Unintentional Sin
What is unintentional sin?
Before I answer that question I want to see what the definition of unintentional means according to an online Dictionary.
Unintentional:Not deliberate or intentional
Synonyms
accidental, unplanned, inadvertent.
So unintentional means not deliberate ,it was an accident ,or I didn’t plan too and I didn’t know.
What's the definition of sin.
Sin:1.
transgression of divine law:
the sin of Adam.
2.
any act regarded as such a transgression, especially a willful or deliberate violation of some religious or moral principle.
Biblical definition:Sin (Noun and Verb):
lit., "to miss the mark," is used in the NT
(a) of "sinning" against God,
Synonyms:
If unintentional is not meaning too, and sin is to miss the mark . So if you sin and didn't mean too or were ignorant that you sinned then is that unintentional sin ?
Job had something to say about this.
Job 34:32 teach me what I do not see; if I have done iniquity, I will do it no more'?
Job is asking God to show him the things he has done wrong, the sins he has committed that he isn’t aware of, so he will not do them anymore. How nice it would be if more Christians would be more like Job and asked God to show them their sins.
In Leviticus there are several passages about unintentional sin and what needs to be done when it's realized or brought to their attention.
Lev 4:1 The LORD said to Moses,
2 "Say to the Israelites: 'When anyone sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the LORD's commands-
13 " 'If the whole Israelite community sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the LORD's commands, even though the community is unaware of the matter, they are guilty.
14 When they become aware of the sin they committed, the assembly must bring a young bull as a sin offering and present it before the Tent of Meeting.
22 " 'When a leader sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the commands of the LORD his God, he is guilty.
23 When he is made aware of the sin he committed, he must bring as his offering a male goat without defect.
27 " 'If a member of the community sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the LORD's commands, he is guilty.
28 When he is made aware of the sin he committed, he must bring as his offering for the sin he committed a female goat without defect.
A footnote in my ESV study bible say’s by mistake or makes a mistake for unintentionally
Strongs concordance shows the word unintentionally to mean: The KJV translates Strongs H7684 in the following manner: (through, in...) ignorance (12x),unawares (4x), error (2x), unwittingly (1x).
Sin falls into 2 categories Commission and Omission . So what category does unintentional sin fall in. Sin isn’t always something we do it can also be something we don’t do.
James 4: 17 Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.
It's not only what people do that matters ,also what people don’t do that matters when they know it's right that they should do.
Lets first take a look at sins of commission.
A sin of comission is a sin we take action on to commit. It can be in thought ,word , or deed. In sins of commission we are fully involved we let our sinful flesh overrule our Christ like nature. Instead of walking in the spirit we are walking in the flesh.
Adam and Eve are the only ones who committed a sin of commission without sinful flesh .I say that because Thru one man Adam sin entered the World.
Romans 5:12a Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man. That one man was Adam.
Prior to Adam there was no sinful flesh
Adam's sin was eating of the fruit that God said not to eat.
Gen 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "You may surely eat of every tree of the garden,
17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."
King David committed sins of adultery and murder
2 Samuel 11:3 And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, "Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?"
4 So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her.
15 In the letter he wrote, "Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, that he may be struck down, and die."
Ex 20:13 "You shall not murder.
14 "You shall not commit adultery.
There are many examples in God's Word of sins of commission. Abraham, Moses, Solomon, Peter and Paul. All are people in God's Word that have committed sins of commission.
So a sin of commission is an intentional or willful act against God's moral laws or divine laws and commands.
What are sins of Omission ?
James has a good definition of this : James 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
If you are in a situation and you know what to do and it's the right thing to do and you don’t do it, it is sin, a sin of omission
Lets take a look at some examples in the bible of sins of omission.
Jesus give and example of who you neighbor is ,in the parable of the good samaritan also is an example of sins of omission.
Luke 10: 30 Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead.
31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side.
32So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion.
First we have a Priest going by and he didn’t do anything ,why it would of made him unable to perform his temple duties, he probably thought he was dead.
What was the right thing for him to do ? Stop and assist . He didn’t by not doing so he committed a sin of omission.
Next a Levite came by,This term (Levite) was initially used in the ot to designate descendants of Levi and the priestly class perpetuated through his descendant Aaron. Later, the term “Levite” came to distinguish non-Aaronic priests who served in minor roles in the temple. This latter sense is being employed by Jesus in this instance, contrasting him with the priest in v. 31 who fulfilled the primary duties in the temple worship. Both men represent the corruption and self-interest of the Jewish religious establishment.
The Levite like the Priest passed by and did nothing. Both committed a sin of omission.
Then a Samaritan came by Samaritans were the archenemies of Israel following the Assyrian captivity down through the Second Temple period (see 2 Kgs 17, especially 24; John 8:48).
The Samaritans were descendants of the northern tribes of Israel, who were left behind following the Assyrian captivity in 722 bc. Afterward, they intermarried with other people groups and lost their purely Jewish identity. Alternatively, they could have been colonists inserted by the Assyrians following their destruction of Israel in 722bc (see 2 Kgs 17:24). Either way, they were despised by the Jews and not viewed as authentic Israelites.
So a person that is considered low scum basically ,Stops to help ,not the ones that are suppose to be Godly men.
Paul describes both these type of sins in Romans
Romans 7:14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin.
15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. ( Sin of commission. )
16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good.
17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. ( sin of omission )
19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.
20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
Everything Paul is describing here we all as Christians struggle with ,we intentionally do sin . That is because of the sinful flesh were sin resides in us but we are not controlled. When we sin it is a choice ,whether omission or commission sin we still choose.
Refugee Cities in the bible
The purpose for refuge cities was for those who committed unintentional sin .so they can be safe from their actions until their case can be heard.The sin mentioned is killing someone without intent.
The Cities of Refuge
1 Then the LORD said to Joshua,
2 "Say to the people of Israel,'Appoint the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses,
3 that the manslayer who strikes any person without intent or unknowingly may flee there. They shall be for you a refuge from the avenger of blood.
4 He shall flee to one of these cities and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city and explain his case to the elders of that city. Then they shall take him into the city and give him a place, and he shall remain with them.
5 And if the avenger of blood pursues him, they shall not give up the manslayer into his hand, because he struck his neighbor unknowingly, and did not hate him in the past.
6 And he shall remain in that city until he has stood before the congregation for judgment, until the death of him who is high priest at the time. Then the manslayer may return to his own town and his own home, to the town from which he fled.'"
7 So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, and Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.
8 And beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they appointed Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland, from the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead, from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan, from the tribe of Manasseh.
9 These were the cities designated for all the people of Israel and for the stranger sojourning among them, that anyone who killed a person without intent could flee there, so that he might not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, till he stood before the congregation.
So we can see from this scripture that in the case of deliberate murder, the Law permitted the Avenger of Blood to exact punishment, essentially a life for a life. But to guard against a miscarriage of justice, Cities of Refuge were appointed where the accused could flee so that his case could be considered properly away from the emotions that death always brings. These Cities of Refuge were designed to provide Divine protection for the manslayer. But the Law did make a clear distinction between premeditated murder and unintentional manslaughter. There were six cities of refuge. The actual distribution of the cities of refuge was based on the geography of the area. To be of any use, a city of refuge had to be accessible. For this reason, three were placed on either side of the river Jordan. There were good roads leading to each city, which provided the easy access for all of Israel.
Those cities of refuge portray how Christ shelters the sinner from death.We have fled to Jesus Christ, and He is our eternal refuge. As our High Priest, He will never die (Heb. 7:23-25); 23 The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office,
24 but he( Jesus) holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever.
and we have eternal salvation. No avenger can touch us, because He has already died and arisen from the dead
God Himself appointed these cities of refuge, God's Word announced these cities of refuge,Anyone could access these cities of refuge,they were in central places on both sides of the Jordan, so they were easy to reach from any place in the country. great doors of these cities were always left open and never locked. We can see why. Otherwise a man might die while beating on the door.The cities of refuge were completely adequate for the needs of the endangered ones.
Christ is Portrayed by the Cities of Refuge
Christ is easy to reach. We may cast ourselves upon Christ at any time, in any place. The Church is to be the teller of this good news. The Church is to cry, “Refuge! Refuge!” to the lost world.
Rev 22:17 The Spirit and the Bride say, "Come." And let the one who hears say, "Come." And Let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.
Christ is open to all Matthew 11:28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Christ never locks His gates. There is no need to wake Him. He is infinite; He is God; He is never asleep. We do not have to beat upon the door and die because He does not open it.
Christ is a completely sufficient refuge. Christ’s death in is completely adequate to meet our need for refuge from the true moral guilt which we have. It is final because of who He is. He is the infinite second person of the Trinity; therefore, His death has infinite value. if we do not flee to the refuge which God has given to us at such a great price, there is no help for us.
So Christ is easy to reach, His arms are open to all, His entrance is never locked, He is a completely sufficient refuge, and He is the only hope.
Conclusion
This is titled Unintentional sin what is it? So I looked at sins of Omission : that is a sin of not doing what you know to be right. I looked at sins of commission: that is a sin that goes against God's moral and divine laws that we intentionally do. Then I looked at refugee cities in the Bible : The cities were for the person who without intent killed someone ,and the person could be safe until his day in court .
Then I looked at how the refugee cities were a example of Christ and how he he is our refuge for an eternity.
So what is unintentional sin ? It's a sin of Commission unintentional sin is a sin against God's moral and divine laws that we choose to commit whether we are aware of the law or not it is still sin. Ignorance of the law is no excuse. It's like being pulled over for speeding ,you tell the officer I didn't know you still get the ticket.
Ignorance is no excuse. Take heart we have an eternal refuge in Christ.
I would like to end with 2 verse Job 34:32 teach me what I do not see; if I have done iniquity, I will do it no more'?
Psalms 26:2 Test me, O LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind;
Ask God to test your heart and mind to show you the errors you have made that you are not aware of so you will not do them any more .
Praise God for the victory we have in Jesus our refuge.
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