Intentional and Unintentional Sin

As Dr. Bounds indicated in the video, the Old Testament does have a concept of unintentional sin. We find it especially in Leviticus’ discussion of the offering for sin (Lev. 4). An individual, the collective people of Israel, and the priests can all sin unintentionally. Indeed, such unintentional sin would seem to be the primary reason for sacrifice in the Old Testament. Intentional sin is not explicitly mentioned in Leviticus as something that the sacrificial system is for. For example, the Cities of Refuge were for individuals who unintentionally caused someone else’s death (e.g., Num. 35:11).They afforded no protection for someone who intentionally murdered another person.

As you can see, intentional sin is treated much more seriously in the Old Testament than unintentional sin. When Achan intentionally disobeys God and takes from the spoils of Jericho, not only he but his whole family has to atone for the sin by death (Josh. 7:24-25). When David intentionally sins with Bathsheba and has her husband killed, the child born from the affair must die (2 Sam. 12:14), although the Lord spares David because of his repentance.

Unintentional sin is thus more serious than uncleanness, but less serious than intentional sin.

John Wesley recognized that the sin that God is most concerned with in the Bible is intentional sin, wrongdoing that is done knowing it is wrong. His famous definition of sin “properly so called” is a willful transgression against a known law of God (e.g., in “The Great Privilege of Those Who Are Born of God”).

You may have heard the definition that sin is “missing the mark.” No where is this definition given in Scripture and in fact it comes from several misunderstandings of the Greek language. Its main problem is that it focuses the definition of sin on the standard rather than on the intent of the person involved. It is not surprising that many Christians have thus come to see sin as anything short of perfection.

But perfection is not the “mark” that the New Testament reveals. The “mark” in the New Testament is to love God with your whole heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30) and to love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:22). The whole of the Law, Jesus says, is captured in these two commands (Matt. 22:40; Rom. 13:8-10). While it is certainly possible to wrong another person without intending to do so, this is not the focus of New Testament concern in relation to sin.

Love is, in the first place, a matter of the heart and the intention. It is primarily about the choices we make toward God and others. Accordingly, Paul can say that “everything that does not come from faith is sin” (Rom. 14:23). Romans 14 indicates that two people might do the very same act and it be sin for one and not sin for the other.

The central role of intentionality in sin is seen also in James 4:17, which says that a person who knows to do good and does not do it has sinned. This is a sin of “omission,” as opposed to a sin of commission, when you do something you know you should not do. James does not have in mind an absolute standard but a clear choice that one makes not to do good when one has the resources to do so.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus makes it clear that the choice for sin is made internally before it manifests itself externally. Long before a person might act to murder, a person has already murdered the other person in one’s heart ( Matt. 5:22). Long before a person has committed adultery with their body, they have done so in their mind (Matt. 5:28). These are not passing thoughts or temptations, they are lingering attitudes of one’s heart. 

Therefore, Jesus also makes it clear that sin is primarily a matter of our intentions more than our actions.