The Requirements for
Accountability and Sin

Many people think they or others are sinning when they are actually transgressing. In order to sin, we must be fully accountable for our actions in relation to that specific law which we are breaking. All transgressions are covered by the atonement without the requirement of repentance, but we can’t understand why until we can understand the difference between sins and transgressions and what requirements a person needs to meet to be fully accountable enough to truly sin.

For some, there is extreme controversy that surrounds this topic. For some, it seems to undermine their entire view of basic gospel principles leaving them upset and confused.  For others it creates a deep and profound love for God and all men, giving them a renewed hope and commitment for righteousness.  In the end, this most basic doctrine has a profound effect on the way we see ourselves and others. It can be the difference between peace and war, innocence and guilt, life and death. 

There are a few questions which can insightfully help us to understand this topic. The way you answer each simple question will have a powerful effect on every facet of your life, whether you know it or not. If you want to see what we mean, take the time to consider how you would answer these questions and how your answers cause you to interact with others. The questions are:

• What is “Sin”?
• At what point is a person capable of sinning?
•  At what point does an action become a sin?

What Makes Something a “Sin”?

          Although this seems like a simple question, it is not.  We’re not looking for a complete list of all sins or all the ways that a person can sin, that would be impossible to make.  Additionally, if we made such a list, we would find that what may be considered a sin in one instance would not be a sin in another instance. Many examples of this are given in the scriptures for example in one instance God says, “Thou shalt not kill”, and in another instance God says, “Thou shalt utterly destroy.” 

We are also told that praying is good, but only if done with the right heart and intent. Likewise, it is counted evil to give a gift of charity incorrectly, (out of obligation or to be seen of men), and righteous to do it correctly, (motivated by love for others). So to make a list of sins and a list of righteous actions would not be enough. We would need to make an additional list of motivations and intentions which determined if the action was good or evil. Again, an impossible task.

So, what then are the determining factors behind whether a person has sinned or not?

Ultimately, the determining factor of whether or not someone can sin is if they are accountable for their actions. There are five things that are required for a person to be accountable and capable of sinning. They are:

1. Opposition or at least two choices
2. Consequences or results of choice must also vary according to the choices
3. A desire toward one of the choices
4. Free Will or the ability to choose for ourselves
5. Knowledge of Good and Evil

1. Opposition or at Least Two Choices

“For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my firstborn in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad.” – 2 Nephi 2:11-13

To have agency which allows us to fulfill the plan of salvation, we have to have a choice between good and evil.  If there was only good or only evil, then we wouldn’t have choice and without choice there is no accountability. Without accountability, there is and can be no sin.

2. Consequences or Results of Choice Must Vary

“Wherefore, the ends of the law which the Holy One hath given, unto the inflicting of the punishment which is affixed, which punishment that is affixed is in opposition to that of the happiness which is affixed, to answer the ends of the atonement.” – 2 Nephi 2:10

Imagine if someone offered you two choices, Vanilla or Strawberry Ice-cream and you chose strawberry ice-cream but got chocolate. When you complained that you didn’t get what you chose, you were told nobody gets what they want. Did you really have a choice? No. 

When we make choices, we need to receive the consequences of our choice, (good or bad). This means that if you protect others from their choices, then you are taking their agency and preventing them from being accountable. Agency is REQUIRED for us to learn to distinguish good from evil.

3. A Desire Toward One of the Choices

“Wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself. Wherefore, man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other.” – 2 Nephi 2:16

If a person doesn’t have a preference, they aren’t capable of sinning because they aren’t informed enough on the subject. They’re guessing in hopes that they will get what they want.

We are not judged according to what we do as much as we are judged according to what we want to do, as if we acted according to our unmanipulated free will.

“For behold, God hath said a man being evil cannot do that which is good; for if he offereth a gift, or prayeth unto God, except he shall do it with real intent it profiteth him nothing.

7 For behold, it is not counted unto him for righteousness.

8 For behold, if a man being evil giveth a gift, he doeth it grudgingly; wherefore it is counted unto him the same as if he had retained the gift; wherefore he is counted evil before God.

9 And likewise also is it counted evil unto a man, if he shall pray and not with real intent of heart; yea, and it profiteth him nothing, for God receiveth none such.

10 Wherefore, a man being evil cannot do that which is good; neither will he give a good gift.” – Moroni 7:6-9

This is very important to understand! The same act, (taking the sacrament as an example), can be edifying and righteous or wicked and condemning. The act is not what is important as much as the intent. In searching the scriptures it appears that it is our acts that justify or condemn us. But as shown by Mormon in the verses above and other prophets in the scriptures, an evil person doing acts that appear to be inherently good is still considered an evil person and their acts are counted as evil. Therefore, we are judged according to the desires of our heart which determines whether our actions are counted as good or evil.

“And it is requisite with the justice of God that men should be judged according to their works; and if their works were good in this life, and the desires of their hearts were good, that they should also, at the last day, be restored unto that which is good.” – Alma 41:3

4. Free Will or the Ability to Choose for Ourselves

“Wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself. Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil” – 2 Nephi 2:27

Without a doubt, if someone’s will is taken from them, and they are forced to act contrary to their own will or desire, they are not accountable for their actions and the sin is not on their head, but the head of the person forcing them.

But what people don’t realize is that free will can be manipulated in a wide range of varying degrees from threats to rewards. For example, a person might be told by the law not to hit others. The law threatens a punishment intended to manipulate the will of those under the law. A person who wants to hit their neighbor might refrain for fear of the punishment inflicted by the law. This doesn’t mean they are counted as righteous for not hitting their neighbor. The choice to hit or not was replaced by the choice to be punished by the law or not. It means that their will is being manipulated and they are actually making the choice to not suffer the consequences of the law, and not the choice to be kind to their neighbor.

Likewise, adding rewards in an effort to manipulate agency or free will. A seminary teacher might say to their class, “If you pray every morning and night you will get a candy bar at the end of the month.” the student may be more enticed to pray, but not because they want to pray and receive the inherent rewards of communion with God. The choice to pray or not was replaced by the choice to get a candy bar or not. The student’s will is being manipulated. If the student were truly free according to their own will, they would choose to pray or not pray without the reward. 

5. Knowledge of Good and Evil

“Yea, and I know that good and evil have come before all men; he that knoweth not good from evil is blameless; but he that knoweth good and evil, to him it is given according to his desires, whether he desireth good or evil, life or death, joy or remorse of conscience.” – Alma 29:5

If you don’t know good from evil, then you are blameless and innocent as a baby in regard to that thing. We think that most people understand this from a high level, but few consider what this really means.

So many people think that knowledge comes when someone tells you what is good and what is evil, especially if a man of God or even a prophet tells you. This is not the case. 

If you have been told what is right and what is wrong, even if you are told by a prophet, you don’t know for yourself, and you do not have the knowledge required to sin.  Rather than knowledge, you have “a reason to believe”. With that reason to believe, you can do one of the following:

• Blindly Obey – Trusting in the wisdom of others, which might be right or wrong, they replace their own agency with the agency of others which is commonly called “Obedience”.
  • People who do this will say things like – “Follow the prophet”
  • If you ask these people why they do something they will refer to someone else saying, “Because my Bishop said to…”
  • When Adam was asked why he offered sacrifices, he said, “I know not, save the Lord commanded me.” (see Moses 5:6)
• Blindly Disobey – Distrusting in the wisdom of others, which might be right or wrong, they replace their own agency with the anti-agency of others which is commonly called “Rebellion”.
  • People who do this will say things like – “Don’t do anything the church tells you to do.”
  • If you ask these people why they do something they will say, “Because Mom said to and I am mad at my mom, so I won’t do anything my mom tells me to do.”
• Make an Educated Decision – Through a process of research and consideration, they gather as much information as they feel is reasonable and ultimately think it through for themselves. Formulating their own opinion or theory they exercise their ability to choose and test their hypothesis. They are not accountable, but gambling using an educated guess.
  • People who do this will say things like – “If I do X then I think Y will happen.”
  • If you ask these people why they do something they will say, “I thought about it and think that…”

Regardless of which option we choose above, we are not accountable for our decision because we lack knowledge. This is important because without knowledge, we cannot sin.  Sin is defined as acting “Knowingly AND willingly” against God’s law.  If you don’t have knowledge OR you don’t have the ability to act according to your own will (Agency), then you cannot sin.  If you act against God’s law without knowledge or will (Agency) then you are NOT sinning, you are transgressing.

Even when we are told what to do or what is good by a prophet of the Lord, we ONLY have “reason to believe”.  Knowledge cannot come from someone else.  It must come from ourselves. The prophet Alma understood this. He knew that even though he was teaching the people and telling them what they needed to do, he was only giving them “cause to believe” and not knowledge enough to sin. 

“Yea, there are many who do say: If thou wilt show unto us a sign from heaven, then we shall know of a surety; then we shall believe.

 18 Now I ask, is this faith? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for if a man knoweth a thing he hath no cause to believe, for he knoweth it.

 19 And now, how much more cursed is he that knoweth the will of God and doeth it not, than he that only believeth, or only hath cause to believe, and falleth into transgression?” – Alma 32:17-19

Even if the prophet tells us something, like Alma was telling the people here, it does not mean that we have knowledge. We only have “cause to believe”.  If we do not have knowledge, then we are not accountable and cannot sin.

Taking this even further, it is not enough to know that something is wrong. Sin requires agency or the ability to choose. If you only have one option, then you don’t have a choice. It doesn’t matter if the option is good or bad, if you don’t have a choice, you can’t choose between good or evil and so the choice neither counts for you nor against you in God’s judgement. If a person knows something is wrong but doesn’t know how to stop, then they don’t have enough information to sin because they don’t have enough information to make a decision to change. 

The knowledge required to sin includes:  

• What is good and what is evil.
• Why it is good and why it is evil.
• How to act on the good and how to reject or avoid evil.

Godly Sorrow vs. The Sorrowing of the Damned

There are two main types of sorrow we experience when we sin, one brings us to peace through change and the other brings us to depression through guilt which comes from lack of change. The two types of sorrow for sin are “The Sorrowing of the Damned” and “Godly Sorrow”.

The Sorrowing of the Damned

Near the end of the Book of Mormon, the people become wicked and are overcome by wars. Many people died in the wars which caused the people to mourn and lament.  Mormon saw them morning and hoped that their sorrow would bring about repentance, but then he realized that they were not experiencing Godly Sorrow that brings about repentance, but the sorrowing of the damned.

“Thus there began to be a mourning and a lamentation in all the land because of these things, and more especially among the people of Nephi.

12 And it came to pass that when I, Mormon, saw their lamentation and their mourning and their sorrow before the Lord, my heart did begin to rejoice within me, knowing the mercies and the long-suffering of the Lord, therefore supposing that he would be merciful unto them that they would again become a righteous people.

13 But behold this my joy was vain, for their sorrowing was not unto repentance, because of the goodness of God; but it was rather the sorrowing of the damned, because the Lord would not always suffer them to take happiness in sin.

14 And they did not come unto Jesus with broken hearts and contrite spirits, but they did curse God, and wish to die. Nevertheless they would struggle with the sword for their lives.” – Mormon 2:11-14

When people think of the word “Damned”, they tend to think of people who are cursed or punished by God, those condemned to suffer eternal punishment. While that is the end result of someone who is damned if they do not begin making progress, the damned are simply those who are stuck and unable to make progress.

A dam is something that stops up or blocks something else, for example a dam might stop water from running thereby creating a lake. But when a person is damned it means that their progression is stopped or blocked so that they can’t move forward. If they remain in that state until the day of judgement then things will not be well for them.

When people are stuck, they stop learning. They get mired down in guilt and shame or even in anger for the circumstances they find themselves in. Their anger is misplaced and their guilt becomes their cage preventing them from seeing and doing the things that would actually solve their problems.

Their focus is not on overcoming but on being overcome. (Celestial people focus on overcoming all things, see D&C 76:53-60.) The damned quit trying to solve problems or find solutions or make the changes that really matter. When bad things happen to the damned, they don’t stop and figure out what they are doing wrong and fix it. They are just upset that bad things are happening to them. And often just complain about it without seeking change.

For example, when a damned person is caught stealing, they will be sorry that they were caught and not sorry that they were stealing. Nor do they feel sorrow for how their actions hurt their victim. 

The damned soul selfishly focuses on what is happening to them and not on what they were doing to others. They’re damned because they will never progress further until they can get past their blocks that are holding them back. Those blocks are most often caused by a lack of knowledge or understanding and require a revelation or Godly perspective to overcome.

Contrary to Satan’s lies, there is no lasting pleasure in sin. Sin always leads us to experience pain. God tells us not to sin for our sake, not His.

“Behold, I say unto you, wickedness never was happiness.” – Alma 41:10

Godly Sorrow

The apostle Paul told us about another kind of sorrow, one that brings about repentance and sets us on a better path. He said,

“Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing.

10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.” – 2 Corinthians 7:9-10

The word “Godly” doesn’t mean that you have displeased god but that you have knowledge like God. It is Godly meaning like God. It’s a deep and extended understanding of what you have done, how your actions have affected others. The depth and breadth of your understanding has the capacity to change your heart in equal proportion if you allow it.

With this knowledge also comes the  POWER of, like, and from God to make the changes necessary to cease the action. Therefore it is Godly sorrow, because it brings with it the power and knowledge to make the lasting changes necessary to rectify the mistakes you have made. 

Godly sorrow brings with it the powers of heaven. The very knowledge and power of God. This knowledge and power will make you unconstrained in your goodness to your fellow man as well as your progression back into the presence of God and to that celestial state of being that you are striving for. You are then progressing like a God.

Godly Sorrow works repentance because it is the broken heart and contrite spirit as well as the knowledge and power that is required for true and lasting repentance.

A Broken Heart and a Contrite Spirit

Repeatedly Jesus tells us that the qualification for the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost is a broken heart and a contrite spirit. 

“And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost, even as the Lamanites, because of their faith in me at the time of their conversion, were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and they knew it not.” – 3 Nephi 9:20

The scriptures teach us all about the importance, or more correctly the essential requirement of a broken heart and a contrite spirit. Yet the way it used to be taught gave us the impression that what we were supposed to be striving for was a sort of compliance. 

But when we delve deeper into the true meanings of these concepts, we learn some essential insights. If you have been trying to have a broken heart and a contrite spirit but misunderstand what these two things are, then you are spending your time and energy striving for the wrong things. Under this condition you will never attain the blessings that those characteristics are calculated to bring you. If you have been experiencing frustration in not attaining the baptism of fire and the gift of the Holy Ghost, this very well may be what has been holding you back.

So, let’s dive into what we now know these words actually mean and what we need to learn from them and how we need to alter our actions and behavior to attain that which our heart is seeking.

A Broken Heart

“Behold, he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered.” – 2 Nephi 2:7

If you are accountable for your actions and capable of sinning, but don’t have a broken heart, then you haven’t repented or changed from your selfish natural man way of being and you remain guilty of your sins. The ends of the law must be answered against you.

In short, a broken heart is the result of having love for others and feeling sorrow for the damage and pain that we have caused them by our sins. It is a broken heart that causes us to be humble and to treat others with love and compassion.

The opposite of a broken heart is a hard heart. When someone is hard hearted they treat others as tools to be used, not caring for them and their circumstances. Hard hearted people are not easily moved toward compassion for others. Their hard hearts must be broken to become softened toward their brothers and sisters and to be humble enough to look to the Lord for guidance. 

“For he truly spake many great things unto them, which were hard to be understood, save a man should inquire of the Lord; and they being hard in their hearts, therefore they did not look unto the Lord as they ought.” – 1 Nephi 15:3

A Contrite Spirit

Many people are now teaching that this means to be willing to do all that the Lord asks. Or to be meek, or humble. But a “contrite spirit” is not obedience as is frequently taught and understood by many of our modern day teachers. It’s more closely related to Godly sorrow in that it’s understanding and sorrow for the effects our actions have on others and the desire to correct the wrongs and heal the pain we’ve caused others. Godly sorrow gives us the knowledge and power to atone, but that would be useless without the contrite spirit that motivates us to act on that knowledge.

Contrite means: 

1. caused by or showing sincere remorse.
2. filled with a sense of guilt and the desire for atonement; penitent:

Someone who feels remorse or guilt is contrite, only if that remorse brings about in them a desire to atone for or repair the wrongs they had done. A strong desire and commitment to make right those things and people whom you have wronged. A desire so strong and so great that you will do whatever it takes to correct your errors and the deleterious effects they have had on others.

A person who is contrite does not require a law or a threat of punishment to motivate them to do good or even to correct the harm they have caused. They desire to do that for themselves because they have a contrite spirit.

Imagine if our justice system, instead of being a “justice” system, was more of an “education” system?

Rather than the focus being on how we can punish people who have wronged others or society, we instead focus on showing and teaching the criminals to see and understand the long and far reaching impact of their actions on the people they’ve harmed. Rather than driving them further into concern for their own selfish wellbeing, through indirect punishments we truly help them to reform by helping them to see through the eyes of their victims? We help them to develop “a contrite spirit”? This is ultimately what the atonement does as you will see later on.

When people struggle with receiving the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost, it is often because they do not have a broken heart and a contrite spirit. They still see themselves as a good and righteous person. They can’t accept their own wickedness. They excuse themselves and justify themselves thinking that they are not wicked. If you cannot accept your own error and weakness, then you do not have a broken heart required to experience the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost.

Look at the example of the people under king Benjamin. After King Benjamin had spoken to them, they experienced the broken heart and a contrite spirit and they cried to God asking for forgiveness and immediately their sins were forgiven and they were baptized with Fire and the Holy Ghost.

“And now, it came to pass that when king Benjamin had made an end of speaking the words which had been delivered unto him by the angel of the Lord, that he cast his eyes round about on the multitude, and behold they had fallen to the earth, for the fear of the Lord had come upon them.

2 And they had viewed themselves in their own carnal state, even less than the dust of the earth. And they all cried aloud with one voice, saying: O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins, and our hearts may be purified; for we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who created heaven and earth, and all things; who shall come down among the children of men.

3 And it came to pass that after they had spoken these words the Spirit of the Lord came upon them, and they were filled with joy, having received a remission of their sins, and having peace of conscience, because of the exceeding faith which they had in Jesus Christ who should come, according to the words which king Benjamin had spoken unto them.” – Mosiah 4:1-3

Also, if people are diligently seeking to obey, but in so doing they miss the change in their heart that leads their heart to concern for their fellow man, then all the perceived “obedience” they can come up with will not clean their heart and make it ready for the Holy Ghost to dwell within them. This is the cleansing that is required to become a worthy temple for the spirit of the Lord.

So in summary: A broken heart is what humbles you, a contrite spirit gives you the desire to make it right, to atone, and Godly Sorrow brings with it the knowledge, strength and  power for you to do what needs to be done to change your actions and intent forever.

The Gift of the Veil

God knew that knowledge was required to sin, so in an act of love, He caused us to forget all we knew by placing over our minds a veil of forgetfulness. This veil was given as a protection to us while we grew and developed and learned to master our physical bodies. Without the veil the appetites of the flesh would overwhelm us and we would be sinning against the greater light and knowledge being fully accountable. Instead, because of the veil, we fumble along through life trying to get control of our bodies as we progress along life’s journey. We learn from our own experience to distinguish good from evil.

Little children don’t turn eight years old and instantly become fully accountable. The lord said that children begin to become accountable at eight years old. Most people die before they are fully accountable. Becoming accountable is a lifelong process.

“But behold, I say unto you, that little children are redeemed from the foundation of the world through mine Only Begotten;

47 Wherefore, they cannot sin, for power is not given unto Satan to tempt little children, until they begin to become accountable before me;” 

– D&C 29:46-47

The fastest way to have the veil removed from our minds is to prove that we can handle the knowledge we gain if the veil were removed, (without damning ourselves). The veil is removed in proportion to our virtue and faith. Virtue is to act consistent with what the Lord has revealed to you.

Did You Sin or Did You Transgress?

The big difference between sin and transgression is that sins require repentance to receive forgiveness through the atonement.  Transgressions are covered by the atonement without repentance.  

“For behold, and also his blood atoneth for the sins of those who have fallen by the transgression of Adam, who have died not knowing the will of God concerning them, or who have ignorantly sinned.

12 But wo, wo unto him who knoweth that he rebelleth against God! For salvation cometh to none such except it be through repentance and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ.” – Mosiah 3:11-12

“And, again, I say unto you, that whoso having knowledge, have I not commanded to repent?

50 And he that hath no understanding, it remaineth in me to do according as it is written. And now I declare no more unto you at this time. Amen.” 

– D&C 29:49-50

This is why little children do not begin to become accountable until they have reached the age of eight.  Even if they have been told by their parents what is right and wrong, they do not know for themselves until they have been able to make their own choices.

What this also means is that very few of us are fully accountable for our actions. Even the full grown adults who rejected the prophets during their mortal sojourn were considered to have died “without the knowledge of the truth, or in transgression”.

“Thus was the gospel preached to those who had died in their sins, without a knowledge of the truth, or in transgression, having rejected the prophets.” – D&C 138:32

Now please do not misunderstand us by thinking that we do not suffer from our transgressions. There are natural consequences to all of our actions that cannot be avoided. A child may not understand that fire burns, but they still get hurt if they try to touch the pretty flame.

Likewise, it is because of our transgressions that we are given rules and laws to help us to learn and to protect others from our actions until we do.

“Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.” – Gal. 3:19

This is just like a child given a rule and the threat of punishment if they do not keep the rule. This is given because the child does not understand how to govern them self. They need someone else to govern them.

Some have asked us to help them understand if something they did was a sin or a transgression. The best way we have learned to answer them is by asking them a few questions: 

1. Did you do what you wanted?
2. Did you get what you desired?
3. Did you intentionally hurt anyone?
4. Did you know how to stop?
5. Did you have the power to stop?
6. Do you know why it is wrong?
7. Did you act according to your own desire without being manipulated, forced or coerced against your will?

If you answered “no” to any of these questions, you committed a transgression and were not accountable, assuming that what you did or participated in was wrong, immoral or against the will of God. In doing so, you remain as innocent as a child.

If you answered “yes” to all of these questions, then you commited a sin, assuming that what you did was truly immoral and against the will of God.

Transgressions are the failures we make while progressing from ignorance to pure independent knowledge and from weakness to power.  ALMOST everyone who errors does so as a transgression. Even those people who THINK they know that what they are doing is wrong probably have a strong testimony, but lack true knowledge. Remember what Mormon told us happened to the Brother of Jared when he gained true knowledge?

“And because of the knowledge of this man he could not be kept from beholding within the veil; and he saw the finger of Jesus, which, when he saw, he fell with fear; for he knew that it was the finger of the Lord; and he had faith no longer, for he knew, nothing doubting.” – Ether 3:19

You may have SOME knowledge, and therefore are SOMEWHAT accountable, but until you have knowledge enough to behold within the veil, you are still moving forward with faith and hope. Even those who have had these great experiences continue to grow and develop having knowledge in some things, but still struggling to learn and understand so much more.

MOST people who have full knowledge of a thing ALSO have the power to act in accordance with that knowledge. If your desire is to do good, but you like the prophets Paul, Nephi and others, struggle with the flesh THAT is a good indicator that you have very little accountability.

Sin is the lack of virtue that results when we have the knowledge and power to change, but lack the desire to act consistent with what the Lord has revealed to us.

What About Those Who Are Deceived?

Is a deceived person accountable for their actions? Hopefully by this point you can answer the question for yourself.

Deceive – mislead, delude or beguile; to lead astray or frustrate usually by underhandedness. Deceive implies imposing a false idea or belief that causes ignorance, bewilderment, or helplessness.

If someone was deceived, they lack knowledge and are not accountable for their actions. Notice how Eve was deceived and therefore in transgression and not sin.

“And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.” – 1 Tim. 2:14

This verse is not saying that Adam sinned. Adam transgressed also because he lacked the requirements for sin. The verse is pointing out that because Eve was deceived, she was not accountable for her actions and transgressed rather than sinned. All who are deceived likewise transgress against the will of God and remain innocent.

This is a key insight into the battle between good and evil and the probationary state that many of us are currently in. If the devil deceives us, he wins no true victory. He may cause pain and suffering that comes with all sins and transgressions, but without knowledge we cannot choose either good nor evil and remain innocent as a new born child.

To truly win us over to the dark side, we must not only do evil, but willingly choose evil. Most wicked people of the earth are ignorantly evil. Only those who have true knowledge are capable of becoming Sons of Perdition by turning their back on principles of truth and righteousness after gaining true knowledge. To become a Son of Perdition, one must first gain personal knowledge between good and evil and desire the evil more than the good as did Cain who knew both God and Satan but loved Satan more than God, see (Moses 5:18).