Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit

Luke 12:8-10 ESV

“And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.”

So, what is this teaching us? Do we understand what Jesus means by acknowledging him? It is the opposite of denying him. And what does it mean to deny him? To deny Jesus is to refuse him, to reject him, to contradict him, to disagree with him, to disallow him. It means to refuse to admit that you have any connection with him. Okay, but can we profess him with our lips and still deny him? Yes! And it is possible to have the appearance of godliness, but to deny its power in your life, by your actions.

Therefore, since it is possible to give lip service only to the Lord, but by our actions we can deny him, then what this really comes down to is not just about us acknowledging him or denying him with our lips. But what this really comes down to is us rejecting him as Lord (Owner-Master) of our lives and declining to obey his commands (New Covenant), and disagreeing with his teachings, and refusing to give up our sins. It means to disallow him and his ownership over your life, so you remain in control and as lord of your own life. And it can even by while you are giving him lip service.

And the Scriptures teach us that if we deny Jesus, not just with our lips, but by how we live, and by how we treat him, that he will deny us before his Father who is heaven. And he will be ashamed of us when he returns for his bride one day, and we will not go with him to heaven. For he taught that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one DOING the will of God the Father (Matthew 7:21-23).

Denying Jesus: [Matthew 10:32-33; Matthew 15:7-9; Luke 9:26; 2 Timothy 2:11-13; 2 Timothy 3:1-5; Titus 1:15-16; 2 Peter 2:1-3; Jude 1:3-4]

And what does it mean that the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven? I find this a difficult passage to understand, and even the great theologians don’t all agree on what he meant, or they have no real proof of what they believe he meant. The word means irreverence and being insulting or showing contempt. And that takes me to another passage of Scripture which talks about that, and it is in Hebrews 10:26-31 ESV:

“For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, ‘Vengeance is mine; I will repay.’ And again, ‘The Lord will judge his people.’ It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

And this came right after the encouragement to Christians to “consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:24-25). And our meeting together is to be for this purpose of the body of Christ exhorting and urging and provoking one another to live holy lives to the glory of God. And it is so that we don’t continue in deliberate and habitual sin.

So, is this saying that this person can never be brought to genuine repentance? I don’t think so. Why? Because if you read the epistles in the New Testament, Paul and the other apostles appealed to the believers over and over again that they must forsake certain sins that they were still living in, that they were still continuing in. So, they were being given the opportunity to repent. But then what was the warning to them?

It was that if they continued in deliberate and habitual sin, and if sin was their practice, and if righteousness and godliness and obedience to our Lord were not their practice, that they would not inherit eternal life with God. But these served as warnings to them. They didn’t say, “Oops! You are obviously continuing in sin and so you are done for, no chance of salvation at all.” Over and over the apostles gave those professing faith in Jesus, but who were continuing in deliberate sin, an opportunity to repent. But!! If they did not repent, then they would not inherit eternal life with God.

And I really think that is the point here, which goes along perfectly with the whole thing about denying Jesus. We cannot deny Jesus with our lives and expect that heaven is our destiny. We cannot continue in deliberate and habitual sin and expect that God is going to receive us into his heaven. He is not! So, what he is saying, I believe, is that we can’t profess Jesus with our lips and then go live however we want and think that he will let us into his heaven. He won’t! Unbelief is the one sin that can’t be forgiven. And unbelief, according to God, is rebellion and disobedience against the Lord.

Judged by God according to our works: [Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10; 2 Co 5:10; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; 1 Pet 1:17-21; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15] 

For Our Nation  

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Trust Him with your life today.

Make Him your Lord and your Savior.

Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.

He will forgive you of your sin;

Cleanse your heart, made new within.

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.

On our knees to God we’re praying,

Seeking God to give us answers

That are only found in Him.

God is sovereign over all things.

Nothing from His mind escaping.

He has all things under His command,

And will work all for good.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Men deceiving: We’re believing

In our Lord, and interceding

For our nation and its people

To obey their God today.

He is our hope for our future.

For our wounds He offers suture.

He is all we need for this life.

Trust Him with your life today.

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