Could I trouble you with a question? Could you please help me understand Mark
3:29 "who blasphemes the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven". This
terrifies me. What does it mean? I believe with all my heart, but there are times
that people say this thing or that thing is an act of God, or is being
orchestrated by God and I sometimes don't know whether I can believe that or
not. Sometimes I think "that does not seem to me like something God would
do" or even "there is no way that could be God". Please tell me
this is not what this verse is referring to. In His love, Beverly
Hi Beverly,
thanks for the email. This thought of blaspheming the Holy
Spirit certainly does scare some believers. The enemy also likes to use it to
tell even believers that they have committed it and cannot now be forgiven. The
fact is that this was an event that occurred and could only occur when Jesus was
on Earth. In its context Jesus had performed all that the nation of Israel needed
to see that He was the Messiah - and with all the miracles that He performed
through the Holy Spirit they only had two ways they could go. They could believe
and accept Him or, say that He was of the devil and was empowered by the devil in
what He did. They chose the later and this was blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. It
is not an individual's sin - but that of the nation of Israel in that
generation who personally got to see all that Jesus did to confirm to them that
He was the Messiah. When you read the account in Mathew, chapter 12 is where this
all comes to a head and after they reject Him, Jesus begins speaking in parables
in chapter 13 onwards for their judgement has been set. So again, it was for that
time and it was for that generation. You do not have any other writers such as
Paul or Peter or John pick it up and address it later.
Have a read of
this link that goes into some more detail:
http://www.gotquestions.org/unpardonable-sin.html
Or if you want it from a Jewish perspective (because the context is very Jewish),
have a look at what is written on page 5 of this article by Dr Arnold Fructenbaum
http://www.bethariel.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/mbs003m.pdf
The fact is that you should NEVER feel guilty by checking out whether this or
that 'person, act or move of God' is from God. The Bible tells you to
test ALL things and hold onto that which is good and avoid every kind of evil. (1
Thes 5:21) And in our day specifically, there is much activity that occurs
'in the name of God' that is not from God. Having the discernment to
see that these things are not of God because it doesn't stack up with what
God has revealed in His word, is what He asks of us and is in no way blaspheming
the Holy Spirit. Those who say such things are using fear tactics to shut up any
opposition. Jesus commended the church in Ephesus for testing some so-called
Apostles and finding them false:
Revelation 2:2 I know your deeds,
your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men,
that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found
them false.
Paul prayed we would have discernment so that we may
stay pure and blameless:
Philippians 1:9-10 And this is my prayer: that
your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, (10) so
that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until
the day of Christ,
Other scriptures tell us to test what we see and
hear:
1 John 4:1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the
spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone
out into the world.
Isaiah 8:20 To the law and to the testimony! If they
do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.
Hope
this helps. When Jesus died, He died and forgave all of your sin. You don't
have to walk in fear that He would not forgive you or that you may slip into
doing something that cannot be forgiven. All the best.