Prayer Of Forgiveness From A Guilty Sinner

Beyond Forgiveness: Blasphemy Against the Spirit

The crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat. And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for people were saying, “He is beside himself.” And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul, and by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.

” And he called them to him, and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end.

But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man; then indeed he may plunder his house.

“Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin” — for they had said, “He has an unclean spirit.”

And his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside they sent to him and called him. And a crowd was sitting about him; and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, asking for you.

” And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking around on those who sat about him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother, and sister, and mother.

”

About eight years ago a young woman came into my office at Bethel, extremely distressed over this issue of the unforgivable sin.

She told me how one day when she was a young teenager, she got so angry at her mother who was a Christian that she locked herself in her room and used every swear word and oath and all the foul language against the Holy Spirit that she could think of. That day was seared into her conscience and came back to haunt her again and again.

She wanted to know if she had committed the unforgivable sin. It is not a merely academic question. What could be more terrifying than to believe you are beyond forgiveness and bound for eternal misery with no escape?

Three Questions

Let’s ask three questions to our text:

1. Is there really an unforgivable sin?
2. If so, what is it?
3. How should we live in view of it?

1. Is There Really an Unforgivable Sin?

Is there really an unforgivable sin? Note verse 29, “Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin.” Three observations:

God’s Forgiveness in View

First, the forgiveness in view is God’s forgiveness. The sweetest news for a sinner is that God has forgiven him, that God no longer holds his sins against him. But the worst news in the world is that God will never forgive you. God is the one to reckon with. What men think about our sin is relatively unimportant. What God thinks is infinitely important.

On God’s Lips, “Never” Really Means “Never”

Second, Jesus says that God will never forgive a person who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit. When a human says, “I’ll never forgive you,” we may go on with life. There are others we can turn to; and “never” really doesn’t mean never.

But when God says, “I will never forgive you,” then there is nobody to turn to in all the universe and “never” really means “never.” If God says to you, “Never will I forgive you,” then a million ages from now his verdict will be granite.

His sentences are as unbreakable as his pardons.

“The sweetest news for a sinner is that God has forgiven him.”

Someone may say to you, “Literally Jesus simply said that forgiveness would not be given ‘unto the age,’ meaning in this age; but in the future age pardon can be found.” This is not what Jesus meant. Matthew 12:32 makes his meaning more precise, “Whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven either in this age or in the age to come.

” When Mark 3:29 calls blasphemy against the Holy Spirit an “eternal sin,” it means a sin that God will not forgive to all eternity. If all the mountains on the earth were wearing down at the rate of one millimeter every thousand years, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit would still be unforgiven when the face of the earth is as smooth as a billiard ball.

It is an eternally unforgivable sin.

Forever Under God’s Wrath

Third, therefore the person who commits this sin is guilty forever before God and under his wrath without end: “Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness; but is guilty of an eternal sin.

” If forgiveness is withheld for eternity, guilt is sealed for eternity. God is never neutral to sin. He either forgives it or punishes it. There is no neutral middle ground of indifference. Not to be forgiven by God forever is to suffer his wrath forever.

To reject the doctrine of eternal hell under the wrath of God is to reject the forthright teaching of our Lord Jesus. Mark 3:29 is one of the clearest passages in the Bible to the effect that there will be those shut forgiveness, bearing their guilt forever.

And it is the teaching of Jesus, who loved us and gave himself for us!

There Is an Unforgivable Sin

So in answer to the first question, yes, there is an unforgivable sin. Jesus calls it an eternal sin, one that never has forgiveness, one that sends a person into eternity to bear his guilt under God’s wrath forever.

2. What Is This Unforgivable Sin?

The second question: What is this sin that is beyond forgiveness? Again verse 29: “Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness.” The unforgivable sin is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. But what is that?

The Context in Mark

Verse 30 makes clear that Mark wants us to understand blasphemy against the Holy Spirit in relation to the scene in verses 20–27.

Verse 30 gives the reason why Jesus brought up the issue of an unforgivable sin: “for they had said [or: were saying], ‘He has an unclean spirit.

’” That points us back to verse 22: “The scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, ‘He is possessed by Beelzebul, and by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.’”

“The worst news in the world is that God will never forgive you.”

Note very carefully: Jesus does not say that these scribes have committed the unforgivable sin. He hears them attribute his power over demons to Satan instead of to the Holy Spirit and he says, “Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness” (verse 29).

“Whatever Blasphemies They Utter”?

Why do I hesitate to equate what the scribes said with unforgivable blasphemy? I hesitate because Jesus invites me to with verse 28. “Truly I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter.

” Literally: “All things will be forgiven to the sons of men, the sins and the blasphemies whatever they blaspheme.” No exceptions are mentioned.

The key to understanding the unforgivable sin is how verse 28 can be stated so absolutely (“all sins and blasphemies will be forgiven”) and yet verse 29 can say that there is a blasphemy and a sin beyond forgiveness.

What does verse 28 mean? Mark makes it plain that sins are forgiven only if a person repents. Mark 1:4, “John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” Mark 1:14–15, “Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom is at hand, repent and believe in the gospel.

’” (See also 4:12; 6:12, and Acts 2:38 and 5:31.) In order for anyone to receive forgiveness of sins, they have to repent — that is, to turn from sin to God and trust his grace and follow him. So when Jesus says in Mark 3:28, “All sins will be forgiven the sons of men and whatever blasphemies they utter,” he means, all sins and blasphemies from which you genuinely repent.

Beyond Repentance

Why, then, in verse 29 does Jesus seem to exclude one sin and one blasphemy from this promise: the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? I think the reason is that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit puts you beyond repentance, and therefore beyond forgiveness. Verse 29 is not an exception to verse 28.

Jesus is not saying, All blasphemies that you repent of will be forgiven except blasphemy against the Spirit. He is saying, all blasphemies that you repent of will be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven because it puts you beyond repentance — you won’t be able to repent of it.

If a sin makes it impossible for you to repent, then that is an unforgivable sin, because forgiveness is promised only to those sins from which we genuinely repent (cf. 4:12).

Why This Particular Sin Makes Repentance Impossible

But why does this one particular sin, this one blasphemy, make it impossible to repent and be forgiven? What about blasphemy against the Son of God, or God the Father, or angels, or Scripture, or the church? Why do these not put us beyond repentance and forgiveness? Why only blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? I think it’s because of the unique and decisive role the Holy Spirit plays in our salvation. If we look to God the Father and then turn from his glory to embrace sin, that is bad. If we look to his Son Jesus Christ whom he sent into the world and then turn away from his glory to embrace sin, that is doubly bad.

But in either case there is hope. The Father has planned redemption and the Son has accomplished redemption. This wonderful redemption is outside ourselves and available to us if we repent of our sin and turn back to Christ in faith.

But it is the unique and special role of the Holy Spirit to apply the Father’s plan and the Son’s accomplishment of it to our hearts.

It is the Spirit’s work to open our eyes, to grant repentance, and to make us beneficiaries of all that the Father has planned and all that Christ has done for us.

“If by God’s grace you can repent today of your sin, do it now, because you may not be able to tomorrow.”

If we blaspheme and reject the Father and the Son, there is still hope, for the Spirit may yet work within us to humble us and bring us to repentance.

But if behind the Father and the Son we see and taste the power of the Holy Spirit and reject his work as no more precious than the work of Satan, we shut ourselves off from the only one who could ever bring us to repentance. And so we shut ourselves off from forgiveness.

Not Simply a Lifetime of Resistance

Let’s take one more step before we define the unforgivable sin. Some people say that the unpardonable sin is continual rejection of the Holy Spirit until death. And thus only death puts a person beyond forgiveness. I think that is wrong for two reasons.

One is that in Matthew 12:32 Jesus says, “Whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven either in this age or the age to come.

” If the possibility of forgiveness were taken away only after death, then Jesus would not have said that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is unforgivable in this age as well as the one to come.

Another reason is 1 John 5:16 teaches that there is a sin unto death which is pointless to pray about. It puts a person beyond forgiveness even in this life. Therefore the unforgivable blasphemy against the Spirit is not simply a lifetime of resistance against the Holy Spirit.

The Unforgivable Sin Defined

What then is it? The unforgivable sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is an act of resistance which belittles the Holy Spirit so grievously that he withdraws forever with his convicting power so that we are never able to repent and be forgiven.

3. How Shall We Live in Light of This Possibility?

Our final question is: How should we live in view of this possibility?

Run from Sin with Fear and Trembling

The fact that there is an unforgivable sin — that there comes a point in a life of sin after which the Holy Spirit will no longer grant repentance — that fact should drive us from sin with fear and trembling.

None of us knows when our toying with sin will pass over into irrevocable hardness of heart. Very few people feel how serious sin is.

Very few people are on the same wavelength with Jesus when he said in Mark 9:43, “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.”

They have the naïve notion that God’s patience has no end and that they can always return from any length and depth of sin, forgetting that there is a point of resistance which belittles the Holy Spirit so grievously that he withdraws forever with his convicting power, leaving them never able to repent and be forgiven.

They are the buzzard who spots a carcass on a piece of ice floating in the river. He lands and begins to eat. He knows it is dangerous because the falls are just ahead. But he looks at his wings and says to himself, “I can fly to safety in an instant.

” And he goes on eating. Just before the ice goes over the falls he spreads his wings to fly but his claws are frozen in the ice and there is no escape — neither in this age nor the age to come. The Spirit of holiness has forsaken the arrogant sinner forever.

The Offer of Grace: Repent and Be Forgiven

You have heard the warning. Now hear the offer of grace. “All sins will be forgiven the sons of men and whatever blasphemies they utter.” I urge you in the name of Christ: If by God’s grace you can repent today of your sin, do it now, because you may not be able to tomorrow.

Источник: //www.desiringgod.org/messages/beyond-forgiveness-blasphemy-against-the-spirit

Why I’m a Guilty Sinner and Needed Forgiveness

Today I want to express how grateful and thankful I am for my Salvation.

So, why would I even NEED salvation? 

After all, I don’t consider myself that “bad of a sinner“…

I haven’t robbed any banks or committed any murders or stole my best friend’s husband.

In fact, I’ve never smoked, nor tasted a drop of alcohol, nor even cursed in my life…

I stood at the marriage altar in purity… but still I am a sinner and was a sinner in great need of Salvation.

You see, I can’t keep the whole law…

God knows I’m not able to do so.

The Ten Commandments are a mirror…it shows us our flaws and shortcomings.

There’s not one human being on the face of this earth that can keep the law to perfection.

Reality… God’s Holy Word says we’re all sinners.

Everyone has failed to keep The Ten Commandments.

“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:” Romans 3:10

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” Romans 3:23

What is SIN anyway? 

It’s ANYTHING we do that displeases God.

It takes just ONE sin to become a sinner.

Are YOU a sinner?  Let’s consider this…

Everyone at one time has told a lie.  Most of us have to admit that we’re a thief…perhaps you snatched a piece of candy that didn’t belong to you.  Most of us have to admit we’ve lusted after someone.  Have you ever put something in priority before God? Have you ever had a bad thought? Have you ever been envious of what someone else has?

The fact is, we CAN’T keep the Ten Commandments, we’re sinners.  Plain and simple.  Nothing to argue there.

If we’re guilty of sin, we can’t enter into the Holy Presence of God in Heaven.

But there’s HOPE!  Great News…

I’ve obtained “Salvation” through God’s Son, Jesus Christ.

When I speak of “Salvation,” I’m referring to being saved from God’s wrath and eternal punishment because there is a price for our sin.

“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”Romans 6:23

“And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”  Revelation 20:15

*If you’d to read more about Hell –the “eternal punishment,” visit this church’s website which offers a deeper discussion on the topic: //www.believethebible.org/eternal-punishment/

I’m thankful to Jesus Christ who paid the price for my sin so that I could FREELY obtain salvation and escape the eternal punishment, my due justice for sin.

I’ve been purchased and bought with a price — I’ve been redeemed through Jesus’ blood that He shed on the cross for me.

He paid our penalty of sin…because He Loves YOU and me!

Jesus was beaten, flesh being ripped off his back, spat upon, a crown of thorns forced upon His head, hands and feet nailed to a cross. He was hung on the cross to die in shame.  It’s evident that His love for you and me surpasses any human being’s love here on earth…

“But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”  Isaiah 53:5

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  John 3:16

“Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.”   I Peter 2:24

Let it be known that Jesus willingly laid down His life for YOU! 

The cruel death was something He could have escaped from. He loved you enough to GIVE His life for you!

“Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?”  Matthew 26:3

“No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.”  John 10:18

By the way, Jesus did NOT STAY dead…He is God in the flesh and rose from the dead three days later…

“Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.” Romans 6:9

*If you’d to read more about Jesus’ Resurrection, then visit this site, “Evidence for the Resurrection.“

Salvation can NOT be earned…

What if I could get myself to Heaven?  It’s not possible because I can’t keep the law, but if I did, I’d be boasting and not giving God glory and honor as I should.  You have to realize that you can’t earn your way to Heaven by good works or perfect church attendance.

Again, as stated in John 3:16 above, Jesus paid the price for us.  By faith, we accept His gift of salvation.  We trust Jesus to get us to Heaven.

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”  Ephesians 2:8,9

Why I can’t depend on any priest to obtain Salvation…

Once Jesus offered up Himself as our Ultimate sacrifice, He became our High Priest.  We no longer have to go to any priest to sacrifice the blood of animals for our sins as was done in the Old Testament.  We go to Jesus only for forgiveness of sin and accept His redemption.

“By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:

But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;”

Hebrews 10:10-12

So, exactly HOW does one receive Salvation?

This is the EASIEST part of all.  It’s a “Gift“…and you don’t even have to pay for it!  You just receive it.

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.“

Romans 10: 9-13

All you need to do right now is believe on the Lord Jesus.  Bow your head to pray… Confess that you’re a sinner in need of Jesus’ free gift of salvation.

  It doesn’t matter what sin you’ve committed or what race you are…He died and paid the price for your sin.  Please, please accept Him today.  Accept Him right now before it’s too late.

  We really don’t know when our last day here on earth will be!

________________________________

This Weeks Memory Verse:

Reference Words:

• Redeem – To recover ownership of by paying a specified sum.  To set free; rescue or ransom.
• Covenant – A binding agreement; a compact.
• Reverence – A feeling of profound awe and respect and often love; veneration.

*Originally posted September  1, 2013

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