"And he shall bring his trespass offering to the LORD for his sin which he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a kid of the goats as a sin offering. So the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin. ‘If he is not able to bring a lamb, then he shall bring to the LORD, for his trespass which he has committed, two turtledoves or two young pigeons: one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering." (vv.6-7)
A trespass is a different type of sin. To sin means "to miss the mark." It's an archery term used to describe an archer who missed his mark. He aimed for the target, the goal, but missed the mark, he sinned. The Bible tells us that "all have sinned (missed the mark of perfection) and fallen short of the glory of God." And thus though we try we sometimes fail - not for the lack of trying, but we fail (missed the mark) nonetheless.
Trespassing is the unlawful crossing of a boundary. Meaning we know in our hearts what we are about to do is wrong, but we go ahead and do it anyway. God has certain boundaries for humanity in general and for His people specifically, and when they cross those boundaries it is a sin of trespass. So, is a trespasses a forgivable offense? The answer is "Yes." It’s important to remember though that according to verse 5, this had to be preceded by confession of sin. To confess meant one would agree with God that the sin was wrong. If there was not confession of sin before the sacrifice, then the sacrifice would do no good.
Confession of crossing God’s boundary is still an important principle for clearing away sin that hinders our fellowship with Him today. The New Testament bears witness to this in 1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleans us from all unrighteousness." This applies whether we willfully sin or just miss the mark. With confession comes forgiveness.
Yet, it is important and necessary to remember that one may be guilty of sin without feeling it or thinking it so. Spurgeon put it this way, “If, again, the guilt of an action depended entirely upon a man’s knowledge, we should have no fixed standard at all by which to judge right and wrong: it would be variable according to the enlightenment of each man, and there would be no ultimate and infallible court of appeal…. The art of forgetting would be diligently studied, and ignorance would become an enviable inheritance.” Therefore, ignorance is no excuse. “Ignorance of the law of God is itself a breach of the law, since we are bidden to know and remember it.” (Spurgeon)
The bottom line for the Christian is not the type of sin we commit, but how we deal with commission of our sins. Being sorry for crossing one of God's boundaries is not enough, we must repent of our actions. Pastor Chuck Smith use to say, "The jails are full of people who are sorry for breaking a law....sorry they got caught." A true confession then must come from a repetitive heart, verbalizing our sin to the One who is able to forgive us of our sin, and to cleanse us from it.
The Truth: "In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.” (Acts 17:30-31)
"The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none who does good." (Psalm 14:1)
