I chanced upon a post on “ignorantia legis neminem excusat” which in English means “ignorance of the law excuses no one.”

It admits that this principle might seem unfair but the professor cites two reasons why it is really not.

“First, it promotes legal certainty and predictability. If people could simply claim ignorance as an excuse for breaking the law, it would be difficult for others to know what is expected of them and for the law to be applied consistently.

Second, the principle of ‘ignorantia legis non excusat’ encourages people to educate themselves about the laws that apply to them. This is especially important in a democratic society, where citizens have a responsibility to participate in the legal process and to hold their government accountable.”

I often hear how God is unfair. “What about those who will never get the chance to hear the gospel? Isn’t it unfair to send them to hell?”

First off, God does not send people to hell; we send ourselves to hell. We are on auto-pilot as soon as we are born because we are born with a sinful nature.

Our sinful nature is our ticket to hell so we will not be allowed to board a flight that is heaven-bound. We can only change our destination when we cancel our ticket and book a one-way trip to heaven by asking for forgiveness of our sins and accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

If sinful men like us can affirm that “ignorantia legis neminem excusat” is fair enough to base our legal system on, surely we can trust God who is infinitely more just.

The Latin law is unnecessary when it comes to God’s offer of salvation. Being good, He has made sure that everyone will get the opportunity to know THE Way, THE Truth, and THE Life (John 14:6), if not through an evangelism effort, it will be by way of nature. “The heavens keep telling the wonders of God, and the skies declare what he has done.” (Psalm 19:1, CEV)

God has promised that “if you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.” (Jer. 29:13, NLT). He has done everything to convince us to change our boarding pass but if we still refuse to cancel our original ticket or insist on flying our own plane (read: good works) when we don’t even know how to fly one, it absolves God of all liabilities and puts the blame for our eternal doom all solely to ourselves.