What is exactly the Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit?

[fatimaf]

For many years I have been struggling with blasphemous thoughts. I know some of you had probably hear about this topic. Others call it religious ocd. I'm not going to tell how everything started but just what is worrying me the most right now. For about six year I had always rejected every blasphemous thought that came to my mind, but recently less than a year my situation has became worse. I have always have the fear of consenting the thoughts because I fear that if I agree with them, then I will commit the unpardonable sin. My mind is so tired that I feel I can't reject those thoughts no more. Even sometimes it feels that I have pleasure of thinking of them. The obsession is really strong now and the urge of consenting the blasphemy is really strong that I end up giving up and accepting the thought as mine and I feel that I freely consent the thought. Then after that, the doubt comes and and accuse me of committing the unpardonable sin. I knew I had no to consent the thought but I felt the urge to do it . ( thinking the consenting the thought one time only wont probably be a sin) but then later I asked Jesus to forgive me and I am scared because later this happen not only one time but many... What can I do now? I am really sorry. I feel like I am the worse human being in earth. I still want to follow God. I don't know who I am now. I lost control of my mind. Please give me some advise. Pray for me

 

[Mister_Al]

In the Bible, Jesus attributes the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit as declaring the works of the Holy Spirit as being the works of a demonic spirit. The blasphemy has to be spoken openly and not just thought about. Thinking a thought will never send you to hell.

Blessings,

Alan

 

[paul1149]

The devil is messing with your mind. Clearly, your desire is not to have these thoughts, otherwise you wouldn't be so stressed about them. They are intrusive thoughts that have gained a foothold through you focusing on them. PLEASE do a youtube search on, Dan Mohler - How to Resist the Devil. He was severely hassled by the devil, but the he used it as a springboard to greater intimacy with the Lord. By doing so his life was greatly changed and he was prepared to be used by God.

 

[Soyeong]

The rule of thumb is that if you're worried about blaspheming the Holy Spirit, then you haven't done it.

 

[Gentle Lamb]

Try asking God to give you strength in your mind daily, by the hour, by the minute as necessary. Maybe you can take this as an opportunity to draw nearer to Him through constant prayer, He will definitely meet you in your need.

 

[jared1236]

For many years I have been struggling with blasphemous thoughts. I know some of you had probably hear about this topic. Others call it religious ocd. I'm not going to tell how everything started but just what is worrying me the most right now. For about six year I had always rejected every blasphemous thought that came to my mind, but recently less than a year my situation has became worse. I have always have the fear of consenting the thoughts because I fear that if I agree with them, then I will commit the unpardonable sin. My mind is so tired that I feel I can't reject those thoughts no more. Even sometimes it feels that I have pleasure of thinking of them. The obsession is really strong now and the urge of consenting the blasphemy is really strong that I end up giving up and accepting the thought as mine and I feel that I freely consent the thought. Then after that, the doubt comes and and accuse me of committing the unpardonable sin. I knew I had no to consent the thought but I felt the urge to do it . ( thinking the consenting the thought one time only wont probably be a sin) but then later I asked Jesus to forgive me and I am scared because later this happen not only one time but many... What can I do now? I am really sorry. I feel like I am the worse human being in earth. I still want to follow God. I don't know who I am now. I lost control of my mind. Please give me some advise. Pray for me

You are God-fearing which is a very good quality. And every God-fearing believer experiences the "guilt" of sin . I believe that Blasphemy against The Spirit is not letting Him transform and lead you The Truth (Jesus) while bad mouthing Him (this includes calling His works as demonic works) and equating Him to mere created beings (as most cults do). Now what happens is that the person doesn't let Spirit do His work and never actually comes to The Faith which results him to never achieve salvation . He dies "in" his state of sin. And so when God The Righteous and Just Judge (The Father) will pass judgement the person will have a load of sin without The Lawyer (Jesus The Son) to fight his case and win for him. He will be helpless . Now I think you should read Bible more and more and pray more and more. Build a strong relationship with Christ and you will do just fine. God Bless you.

 

[MyLordMySavior]

The instance where a sin is "unpardonable" is if a person refuses to accept Jesus Christ and with Him the free gift of eternal salvation and recieving the Holy Spirit to dwell inside. So, the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit would be the refusal of Christ and therefore the refusal to receive the Holy Spirit. At least, that's my understanding which I hope comes from God!

 

[Emmy]

Dear fatimaf. Here is one good advice from Jesus Himself, In Matthew 22: 35-40: Jesus tells us: " The first and great Commandment is: Love God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. The second is like it: love thy neighbour as thyself." In verse 40: we are told this great truth: " on these two Commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." God is Love, and God wants loving sons and daughters. Satan and all his followers hate love and compassion, they flee from it.
In Luke 10: 25-28: Jesus is being asked: " Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus answered:
" you know the two Commandments in Matthew 22: 35-40? DO THESE AND YOU SHALL LIVE. " The Bible tells us:
" Repent and be Born Again," change from being selfish and unloving to be loving and compassionate. God will see and God will approve and bless you, while all unloving and uncaring beings disappear. No blasphemy will have a chance to inherit you. The Holy Spirit will help and guide you, and Jesus our Saviour will lead you all the way:
" JESUS IS THE WAY. Keep asking for Love and Joy, Matthew 7: 7-10: then thank God and share all Love and Joy
with your neighbour. (neighbour is all you know and all you meet, friends and not friends) You might stumble and forget at times, but then ask God to forgive you, and carry on loving and caring.
I say this with love, fatimaf. Greetings from Emmy, your sister in Christ.

 

[Dave-W]

The instance where a sin is "unpardonable" is if a person refuses to accept Jesus Christ and with Him the free gift of eternal salvation and recieving the Holy Spirit to dwell inside. So, the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit would be the refusal of Christ and therefore the refusal to receive the Holy Spirit. At least, that's my understanding which I hope comes from God!

Not.

You are confusing "unpardonABLE" with "unpardonED." "Unpardonable" means unable to be pardoned. Paul refused to accept Jesus Christ and with Him the free gift of eternal salvation, until he repented and became a pillar in the church. Clearly his rejection was pardoned.

 

[MyLordMySavior]

Not.

You are confusing "unpardonABLE" with "unpardonED." "Unpardonable" means unable to be pardoned. Paul refused to accept Jesus Christ and with Him the free gift of eternal salvation, until he repented and became a pillar in the church. Clearly his rejection was pardoned.

I'm kind of confused to what you're saying, tbh. Is it a question of semantics? Unpardonable; unforgivable. Unpardoned; unforgiven.

Is this what you're saying?

 

[Dave-W]

I'm kind of confused to what you're saying, tbh. Is it a question of semantics? Unpardonable; unforgivable. Unpardoned; unforgiven.

Is this what you're saying?

It could be an issue of semantics. Unforgiven means it has not been forgiven YET, but could be once repented from.
But Unforgivable means that even if you IMMEDIATELY try to repent from it, you cannot. Not now, not ever.

IOW, once you have committed that sin, it is game over with no hope of recovery or salvation.

 

[DiscipleHeLovesToo]

Mat 12:22-37 KJV
(22) Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw.
(23) And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David?
(24) But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.
(25) And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:
(26) And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?
(27) And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges.
(28) But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.
(29) Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.
(30) He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.
(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.
(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 him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.
(33) Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.
(34) O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
(35) A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.
(36) But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
(37) For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

there is much debate and no true agreement in the body of Christ as to what exactly 'speaking against the Holy Spirit' is; looking at these scripture alone, it simply isn't clear.

Rev 13:4-6 KJV
(4) And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?
(5) And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
(6) And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.

these verses are referring to the devil; this is not a 'slip of the tongue' in a weak moment; it is a certain and eternally final hatred for God and His 'tabernacle' (you and i and all believers still in flesh bodies), and all of His angels and people who have gone to be with Him already. you wouldn't be here asking about blasphemy if you held a certain and eternally final hatred of God, so you haven't blasphemed the Holy Ghost even if you said or do say some bad things about Him.

focus on God's words, they will push out the bad thoughts as you fill your mind with His words of goodness. if you simply reject the bad thoughts without replacing them with the good thoughts of the Good God who loves you, your focus will be on the bad thoughts even though you resist them.

your mind is like the gas tank on a car with no working gas gauge; if you want to fill up such a car with gas, all you have to do is keeping pumping in the gas until it gushes back out of the mouth of the tank to know it's full; pump God's words in your eyes and ears until His words come out of your mouth when blasphemous thoughts try to enter your mind; and you'll be so full of God that the devil's suggestions won't affect you. the thief does come, but he won't be able to get in if your mind is full of God

 

[Dave-W]

there is much debate and no true agreement in the body of Christ as to what exactly 'speaking against the Holy Spirit' is; looking at these scripture alone, it simply isn't clear.

I disagree. It seems the context of what is going on is the key. The specific group of pharisees Our Lord was warning about this sin were doing these 2 things:

* Declaring the miracles of God to be devilish in origin (while knowing they were actually from God)
* Trying to dissuade people from hearing and following the gospel.

If you do that, you have just moved yourself to a place where you can never ever be saved.

 

[DiscipleHeLovesToo]

I disagree. It seems the context of what is going on is the key. The specific group of pharisees Our Lord was warning about this sin were doing these 2 things:

* Declaring the miracles of God to be devilish in origin (while knowing they were actually from God)
* Trying to dissuade people from hearing and following the gospel.

If you do that, you have just moved yourself to a place where you can never ever be saved.

you are judging by external actions; God judges by what's in the heart - and only He can see what's in someone's heart when they say things that could be interpreted as blasphemous - therefore since you are not God, you are not qualified to judge that the pharisees who made these statements to Jesus were forever barred from salvation simply based on the limited context given in the Bible about them; as the Bible does not say that these pharisees did indeed understand and believe that Jesus was the Christ (it actually indicates that they did not recognize that Jesus was the Christ) - so it is more logical in my view that they did not perceive that they were blaspheming the Holy Ghost and ascribing evil to God as they did not recognize that Jesus was the Christ - it's at least as likely that they said these things ignorantly in unbelief:

1Ti 1:12-13 KJV
(12) And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry;
(13) Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.

you should consider that your absolute statement may cause people who are already afraid that they have damned themselves to hell (for some careless remarks made in the past) even more tormented by wondering if they really meant it at the time, even though they are repentant after the fact

 

[mytel]

I think you have had some good responses here. Just try to resist these kinds of thoughts, try not to focus on them and give them attention. I do/have experienced these sorts of recurring thoughts, i would say try to affirm the truth, when u start to get tempted into thinking these things. We have to take every thought captive, and i believe we can only do this through the power of God. I suggest to pray, and believe, that God can remove these things from your thoughts. I will pray for you.

 

[Justatruthseeker]

Paul had doubts at times, Timothy, John, all of them. Don't confuse doubts with that unpardonable sin.

What is unpardonable is knowing the truth and then denying it openly, to do wrong on purpose - not because one stumbles accidentally.

http://biblehub.com/hebrews/10-26.htm