Ignorance

Now I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often planned to come to you (but was hindered until now), that I might have some fruit among you also, just as among the other Gentiles. I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise. So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also. (Romans 01:13-15, NKJV).

The Apostle Paul uses the word translated here as “unaware” at least a dozen times in his New Testament writings. It is the Greek word, agnoeo (ag-no-eh'-o), and it essentially means not understanding (the prefix a in Greek denotes the opposite of the word that follows, in this case, gnoeo, meaning understanding).

Thus, one of Paul's primary corrective purposes in his letters is to remedy our pervasive (seeped into everything) lack of understanding.

Now there are two kinds of human ignorance: incidental and willful.

Incidental ignorance is excusable. It stems from just not having experienced or come across whatever is in view. You cannot be held accountable for that which you do not know out of incidental ignorance.

While this is not strictly true in a legal sense, in that ignorance of the law is not a viable defense in court, it is fundamentally true, in that even in court your are expected to know what is and is not legal. The fact that you may not brings us to the other kind of ignorance: willful.

This is what happens when you are expected to understand something, like the law, and refuse to do so out of laziness, rebellion, or lack of diligence.

Much of human sin derives from willful ignorance. God has provided us a conscience, which is His moral law written in our very nature. It is that which prompts us to not do something that we know is wrong, and which makes is feel guilty when we do.

This conscience, and even guilt itself, is extremely difficult to explain in typical evolutionary terms, because it has very little inherent survival value, which is all that evolution cares about.

But it is a piece of cake to explain when you understand the truth: that we are not accidents of time and chance, but purposeful creations of an Almighty God, made in His image.

This means morality is part of the fabric of our existence, because God is moral.

In fact, guilt is so problematic in atheistic and materialist circles that war has been declared on it, and, like most things that require propaganda (systematic lying) to bolster justification, the supposed enemy has been renamed from guilt, to toxic shame, so that the combatants feel better about engaging in battle.

But the reality is that guilt is a gift of God to bring us to Him. And people who lack guilt are capable of almost any kind of evil.

This indicates that it is very possible to learn to willfully ignore the promptings of conscience. The more you practice, the better you become.

This is known as searing the conscience, burning it out so that it becomes scarred and insensitive. Today, we call such individuals socio- and pyschopaths, and medicate or lock them up if we catch them.

Being conscienceless is a very dangerous and damaging state of being. Someone with a seared conscience is a danger to himself and others. That is one of the things Paul fights against in Romans and elsewhere.

Denying God's existence is the most potent form of willful ignorance, for it attempts to deny the very Source of our existence, akin to claiming, as your lungs pump air in and out of your body, that you do not need oxygen to survive.

Paul's express point in these verses starts out with his acknowledgement that his plans do not always work out. And he attributes that to forces beyond his control. He wants us to be aware - to understand - that those same forces operate in our lives, as well.

Ultimately, he wants us to know that God is literally in control of everything that happens to us.

This has far-reaching implications that are worth examining, and which the willfully ignorant world refuses to consider.

For believers who understand this fundamental fact of existence, we can take a significant amount of comfort in living in the knowledge that a beneficent (good) and magnanimous (generous and forgiving) omnipotent (all-powerful) Being has His hand in each moment of our lives.

While we may plan, as Paul did, we know that it is God who directs our steps, and He works all things together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purposes. So when our plans remain unfulfilled we can be assured that He has good reasons for keeping them that way.

Willfully ignorant unbelievers have no such assurance, and I'm sure you can imagine the stress that their lack of understanding places them under. If either themselves, others, or sheer happenstance governs their lives then logically, it might be better to stay home wrapped in a blanket on the couch. Or spend every instant in soul-crushing uncertainty or worry.

Again, Paul's desire for his audience (including us, 2000 years later) is to spare us from the pernicious (harmful) effects of ignorance.

I know the impact from personal experience, as I lived most of my life in unbelief. It is only after I understood the truth of my existence (that I am a sinner in need of a Savior, and that Savior is the Lord Jesus), that I was able to live without that crushing uncertainty.

So, like Paul, I do not want you to be unaware of reality. God exists. He loves you, so much so, that He sent His Son to die for your sins so that you may live forever in Heaven. He provided you His Word, so that you do not have to guess, or make things up, but so that you can know these things.

Be diligent to search these things out, because He is the only thing worth pursuing in this life. Seek Him first, and everything else you need will be added to you.

Love,

Dad