'Ignorance' in the Bible
“But if they do not hear and obey, they will die by the sword [of God’s destructive judgments]And they will die [in ignorance] without [true] knowledge.
With all my heart I have sought You, [inquiring of You and longing for You];Do not let me wander from Your commandments [neither through ignorance nor by willful disobedience].
If you [claim ignorance and] say, “See, we did not know this,”Does He not consider it who weighs and examines the hearts and their motives?And does He not know it who guards your life and keeps your soul?And will He not repay [you and] every man according to his works?
You shall do this on the seventh [day] of the month for everyone who goes astray [and sins through error or ignorance] and for him who is naive; so shall you make atonement for the temple (house).
“Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance [not fully aware of what you were doing], just as your rulers did also.
Therefore God overlooked and disregarded the former ages of ignorance; but now He commands all people everywhere to repent [that is, to change their old way of thinking, to regret their past sins, and to seek God’s purpose for their lives],
for their [moral] understanding is darkened and their reasoning is clouded; [they are] alienated and self-banished from the life of God [with no share in it; this is] because of the [willful] ignorance and spiritual blindness that is [deep-seated] within them, because of the hardness and insensitivity of their heart.
even though I was formerly a blasphemer [of our Lord] and a persecutor [of His church] and a shameful and outrageous and violent aggressor [toward believers]. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted out of ignorance in unbelief.
but into the second [inner tabernacle, the Holy of Holies], only the high priest enters [and then only] once a year, and never without [bringing a sacrifice of] blood, which he offers [as a substitutionary atonement] for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance.
[Live] as obedient children [of God]; do not be conformed to the evil desires which governed you in your ignorance [before you knew the requirements and transforming power of the good news regarding salvation].