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cognitivemagic -> RE: blasphemy of the Holy Spirit (7/23/2008 11:55:12 PM)
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quote:
up until now I was so sure that I was saved. but my wife read something to me out of the scripture that I hadn't thought about. it says blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is unforgivable. i know I've spoken against the Lord before many times in my life. I was a stupid kid who didn't believe in anything. but now I'm a devout Christian. I'm determined to be a Pastor. I want to spend my life serving Him and I truly repent for everything I've ever done. can I ever truly be saved? or have the mistakes of my past already condemned me? someone. please help.
Dear friend, it's very obvious that you fear God.....so, no, you cannot have committed the "blasphemy of the Holy Spirit". Or if you did, it's obvious that you repented. But let me explain myself.
I wrote about this in another post but I will repeat it again, here, for your sake.
The "blasphemy of the Holy Spirit" is not a sin, like having done something; or having failed to do something you should have done.
Rather, it's a state/condition related to your ability to "know" things....like "knowing" that the sky is blue or that 2 plus 2 equals 4.
With respect to God's "revealing" Himself to us, He has chosen the Holy Spirit as the Person who enlightens our understanding so that we can see God revealing Himself to us. But if we condition our thinking in such a way that when God does reveal Himself we cannot perceive and believe in His reality, then what more can God do to make Himself known? A "miracle" is the highest degree of evidence that God can submit as providing unambiguous proof that He's real.
If you were an atheist, for example, you might be conditioned to believe that what you had seen (i.e. a decapitated limb grow back or a blind person having their sight return) was merely a "natural" event that, despite our scientific ignorance, has some scientific explanation.
Therefore, if our condition for "knowing" God has become such that we cannot come to believe in Him, even when there's clearly a miracle before our very eyes, God cannot do anything more for us without overriding our being; in which case we would no longer be an "I" or "ego"; but rather an "it", that happens to be controlled by God.
And so we are in "danger" of judgment because we haven't believe, based on the best God can do.
Nevertheless, that doesn't mean that we can't be forgiven....even if we fail to accept God in light of His miracles. It just means that God can't do more than that for us.
Yet we still possess a "will" that is truly free. And so, we can still repent and turn to God, even if we did commit the "blasphemy of the Holy Spirit".
It's "unforgivable" because it's not a "sin", but a state/condition of a person.
Let me use one other example:
Jesus talked about the "Sower" in a parable (Matt. 13:3-23) as illustrating the mercy of God. He told of the seed that the Sower had dropped on several types of soil; but only one soil produced a good harvest.
And someone could be tempted to read that parable and say to themselves "I am the rocky soil"....(for such and such reasons)......"and therefore I'm going to go to hell!!"
But wait a minute. This parable is talking about everyone of us. The "soils" are the different stages of the Christian life. Each of us was the seed that fell by the wayside, right? Wasn't there a time in your life when the Gospel didn't mean much? A time when Christianity was irrelevant?
Or what of the soil that waffles under pressure and persecution? Or waffles under temptations towards pleasure and riches? Again, who of us hasn't been there? Look at King David and King Solomon. Or St. Peter. Or Moses. They were there too!! That's why God gave us a "cloud of many witnesses" (Hebrews 11).
It's no coincidence that "Israel" means "one who wrestles/struggles with God."
Understand then that the "soil" is the heart. And if you understand that all farmers cultivate their fields, regardless of their conditions, in order to yield a harvest; then also understand that God, likewise, is cultivating our hearts in this life in order that His seed will produce a harvest.
God is not done cultivating you yet....even if you're still waffling on rocky ground!!
And if you think you know how, or even what, God is doing with you, remember this verse:
"Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart
of man
The things which God has
prepared for those who love
Him"
(1 Cor. 2:9)
That includes the past and present....not just the future. After all, the past was a "present" and the "present" (from the perspective of the past) was the future!!
and
"But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this: but He who judges me is the Lord. Therefore, judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one's praise will come from God."
(1 Cor. 4:3-5)
Remember the words of C.S. Lewis:
"God whispers to us in our pleasures but He shouts to us in our pains. Pain is God's megaphone to rouse a deaf world".
Therefore, notice that He is still speaking to you.
God bless.
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