Is Lack of Knowledge a Sin?

Once again I want to stress the importance of knowledge when you are talking about Christianity.  So often I hear someone say, "I don't have to go to church, I don't have to learn," or maybe even,"I don't have to read a Bible.  I know that I believe Jesus is my Savior and that is all I need to know."  I can only answer, "Are you sure?"  Any thing that anyone tries in this life requires knowledge, except, according to some, spirituality.  I truly do not understand this.

I read a statement by a man who said that Jesus was his savior and, as a result, he never sinned.  I do not know this person, but I know without a doubt that he is wrong.  It is impossible for anyone to go through a single day without sinning.  We only have to read "The Ten Commandments" to know that.  I think that where many people get confused is in thinking that only severe actions are a sin.  Not so.  Romans 3:10 says, "There is no one who is righteous, not even one."  And 1 John 5:17 says, "All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not mortal."  As you learn you come to understand that in God's eyes taking a pencil from work is the same as robbing a bank; thinking of someone lustfully is adultery; a single curse word is taking God's name in vain; a car, a job, a sport, anything that becomes overly important to you can be your personal god; or that little white lie you tell, so you won't hurt some one's feelings is still a lie.  "All who hate a brother or sister are murderers, and you know that murderers do not have eternal life abiding in them."  1 John 3:15.  There are thousands of ways to make God upset with us and frequently we do not even know that we are sinning.

This is why God gave us Jesus.  John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but may have eternal life."  Jesus did not come to tell us that we are so wonderful, but instead, to bring us back to God through Him  We are still sinners.  Without Jesus we are nothing.  We cannot have even a minimal understanding of how this all works without deep study of our Bible and more as we grow in our faith.

At Look and Find Jesus we have a short recommended reading page.  This list is short, but will be growing over time.  Please check it out and start reading.  We also have our two Bible Study books that we hope you will check out.  You will find them on our Home Page.  Remember what God said to Israel in Hosea 4:6, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me, and since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children."