinners; they sin against the last resort and remedy. There were some sins under the law for which no sacrifices were provided; but yet if those who committed them did truly repent, though they might not escape temporal death, they might escape eternal destruction; for Christ would come, and make atonement. But now those under the gospel who will not accept of Christ, that they may be saved by him, have no other refuge left them. (2.) There remains for them only a certain fearful looking for of judgment, v. 27. Some think this refers to the dreadful destruction of the Jewish church and state; but certainly it refers also to the utter destruction that awaits all obstinate apostates at death and judgment, when the Judge will discover a fiery indignation against them, which will devour the adversaries; they will be consigned to the devouring fire and to everlasting burnings. Of this destruction God gives some notorious sinners, while on earth, a fearful foreboding in their own consciences, a dreadful looking for it, with a despair of ever being able either to endure or escape it."

Hi Oracio,

Thank you for posting this! I was looking at this very subject over the last few days. What drew my attention to this subject was reading in Hebrews 9:7 where it explains that on the day of atonement the high priest offered a sacrifice for sins committed in 'ignorance'.

I then looked at the passages about the different sacrifice for sins in Leviticus. In Leviticus 4 it talks about the sins committed 'unintentionally', which are to be atoned by the person committing these sins bringing an animal for the priest to offer as a sacrifice. This is not the day of atonement offering, but a particular, individual response when a person becomes aware they have sinned.

Then in Leviticus 16 you have the command about the day of atonement (once a year) which was a sacrifice made on behalf of all the people of Israel. Hebrews tells us this is for sins committed in 'ignorance'.

So my conclusion is that under the law only two types of sin were provided for by atonement; the first was 'unintentional sins' which when the sinner became aware of, had to deal with by offering a sacrifice. The second was sins committed in 'ignorance'. Ignorance means they were not aware of them, but they were still sin and needed to be atoned for by the 'day of atonement' sacrifice.
There was no provision for wilful, presumptuous sins. These were dealt with by ex-communication or death.

This brings us to the New Covenant. The book of Hebrews clearly teaches that Christ is the once for all sacrifice that replaces all other sacrifices and in particular the yearly offering of the day of atonement.

In 1 John ch.1 v.7-9 it says "If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all righteousness".

I see this passage in 1 John describing the two same sins I described above. There are 'unintentional' sins we are aware of that need to be confessed in order to receive forgiveness and cleansing (v.9) and there are sins that we are ignorant about that are covered by the blood of Christ if we walk in the light (v.7). Just because we are unaware of sin, does not mean that there is no sin. However our wonderful saviour provides for all this in His great once for all sacrifice. What there is no provision for is willful, presumptuous sin, because this is a direct rejection of Christ's sacrifice and disobedience to Christ and His salvation.

Just to clarify. What do I mean by unintentional and ignorant sin?
Unintentional sin is where there is no desire or purpose to sin, but we fall into it through weakness and are fully aware we have sinned. A true believer is grieved and confesses this sin.
Ignorant sin is sin that we are not aware of (ignorant means without knowledge). An honest appraisal of our walk will show that when we were younger in the faith there were things we did that we were not even aware were sins. These are covered by the blood of Christ, until we grow in our understanding and the Holy Spirit convicts us of these sins.

Hey Heydave, very interesting perspective and distinction you make there. I would probably have to do a little more digging deeper to see whether or not I completely agree with that distinction. Hmm, could be. Overall I agree with and appreciate your contribution there.

I was just writing about this the other day, and thought I would post it here:

There is no place for deliberate, willful sin in the life of the believer. I’m not talking about sinful attitudes or sinful thoughts. I’m not talking about emotional outbursts or sudden mistakes. I’m not talking about blind spots or even bad habits. I’m talking about situations where we know what is right, we know what is wrong and we deliberately and consciously choose to sin because we want to and deep in our hearts we know that we will be forgiven later. Believers can and must live above conscious, deliberate, willful sin. “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries” Hebrews 10:26-27. Those who live a lifestyle of deliberate, willful sin are rejecting Christ in their actions and will suffer eternity in Hell. It is not my place to judge who has stepped over that line or when that line has been crossed. Many struggle sincerely with addictions, habits, and patterns of sin, but sincerely repent and continue to walk in faith, but those who continually make a conscious premeditated decision to sin are not safe. The evidence of true repentance is that you stop sinning. John the Baptist instructed all to bear fruits that demonstrate true repentance. In other word let your life show that you have truly changed and turned away from sin. Jesus said, Go and sin no more, not go and sin less.
I am not talking about perfection. Sin is falling short of Jesus Christ and anything that is not of faith is sin. We all fall short of Jesus in many ways James writes, “For we all stumble in many things” James 3:2a. While I am not talking about Christian perfection, I am talking about Christian purity. It is possible for Christians to have a pure heart, to walk with a sincere singleness of purpose. We may make mistakes, we may stumble, we may even fall, but our heart remains in the hands of Christ and we turn from our sin and get back up. Genuine faith causes us to rise and shake off failure to walk in true holiness and the love of the Lord. For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity. Proverbs 24:16

1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. Purity means walking in the light, acknowledging our faults, confessing our sins and repenting when we need to change direction. Many times we do not need to confess or even repent. Our lives are on the right path and our hearts are pointed in the right direction, we simply said an unkind word that we immediately regretted and turned away from almost without thinking about it. In times like these our presence in the light and in relationship with Christ means that we receive an almost unconscious cleansing. Jesus washes our feet. It is our feet that get dirty as we walk around in this fallen world. The rest of us is clean because we have been washed in the blood of Christ, cleansed of all sin. Our old man with its sinful nature was crucified with Christ and now we live as new creations. Confession to God in 1 John 1:9 is not about naming every sin in order to be forgiven. Confession is about knowing right from wrong and being honest with ourselves. It’s part of walking in the light. We admit that we were wrong and because we admit it we are able to receive the forgiveness that was already offered two thousand years ago. When we refuse to admit that we’ve been wrong or that our behavior is wrong, we refuse to be forgiven. This is the state of the unsaved world.
If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask and He will give him life for those who commit sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death. 1 John 5:16-17
John makes a distinction between sins. Those leading to death and those not leading to death. It is less than Jesus to say an unkind word or to curse when we injure ourselves. Jesus would not do that. It is a sin not to reach the lost. It is a sin not to make disciples. Yet these are not deliberate acts of disobedience. They are less than Jesus and we must repent, but they are not a willful breaking of fellowship with Christ. Deliberate willful sin does break relationship with Christ and if we continue in them they will lead to death and the second death in an eternity of punishment. John says that we should pray for each other when we see areas in our brothers and sisters lives that reveal that we are walking less than Jesus. We need to be watchful over our lives and the lives of those around us for sins that do not lead to death because they are evidence that our guard is down and that we may be drifting into more serious sin. However, John does not instruct us to pray for those who are living in willful, disobedient sin; not because they are hopeless or because prayer is wrong, but because they need the anointed preaching of the word to bring them to repentance. They need to hear the voice of God.
Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Galatians 5:19-21
Paul is clear that these sins lead to death. They violate our identity in Christ and nullify our role as heirs and inheritors of salvation in the kingdom of God. We should read over these lists soberly. Paul writes to the Galatians that these are “evident” meaning obviously wrong. He also writes that these sins will keep us from the kingdom. He writes “just as I told you in time past.” Paul had preached this to the Galatians before. It was part of his message and part of his doctrine that these deliberate willful acts of sin violate salvation. Paul corroborates this doctrine in 1 Corinthians:
Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10
He qualifies those who practice these behaviors as “the unrighteous.” We are righteous by faith in Christ, not by our works, not even by our holiness. Justification and righteousness are obtained and walked out by faith, but practical holiness is the evidence of this faith. This list in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 is a list of identities. These men and women lived out these sins to the point where their behavior violated their identity in Christ. They proved their faith invalid. They lost faith. Paul then reminds the wayward Corinthians of their identity and the work of Christ.
And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. 1 Corinthians 6:11
This is the prophetic. He reminds them of their testimony. He reminds them of their identity. He reminds them of what God has done, and he tells them how God sees them: washed, sanctified, justified. This identity is powerful and it’s this identity in Christ that is the fountainhead of holiness. The voice of God is the only way we can truly know who we are, and only by knowing and seeing our identity in Him, by gazing into that mirror of revelation can we live a holy life because we walk away and behave accordingly.
We must cling to what Christ has done and who Christ had made us. We must not forget what we look like in the Spirit. We must not violate our identity or violate our faith. John’s revelation of Jesus contains the harrowing reminder,
But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. Revelation 21:8
Again these are a list of identities. These are men and women whose behavior has identified them with their sin, among these sinful identities that lead to death are, “cowardly, unbelieving” and “liars.” We are belivers, men and women of courage, faith, and truth. But we should remember that these are not far off sins. Paul the apostle who is esteemed as perhaps the greatest man in the history of the world next to Jesus wrote,
But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified. 1 Corinthians 9:27
In other words, even with all of his accomplishments, all of his service, all of his miracles, the raising of the dead, the healing of the sick, the third heaven revelations, and the boldness that endured incomparable persecution, he still needed to watch over his life and rule his body so that he would not be among those who fell away from the faith, disqualified for the kingdom. An old saying goes, “God is the only employer who will fire you and let you keep working for Him.” The history of the restoration of the prophetic in the twentieth century is riddled with heroes of the gift who fell in immorality.
God still calls us out of sin. He may call us in the love of God or, if our hearts have grown cold, if we have grown lukewarm, if we have left our first love, He may call us in the fear of the Lord. Still it is the sweet voice of the Savior.
Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. 1 John 3:6
It is this abiding and remaining in relationship with Jesus that keeps us from sin. It is our walk and talk with Jesus. It is our response to the voice of God that keeps us in the light and free from sin. How do we abide in this relationship with God? By the prophetic revelation of the Spirit:
But the anointing which have received from Him abides in you and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him. 1 John 2:27
We abide with Jesus, we remain with Jesus, we walk with Jesus, and are hidden in Jesus by the Holy Spirit who never leaves us and teaches and reveals all things to us. The Spirit leads us in the truth and as He teaches us and gives us revelation, as He speaks to us, we remain and abide and rest in relationship with the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.