The “Unpardonable Sin” Part 3

So far I have hoped to established the following from scripture:

A. Blasphemy is an “unpardonable” sin according to OT Mosaic law.

B. No sin, of any kind, is forgivable except by grace through faith in Jesus Christ!

C. The Holy Spirit is the initiator and guarantor of our salvation.

Now we must consider the intended audience of the teaching on the "unpardonable sin". 

Clearly Jesus’ words are directed toward His immediate audience as recorded in the narrative. His audience includes “the multitude” (Mark 3:20), Jesus’ family/people (Mark 3:21) and the scribes (Mark 3:22). However, like other narratives about Jesus and teachings from Jesus found in the gospels, the ability of people to fully grasp Jesus’ identity and message is minimal at best and often non-existent. Clearly it takes the hindsight of looking back after the resurrection to fully get who Jesus is and what He accomplished. This is evidenced by the teaching Jesus did about Himself to the disciples between His resurrection and ascension (Luke 24:13-27, 44-49, Acts 1:1-3). Even post resurrection, having good information about Jesus is not enough to bring understanding or belief. In fact the Scriptures tell us that without the Holy Spirit in us, it is impossible to understand or accept the things of God (John 3:3-5, 16:13-14, Rom. 8:5-9, 1 Cor. 1:22-24, 2:12-14, 1 John 2:19-21). If that is true, then it follows that this passage and any other is primarily for future born-again believers in Jesus Christ to learn about Him and His will for them (2 Tim. 3:16, Heb. 4:12, Rev. 2:7). 

So we see –

A. Blasphemy is an “unpardonable sin" according to OT Mosaic law.

B. No sin, of any kind, is forgivable except by grace through faith in Jesus Christ!                      

C. The Holy Spirit is the initiator and guarantor of our salvation.

D. All scripture, including the teaching on the “unpardonable sin”, is written primarily for the instruction of born again believers in Jesus Christ.

These truths now can be brought back and considered in relation to Jesus’ immediate audience in the narrative. In Mark’s account we have a mention of Jesus’ own “people” or family (in some versions) coming to take Jesus away saying He is “out of His mind” (3:21). Now we will assume Jesus’ family meant well and acted out of ignorance and unbelief in Jesus’ Messianic identity. We also have the scribes who accuse Jesus of having a demon and driving out demons by Beelzebub (Mark 3:22). Jesus’ true identity was not grasped well by the people, but it had been made known in several ways prior to this event including: by John the Baptist (John 1:29-34), by the Father (Mark 1:11), by Himself (Mark 2:10-11, Luke 4:18-21), by the demons (Mark 3:11), not to mention the witness of His miracles and various teachings that pointed to His identity as the promised Messiah. Neither those following or those opposing Jesus could plead complete ignorance of His identity, even if it was an excuse for blasphemy, and we know it is not (Rom. 1:18-20).

Mark’s gospel says Jesus’ teaching on the “unpardonable sin" is in response to the charge the scribes made that Jesus had “an unclean spirit” (Mark 3:30). This would be blaspheming against God under OT Mosaic law and they are justly condemned, even eternally, for attributing the Holy Spirit (God's) work to the Devil. However, this does not necessarily mean the scribes were the target audience of Jesus’ teaching regarding these statements. 

What would be the more shocking truth, the one that needed an explanation/teaching for future believers – the fact that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (God) was unforgivable and deserving eternal condemnation or the fact that blasphemy against Jesus (God) can be forgiven?

Now, if we put ourselves in the place of these family members that suggested Jesus was crazy, add the three-time denial of Him by Peter, consider the shouts of the people to crucify Him before Pilate, and finally consider Saul/Paul the persecutor of the church who is asked by the resurrected Jesus, “Why are you persecuting Me”! We must ask - who would look back on this story and wonder if they had crossed a line that made them un-savable? 

Did God have this recorded for the sake of the scribes so they could look back and know for sure they were condemned? Did He want believers to be forever wondering if they had committed this sin and doubting their salvation? Or, is it a source of assurance for future born-again believers who would look back on their own blasphemous, pre-salvation lives and their less-than-perfect following of Jesus and struggle to believe God could/would forgive such sinners as they! 

Based on what we have seen so far, all of the following points are validated - 

A. Blasphemy is an “unpardonable sin" according to OT Mosaic law.

B. No sin, of any kind, is forgivable except by grace through faith in Jesus Christ!                      

C. The Holy Spirit is the initiator and guarantor of our salvation.

D. All scripture, including the teaching on the “unpardonable sin”, is written primarily for the instruction of born again believers in Jesus Christ.

E. It is at least reasonable to assume that the “unpardonable sin" teaching is meant to be a source of assurance/comfort for believers.

Next I will attempt to demonstrate how we get assurance/comfort from this teaching specifically?

Remember, as I stated in part 1, I am working toward seeing this passage as a lesson about “The Amazing Pardonability of Sin in Jesus Christ”

The “Unpardonable Sin” Part 2

In part 1, I hoped to establish that blasphemy is an “unpardonable” sin according to OT Mosaic law. In addition to the information I included there, it is worth considering that in the Ten Commandments, referring to taking the Lord's name in vain, it says "the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain."(Exod. 20:7, Deut 5:20). This is a type of blaspheme which is extremely common and might seem harmless from a human relationship/justice perspective (no one gets hurt), but it is very serious to God and He promises to personally hold guilty the one who commits it. All sin is against God, but sin that is directed toward/against God (blasphemy), is treated with a special seriousness.

Before we can go further, we must clear up any misconceptions about who is or can be forgiven for any sin, let alone the unpardonable sin. Salvation is found in Christ alone (John 14:6), by His grace alone (Eph. 2:1-10) and received through faith alone (Rom. 3:21-26). Further, it is the Holy Spirit who is given credit for our initial salvation and assurance/completion of salvation (John 3:3-5, John 6:37-40, John 10:26-29, Rom. 8:8-11, 1 Cor. 12:3, Titus 3:3-7, I John 4:13-15). While I will hold that all sin, including that of OT saints, must be atoned for by Christ at the cross, for this argument I desire only to prove and move forward on the assumption that for NT post-resurrection people, salvation requires faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ, is possible only through the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, and is secured forever because it is the work of the Holy Spirit. 

So far we see – 

A. Blasphemy is an “unpardonable” sin according to OT Mosaic law.

B. No sin, of any kind, is forgivable except by grace through faith in Jesus Christ!

C. The Holy Spirit is the initiator and guarantor of our salvation.

In part 3, I will consider who is the intended audience of the teaching about the "unpardonable" sin.

The “Unpardonable Sin” Part 1

The “Unpardonable Sin” or should it be “The Amazing Pardonability of Sin in Jesus Christ”. Before accusing me of heresy, remember the titles given to chapters and shorter sections of the Bible were not original to the text, but have been added to aid us in locating passages and giving us a preview of their subject matter.

I will attempt to prove from Scripture that the passage(s) below, regarding the “unpardonable sin”, is/are not for the purpose of teaching those who are lost just how lost and hopeless they are, or to cause doubts in the mind of believers about their salvation, but rather to give assurance of salvation to born again believers who may doubt God would save such as them.

Mark 3:28 “Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; 29 but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation”— 30 because they said, “He has an unclean spirit.”

Matt. 12:31 “Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. 32 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.

The issues at hand are clear – it is possible for all sins and blasphemies man commits to be forgiven, including speaking a word against the Son of Man. However, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit or speaking against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven - ever! What does blasphemy mean?

Greek blasphémia: slander or abusive language against God. To call what God calls right wrong and vice versa. Dictionary definition: Blaspheme – To show contempt or disrespect for God. (World English Dictionary)

Biblical example of how serious God takes blasphemy –

Lev. 24:10 Now the son of an Israelite woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel; and this Israelite woman’s son and a man of Israel fought each other in the camp. 11 And the Israelite woman’s son blasphemed the name of the LORD and cursed; and so they brought him to Moses. (His mother’s name was Shelomith the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.) 12 Then they put him in custody, that the mind of the LORD might be shown to them. 13 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 14 “Take outside the camp him who has cursed; then let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him. 15 “Then you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin. 16 And whoever blasphemes the name of the LORD shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall certainly stone him, the stranger as well as him who is born in the land. When he blasphemes the name of the LORD, he shall be put to death.

Is there any more serious sin we could imagine than showing contempt for God? If there were only one unforgivable sin, we could see how disrespecting God could be it! We still might think a warning is in order or God should take circumstances into account. This may be a young man called a “son” and he may have less sound teaching about God since his father was Egyptian. Maybe God would give some slack for the boy’s age and the bad influence of his Egyptian father, and since God isn’t visibly standing right in front of him, surely he could get a break.  “No,” God says, “whoever blasphemes the name of the LORD shall surely be put to death”! This sin was still treated seriously at the time of Jesus as He was condemned to death for blasphemy (Mark 14:62-64) as was Stephen, even though he was not officially charged or put on trial (Acts 7:54-60).

Summary up to this point – blasphemy is to be punished by death; there are no amends or animal sacrifice to set aside the penalty!

Therefore, blasphemy is an “unpardonable” sin according to OT Mosaic law.

More to follow -

"Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."

Replacing Jesus and the Holy Spirit with health and prosperity!

I was listening to a very popular TV "preacher" the other day and noticed a point in his message when he stood at the crossroads of Biblical truth and idolatry. After some welcomes, calisthenics involving raising bibles above their heads and a couple pretty funny jokes, the speaker came to a pivotal moment. I will paraphrase what he said as - God does not want you going around discouraged and defeated, but rather wants you to live a joyous and victorious life!

To this I say amen! The turning point comes with the next words that leave the speakers mouth. One choice is to say all hope, joy, peace and victory are available in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit and require nothing else on this earth to change.

We see this in the scriptures clearly -

Jesus said - John 16:33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

The Holy Spirit spoke through Paul saying: Phil. 4:11 Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: 12 I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Col. 3:1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

Being satisfied/thankful is actually commanded for Christians - 1 Thess. 5:16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit.

And of course we have a clear word form the Lord about the Holy Spirit's role in these things - Gal. 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23  gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

Any alternative emphasis, besides the biblical one, any suggestion that joy, peace, hope or the victorious life require things on earth to change is idolatry. These things (Joy, peace, etc.) come from the creator not the creation, they are in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit!

Unfortunately, the speaker I was watching spent the rest of his time teaching that we should not be satisfied with our current situation, but rather we should seek other things from God to make our life better (give us joy, peace, victory, etc.). He did this by taking a scripture or two out of context and telling many stories of healing and financial gain of those who had faith. I got the impression that he would have been very offended at any Christian who suggested they could be content with Jesus Christ and salvation alone! We would have to be ignorant, lacking faith or both to be content with that, according to his teachings.

The evidence is in - health and prosperity preachers are simply idol peddlers who encourage the worship of the created things over the creator.

If you have been continually seeking "the blessings" through these TV ministries, I pray you will believe the gospel and live in the blessing you have in Jesus Christ! There are Bible teaching and Christ exalting churches out there to help you keep the creation centered idolatry that comes so natural at bay, while you grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ through the word and Spirit.

"Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."

Hope and Change?

It occurred to me today that this is a great slogan for idolatrous people. I think what it really means is that there is hope, but it will require change and our guy can do it. Maybe "hope in change" would more accurately communicate the intent of the slogan. It would be just as useful for any other political party, if not for copyright laws, as they could say our hope is in different changes or maybe in not changing things!

The bottom line is that this is an idolatrous, creation worshipping notion, that suggests hope lies in people and their ideas/plans/policies, rather than in the person and work of Jesus Christ!

Excellent Biblical Counsel from Elyse Fitzpatrick!

I became acquainted with Elyse Fitzpatrick through my Biblical Counseling courses in Seminary. Although she primarily deals with women's issues, she has much to offer all believers through her Christ/Gospel centered counseling approach! Follow the link below to the source of the interview and click on the "audio" tab on the left side near the bottom - enjoy!

Elyse Fitzpatrick interview