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Chapter 15
187
22 (
John 5:40
;
Luke 12:48
). No Provision for Willful Blind-
ness
—[
John 15:22
quoted.]... Those who have an opportunity to
hear the truth, and yet take no pains to hear or understand it, thinking
that if they do not hear, they will not be accountable, will be judged
guilty before God the same as if they had heard and rejected. There
will be no excuse for those who choose to go in error when they
might understand what is truth. In His sufferings and death Jesus has
made atonement for all sins of ignorance, but there is no provision
made for willful blindness....
We shall not be held accountable for the light that has not reached
our perception, but for that which we have resisted and refused. A
man could not apprehend the truth which had never been presented
to him, and therefore could not be condemned for light he had never
had. But if he had opportunity to hear the message, and to become
acquainted with the truth, and yet refused to improve his opportunity,
he will be among the number of whom Christ said, “Ye will not
come to me, that ye might have life.” Those who deliberately place
themselves where they will not have an opportunity of hearing the
truth, will be reckoned among those who have heard the truth, and
persistently resisted its evidences (
The Review and Herald, April 25,
1893
).
Light That Has Shone, Will Condemn
—None will be con-
demned for not heeding light and knowledge that they never had,
and they could not obtain. But many refuse to obey the truth that
is presented to them by Christ’s ambassadors, because they wish to
conform to the world’s standard; and the truth that has reached their
understanding, the light that has shone in the soul, will condemn
them in the judgment (
The Review and Herald, November 25, 1884
).
Judged According to Light
—Men will not be judged for light
they have never had. But those who have kept Sunday, whose
attention has been called to this error, but who would not open
their eyes to behold wondrous things out of the law, will be judged
according to the light that has come to them (
The Review and Herald,
September 13, 1898
).
26, 27
. See
EGW comment on Acts 1:8
.