WARNING: The following post is simply a few ideas I've thought up after 5 minutes of word searches in my dictionary and bible apps. These are not complete in-depth articles I've studied for months, nor are they accusations to tell you HOW WRONG YOU ARE. This post is just meant to be something to get you thinking. Actually, it's just random thoughts I've had that I'm putting on the internet, anyway, here's the post
So! Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. As it says in Mark 3:29 "but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin."
That's pretty serious... I mean, I don't know about you but I sure don't want to be guilty of an eternal sin.
So being the abstract, chaotic, and sometimes useful thinker I am I decided to think about what it actually would take to commit this unforgivable sin. Would I have to scream "**** YOU HOLY SPIRIT!" Or would it be something more like mumbling "I don't think the Holy Spirit matters"
So, I did a quick search on what blasphemy means, and it means " the act or offense of speaking sacrilegiously about God or sacred things; profane talk" so I looked up what sacrilegiously means, and it means to be sacrilegious, which means "the violation or profanation of anything sacred or relating to the sacred" SO! What does profanation mean? Profanation is "characterized by irrelevance or contempt for sacred principles or things of God"
So, if I'm following this right, Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, is treating the Holy spirit as being irrelevant. Right? Uh oh.... So, is it possible that the idea that the gifts of the Spirit, the anointing of the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, laying hands on people and seeing healing, is it possible that the American church's general label of those things being "weird, uncomfortable, for a different time or place" is the one unforgivable sin?
Well! Why not try something controversial the next time. Great question to ask.
ReplyDeleteHere are a few ideas: From the Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology:
What is this sin? Both Mark and Luke use the term “blaspheme” while Matthew has the more ordinary “speaks against,” showing that all three have in mind some kind of verbal repudiation or denunciation of the Spirit of God in the ministry of Jesus. Ancients believed in the power of words and uttering imprecations, curses, and blasphemies were taken seriously. The verb “blaspheme” means to speak abusively or insultingly of someone or something (Acts 18:6; Rom. 14:16). In the Old Testament the term was used specially for derisive language and attitudes toward the God of the covenant with Israel (2 Kings 19:4; 6, 22; Isa. 66:3; Ezek. 35:12–13). The fundamental notion inherited by New Testament authors, and Jesus in particular, is expressed in Leviticus 24:15–16: “Whoever curses (q̄alal; katareō) his God shall bear his sin. He who blasphemes (nāqab; onomazō) the name of the Lord shall be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him; the sojourner as well as the native, when he blasphemes (nāqab; onomazō) the Name, shall be put to death” (RSV; cf. Lev. 24:10–23 for the blasphemer).
Elwell, W. A., & Elwell, W. A. (1996). In Evangelical dictionary of biblical theology (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.
Second, from Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible:
The unpardonable sin must be defined by its context (Mt 12:31, 32; Mk 3:28–30). Jesus cast a demon from a blind-dumb man. Incontrovertible evidence of the power of God had occurred. The Pharisees with stubborn unbelief credited this display of God’s power to Beelzebul, the devil (Mt 12:24). Several Scriptures reveal that many Jews practiced this sin (Mt 9:34; 11:18; Lk 7:33; 11:14–20; Jn 7:20; 8:48, 52; 10:20). A group of Jews, mostly Pharisees, were guilty of attributing the righteous works of the Spirit demonstrated through the Lord Jesus, to the devil. They committed the unpardonable sin when they called the highest manifestation of holy labor by the most offensive opprobrium—the work of Beelzebul.
Elwell, W. A., & Beitzel, B. J. (1988). In Baker encyclopedia of the Bible (p. 2116). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.