Thought from today’s Bible reading from Acts 1-3.
After healing a lame man at the gate of the temple, Peter had the opportunity to preach the second gospel sermon recorded in the book of Acts. As he did with the first, he condemned his audience for their part in the death of Christ (Acts 3:14-15). However, he acknowledged that they acted in ignorance.
“And now, brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your rulers did also. But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:17-19).
Jesus’ mission was part of God’s “predetermined plan” (Acts 2:23). The Old Law, which the Jews had access to, told them about the coming Christ (John 5:46; Galatians 3:24). Yet they missed the point of these prophecies. Therefore, because they were in ignorance about what God revealed, they rejected Christ.
However, though they acted in ignorance, their ignorance was not an excuse for their sin. Many believe that a lack of knowledge means a lack of accountability. But the Scriptures teach us that if something is knowable to us, we need to know it and act upon it.
Peter told them the solution for the sin they committed in ignorance. They needed to “repent and return” to God in order to have their sins “wiped away” (Acts 3:19). When we sin today, we must also repent and return to God. That is, we must give up our sin and meet His terms of forgiveness. For the non-Christian, this will include baptism (Acts 2:38). For the Christian, this will include prayer (Acts 8:22). But in either case, repentance is necessary.
Ignorance will not excuse us. Therefore, we must be diligent in our study of the Scriptures so that we know what God would have us to do. Then, once we know what to do to please the Lord, we must give up our sin and do His will.
Tomorrow’s reading: Acts 4-6
[I’m using the Chronological reading plan on the Bible Gateway website if you’d like to follow along, too.]
Daily Notes & Observations contains all 365 articles from this series and is available in paperback from Gospel Armory.
