The “unpardonable sin” is mentioned in three Gospel accounts; Mat. 12:24, Luke 11:15, Mark 3:22. It is not mentioned in John’s, nor do any of the other writers in the NT talk about it. A similar message of “falling away” can be found in Hebrews 6 and 10, but not expressed the same way. The warning is voiced by Jesus when the Pharisees begin to carry their opposition to the message of faith to the extreme by accusing Christ of being in league with Beelzebub, Baalzebul (Lord of the house), the prince of devils. It does not matter whether this was aimed at an association with Satan, or an ancient demon of Baal; it is an effrontery to the Holy Spirit which the Jews did not know as a Person of God anyway. We can go too far in opposition to a message of hope and faith in spite of a self-righteousness brought on by a desire to be obedient to the Law. The Pharisees were lawful, at least outwardly, and many Christians of today are lawful, at least outwardly. The Law does not save…period! Were that the case, there are a great many unregenerated church people going to Heaven, and a great number of true believers deluding themselves into believing that faith over obedience to the Law opens God’s heart and Heaven’s doors; I am one of those. Jesus brings a message of hope to a generation of weaklings that fail time and time again to keep the Commandments. In the Temple, the Pharisee prayed that he kept the Law perfectly; the publican confessed his sin and asked for mercy. Luke 18:10-14. Jesus said it was the PUBLICAN who went home justified (forgiven). Keeping the Law does not save you; only obedience to Christ in faith and love covers your sins. Opposition to faith in Christ denies the work of the Holy Spirit to convict us of our sins. It denies salvation by faith alone, a trust that Jesus Christ saves completely, AND FINALLY. It denies that God sacrifices His only Son to redeem us from our eternal death. It denies a work so well done that nothing else is needed. It denies the sovereignty of God to grant mercy to those He chooses to do so. Opposition to faith alone tells God that we humans are still in charge of our destiny, and that we can be good enough to earn blessings. It says that we can reject or accept Him at our choosing. Blasphemy is a condition of the heart that says men are independent of the will of God, not needing faith, but just needing to be better people. Blasphemy is a condition that says we need a messiah to put us back in charge of Creation (as the Pharisees said), then step out of the way and let us run things. We can create our own heaven as many of our current evangelists and preachers lead us to believe.
Posted on: Tue, 06 Aug 2013 15:16:47 +0000
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