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The Black and White of the Unpardonable sin TRUTH and UNDERSTANDING - An electronic magazine of real knowledge- The Black and White of the Unpardonable sin Having heard several different ideas of the unpardonable sin I decided to write on an obvious and extreme end of this subject. I rather felt that by working from this direction that any difficulties might become clear. Some may wonder and worry if they have just gone too far and committed the unpardonable sin. Jesus said, "but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come."(Mt 12:32) A statement like that should send immediate and strong fear into anyone who claims the Christian label. For if we still shoulder our own sins then we are in danger of what Christ calls the "second death" (Rev 21:8.) This speaking against the Holy Spirit is again mentioned in Luke 12:10 as blasphemy but what is this blasphemy of the Holy Spirit? Well to understand we first need knowledge of what the Spirit is for how can we avoid our wrongs in ignorance? The Holy Spirit is the might, power, force, mission, mind, and direction for Godly works that exists among the family of God. This power emanates from God the Father. This is not an exhaustive examination but let's touch upon some of these points from scripture. The spirit is power, notice, "And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light"Genesis 1:2. Is this power or what? Clearly God's Spirit was there at creation and only a word was needed to create the awesome sun our tiny planet circles. Have you ever met someone you had real magnetism? That is without doing anything could shape events by what they say? The President has such power. Our president can cause death and destruction, preserve life, build cities and more simply by uttering words. There is power in words. How much more of the power of God's word and will called His Holy Spirit? Holy means something set that is set aside for doing right and good. And God is righteous and does all good. Counter to this observe that the spirit in man is rarely holy. Man's spirit or force is usually bent on vanity, greed and a host of other evils. But it is God, His word, His power and His Spirit that drive events or as God says, "So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it" Isaiah 55:11. God speaks and things happen. His Holy Spirit or force is also put in certain men who God decides can be used as vessels of good. Jesus said to His disciples, "you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you" Acts 1:8. And that event did occur on Pentecost as described in Acts chapter two. Here scripture shows the Spirit coming down as a power saying, "suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind" and "they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." Peter then stood up to say that the Spirit had been poured out. And it is by that Spirit which was in them that the Church began to do the works of God in both deed and in word for now these individuals began to transcend human knowledge unto Godly knowledge. The apostle Paul also wrote of how the Holy Spirit "teaches" 1Cor 2:13 and is "in you" 1Cor 6:19 giving these selected individuals the, "mind of Christ" 1Cor 2:16 and to speak the words of the Father or as Christ taught, "for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you"Mt 10:20. But in all of this it still remains that the Spirit of God is the power, mind, will and strength which, "proceeds from the Father" John 15:26. So what does it mean to blaspheme? It is written in Mark 3:30 that the Scribes (the interpreters of the law) said Christ had, "an unclean spirit" and by this were blasphemers. But scripture says that the Spirit that was in Christ was "of God" Mt 3:16. The Scribes attributed the good will and intentions of God the Father to the intent and will and desire of Demons. Just as God has a Spirit of pure good and right and man has a spirit of vanity, the Demons also have a spirit which is much lower yet as you will see. And Demons do have spirits Luke 4:33 and Demons do have doctrines or agendas, 1Tim 4:1. So the Scribes had words saying of Christ that, "He has Beelzebub" Mark 3:22, meaning the spirit in Christ from God the Father was evil. These were just words but Christ said, "things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man." Christ taught that what evil is in your heart is just the same as the action by teaching things like, "whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery" Mt 5:28. In a few minutes you should see why these things are being mentioned but first let's look at the definition of blasphemy. The exact word used in Matthew 13:31 comes from the Greek word "blasphemia" and it means to slander to detract from and to do injury to by speech. It is the last definition called injury that I want to focus in on which will lead you to understand why this article is titled, "The Black and White of the Unpardonable sin." Christ taught that words that come from your heart are as bad as actions. But I want to focus in on not just the words but the action of unpardonable sin. The scribes had the words but we will see the actions. A few paragraphs back we saw that the Spirit of God the Father works in Christ and in chosen individuals. This is the body or the Church. The Spirit carries the direction of the Church and its doctrines if you will. Demons have doctrines or direction counter to the truth. So here is the black and white you've been waiting for. Satan is called the, "adversary" who is "seeking whom he may devour" 1Pe 5:8. Revelation chapter 12 teaches that Satan both pursues and persecutes the body of Christ. Remember the definition of blasphemy and how it means to injure by words. Well in Satan we see an individual who takes the injury to action. Satan has a doctrine or agenda or spirit to do injury to the Church. Another definition of blaspheme is the Hebrew "naqab" which figuratively and literally means to poke holes. Satan is seeking to poke holes in the doctrines and direction of God's elect, the Church, thus attempting to do injury or blasphemy to God's Holy Spirit. And what is Satan's fate? Certainly it is never forgiveness as Christ said. Certainly it is the lake of fire Rev 20:10 which is called the "second death" verse 14. But Satan is not the only one. For there are individuals among the Church whom Jude says are, "twice dead" verse 12. These tares that bring in their doctrines of demons are not simply backsliding Christians. They are not sinners who trip and mess up and need to repent from wrong. Rather they like Satan are active in their agenda to do destruction to the Church. They attempt to tear at well-established proven doctrine. They attempt at division among the brethren. These are not outsiders who have never agreed to the doctrines or knew the truth but are like Satan and know the truth. And like Satan hate the truth. Excerpts from 2Peter 2:15-21 say, "They have forsaken the right way and gone astray...for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever...they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure...they themselves are slaves of corruption...it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them." It is clear from the preceding that like Satan they knew the right way but turned from it. They have doctrines counter to the truth. And their fate is never forgiveness. They like Satan are unpardonable. So the real impending message here is watch that you do not begin to fight or poke holes at the Spirit of God, at His work or against the work of those that have His Spirit. For, "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" Hebrews 10:31. Of course this may raise the question of where is God's Spirit working? Who are the elect doing His will? What are the direction and doctrines of God that are among them? Is there one true Church on this earth right now and could you recognize it? The answer to this will have to wait for a following article. Learn more from our website at www.cornerstone1.org.
This article was posted on November 14, 2005
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