VIII.) SINS AGAINST THE HOLY GHOST: (Matt. 12:31, 32)
(V.31) Wherefore I say unto you, all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.
(V.32) And whosoever speaketh a word against the son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost - It shall not be forgiven neither in this world, neither in the world to come.
(1) This is a solem study, because the Holy Ghost is God and can be sinned against by both the believer and the unbeliever. And it may help you search your heart as you consider this lesson on SINS AGAINST THE HOLY GHOST.
(2) The sins of blaspheming the Holy Ghost in verse (31, 32) this sin is committed by both believers and unbeliever, it has no forgiveness, it was committed by the enemies of Jesus when they accused Him of casting out devils, by the power of Satan (Matt. 12:24) when Jesus claimed to cast them out ion the Spirit of God (Matt. 12:28).
To reproach or to bring a railing accusation against any one is bad enough (Jude 9), but to speak lightly or carelessly of God is a mortal sin. The third commandment, "You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God" (Exod. 20:7), was observed so meticulously by the Jews that they would not speak the sacred name (Jehovah) at all, and so no one knows today for certain how it was pronounced. In the Hebrew Bible the consonants of the "sacred tetragrammation": this word means - four Hebrew letters usually translated as YHWH (Yahweh) or JHVH (Jehovah) signifying the Hebrew name for God which the Jews regarded as too holy to pronounce, occur over six thousand times, always with the vowels for Hebrew word for "LORD."
Before his conversion, Paul blasphemed (I Tim. 1:13) and tried to force Christians to blaspheme (Acts 26:11). The Jews, with a peculiar sense of humor, sometimes used the word "to bless" to mean "to curse" or "to blaspheme" (I Kings 21:10, 13; Job 1;5, 11: 2:5, 9). God prescribed that in Israel the punishment for blasphemy would be death by stoning (Lev. 24:10-16). Naboth was falsely charged with blasphemy and was stoned to death (I Kings 21:10-13), as was Stephen (Acts 6:11).
Stoning was also in the minds of those who charged Jesus with blasphemy (Matt. 9:3; 26:65; Luke 5:31; John 10:33); what Jesus said about himself would have been blasphemy were it not true.
UNPARDONABLE SIN, not a phrase used in the Bible, but the usual way of referring to blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (Matt. 12:31-32; Mark 3:28-29; Luke 12:10). There is much difference of opinion as to the meaning of this sin, but one of the most popular and a likely view is that the sin involves decisively and finally rejecting the testimony of the Holy Spirit regarding the person and work of Jesus Christ.
(3) The sin of resisting the Holy Ghost (Acts 7:51) this sin is committed by the unbeliever when rejecting Jesus Christ as saviour and Lord.
Resisting: the act of withstanding, a force that retards, hinders, or opposes motion, when we oppose the action of the Holy Spirit by not allowing Him to work within our life, we are rejecting God Himself, this sin is committed by unbelievers when they refuse the word of God when it has come to them, (Acts 7:51). The people resisted Stephen when they stoned him when he spoke in the power of the Holy Spirit; they rejected not Stephen but God (Acts 6:11; 7:51; Rom. 9:19; 13:2; II Tim. 3:8).
(4) The sin of grieving the Holy Ghost (Eph. 4:30, 32) this sin is committed by believers, He is grieved by unless he controls our lives to the glory of Jesus Christ.
The control of the Holy Spirit over the life of the believer is of most importance because the Holy Spirit is God he can grieve, because God is a living being and therefore we must remember that the will of God is that all men be saved, we note that this is the same sort of evidence that the Spirit of God is "HE," not "IT." But, like the New Testament, the Old Testament goes further. Psalm 139:7 shows that the Spirit is the very presence of God himself in all the world.
The Spirit of God is God himself actually present and in operation. In Isaiah 63:10, when the people vex (grieved) the Spirit, God becomes their enemy; in 63:14 the work of the Spirit giving rest is parallel to the act of God leading his people. The ascription of holiness (e.g., Ps. 51:13) accords to the Spirit the character and personality of God.
(5) The sin of quenching the Holy Ghost (I Thess. 5:19) this sin is committed by believers when known sin is allowed to go unconfessed (I John 1:9) also (Isa. 59:1-2).
The act of extinguishing; causing to stop burning, put out, as of fires, flames, or lights, unconfessed sin will do this in the life of the believer, it will extinguish the power of the Holy Spirit because God does not take away our freedom of choice, but as with all choices there are consequences that will lead us down the wrong road, the Holy Spirit can be treated as one may treat a human person: he can be lied to and tempted (Acts 5:3-4, 9), resisted (7:51), grieved (Eph. 4:30), outraged (Heb. 10:29 RSV), blasphemed against (Matt. 12:31).
(6) The sin of lying to the Holy Ghost (Acts 5:1-11) the sin of Ananias and Sapphira was deception, born in jealousy, they tried to mock God (Gal. 6:7) the Holy Ghost can be sinned against,
( BECAUSE HE IS GOD ).
The Holy Spirit is God, equated with the Father and the Son (Matt. 28:19; II Cor. 13:14). Jesus speaks of Him as of His other self (John 14:16-17), whose presence with the disciples will be of greater advantage than his own (16:7).
Therefore the Holy Ghost can be sinned against because He is God, to have the Spirit of God is to have Christ (Rom. 8:9-12). God is Spirit (John 4:24) in essential nature and sends His Holy Spirit to live and work in people (14:26; 16:7). Peter speaking to Ananias said, "while it remained, was it not thine own? And after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? Why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? Thou has not lied unto man, but unto
( GOD ).
MEMORY TEXT:
"But the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men." (Matt. 12:31).
