Question from a Site Viewer
Did I Blaspheme the Holy Spirit?
I am worried that I blasphemed the Holy Spirit by going through the motions so to speak when I first met my wife since I knew that was the only way for our relationship to work. I felt like a fake since I had fallen so far in sin and now here I was going to church. Willful sin can be forgiven right? Did I blaspheme the Spirit by pretending to be a follower when I wasn’t? I’ve always believed Christ died on the cross, but went my own way. Could that be the reason I was attacked so directly by the enemy?
Tim’s Answer
Going through the motions but not having the life of God is hypocrisy, not blasphemy. Hypocrisy is a big problem, but it is not unforgivable, is never stated to be unforgivable, and no one would have hope of heaven if hypocrisy was unforgivable, because we all have been hypocrites at one time or another in our lives. Even Peter was a hypocrite at Antioch (Galatians 2:13), but God thereafter used him greatly. If hypocrisy was unforgivable, then Jesus would have died in vain because none of us could be saved.
Willful sin can be forgiven. David’s sins with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah were willful and forgiven, as were Manasseh’s, as were the prodigal son’s sins. If immorality could not be forgiven, then the Corinthians are in trouble because some of them committed all kinds of sexual immorality (1 Corinthians 6:9-11). The question with Christ is never what we have been in the past, but who we are pursuing at the present. Christ does not turn away the thief on the cross, or the publican at the temple, or the woman living in an adulterous relationship, or the Pharisee of Pharisees (Paul), or anyone who turns and seeks Christ.
My encouragement to you is for you to turn away from your sin. I mean, turn away from it. Do not give it place in your mind. Do not let the accuser bring it back up. Having confessed your sin to Christ, count Him faithful to do what He has promised; that is, to forgive your sins. Do not doubt Christ. As Paul states, we should forget the things that are behind and press into Christ. Look only to Him. Seek to follow Him. Seek to serve Him well. Make loving Him and loving others the passion of life. Satan always wants to turn our eyes back to what went on before. Christ says to keep our eyes looking forward. He says if we look back, we are not fit for the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom is not in the past, but in the future. We need to long for it, to pray for it, to seek the return of the King, and seek to be the best ambassadors we can be while we are on this earth. This is the thrust of what Christ teaches, and what the apostles taught, and what the early church taught, and what Christians down through the ages have taught. Christ does not call on us to dwell on our sins, but to dwell in Him. So, pursue Christ and give no time for the devil to accuse you over sins that you have confessed to Christ.
So WHAT IS ? the unforgivable sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit ??
We’ve covered that in a variety of articles on the site. But Nick Phelps wrote a short piece that explains it pretty well. That article will be posted in a couple of days. If you subscribe you won’t miss it. Otherwise just check the blog.