10. How does God regard those who break His law because they didn’t know about it? Think about Romans 5:13 and Acts 17:30.
NOTE: ‘“And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent.” In the ages of darkness that had preceded the advent of Christ, the divine Ruler had passed lightly over the idolatry of the heathen; but now, through His Son, He had sent men the light of truth; and He expected from all repentance unto salvation, not only from the poor and humble, but from the proud philosopher and the princes of the earth.’ Acts of the Apostles, page 239.
‘We have more light than they had in their day; and if we would be accepted of God, we must be as faithful in obeying the light and walking in it as they were in receiving and obeying the light that God sent to them. We must accept and improve the light that shines upon our pathway as faithfully as they accepted and improved the light that fell upon their pathway in their generation. We shall be judged according to the light that shines into the soul-temple in our day; and if we follow the light, we shall be free men and women in Christ Jesus.’ Faith & Works, page 122.
11. Are those ignorant of God’s law always wicked people? Romans 2:14-15.
NOTE: ‘“When the Gentiles, which have not the [written] law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these having not the [written] law are a law unto themselves; which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness.” When the Gentiles do the things contained in the law, their conscience bears witness. And by doing the things of the law, they show the work of the law written in their hearts, and to that their conscience bears witness. Observe, the conscience bears witness only to the things contained in the law. Therefore as much of the law of God as is in the heart, so much conscience a man has, and no more. By these “proofs of Holy Writ,” then it is proved that the ten commandments are the moral standard of action of the human mind; that they are the detector of the stains of sin upon the conscience; that they are the great regulator of the conscience; and that, virtually, the law of God is conscience. And by these proofs it is clear that when, out of respect for the law of God, a person does what is commanded in the law, he acts conscientiously. And it is equally clear that when a person, with the law of God before him, chooses to go contrary to the plain reading of the text of the law, he does not act conscientiously, but wilfully, and his own will becomes the standard of his mind, and so conscience is shut out.’ A. T. Jones: Signs of the Times, October 2, 1884.
‘Wherever there is an impulse of love and sympathy, wherever the heart reaches out to bless and uplift others, there is revealed the working of God’s Holy Spirit. In the depths of heathenism, men who have had no knowledge of the written law of God, who have never even heard the name of Christ, have been kind to His servants, protecting them at the risk of their own lives. Their acts show the working of a divine power. The Holy Spirit has implanted the grace of Christ in the heart of the savage, quickening his sympathies contrary to his nature, contrary to his education. The “Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (John 1:9), is shining in his soul; and this light, if heeded, will guide his feet to the kingdom of God.’ Christ’s Object Lessons, page 385.