One day in southern California, a highway patrol officer pulled me over to the side of the road.

That particular stretch of roadway happened to be under construction, which was the cause of the difficulty. I had been driving in the wrong lane, but didn’t realize it was the wrong lane, because the lane markings were covered with dirt. Although I knew the law about driving in my own lane, I didn’t realize I was breaking it at that time.

The officer who gave me the ticket was of the opinion that ignorance is no excuse. But I thought it was a very good excuse! So instead of paying the fine, I went in to plead my case in court. Fortunately, the judge saw things my way and canceled the ticket.

Do you think the judge was right, or the traffic officer? Do you think ignorance of transgression is a legitimate excuse, or not? How does God look at our ignorance, in terms of holding us accountable for breaking His law?

We could study several Bible passages to discover the answer to this question. Ezekiel 18:20 says,

“The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.” - Ezekiel 18:20

In John 15:22, Jesus said,

“If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin.” - John 15:22

Again in John 9:41,

“Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.” - John 9:41

Have you ever wondered why it took so many years before Jerusalem was destroyed after Jesus had come and spoken to the Jewish nation, leaving them without excuse? Why didn’t fire come down from heaven the morning after the resurrection and destroy those who had murdered the Son of God?

The book The Great Controversy gives two reasons: First, not everyone had heard, even of the adults. Second, the children.

“There were still many among the Jews who were ignorant of the character and the work of Christ. And the children had not enjoyed the opportunities or received the light which their parents had spurned. Through the preaching of the apostles and their associates, God would cause light to shine upon them; they would be permitted to see how prophecy had been fulfilled, not only in the birth and life of Christ, but in His death and resurrection. The children were not condemned for the sins of the parents; but when, with a knowledge of all the light given to their parents, the children rejected the additional light granted to themselves, they became partakers of the parents’ sins, and filled up the measure of their iniquity.” - Pages 27, 28.

Isn’t it good news that the Judge of all the earth takes our ignorance of His law into consideration before pronouncing sentence upon us? Even though we are sinful by birth, He does not hold us accountable for our condition until we have had sufficient light and opportunity for repentance.

We have at least three problems with sin in this world. The first is the problem of the sinful nature with which we were born. The second is the problem of our sinful track record, our past sins which we have committed. The third is the problem of our present sinning. Sometimes people get the idea that if we were to stop our present sinning, and never sin or fall or fail again, that we would no longer need Jesus. But for as long as we live here, we will still need His justifying grace to cover our sinful past and our sinful nature.

On the other hand, some have believed that something needs to be done to atone for our sinful natures and, believing that we are sinful by birth, they have decided it is necessary to baptize infants in order to take care of that problem. Augustine taught what is sometimes called the doctrine of original sin, although it would have been more accurate to call it “original guilt.” He believed in the sinful condition of man by birth-and he also believed that we are held accountable for that condition.

But God never holds any of us accountable for our sin whether it is our sinful nature or our sins of the past or our present sinning-until we understand two things: First, that it is sin, and second, what to do about it. Only then does accountability begin.

God is not in the business of trying to see how many people He can keep out of heaven. Instead, because of His great love, He is doing everything a God of love can do to make it possible for each one to be there. The solution for the sinful nature, the sinful past, the present sinning, is provided for through His grace.