In our last post we used a “dog shoots hunter” news piece to talk about how God shows mercy for unintentional wrongs.
But there are other examples of animals who are put down and destroyed after having aggressively attacked a child, stranger or owner.
A UK paper tells the sad story of a woman who died of an infection after being bitten on the hand by Brannigan her beloved Rottweiler dog. Friends say she refused to get treatment because she was afraid authorities would insist on euthanizing the dog if they knew her “gentle giant” had bitten her.
There’s more to the story. Brannigan had once saved the woman’s life when it dragged her out of a burning building.
This time, however, the Rottweiler’s bite may have crossed the line, at least in someone’s mind.
So let’s come back to our earlier discussion.
Does God show mercy only to those who didn’t know what they were doing? I’m thinking of the Apostle Paul’s statement that, even though he now considers himself the chief of sinners, he believes God showed him mercy because his prior life of blasphemy, persecution, and abuse were done in ignorance and unbelief (1Tim 1:13-16).
In another letter to the Corinthians Paul said that those who crucified Jesus had done so in ignorance and unbelief (1Cor 2:8). Peter made the same allowance (Acts 3:17), as did the Lord himself as he hung from the cross (Luke 23:34).
So what happens then if we are wondering whether we are like Brannigan? Have we at some point crossed the line into a conscious willful, pre-meditated act that God will not forgive (in this life at least…. and maybe also not in the life to come?).
One way of answering this might be to reason that all sin is done in some measure of ignorance and unbelief. In other words, if we could see any sin with the full knowledge of God, and while trusting him completely—who would go there? (Do you resonate with that?)
Or let’s try this. If God is honored by the mercy he shows even unintentional sins done in unbelief and ignorance, how much greater would be the mercy and compassion he shows us when we admit with regret that we had at least some knowledge of the wrong they were doing!?
Or is the most compelling answer that God, in his Son, paid the ultimate, eternal, infinite price, once and for all, for our sin, without ever saying that he was only paying the price for our mistakes?
Or are there other options?
What’s your take?
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