unforgivable sin?

[Corey]

I've always thought the unpardonable sin was the constant rejection of the Holy Spirit's drawing. Then the person dies and the sin is unforgivable because the Cleansing of Jesus' death was never accepted.

Lately I heard that the unforgivable sin is to give Satan credit for works of God. Strikes me as odd. Would such an action override or disable real repentence? It just doesn't sound right, but I don't have supporting scripture (and trusting our human logic with Spiritual matters is often deadly inaccurate). Does anybody have any insight/references on this?

Thanks,

Corey

[dusty]

If you haven't already tried a search, a board search under "blasphemy", etc., might pull up a lot of other threads on the topic...this is just one recent thread where the different views were touched on...

http://www.rr-bb.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=82941&highlight=blasphemy

:)

[pilgrimian]

This is one of those issues that people will not agree on until they understand the context of Scripture prior to applying it. And I question if that will ever happen. People just love using Scripture out of context to further their aims, and I am afraid it further confuses the Body.

Look at Matthew 12...here Christ explains the Unpardonable Sin. What is it? It is that generation of His day denied His Messiahship. They called the power by which He was healing the power of Satan (Beelzebub). Therefore, they blasphemed the Spirit, and Christ rescinded the offer of the Messianic Kingdom to that generation. In Matthew 13 He begins to talk in parables...and later begins to talk about His death. So Matthew 12 is not only pivotal, but it helps us understand the Unpardonable Sin, which resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem, as well, in A.D. 70.

People want to apply this to us today...but does Paul ever apply it to the early church? No. He talks about "griev[ing] the Holy Spirit" (Ephesians 4:30), but not blaspheming it. None of the epistles warn that this sin can be applied to anyone after Calvary. The misunderstanding, I am afraid, comes from people's poor Israelology, and poor methods of interpretation.

Parts of the Scripture in Matthew 12 are certainly applicable today..but we need to be wise in which ones they are. For instance, verse 30 "who is not with me is against me" is true. Jeses is the only way. If you're not with Him...you're against Him.

Here is a good article which explains it well:

The Rejection of His Messiahship (http://www.ariel.org/ff00003c.html)

God's blessings in our glorious Messiah,
Matthew

[Corey]

Thanks folks.

My God is more than enough! And so is the information and links provided.

Thanks again,

Corey

[Lonewolf7]

Originally posted by Corey
I've always thought the unpardonable sin was the constant rejection of the Holy Spirit's drawing. Then the person dies and the sin is unforgivable because the Cleansing of Jesus' death was never accepted.

Lately I heard that the unforgivable sin is to give Satan credit for works of God. Strikes me as odd. Would such an action override or disable real repentence? It just doesn't sound right, but I don't have supporting scripture (and trusting our human logic with Spiritual matters is often deadly inaccurate). Does anybody have any insight/references on this?

Thanks,

Corey

This may help you understand.......

Acts 7
51"You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit!
54When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. 55But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

Matthew 9:34
But the Pharisees said, "It is by the prince of demons that he drives out demons."

If you REALLY read these verses.....you can see the condition of the hearts of these men. They have rejected and pushed away the Holy Spirit for so long that....when they see God at work...they attribute it to satan himself. They are blinded.

2 Timothy 2:25
Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth,

They have pushed God so far back and have totally rejected Him .. that they will not repent.....which comes by way of the Holy Spirit

Zechariah 4:6
So he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty.