The unpardonable sin

[atwhatcost]

Teresa and Sydlit,

I just read something by Spurgeon that lifted me. And, I think it is your answer:
“All things are possible to him that believeth.”
- Mar_9:23
Many professed Christians are always doubting and fearing, and they forlornly think that this is the necessary state of believers. This is a mistake, for “all things are possible to him that believeth”; and it is possible for us to mount into a state in which a doubt or a fear shall be but as a bird of passage flitting across the soul, but never lingering there. When you read of the high and sweet communions enjoyed by favoured saints, you sigh and murmur in the chamber of your heart, “Alas! these are not for me.” O climber, if thou hast but faith, thou shalt yet stand upon the sunny pinnacle of the temple, for “all things are possible to him that believeth.” You hear of exploits which holy men have done for Jesus; what they have enjoyed of him; how much they have been like him; how they have been able to endure great persecutions for his sake; and you say, “Ah! as for me, I am but a worm; I can never attain to this.” But there is nothing which one saint was, that you may not be. There is no elevation of grace, no attainment of spirituality, no clearness of assurance, no post of duty, which is not open to you if you have but the power to believe. Lay aside your sackcloth and ashes, and rise to the dignity of your true position; you are little in Israel because you will be so, not because there is any necessity for it. It is not meet that thou shouldst grovel in the dust, O child of a King. Ascend! The golden throne of assurance is waiting for you! The crown of communion with Jesus is ready to bedeck your brow. Wrap yourself in scarlet and fine linen, and fare sumptuously every day; for if thou believest, thou mayst eat the fat of kidneys of wheat; thy land shall flow with milk and honey, and thy soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness. Gather golden sheaves of grace, for they await thee in the fields of faith. “All things are possible to him that believeth.”

 

[sydlit]

Teresa and Sydlit,

I just read something by Spurgeon that lifted me. And, I think it is your answer:
“All things are possible to him that believeth.”
- Mar_9:23
Many professed Christians are always doubting and fearing, and they forlornly think that this is the necessary state of believers. This is a mistake, for “all things are possible to him that believeth”; and it is possible for us to mount into a state in which a doubt or a fear shall be but as a bird of passage flitting across the soul, but never lingering there. When you read of the high and sweet communions enjoyed by favoured saints, you sigh and murmur in the chamber of your heart, “Alas! these are not for me.” O climber, if thou hast but faith, thou shalt yet stand upon the sunny pinnacle of the temple, for “all things are possible to him that believeth.” You hear of exploits which holy men have done for Jesus; what they have enjoyed of him; how much they have been like him; how they have been able to endure great persecutions for his sake; and you say, “Ah! as for me, I am but a worm; I can never attain to this.” But there is nothing which one saint was, that you may not be. There is no elevation of grace, no attainment of spirituality, no clearness of assurance, no post of duty, which is not open to you if you have but the power to believe. Lay aside your sackcloth and ashes, and rise to the dignity of your true position; you are little in Israel because you will be so, not because there is any necessity for it. It is not meet that thou shouldst grovel in the dust, O child of a King. Ascend! The golden throne of assurance is waiting for you! The crown of communion with Jesus is ready to bedeck your brow. Wrap yourself in scarlet and fine linen, and fare sumptuously every day; for if thou believest, thou mayst eat the fat of kidneys of wheat; thy land shall flow with milk and honey, and thy soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness. Gather golden sheaves of grace, for they await thee in the fields of faith. “All things are possible to him that believeth.”

Thanks for all your kind words and your encouragement, you're beautiful!!! (You too, lynn)

 

[BarlyGurl]

Babygurl, I'm not looking for a divorce. That's the least of what is on my heart. I'm sincerely looking for God and no I don't think that God changed His mind about anything. I fully realize that my problem is the same as it was 22 years ago. Fasting is a good idea and one that I've been thinking about. In addition, I realize that there might be other things that He wants to show me as well and I am totally open to those.

It's B-a-r-l-yGurl. I appreciate your willingness to be transparent about "that" concern. I encourage you in your fast, seeking His face and offer prayer on your behalf for CLARITY.

 

[Word_Swordsman]

Hi everyone. I'm new to the group and I would like your opinion on something. 22 years ago I met a nice Christian man. After dating him a bit, I got a check in my spirit and later on the Holy spirit quickened two scriptures to me. The general idea of what I thought God was saying was to present my life as a living sacrifice to Him, set aside the relationship and run the race HE had for me. I was going through some very scary things in my life at that time and I didn't want to lay the relationship down and lose this friend, even tho I KNEW he wasn't the one for me. I ended up marrying him as he was transferred to another state and I had to chose. I told the Holy Spirit what I was going to do and went the other direction of His leading and to be honest, married a man that I didn't believe was for me. I feel like I've lived a lie all these years and I haven't been able to come in peace to God. It's been so many years that I don't feel like I'm saved anymore. I feel like I committed the unpardonable sin. Hebrews 10:26 talks about the willful sin. (being enlightened and sinning anyway) I am seeking God again, but I have one minute of peace and days of fear and agitation. People tell me that I should just forgive myself. It isn't that, trust me. It's total fear that I have no hope now. My faith to "really believe" that I am saved is missing...

Jesus made clear what blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is about, which was what some (not all, i.e. Saul/Paul, et. al.) Pharisees did in Mark 3, putting themselves in danger ofeternal damnation.Whether that happened to them verbatim is unknown to us.

Mark 3:28-30 (KJV)
[SUP]28 [/SUP] Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme:
[SUP]29 [/SUP] But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation:
[SUP]30 [/SUP] Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit.

You are a son of man, and believe you are a child of God. Only sons of men can be in God's family. Since all of us are still sons of man, none of the household of God are immune from such a fatal act, each of us still sons of man.

Not heeding the Holy Spirit is not at all related to blasphemy of the Spirit, that definition of it above being the only New Testament one. Most Christians are probably guilty of routinely failing to even hear the Holy Spirit speak to them, or to carry out his will as received, to our great hurt. That doesn't put us in danger of eternal damnation as long as we remain believers in good standing (repenting of sins), but can certainly bring on extreme personal defeat and national disasters such as Israel suffered too often. Even blaspheming the name of Jesus doesn't endanger people concerning eternal damnation, as promised by Jesus in Mat 12:32. Eternal death comes by going through this life without believing on Jesus the way the gospel teaches that, all your life majoring in doing his commandments.

Not "feeling" you are saved isn't a warning from the Bible of pending eternal doom. It's an emotional response many of us experience from time to time, what I regard as another wake up call from the Lord. Letting our negligence of the kingdom of God result in depression, or avoidance of God's presence, and other self-imposed punishments should not affect us long term. We are to overcome all such things, and are equipped to do so over the long run. It's like the foot races Paul liked to compare our journey to. Nobody finishes a race until the last step is taken across the finish line. Finish, whether you are first or number 18 billionth.

A more likely scenario for a small number of Christians is when someone that has tasted all a human can taste of the Lord in this flesh life deliberately reverts back into a lifestyle of sin. That's what Hebrews 6 is about. That isn't about the blasphemy Jesus warned about in Mark 3.

Making a mistake like marrying the wrong person doesn't have a related example in the scriptures, nor does that compare to listed sins. Of course that can cause great regret. Letting the regret of that distance you from the Lord can do even more damage than missing a clue from the Spirit long ago. What is...is. The scriptures teach you to make the best of it, keeping that husband, hopefully both of you happily pleasing God in some service for the Kingdom of God. Pray through it. Keep your words holy.

 

[teresacollie]

Dear Word_Swordsman
You know your word and you preach it with authority. I liked your answer. Like many Christians that I have met, I never knew much about the unpardonable sin. I didn't go looking for it either. I found it on a web search about 8 months ago at a time that I was seeking God to get to the bottom of my issues with Him. Many of the scriptures pricked my heart and there are more than one. There is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit that Jesus talked about in the first 3 gospels and the unpardonable sin that Paul (?) mentioned in the epistles. From all that I can gather from many different opinions, websites, books and Hebrew and Greek definitions of the word blasphemy, it all boils down to sin. Sin against the Holy Spirit. It happens when one knows what he is doing, (under the conviction or being enlightened) and willfully sins...anyway. Not to be lumped into the mistake category or even transgressions that are covered in Numbers 15 and the necessary sacrifices for atonement for those. Now look at Numbers 15:30-31. Its short and to the point on "willful" sin. It's a different sin. David sinned against the Father (the 10 commandments) and as bad as it was, it didn't separate him from God. He payed a huge price, but he was forgiven. Sins against the Holy Spirit are exclusive. The Holy Spirit is the one that leads us in our race. If we are given clear and precise direction from Him in that race (as I believe i received) and say NO...and go another way, we may be in a precarious position. The implications are serious. Just as David payed a price for 14 years, I realize that I don't get off the hook either. I know that there is a price to pay. The price for me is that I feel like a counterfeit. I had a walk with the Lord, then like Jonah, I went somewhere else instead. It doesn't work. A walk with The Lord is just that. It's a walk "with" Him. If we get off the bus half way, then we're not where we should be and that's exactly how i feel. I'm not where i should be and I can't pretend I am. I ran across something in a book last week and it said "He desires truth in the inward parts". I took an untruthful turn and it hasn't turned into truth. And this isn't about an unhappy marriage or wanting a divorce. It's about a walk with Him and it's about salvation. That is the most honest I can be with what I have been feeling in my heart. I have read each and every one of your responses and I highly value what you have all had to say. I will read and re-read and lean on it heavily. Thank you!!!!

 

[Budman]

God the Father draws us to Christ, and the Holy Spirit convicts us of our need for the Savior Jesus.

Anyone who has the desire to be saved through Christ hasn't committed the unpardonable sin.

If one has committed this sin, they'd have absolutely no desire for salvation.

Jesus made a promise that if anyone comes to Him, He will in no way cast them out. (John 6:37)

 

[BarlyGurl]

Hmmm... EXACTLY MOMMENTS AGO... I myself was praying Psalm 51:6.

I think every twice born... should spend some time alone with God meditating here... Selah!

 

[gcookaustin]

Teresa,

I was recently struggling with an issue on my way coming back to God, regarding an event from many years ago that had made me fearful I had blasphemed the Holy Spirit (a very similar issue to what you described). I was talking with a friend's pastor about it and he mentioned to me the parable of the Prodigal Son. I am familiar with the story but something he said really hit home with me that I had not considered before: for the son to leave his father in this manner, taking his inheritance early would have been very shocking to Jesus' listeners: essentially in that culture it was as though the son (Christian) is telling his father (God), "I wish You were dead (!) and I'm going my own way." But he returned home, and was forgiven.

My favorite verse right now is what Budman quoted, John 6:37, that He will in no way cast out the one who comes to Him. The language here is the most emphatic way possible in the Greek to negate the possibility of being cast out. Knowing that was also very helpful to me in trusting Him again.

 

[sydlit]

Hi. Anyone who came to this thread and read the last 25 or so posts just got some very wise, biblical, Godly counsel/advice. Wish I would have been receiving this when I first joined a few weeks back instead of some of the childish nonsense I got caught up in. My fault. Just want to say thanks for all the heartfelt, spirit led posts. The hardest thing to deal with lately is committing sin AFTER having this knowledge, (I can relate to what teresacol was trying to express earlier) and then having to deal with the consequences. And even if one hasn't committed the Unpardonable sin, if it Feels like you have, it's pretty devastating. Kind of like, if you have a bad fall, and you hear a 'pop' , and your ankles in bad pain, and you FEEL like you broke it, but the xray says you didn't...just sprained it, well, it Still hurts, especially if it was the result of doing something deliberately risky and stupid. Sometimes a sprain can even hurt worse, and take longer to heal, than a break, although an untreated break might not ever heal. I'm sure this analogy 'breaks down' (har-de-har har) so I'll just say I thank God for His grace, mercy, and love, and even if I can't Sense Him, or Feel Him, or hear His voice at this time, I know He's there because Jesus Rose from the grave, and I trust that the day will come when I will. Thank you, teresa, for your honesty, and thank you, posters, for your Christlike care. God bless you all.
(btw...are we all 'posterchildren'of the King?) (Oh, brother...)