Leviticus 4:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a soul sin through ignorance against any of the commandments of the Lord concerning things which ought not to be done, and shall do against any of them: If the priest that is anointed do sin according to the sin of the people; then let him bring for his sin, which he hath sinned, a young bullock without blemish unto the Lord for a sin offering.
A detailed description is given for the sin offering. The sin offering is meant for the person who commits an unintentional sin against any commandment. Sinning through ignorance is no excuse. No excuses or rationalizations or trivializations are acceptable when it comes to the Holiness of God. Sin is sin whether one knew of it or not. All sins separate us from God and His life.
Our only response to known and deliberate sin is to make a specific confession to God, which we do daily. We also respond weekly in the general confession in church to receive absolution for all sins, even those we do not know about. We bring a sin offering to God in the form of confessing that I am a sinner, and confessing my faith that Jesus is the perfect and final sin offering for me. I confess that the once for all sacrifice of the Lamb of God is for me, the sinner, and all my sins, known and unknown, are included in Jesus’ sacrifice.
The daily OT sacrifices are continued in the NT in our daily repentance and faith in Christ. The sacrifice of Christ is all we ever need, forever. Our faith response makes it personal and real through daily repentance and renewed faith. For the NT believer the sin offering response is to “present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship [Romans 12:1].”