I have two Bible questions

[LeeLoving]

I have two questions. My first question is if I spoke against the Holy Spirit and committed the unpardonable sin.

I started another thread about this before and I am asking again for some reassurance. I am diagnosed with schizophrenia. While psychotic I said something offensive about the Holy Spirit. When I said it I wasn't intentionally trying to do this. It wasn't out of maliciousness. I just honestly thought something and said it and immediately afterwards regretted saying it out loud and if I shared what I said you would find it highly offensive. I wasn't a Christian at the time and was in an episode where I believed things that were totally unrelated with what is in the Bible. In my delusion there was something I identified as the Holy Spirit and when I had the sensation of it approaching me I said what I said. I wasn't experiencing my episode as a Christian or someone who had knowledge of the Holy Spirit. It's hard to explain but I was under the impression that the Holy Spirit was something other than what it was.

It's my understanding that this wouldn't be considered speaking against the Holy Spirit as I wasn't trying to oppose Him with an understanding of what I was doing. I was just sick and thought things that weren't true and said something I was wrong to say while under an extremely wrong impression due to what I was thinking and my illness. What the Pharisees did was pretty much with full knowledge and intent and a refusal to change which is why it was unpardonable right? Would what I did be blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? I don't fully understand.

Also in my teens before I was a Christian or was even aware of what it meant to be Christian I'm pretty sure I told my sister that the Holy Spirit didn't exist. I honestly just thought of Him similar to how I would feel if someone talked about a ghost. I just didn't understand Christianity or know anything about the Holy Spirit. I was pretty much an atheist. I was very prideful, and I just thought I was right about what I believed and that He didn't exist. I'm extremely sorry for this. Did I speak against the Holy Spirit or blaspheme Him? Is what I did different than what the Pharisees did? I think it's accurate to say I didn't have knowledge about what I was saying.

My other question is whether it's a sin to play poker for money and try to earn a living at it. It's a game I've learned very well and I'm very good at it. I've probably been playing it for 8 years. I have the potential to make a very good living at it. It's obviously not ethical to play against people who are jeopardising money they shouldn't be and people who are addicted and losing money they can't afford. I would never knowingly play against a person like this and encourage their problem. If the opportunity was in front of me it wouldn't matter how much money I could make and I would try my best to talk to the person and explain to them why they should stop playing. Also there are some things I've read that said it's a sin because you are "trying to get rich quick". This isn't really true. It would be a job for me like anything else and I have put a lot of work into it and still do. You put hours in just like a regular job and there is stress involved. Effort is definitely required. The thing I'm struggling with is that it's entirely possible to play someone who shouldn't be playing without knowing it.

Thank you for reading my post. I appreciate it very much.

 

[epostle]

Hi LeeLoving,
It is impossible for you to commit the unpardonable sin.

I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder many years ago so we are kinda related.
This is part of an address given by a Cardinal at the World Day of the Sick Conference in Australia, 2006

"...Therefore, once the mental illness has caused such a disorder as to take away from the mentally ill patient any responsibility for his actions -- qualifying them as separation from the divine will, as a sin -- the mental patient cannot separate from God.

In other words, the image of God in him cannot be distorted. In this case his knowledge or his volitive option is no longer sufficient to motivate any human action that separates him from God. His bodily and psychic conditions do not allow him to commit a grave sin, given that in his state of disequilibrium he does not have that full knowledge and ability of assent required to sin.

If we approach the argument from this point of view, whereby the mentally ill patient does not have the knowledge or the faculty of full consent required to commit a mortal sin, his is not a deformed image of God, since that image can only be deformed by sin. Certainly, it is the suffering image of God, but not a deformed image. He is a reflection of the mystery of the victorious Cross of the Lord. Inspired by the image of the Suffering Servant of Yahweh (Isaiah 53:1-7) we are drawn to a conscious act of faith in the suffering Christ.
The Mentally Ill Patient: A Faithful Image of God | ZENIT - The World Seen From Rome

 

[dalconn]

Lamentations 3:22-23

[SUP] [/SUP]The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
[SUP] [/SUP]they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.

 

[Kaycie]

Q1- Ever been to a funeral and seen someone grieve and mourn? Different people mourn in different ways, but its all the same thing- grieving. With that thought in mind, can you imagine grieving holiness? Not wanting to be holy, clean, good, pure, so much that you mourn inside your heart? Such a heart delights in evil and hates being good.

I have actually known people like this. They want to decorate with skulls and black, and only enjoy bad movies and hates good movies, saying they are too boring. That's because their heart does not get excited with good and Godly things, but only evil things. They are almost embarrassed to be caught doing what's right, or being caught in the good crowd scene. How can you have the goal to be good like God when you hate goodness- which is holiness- which is from the Holy Spirit? A lot of people are afraid they grieved the Holy Spirit, just because they don't have the full understanding of what that means.

Q2- Someone once told me it's wrong to play the lottery. This same person turned around and bought a raffle ticket. If I have ten dollars for lunch, yet choose to spend one dollar on the lottery and nine dollars on lunch, that's fine, if I have leisure money and choose to chance one dollar of it, if anything I donated to public schools (cause that's where some of it goes). But if I take my house payment and money for my family's food and clothes, and chanced that, that is now gambling because I'm chancing losing what I can't afford to lose. But I still think it's wrong to spend an expensive amount, even if it is your leisure money, because there are so many people in need in this world.

So do I consider casinos wrong? Yes, it can be. Not because you have a dollar to chance, but because it's the wrong crowd. I guess it's the same situation as alcohol and bars. It's not wrong to have a drink, but it's wrong to get drunk. Yet Jesus did go in such a place because He said it's the sick who need a Doctor, and they were sick souls. So I guess if you enter a casino for the purpose of winning souls instead of gambling, just be careful, cause the bible warns in doing so you could be tempted to sin as well.

So do I think it's wrong to play cards and chance money on it? Only if you are in a bad crowd and chancing expensive amounts. Even if you win a lot, it's wrong to chance expensive amounts. Not just because of you, if you are playing with worldly men, they could be such poor losers that you now put your family in danger.

 

[jaybird88]

i did some stupid stuff when i was young, usually when drinking. i asked my preacher about it and he gave me a really good answer. if what you did hurts your heart this much then you have nothing to worry about.
if you commit terrible sins against the Father and feel nothing, then you have a problem.

 

[popeye]

I believe there is a huge shaking going on right now. That may answer why you're concerned about your spiritual condition.

Look at another way.

Suppose you were hot after the Lord. Pressing into his presence,spending time in worship and his word.

Both those things would fall off you.

Your walk is mechanical. Re-invent your walk. Get intimate with him and watch multiple weights simply drop off you

 

[yoninah]

The 'unforgiveable sin' is usually misunderstood by believers and taken out of the context in which Jesus was teaching.

The Pharisees had a test as to whether a person was the Messiah - and, in general terms, Jesus had just demonstrated that He was who He obviously was. The problem was that, if they accepted the miracle as performed by the power of the HS, they had to accept Jesus as the Messiah. Therefore, they refused to accept the plain evidence of their eyes and, instead, attributed evil to God's work so that they could believe Jesus to be what they wanted Him to be.

Blasphemy against the HS is to attribute ‘...evil to a work of the Holy Spirit when it was obvious that what had transpired was a work of God’ (www.arlev.co.uk/matt042.htm).

Believers often add a lot of concepts to the phrase 'Blasphemy against the HS' but, if you want to follow Christ, you're more likely to wrongly attribute something as the work of God, thinking you are honouring Him than you are to try and twist a work to be of satan so you can disbelieve it.

 

[sparkman]

I have two questions. My first question is if I spoke against the Holy Spirit and committed the unpardonable sin.

I started another thread about this before and I am asking again for some reassurance. I am diagnosed with schizophrenia. While psychotic I said something offensive about the Holy Spirit. When I said it I wasn't intentionally trying to do this. It wasn't out of maliciousness. I just honestly thought something and said it and immediately afterwards regretted saying it out loud and if I shared what I said you would find it highly offensive. I wasn't a Christian at the time and was in an episode where I believed things that were totally unrelated with what is in the Bible. In my delusion there was something I identified as the Holy Spirit and when I had the sensation of it approaching me I said what I said. I wasn't experiencing my episode as a Christian or someone who had knowledge of the Holy Spirit. It's hard to explain but I was under the impression that the Holy Spirit was something other than what it was.

It's my understanding that this wouldn't be considered speaking against the Holy Spirit as I wasn't trying to oppose Him with an understanding of what I was doing. I was just sick and thought things that weren't true and said something I was wrong to say while under an extremely wrong impression due to what I was thinking and my illness. What the Pharisees did was pretty much with full knowledge and intent and a refusal to change which is why it was unpardonable right? Would what I did be blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? I don't fully understand.

Also in my teens before I was a Christian or was even aware of what it meant to be Christian I'm pretty sure I told my sister that the Holy Spirit didn't exist. I honestly just thought of Him similar to how I would feel if someone talked about a ghost. I just didn't understand Christianity or know anything about the Holy Spirit. I was pretty much an atheist. I was very prideful, and I just thought I was right about what I believed and that He didn't exist. I'm extremely sorry for this. Did I speak against the Holy Spirit or blaspheme Him? Is what I did different than what the Pharisees did? I think it's accurate to say I didn't have knowledge about what I was saying.

My other question is whether it's a sin to play poker for money and try to earn a living at it. It's a game I've learned very well and I'm very good at it. I've probably been playing it for 8 years. I have the potential to make a very good living at it. It's obviously not ethical to play against people who are jeopardising money they shouldn't be and people who are addicted and losing money they can't afford. I would never knowingly play against a person like this and encourage their problem. If the opportunity was in front of me it wouldn't matter how much money I could make and I would try my best to talk to the person and explain to them why they should stop playing. Also there are some things I've read that said it's a sin because you are "trying to get rich quick". This isn't really true. It would be a job for me like anything else and I have put a lot of work into it and still do. You put hours in just like a regular job and there is stress involved. Effort is definitely required. The thing I'm struggling with is that it's entirely possible to play someone who shouldn't be playing without knowing it.

Thank you for reading my post. I appreciate it very much.

Regarding the unforgiveable sin, Christ told the Pharisees who were trying to intentionally discredit him by saying that the works he did were through Satan, rather than the Holy Spirit. They knew that his works were from God, and intentionally were trying to discredit him.

It was not something they were doing out of ignorance.

In addition, people with mental illness often do things as a result of their illness. I have talked to people with OCD who obsessed continually over the possibility they had committed the unforgiveable sin. And, I know one godly man who developed Alzheimer's and said things he shouldn't have as a result. God is merciful to such things. Besides, that if you are saved, one of the promises He makes is that he will never leave or forsake you.

You should study the concept of "justification by faith alone", "acquired righteousness", "forensic justification", or "imputed righteousness". Understanding this concept will help you to understand what happened when you were saved, if you have placed your faith in Jesus Christ and his sacrifice for your salvation.

To make sure you properly understand salvation, I would recommend the book What is the Gospel? by Greg Gilbert. It is a small, concise book and the clearest one I've seen on the topic of salvation.

Despite the claims of many on here, there are tons of promises that God doesn't give up on those he has redeemed. I backslid for a really long time and he did not give up on me. Those who make such claims to the contrary don't understand the depths of the grace of God.

Regarding the poker, I personally would not want to be involved in earning a living that way. And, if you engage in such activity, I wouldn't expect God to bless you through it. For example, if I bought a lottery ticket, and I thought God was going to bless me through it, it would be a vain hope because I don't think God blesses such activities. If I won, it would be a pure matter of chance.

However, in some ways I don't see much difference between poker and speculative stock market activities...the people who engage in that are in essence gambling based on skillful guesses. I am not talking about buying growth stocks, but the more speculative stock market activities. I cannot support my position biblically on this issue, though.

 

[LeeLoving]

Thank you for the responses. sparkman, yours was especially helpful.

I take solace in Romans 10:9. I do believe in Him and His sacrifice for salvation, but shouldn't I be comforted in knowing that I haven't committed an unpardonable sin by way of being able to honestly declare Him Lord while believing He was risen from the dead by God? He saves entirely on His own and I can't save myself, but is there anything wrong in taking comfort in that verse? I've asked this before and the answers I got were kind of confusing. I don't think it's easy to understand how important that verse is for someone who is fearing the same things I am.

And sparkman I agree playing poker is very similar to speculating on stocks. I still have to figure out if it's right for me to play as a way to support myself.

 

[Angela53510]

First, in both your examples of speaking against the Holy Spirit, you were not saved when you said them. Coming to Christ wipes out all sins. Truly, in my understanding, the only unpardonable sin is not accepting Christ. That is the ultimate blasphemy.

If you are obsessed by this, look up scrupulosity. It is a form of OCD that is obsessed with seeking forgiveness, often when no sin has been committed. Please google this if you are having this problem. I do not know if it accompanies schizophrenia, and not all people with OCD get it, either. Talk to your psychiatrist if it continues to be an obsession. Also a bible believing pastor or counselor might be able to help you.

I personally am against any kind of gambling, including poker. My concern for you would be - how will you know when the person has enough money that they can afford to lose it? I knew a Christian man who was a gambler for many years. Even though he worked hard, they lost their house because of his gambling.

I would say keep the poker for fun and penny ante. And retrain in a legitimate profession, if you are able to work with your illness. If you cannot work, then you really need to pray and find some ways to make a living that don't cheat other people out of their living.

God bless!

 

[blondieindahouse]

Regarding the unforgiveable sin, Christ told the Pharisees who were trying to intentionally discredit him by saying that the works he did were through Satan, rather than the Holy Spirit. They knew that his works were from God, and intentionally were trying to discredit him.

It was not something they were doing out of ignorance.

In addition, people with mental illness often do things as a result of their illness. I have talked to people with OCD who obsessed continually over the possibility they had committed the unforgiveable sin. And, I know one godly man who developed Alzheimer's and said things he shouldn't have as a result. God is merciful to such things. Besides, that if you are saved, one of the promises He makes is that he will never leave or forsake you.

You should study the concept of "justification by faith alone", "acquired righteousness", "forensic justification", or "imputed righteousness". Understanding this concept will help you to understand what happened when you were saved, if you have placed your faith in Jesus Christ and his sacrifice for your salvation.

To make sure you properly understand salvation, I would recommend the book What is the Gospel? by Greg Gilbert. It is a small, concise book and the clearest one I've seen on the topic of salvation.

Despite the claims of many on here, there are tons of promises that God doesn't give up on those he has redeemed. I backslid for a really long time and he did not give up on me. Those who make such claims to the contrary don't understand the depths of the grace of God.

Regarding the poker, I personally would not want to be involved in earning a living that way. And, if you engage in such activity, I wouldn't expect God to bless you through it. For example, if I bought a lottery ticket, and I thought God was going to bless me through it, it would be a vain hope because I don't think God blesses such activities. If I won, it would be a pure matter of chance.

However, in some ways I don't see much difference between poker and speculative stock market activities...the people who engage in that are in essence gambling based on skillful guesses. I am not talking about buying growth stocks, but the more speculative stock market activities. I cannot support my position biblically on this issue, though.

Regarding the unforgiveable sin, Christ told the Pharisees who were trying to intentionally discredit him by saying that the works he did were through Satan, rather than the Holy Spirit. They knew that his works were from God, and intentionally were trying to discredit him.

It was not something they were doing out of ignorance.

Yes!! Blaspheming the Holy Spirit is knowingly calling a work of the Holy Spirit evil.

Why do we see all kinds of varying explanations when it is clearly in scripture?

 

[LeeLoving]

I would say keep the poker for fun and penny ante. And retrain in a legitimate profession, if you are able to work with your illness. If you cannot work, then you really need to pray and find some ways to make a living that don't cheat other people out of their living.

God bless!

Do you think it would be sinful to play for small amounts of money and to give anything that I won away to charity? 1 Corinthians 8:13 has me thinking the very act of playing would be sinful given that some people become addicted.

 

[sparkman]

Thank you for the responses. sparkman, yours was especially helpful.

I take solace in Romans 10:9. I do believe in Him and His sacrifice for salvation, but shouldn't I be comforted in knowing that I haven't committed an unpardonable sin by way of being able to honestly declare Him Lord while believing He was risen from the dead by God? He saves entirely on His own and I can't save myself, but is there anything wrong in taking comfort in that verse? I've asked this before and the answers I got were kind of confusing. I don't think it's easy to understand how important that verse is for someone who is fearing the same things I am.

And sparkman I agree playing poker is very similar to speculating on stocks. I still have to figure out if it's right for me to play as a way to support myself.

There's a lot more verses that are more helpful in this regard, but I would say yes to Romans 10:9.

I am attaching a document I did on eternal security here. You can read it and let me know what you think. You are a younger Christian and I think that your confidence in God and his faithfulness will get deeper as you grow in your walk.

When I was your age I didn't understand many things that I came to understand later, and part of those things are encapsulated in this document.

By the way, be aware that there are many on here who don't agree with eternal security. My pastor uses this phrase called "joy-suckers"....those who are works oriented and seek to suck the joy out of other Christians' lives.

I John 1 talks about us being on a path of light..we are obedient in general when our life is viewed as a whole, but if we stumble on the way, God doesn't kick us off the path...He bends down and picks us up and dusts us off. We confess our sins, ask forgiveness, and God continues to cleanse us. Note that it says that he cleanses us of "all unrighteousness". I think if a person is able to confess his sins, and ask for forgiveness, then any sin can be forgiven. So, if there is an "unforgiveable sin" for a believer, it has to involve something that the person is not willing to confess and ask forgiveness for.

The Pharisees Christ was addressing certainly didn't have an attitude of being yielded to God and willing to confess their sins and ask for forgiveness. They had no humility in that regard.

It is also worthwhile to note that they were unbelievers and not believers. Believers have a new nature that wants to obey and please God, so they are driven to hate their sin because it interrupts their communion with God...not their union with Christ, but their communion with God.

Ask God to give you an understanding of the depths of his love and mercy towards those that he is in convenant with. If you are a believer, he has covenanted with you. There is a word in Hebrew called hesed which describes this covenant love that he has with those he is in covenant with. It is translated "steadfast love" in the ESV. It is mentioned many times in the Old Testament. See particularly Psalm 136.

I would also remind you of these verses:

Matthew 12:20 a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory;

This verse shows that Christ is very gentle with those who are vulnerable..he doesn't want to break a bruised reed or put out a smoldering wick.

Matthew 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Again, Christ is very gentle and lowly of heart. He walks right alongside with you and brings you along in your spiritual walk. The imagery is that of two oxen who are being used for work...he brings you up to his level by walking in tandem with you. We are being formed into the image of Christ, but he is doing it in a gentle manner.

If you ever develop a persistent sin issue, check out Galatians 5:16-23. Walking by the Spirit would involve things that help you strengthen your vital (life-giving) union with Christ. Prayer, Bible Study, fellowship (a local fellowship of believers is especially needed), worship, fasting on occasion, and service are some of the major ways of walking in the Spirit, as well as being responsive to the Spirit's leading.

I do want to mention that regarding my backsliding, God didn't give up on me, but the results were devastating in other ways. For instance, a lot of money went through my fingers that I could have used for more productive purposes. In addition, my health declined, and my employment was affected due to my spiritual walk. Worst of all, I dishonored God in the process. Workmates knew I wasn't walking the Christian walk, so my witness was not good. One of my primary goals now is to end the rest of my life honoring God and not dishonoring Him. So I am not at all minimizing the effects of my backsliding. I am glad I became disabled as it gave me a "time out" that caused me to repent and turn back to God more fully.

If you want more help particularly on the justification by faith issue, feel free to email me direct through the CC email. I'd be glad to dialogue more in it. I think understanding imputed righteousness and justification by faith alone is essential to gaining assurance of salvation.

Also, here's a link to the book I mentioned by Greg Gilbert called What is the Gospel? just to make sure you understand the gospel message and have placed your faith in Jesus Christ and his atoning sacrifice. Greg does a great job presenting the gospel message in a clear manner:

http://kbcworshipblog.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/whatisthegospel-gilbert.pdf


Most of all, I suggest asking God to show you what He thinks about you. Recently, when I was in prayer, God granted me a brief glimpse of His mind in that regard (nothing audible..I just knew it through the Spirit). Basically, He was telling me that He knew He was my main thing in life. The same is probably true of you, or you wouldn't be so concerned about this issue. Your concern tells me that God is your main thing in life and that you are concerned with what He thinks, and I am sure He is well-pleased with that.

But, you do need to trust God more and realize that if you have been redeemed, you are precious in his sight. You need to enlarge your view of God's love and mercy for those that he has redeemed.

 

[sparkman]

Do you think it would be sinful to play for small amounts of money and to give anything that I won away to charity? 1 Corinthians 8:13 has me thinking the very act of playing would be sinful given that some people become addicted.

I am not answering this specific question but I remembered something my grandfather told me about gambing.


He played poker with some men during the Great Depression who would sell staples provided by the government and use the money to play with him. He was very good playing it and would often win. He said he gave it up because he knew these guys were taking food meant for their children and selling it to play cards with him. He felt guilty because he knew that he was contributing to the resulting hunger of the mens' families.

It is much more apparent in a case like that, but the same is probably true with regards to men you would be playing against. They may be taking money that is needed by their family and gambling with it. While it is likely they would just find someone else to play with, I don't know that I'd want to participate if there is a likelihood of a similar situation.

Just something to think about...it may or may not apply. You may want to think about how the gambling can impact others beyond yourself or the person who is gambling.

 

[nuldesperandum]

There is no such thing as an unpardonable sin Lee. Be happy and Love God, that is the main thing, and stop worrying.

 

[wattie]

The blasphemy Jesus spoke of was the Pharisees attributing the work of Christ to the devil. It is basically rejecting eternal salvation to begin with. It's something a saved person can't do.

A saved person can say words against the Holy Spirit.. but they can't reject salvation to begin with because they received salvation in the first place

Think about the passage with the Pharisees.. who was Jesus talking to? In what context?

 

[Euphemia]

Those whoa re unregenerate reprobates can commit the unpardonable sin, but they are unbelievers anyway and all their sin is unforgiveable as they are unrepentant.

Anyone who frets about this sin has never committed it, as those who do don't care, nor have any remorse or conscience about sin.


.

 

[NayborBear]

Keep reading the Bible, and growing in the Lord. Say the Lord's Prayer 3 times a day, and, look for a day job.

 

[yoninah]

The blasphemy Jesus spoke of was the Pharisees attributing the work of Christ to the devil. It is basically rejecting eternal salvation to begin with. It's something a saved person can't do.

I need to expand on your post, wattie - this isn't directed at you. I have had to answer a person elsewhere about those who deny God is moving today, revealing Himself in the world, and this is about the best place to post some explanation.

The person who denies that God cannot move today because the Canon is closed and God will only move within the stricture of a compilation of words is a bit stuffed (spiritual word) when he encounters the supernatural. As it obviously can't be God - because his theology demands it - then it must be satan. So, in order to safeguard his theology, he must label it as satanic. Even if it's God. The person must save their theology no matter what is plainly obvious.

It was the same with the Pharisees. God won't move through Jesus. God won't move through Him in to the lives of the sinners and meet with them. Because the Pharisees are the chosen, the set apart ones, the elite. If God is going to move through anyone then it has to be them because they're the ones who are righteous. Aren't they doing what God wants according to the written code? In order for them to maintain their theology, the HS working through Jesus must be satanic in origin.

Anyone who denies that God is alive and active today - able to move in Society as He chooses - stands in the same dangerous position - simply because when God moves, theology comes first.

The person, on the other hand, who wants to see God move, who knows God to be active, Living and the One who didn't stay in the grave but rose from it (by 'knows', I mean 'experiences'), is more likely to attribute stuff that isn't God as being God, so eager is he to see God moving.

The person may well wrongly attribute some stuff God does to being a move of satan. But he isn't trying to defend a theological position and neither is he trying to undermine the purposes of God. All he is trying to do is to discern that which is of God and that which is misleading people away from God.

It's the unbending legalistic adherence to personal theology that puts a person in danger of not accepting God moving and living and breathing - and of refusing to accept God's work in order to safeguard that personal belief.

 

[sparkman]

I need to expand on your post, wattie - this isn't directed at you. I have had to answer a person elsewhere about those who deny God is moving today, revealing Himself in the world, and this is about the best place to post some explanation.

The person who denies that God cannot move today because the Canon is closed and God will only move within the stricture of a compilation of words is a bit stuffed (spiritual word) when he encounters the supernatural. As it obviously can't be God - because his theology demands it - then it must be satan. So, in order to safeguard his theology, he must label it as satanic. Even if it's God. The person must save their theology no matter what is plainly obvious.

It was the same with the Pharisees. God won't move through Jesus. God won't move through Him in to the lives of the sinners and meet with them. Because the Pharisees are the chosen, the set apart ones, the elite. If God is going to move through anyone then it has to be them because they're the ones who are righteous. Aren't they doing what God wants according to the written code? In order for them to maintain their theology, the HS working through Jesus must be satanic in origin.

Anyone who denies that God is alive and active today - able to move in Society as He chooses - stands in the same dangerous position - simply because when God moves, theology comes first.

The person, on the other hand, who wants to see God move, who knows God to be active, Living and the One who didn't stay in the grave but rose from it (by 'knows', I mean 'experiences'), is more likely to attribute stuff that isn't God as being God, so eager is he to see God moving.

The person may well wrongly attribute some stuff God does to being a move of satan. But he isn't trying to defend a theological position and neither is he trying to undermine the purposes of God. All he is trying to do is to discern that which is of God and that which is misleading people away from God.

It's the unbending legalistic adherence to personal theology that puts a person in danger of not accepting God moving and living and breathing - and of refusing to accept God's work in order to safeguard that personal belief.

This is a misrepresentation of what cessationists believe.

Specifically, they believe that the "sign gifts" are not active today, because there are no apostles and prophets. The sign gifts were associated with the apostles and prophets.

They DO believe that the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts are active today, just not the miraculous sign gifts such as tongues, interpretation of tongues, healings through an individual, etcetera. They believe God heals and does miracles, but they believe that it isn't through a specific individual, and they despise the clown shows of modern charismatics.

The apostles and prophets were in the foundation of the church (Ephesians 2:20), and we have their ministry through the apostolic writings. We aren't still building on the foundation.

In addition, there's a difference of opinion on what tongues actually are..ecstatic speech, like many claim, or actual languages.

The most compelling point in regards to this subject for me is that those who claim such gifts often display erratic and unsound behavior in other ways, therefore they have no credibility with me.

Regarding whether there are apostles today, see this article:

Are There Still Apostles Today? | The Cripplegate

Regarding misrepresentations of the cessationist position, see this article:

What Cessationism Is Not | The Cripplegate

Am I cessationist or not? I'll wait until I've experienced such things from sound, spirit-filled Christians who behave in a manner that is indicative of God's strong presence. It hasn't happened yet

By the way, connecting the unforgiveable sin with the continuationist/cessationist argument is juvenile. Elevating non-essentials to the level of essentials is juvenile.

I belonged to a cult whose leader claimed to be both an apostle and a prophet, so the warning bells go off with any movement that makes similar claims. Many of these movements make these claims about themselves...he was full of pride, and so are many of them.

Do I believe that God could use a prophet at some point? Yes, but none of the ones who claim this after the apostolic era have credibility with me. They would need to validate their ministry in some unmistaken manner, and exhibit sound thinking and behavior, not the ding-dongs I see today who make such claims.