Christians blaspheming the Holy Spirit

[1Tonne]

For many years I have thought that blasphemy of the Holy Spirit was either, to use the words "Holy Spirit" as a cuss word, or to deny the Holy Spirit when the Gospel is said to you. But recently, I have been wondering if it was something different that believers could commit.
In Acts 1:8, it says that they Holy Spirit was given so that we would be His witnesses to the ends of the earth.
"but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and as far as the remotest part of the earth.” Acts 1:8
So, the Holy Spirit was given so that we would fulfil the great commission. So that we would have power, boldness and clarity to share the Good News. Those who have the Holy Spirit, will want to warn as many people as possible of the coming judgment and they will tell others about the great sacrifice that Jesus did on the cross for them. They will say it in boldness and clarity.

If we look at what happened in the upper room when the Holy Spirit first came upon the apostles, they spoke with such clarity that the people from other nations even understood what they were saying. They spoke of the wonderful works of God. So, we who have the Holy Spirit will declare His goodness to as many people as possible.

In Mark 16:15 Jesus tells us to, 'Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation". So, we are to tell as many people as possible. He also said, "Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter"
In 2 Peter 3:9 it explains what the will of the Father is. "The Lord....not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance." God wants all to come to repentance and He has given us the Holy Spirit so that we will have power, boldness, and clarity to go out and preach the Good News to as many people as possible.

So, could blasphemy of the Holy Spirit be when we have the Holy Spirit but deny it by not proclaiming the gospel? Even though Jesus has commanded us to go out and preach the Gospel to all creation, there are many who deny the Spirit by saying, “I do not need to go out and warn people because God has not called me to do that.” Are these people are speaking against the Holy Spirit who lives in them. The Spirit was given so that they would be witnesses.
Now let’s look at the verses that specifically talk about denying the Holy Spirit. In Matthew 12:30-32 it says “"The one who is not with Me is against Me; and the one who does not gather with Me scatters. Therefore, I say to you, every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come."
In verse 30 it says that if we are not gathering with Him, then we are scattering. So, we need to do as He has commanded and preach the Gospel to all creation. We need to gather.

Now, in James 4:17 it says, “So for one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, for him it is sin”. We know the right thing we ought to do. We need to warn as many people as possible about their condemnation that they are under. If we don’t, then we are acting in a wrong manner. As Penn Jillette said, “If you know of everlasting life, and you know of everlasting death, how much do you have to hate somebody to not tell them of it?” By not warning the lost we are not fulfilling the second greatest commandment. “Love your neighbour as you love yourself”.

One other verse that is rather interesting is one about those who act cowardly. Many believers will let fear rule them that much, that they will not take the risk and go out and share the Gospel. They make up all sorts of excuses like, “God has not called me to do that”, or “I have not been given the gift of evangelism”, or many other weak reasons. But really, the main reason why they will not go out is because they are fearful. They are scared. And rightfully so. It is a scary thing to go out and warn others. But we must not let this fear rule us. If we do, then we will not obey what Jesus has asked us to do. If we then, profess to be believers and we claim to have the Holy Spirit but will not warn people of the coming judgement, then we are letting fear overcome us and we are denying the Holy Spirit who is in us. So here is the verse that corresponds with those who allow fear to overcome them. Revelation 21:8 “But for the cowardly, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and sexually immoral persons, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

So, my question to you is, are we denying the Holy Spirit in us if we allow fear to rule us? Is this blaspheming the Holy Spirit?

 

[d taylor]

-
​

No absolutely not, blasphemy of the Holy Spirit also know as the unforgivable sin. Is found in only in the context of Mathew 12. Where Jesus is presenting to the nation of Israel, that He is the promised Messiah. And that Israel must come to a decision are they going to accept Jesus as the promised Messiah and bring in the kingdom of God.

It is seen in Matthew that the nation rejected Jesus as the promised Messiah. Based on the miracles Jesus did, the rulers of Israel attributed Jesus miracles He did to the prince of the demons and not to the power of God and The Holy Spirit.

The blasphemy of the Holy Spirit was a national sin committed by the nation of Israel. It was never an individual sin committed by individual people. And it can not be committed now by an individual person.

 

[HTacianas]

For many years I have thought that blasphemy of the Holy Spirit was either, to use the words "Holy Spirit" as a cuss word, or to deny the Holy Spirit when the Gospel is said to you. But recently, I have been wondering if it was something different that believers could commit.
In Acts 1:8, it says that they Holy Spirit was given so that we would be His witnesses to the ends of the earth.
"but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and as far as the remotest part of the earth.” Acts 1:8
So, the Holy Spirit was given so that we would fulfil the great commission. So that we would have power, boldness and clarity to share the Good News. Those who have the Holy Spirit, will want to warn as many people as possible of the coming judgment and they will tell others about the great sacrifice that Jesus did on the cross for them. They will say it in boldness and clarity.

If we look at what happened in the upper room when the Holy Spirit first came upon the apostles, they spoke with such clarity that the people from other nations even understood what they were saying. They spoke of the wonderful works of God. So, we who have the Holy Spirit will declare His goodness to as many people as possible.

In Mark 16:15 Jesus tells us to, 'Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation". So, we are to tell as many people as possible. He also said, "Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter"
In 2 Peter 3:9 it explains what the will of the Father is. "The Lord....not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance." God wants all to come to repentance and He has given us the Holy Spirit so that we will have power, boldness, and clarity to go out and preach the Good News to as many people as possible.

So, could blasphemy of the Holy Spirit be when we have the Holy Spirit but deny it by not proclaiming the gospel? Even though Jesus has commanded us to go out and preach the Gospel to all creation, there are many who deny the Spirit by saying, “I do not need to go out and warn people because God has not called me to do that.” Are these people are speaking against the Holy Spirit who lives in them. The Spirit was given so that they would be witnesses.
Now let’s look at the verses that specifically talk about denying the Holy Spirit. In Matthew 12:30-32 it says “"The one who is not with Me is against Me; and the one who does not gather with Me scatters. Therefore, I say to you, every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come."
In verse 30 it says that if we are not gathering with Him, then we are scattering. So, we need to do as He has commanded and preach the Gospel to all creation. We need to gather.

Now, in James 4:17 it says, “So for one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, for him it is sin”. We know the right thing we ought to do. We need to warn as many people as possible about their condemnation that they are under. If we don’t, then we are acting in a wrong manner. As Penn Jillette said, “If you know of everlasting life, and you know of everlasting death, how much do you have to hate somebody to not tell them of it?” By not warning the lost we are not fulfilling the second greatest commandment. “Love your neighbour as you love yourself”.

One other verse that is rather interesting is one about those who act cowardly. Many believers will let fear rule them that much, that they will not take the risk and go out and share the Gospel. They make up all sorts of excuses like, “God has not called me to do that”, or “I have not been given the gift of evangelism”, or many other weak reasons. But really, the main reason why they will not go out is because they are fearful. They are scared. And rightfully so. It is a scary thing to go out and warn others. But we must not let this fear rule us. If we do, then we will not obey what Jesus has asked us to do. If we then, profess to be believers and we claim to have the Holy Spirit but will not warn people of the coming judgement, then we are letting fear overcome us and we are denying the Holy Spirit who is in us. So here is the verse that corresponds with those who allow fear to overcome them. Revelation 21:8 “But for the cowardly, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and sexually immoral persons, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

So, my question to you is, are we denying the Holy Spirit in us if we allow fear to rule us? Is this blaspheming the Holy Spirit?

There are several holes in you line of logic. In sum, you are asking if a Christian is blaspheming the Holy Spirit by not spreading the gospel, or evangelizing, or by whatever terms you use to describe it. To begin, go back to Mark 16:15 and determine just who Jesus commanded to do that. We cannot use the bible as if it were a user manual for a toaster oven. It is not a checklist, it is a narrative. The you he was speaking to was his Apostles. And what does the new testament say about Apostles:

1Co 12:28 And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues.

1Co 12:29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles?

The answer to the second question is no. Verse 12:28 sets out a hierarchy in the Church and verse 12:29 states that not everyone is an Apostle. Now there are all sorts of people who claim they are apostles and are carrying out the great commission but it is fairly easy to tell that they are not doing it. By way of example, what is the great commission?

Mat 28:19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

Now, among all the self appointed apostles that you know of, how many baptisms have they performed? You can find some street preacher on nearly every corner but no baptisms. Do these street preachers forgive sins? That is an authority Jesus gave to his Apostles.

I certainly am not an Apostle. Philip the Deacon was not an Apostle (see Acts 8). There are all sorts of people who are not Apostles and are not part of the Great Commission. Laymen -like myself- are to "keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus", see Rev 14:15, and to "always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear", 1 Peter 3:15.

So no, not preaching is not blaspheming the Holy Spirit. But you might want to re-read Hebrews 10:26-29. And if you'd like a bit of irony, google Thirty Nine Articles of Religion and compare article 6 to article 16.

 

[Divide]

So, could blasphemy of the Holy Spirit be when we have the Holy Spirit but deny it by not proclaiming the gospel?

So, my question to you is, are we denying the Holy Spirit in us if we allow fear to rule us? Is this blaspheming the Holy Spirit?

You ask good questions. You pretty much answered them too but I can expound my thoughts into it. I've never really heard these particular questions posed before, hmm. I think you could be right. He could be talking about the lukewarm christians there. The ones who go to the church or whereever and have a divine born again experience and become christians, only to go home and sit on the couch and be a non profitable servant.

I never knew you, be away from me you evildoers. That's going to be a very terrible moment for our Lord to have to say that to those people. Our covenant with God is a bilateral covenant which means both parties have obligations within the contract. If the lukewarm christian does not proclaim the gospel and praise God then, he is an unprofitable servant. All through the old testament it's been, If my people will humble themselves and repent...Then I will heal their land and them...and all like that. With the advent of Jesus paying the price to redeem us and save us, we are to humble ourselves and give glory to God. To be His Witness. To believe in Him and trust Him. To have confidence and faith in Him. To Obey Him.


I heard a testimony from someone once and they got to speak with the spirit of fear and they also saw the actual spirit of fear. The spirit of fear is supposedly about 4 or 4 inches tall. He is a little spirit but very powerful. Now, in scripture it says I have not given you the spirit of fear...and we know that when something is repeated in scripture, that means he wants us to take notice because it is important, right? Realizing that I had to discover what is the most repeated phrase in scripture? The answer I found is, Fear not. Be not afraid and so forth. SO we don't have to fear and are pretty much commanded to not fear.

And that my Brother, lends credence to your hypothesis.

 

[Divide]

We cannot use the bible as if it were a user manual for a toaster oven.

Oh come on man, I've actually quipped that before. The Bible IS our human user manul. It's the Instruction Book! THE book of Truth. It's laid out kind of like a Field Manual, lol.

So yes, Yes we can use the Bible as a user manual for us. It even has Troubleshooting sections!.

Ok riddle me this. We were born into a spiritual war that we did not start. When we woke up here after paratrooping in, we woke up with amnesia. Not remembering that God knew us before we were in the womb. But I see in my pack that there is a field manual (Bible), and a radio. (Prayer.) We also have a guide in the Holy Spirit, who's job it is to lead us into all truth, but we can not see Him and he has a small voice. (Usually!)

So we don't know our mission and have to complete our mission and find our way back towards the rendevoux point. All of this is in scripture. That book is more than you hive it credit for.

 

[1Tonne]

Another verse that also made me think that we need to spread the Gospel was James 2:24
"You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone."
This can be confusing because in Galatians 2:16 it says that we are not justified by any works of the law. So then, what works are we justified by? It can't be by being a good person or keeping the 10 Commandments. So what other works are there that we are justified by?

I believe that there are works of faith. If you believe something, then you are going to act in accordance with your belief. So, if you were walking along a path and I was to say to you, "Watch out for that land mine right there". If you believed me, you would walk around it. Your actions were a result of your belief. And, if you knew other people were going down the same path, you would warn them too. It would be wrong not to. So, our actions substantiate our belief.

A quote from Jordan Peterson goes.
“Is what you believe, what you say, or, what you act out? In truth, what you believe, is what you act out.……So, belief is substantiated in action.”

 

[Maria Billingsley]

For many years I have thought that blasphemy of the Holy Spirit was either, to use the words "Holy Spirit" as a cuss word, or to deny the Holy Spirit when the Gospel is said to you. But recently, I have been wondering if it was something different that believers could commit.
In Acts 1:8, it says that they Holy Spirit was given so that we would be His witnesses to the ends of the earth.
"but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and as far as the remotest part of the earth.” Acts 1:8
So, the Holy Spirit was given so that we would fulfil the great commission. So that we would have power, boldness and clarity to share the Good News. Those who have the Holy Spirit, will want to warn as many people as possible of the coming judgment and they will tell others about the great sacrifice that Jesus did on the cross for them. They will say it in boldness and clarity.

If we look at what happened in the upper room when the Holy Spirit first came upon the apostles, they spoke with such clarity that the people from other nations even understood what they were saying. They spoke of the wonderful works of God. So, we who have the Holy Spirit will declare His goodness to as many people as possible.

In Mark 16:15 Jesus tells us to, 'Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation". So, we are to tell as many people as possible. He also said, "Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter"
In 2 Peter 3:9 it explains what the will of the Father is. "The Lord....not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance." God wants all to come to repentance and He has given us the Holy Spirit so that we will have power, boldness, and clarity to go out and preach the Good News to as many people as possible.

So, could blasphemy of the Holy Spirit be when we have the Holy Spirit but deny it by not proclaiming the gospel? Even though Jesus has commanded us to go out and preach the Gospel to all creation, there are many who deny the Spirit by saying, “I do not need to go out and warn people because God has not called me to do that.” Are these people are speaking against the Holy Spirit who lives in them. The Spirit was given so that they would be witnesses.
Now let’s look at the verses that specifically talk about denying the Holy Spirit. In Matthew 12:30-32 it says “"The one who is not with Me is against Me; and the one who does not gather with Me scatters. Therefore, I say to you, every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come."
In verse 30 it says that if we are not gathering with Him, then we are scattering. So, we need to do as He has commanded and preach the Gospel to all creation. We need to gather.

Now, in James 4:17 it says, “So for one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, for him it is sin”. We know the right thing we ought to do. We need to warn as many people as possible about their condemnation that they are under. If we don’t, then we are acting in a wrong manner. As Penn Jillette said, “If you know of everlasting life, and you know of everlasting death, how much do you have to hate somebody to not tell them of it?” By not warning the lost we are not fulfilling the second greatest commandment. “Love your neighbour as you love yourself”.

One other verse that is rather interesting is one about those who act cowardly. Many believers will let fear rule them that much, that they will not take the risk and go out and share the Gospel. They make up all sorts of excuses like, “God has not called me to do that”, or “I have not been given the gift of evangelism”, or many other weak reasons. But really, the main reason why they will not go out is because they are fearful. They are scared. And rightfully so. It is a scary thing to go out and warn others. But we must not let this fear rule us. If we do, then we will not obey what Jesus has asked us to do. If we then, profess to be believers and we claim to have the Holy Spirit but will not warn people of the coming judgement, then we are letting fear overcome us and we are denying the Holy Spirit who is in us. So here is the verse that corresponds with those who allow fear to overcome them. Revelation 21:8 “But for the cowardly, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and sexually immoral persons, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

So, my question to you is, are we denying the Holy Spirit in us if we allow fear to rule us? Is this blaspheming the Holy Spirit?

Blaspheming the Holy Spirit aka the unforgivable sin, is unbelief until death. There is no salvation beyond death. Whether a Jew or Gentile, this applies to all who reject Jesus Christ of Nazareth and in turn reject His Holy Spirit. This was in full force in first century Jerusalem by the rejection of the Messiah by some Jews but especially the Pharisees and Saducees. IMHO
Blessings

 

[1Tonne]

Blaspheming the Holy Spirit aka the unforgivable sin, is unbelief until death. There is no salvation beyond death. Whether a Jew or Gentile, this applies to all who reject Jesus Christ of Nazareth and in turn reject His Holy Spirit. This was in full force in first century Jerusalem by the rejection of the Messiah by some Jews but especially the Pharisees and Saducees. IMHO
Blessings

I know that those who do not believe will perish. But do you have scriptures that show that the Holy Spirit works in unbelievers? I know that the Holy Spirit works in believers. It gives us the ability, drive and clarity to be His witnesses.
I guess my question to you is, does the Holy Spirit work in unbelievers or does it work in believers, and we relay the message of the Gospel. If the Gospel is preceded with the Law, then the persons conscience will hopefully work (if it is not seared) and then they will see that they have fallen short of Gods standards.
NOTE: I believe that many believers mix up the conscience working in an unbeliever, with the Holy Spirit. We all have a conscience.

 

[Divide]

I know that those who do not believe will perish. But do you have scriptures that show that the Holy Spirit works in unbelievers?

I think it is those verses in Romans 1 that cover that.

Romans 1:18-20
18 But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness.[i]
19 They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them.
20 For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.../NLT

Everybody has the Holy Spirit talking to them one way or another. Now the Holy Spirit is a spirit so has nothing to do with the flesh, but the Holy Spirit bears witness (talks to) oour spirit. And I think the voice of our conscience could be our spirit talking to us. Everyone has a conscience and your conscience always knows the right thing to do. Sometimes we listen to him and sometimes we don't.

But if everyone has the seed of God within them and can see God's invisible qualities, then everybody knows that God does exist way deep down inside. Some bury it. Some lift it up.

But yes in a practical sort of way the unbelievers do get guidance through the Holy Spirit! (That's what God does!)

 

[Divide]

I am a spirit being. I have a soul. I live in a flesh body. The Holy Spirit talks to our spirit and our carnal man doesn't get to listen in.

I think it must be so that when our conscience speaks to us (and says, Don't Do That!) that it (might be) our spirit man talking to us. The spirit of God has nothing with flesh man. In Spirit and in Truth, remember. So the Spirit of God only talks to our spirit. But our spirit can talk to our carnal self, right? I would think so. And if our spirit talks directly with God the Holy Spirit and can talk to us too, then we better start noticing what our conscience says because it is likely the will of God.

 

[Maria Billingsley]

I know that those who do not believe will perish. But do you have scriptures that show that the Holy Spirit works in unbelievers? I know that the Holy Spirit works in believers. It gives us the ability, drive and clarity to be His witnesses.
I guess my question to you is, does the Holy Spirit work in unbelievers or does it work in believers, and we relay the message of the Gospel. If the Gospel is preceded with the Law, then the persons conscience will hopefully work (if it is not seared) and then they will see that they have fallen short of Gods standards.
NOTE: I believe that many believers mix up the conscience working in an unbeliever, with the Holy Spirit. We all have a conscience.

"Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God” then Holy Spirit works by pricking the heart. If the heart continues to remain hardened by choice,then the Holy Spirit has been denied full access provided by Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Blessings.

 

[HTacianas]

Oh come on man, I've actually quipped that before. The Bible IS our human user manul. It's the Instruction Book! THE book of Truth. It's laid out kind of like a Field Manual, lol.

So yes, Yes we can use the Bible as a user manual for us. It even has Troubleshooting sections!.

Ok riddle me this. We were born into a spiritual war that we did not start. When we woke up here after paratrooping in, we woke up with amnesia. Not remembering that God knew us before we were in the womb. But I see in my pack that there is a field manual (Bible), and a radio. (Prayer.) We also have a guide in the Holy Spirit, who's job it is to lead us into all truth, but we can not see Him and he has a small voice. (Usually!)

So we don't know our mission and have to complete our mission and find our way back towards the rendevoux point. All of this is in scripture. That book is more than you hive it credit for.

I don't think you understand what I said. One could certainly refer to the bible as the owner's manual for the soul, or something similar. But it is not written in the format of a user manual. And trust me when I say I've written user manuals before. If you look back at what I wrote you'll see that I said the bible is written as a narrative. It tells the stories of events. Ii is not written as step 1 this, or step 2 that. For example, Jesus said to his disciples to go and bring him a donkey, see Matthew 21:2. When I read the story I do not get the impression that I am supposed to spend the rest of my life fetching donkeys. Jesus later said to his Apostles, go forth into all the world...baptizing, etc. Just as we are not to go fetch donkeys, not everyone is to go forth into all the world baptizing.

 

[Divide]

I don't think you understand what I said. One could certainly refer to the bible as the owner's manual for the soul, or something similar. But it is not written in the format of a user manual. And trust me when I say I've written user manuals before. If you look back at what I wrote you'll see that I said the bible is written as a narrative. It tells the stories of events. Ii is not written as step 1 this, or step 2 that. For example, Jesus said to his disciples to go and bring him a donkey, see Matthew 21:2. When I read the story I do not get the impression that I am supposed to spend the rest of my life fetching donkeys. Jesus later said to his Apostles, go forth into all the world...baptizing, etc. Just as we are not to go fetch donkeys, not everyone is to go forth into all the world baptizing.

I agree, not everyone is a preacher or a teacher or a prophet. But we are to give our witness within our circle of people of the good that God has done in our life for us. Be a witness for Him. Even if only to a smaller circle of people than a commercial setup. We are the church according to the NT.

I don't why the Lord wrote the Bible in code. We can read it over and over and then tomorrow wee something new in the same scripture! The Holy Spirit gives us revelation while we read the word of God. (Rhemas). So sometimes new things can come out of anold book. Everything has a season.

 

[Petros2015]

So, could blasphemy of the Holy Spirit be when we have the Holy Spirit but deny it by not proclaiming the gospel?

From Christ's words I think it's closer to looking at what the Holy Spirit is doing (delivering a man from demonic possession) and attributing the Holy Spirit to evil "it is by the power of Satan he is casting out devils!"

Kind of the worst possible extreme of Isaiah 5:20, applied to the Holy Spirit itself. Almost like an allergic reaction to Truth when it's right under your nose.

Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

What you are talking about, I think would be closer to "Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain". This got dumbed down in popular culture to "don't swear", and maybe in old meaning "don't pretend to be God", or "don't use the name casually, that's my name, don't wear it out, hold it in respect".

But, if someone is a Christian and is not proclaiming Christ by their thought, word, heart, deed and life, then...
...they've kind of taken something in vain (to no avail), haven't they? I think some are called to evangelize, but not all.
All are called to "take up our cross, deny ourselves and follow," that I know. And that's a witness in and of itself when it's done.

There was a time I was asked to speak at a Men's Retreat. And I gave the witness I had been given. And that was the right time. I ran over. They let me. If anyone wants to know, they will ask. And if they don't want to know, well, then I'm probably not doing it right. But, that's just me. The body of believers is large, as Paul said, and we all have our parts and our roles and they way that we witness. Not everyone is called to be a Mouth, nor should they be, but everyone is called to be a witness, one way or another.

 

[1Tonne]

I think it is those verses in Romans 1 that cover that.

That verse only says that we all know that there is a creator. The proof is in all that is around us. Creation is proof of a creator.

But yes in a practical sort of way the unbelievers do get guidance through the Holy Spirit! (That's what God does!)

Not sure is you really showed that the Holy Spirit talks to unbelievers.
I agree though that they do have proof around them that they should investigate a creator.

"Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God” then Holy Spirit works by pricking the heart. If the heart continues to remain hardened by choice,then the Holy Spirit has been denied full access provided by Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Blessings.

This verse does not say that the Holy Spirit works in a non believe. We presume it (even I have presumed it for many years). But, in reality, a non-believer may see the proof of God in creation and simply believe because of the proof. As Romans 1:20 says, we all know that there is a God.
In Acts 1:8 it does say that the Holy Spirit was given to believers. Not unbelievers.

For example, Jesus said to his disciples to go and bring him a donkey, see Matthew 21:2. When I read the story I do not get the impression that I am supposed to spend the rest of my life fetching donkeys. Jesus later said to his Apostles, go forth into all the world...baptizing, etc. Just as we are not to go fetch donkeys, not everyone is to go forth into all the world baptizing.

I think your example is flawed. The command to get a donkey was not an indefinite command. Where the command to the disciples to preach the Gospel was indefinite. They were to preach the Gospel to all creation for the rest of their lives. Then once they died, who took over declaring the Gospel?
If the command was only to the disciples, then once they died, no one would be declaring the good news to the lost. So, Christianity would have faded away. But after the disciples had passed, the believers knew the good thing that they were meant to do. They knew that they were to warn as many people as possible. It would be terrible if someone went to Hell and you could have warned them. That would be a terrible thing to have on your conscience.
We are all to warn of the coming judgement. It would be wrong of us not to.

From Christ's words I think it's closer to looking at what the Holy Spirit is doing (delivering a man from demonic possession) and attributing the Holy Spirit to evil "it is by the power of Satan he is casting out devils!"

This I do ponder on, and I agree with it. Saying that a work of the Spirit is not of God but of satan is very wrong.
But if we deny the Holy Spirit in us, if we don't allow it to have its way in us, are we going against it? This is what the pharisees were doing. They were working against the works of God.

Not everyone is called to be a Mouth, nor should they be, but everyone is called to be a witness, one way or another.

I believe that we are all called to warn everyone of the coming judgement. And because of the excitement within us, we will also speak of the great sacrifice Jesus did for us. What an amazing thing He did for us. We should declare it all the days of our lives.
We should all be speaking to as many people as possible. This does not mean that we are all street preachers, but we should all be looking for opportunities constantly. And we should be doing more than that. We should be creating opportunities. We should think to ourselves, "How can I share the Gospel with that person? What can I say that will start up a conversation so that I can then say the Gospel?" We should all be talking to as many people as possible.

Now, I do agree that not everyone is called to be an evangelist. But I believe that most of us have a wrong understanding of the gift of evangelism. Most of us think that it is some special gift where God has given us the ability that when we speak the Gospel, people will believe. But that is wrong. The gift of evangelism of not for the lost. It is for the church. If we read Ephesians 4:11 it says, "And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ". So, someone with the gift of evangelism will be equipping, teaching the saints so that they can go out and preach the Gospel. The gift of evangelism is an inward gift, so we can be outwardly focused. A person who has the gift of evangelism will tell people the Gospel because that is what we should be doing, but actual gift is for the church.

 

[HTacianas]

That verse only says that we all know that there is a creator. The proof is in all that is around us. Creation is proof of a creator.

Not sure is you really showed that the Holy Spirit talks to unbelievers.
I agree though that they do have proof around them that they should investigate a creator.

This verse does not say that the Holy Spirit works in a non believe. We presume it (even I have presumed it for many years). But, in reality, a non-believer may see the proof of God in creation and simply believe because of the proof. As Romans 1:20 says, we all know that there is a God.
In Acts 1:8 it does say that the Holy Spirit was given to believers. Not unbelievers.

I think your example is flawed. The command to get a donkey was not an indefinite command. Where the command to the disciples to preach the Gospel was indefinite. They were to preach the Gospel to all creation for the rest of their lives. Then once they died, who took over declaring the Gospel?
If the command was only to the disciples, then once they died, no one would be declaring the good news to the lost. So, Christianity would have faded away. But after the disciples had passed, the believers knew the good thing that they were meant to do. They knew that they were to warn as many people as possible. It would be terrible if someone went to Hell and you could have warned them. That would be a terrible thing to have on your conscience.
We are all to warn of the coming judgement. It would be wrong of us not to.

This I do ponder on, and I agree with it. Saying that a work of the Spirit is not of God but of satan is very wrong.
But if we deny the Holy Spirit in us, if we don't allow it to have its way in us, are we going against it? This is what the pharisees were doing. They were working against the works of God.

I believe that we are all called to warn everyone of the coming judgement. And because of the excitement within us, we will also speak of the great sacrifice Jesus did for us. What an amazing thing He did for us. We should declare it all the days of our lives.
We should all be speaking to as many people as possible. This does not mean that we are all street preachers, but we should all be looking for opportunities constantly. And we should be doing more than that. We should be creating opportunities. We should think to ourselves, "How can I share the Gospel with that person? What can I say that will start up a conversation so that I can then say the Gospel?" We should all be talking to as many people as possible.

Now, I do agree that not everyone is called to be an evangelist. But I believe that most of us have a wrong understanding of the gift of evangelism. Most of us think that it is some special gift where God has given us the ability that when we speak the Gospel, people will believe. But that is wrong. The gift of evangelism of not for the lost. It is for the church. If we read Ephesians 4:11 it says, "And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ". So, someone with the gift of evangelism will be equipping, teaching the saints so that they can go out and preach the Gospel. The gift of evangelism is an inward gift, so we can be outwardly focused. A person who has the gift of evangelism will tell people the Gospel because that is what we should be doing, but actual gift is for the church.

Before the Apostles died they chose successors to carry out their mission. And for two thousand years each successor chose his own successor and the Church has continued.

 

[tonychanyt]

So, my question to you is, are we denying the Holy Spirit in us if we allow fear to rule us? Is this blaspheming the Holy Spirit?

No, I don't think so. See Whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will NOT be forgiven.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

For many years I have thought that blasphemy of the Holy Spirit was either, to use the words "Holy Spirit" as a cuss word, or to deny the Holy Spirit when the Gospel is said to you. But recently, I have been wondering if it was something different that believers could commit.
In Acts 1:8, it says that they Holy Spirit was given so that we would be His witnesses to the ends of the earth.
"but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and as far as the remotest part of the earth.” Acts 1:8
So, the Holy Spirit was given so that we would fulfil the great commission. So that we would have power, boldness and clarity to share the Good News. Those who have the Holy Spirit, will want to warn as many people as possible of the coming judgment and they will tell others about the great sacrifice that Jesus did on the cross for them. They will say it in boldness and clarity.

If we look at what happened in the upper room when the Holy Spirit first came upon the apostles, they spoke with such clarity that the people from other nations even understood what they were saying. They spoke of the wonderful works of God. So, we who have the Holy Spirit will declare His goodness to as many people as possible.

In Mark 16:15 Jesus tells us to, 'Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation". So, we are to tell as many people as possible. He also said, "Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter"
In 2 Peter 3:9 it explains what the will of the Father is. "The Lord....not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance." God wants all to come to repentance and He has given us the Holy Spirit so that we will have power, boldness, and clarity to go out and preach the Good News to as many people as possible.

So, could blasphemy of the Holy Spirit be when we have the Holy Spirit but deny it by not proclaiming the gospel? Even though Jesus has commanded us to go out and preach the Gospel to all creation, there are many who deny the Spirit by saying, “I do not need to go out and warn people because God has not called me to do that.” Are these people are speaking against the Holy Spirit who lives in them. The Spirit was given so that they would be witnesses.
Now let’s look at the verses that specifically talk about denying the Holy Spirit. In Matthew 12:30-32 it says “"The one who is not with Me is against Me; and the one who does not gather with Me scatters. Therefore, I say to you, every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come."
In verse 30 it says that if we are not gathering with Him, then we are scattering. So, we need to do as He has commanded and preach the Gospel to all creation. We need to gather.

Now, in James 4:17 it says, “So for one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, for him it is sin”. We know the right thing we ought to do. We need to warn as many people as possible about their condemnation that they are under. If we don’t, then we are acting in a wrong manner. As Penn Jillette said, “If you know of everlasting life, and you know of everlasting death, how much do you have to hate somebody to not tell them of it?” By not warning the lost we are not fulfilling the second greatest commandment. “Love your neighbour as you love yourself”.

One other verse that is rather interesting is one about those who act cowardly. Many believers will let fear rule them that much, that they will not take the risk and go out and share the Gospel. They make up all sorts of excuses like, “God has not called me to do that”, or “I have not been given the gift of evangelism”, or many other weak reasons. But really, the main reason why they will not go out is because they are fearful. They are scared. And rightfully so. It is a scary thing to go out and warn others. But we must not let this fear rule us. If we do, then we will not obey what Jesus has asked us to do. If we then, profess to be believers and we claim to have the Holy Spirit but will not warn people of the coming judgement, then we are letting fear overcome us and we are denying the Holy Spirit who is in us. So here is the verse that corresponds with those who allow fear to overcome them. Revelation 21:8 “But for the cowardly, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and sexually immoral persons, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

So, my question to you is, are we denying the Holy Spirit in us if we allow fear to rule us? Is this blaspheming the Holy Spirit?

Genuine born again Christians cannot blaspheme the Holy Spirit. When Jesus spoke about it He was not talking about believers. He was talking to unbelieving Pharisees. Therefore to say that Christians can blaspheme the Holy Spirit is to say it from a stupid theology based on a misreading of the Scriptural passage.

 

[Lukaris]

At the very least we should have a sense of evangelism in whatever we do in living a Christian life. The Lord tells us to give alms and pray in Matthew 6:1-13. We should at least try to realize that these are closely linked ( James 2:14-16 etc.).

I believe this starts with prayer and that we are called to pray for all people ( 1 Timothy 2:1-6) and salvation of souls should be our first priority. Charity is secondary but also extremely important since it shows we should actually want to serve others in not only physical, but spiritual, welfare. I believe what St. Paul says in Ephesians 2:8-10 is actually related to what St. James says in James 2:14-16.

We are called to pray for evangelism and evangelists ( Matthew 9:36-38, Luke 10:1-2) . This is, I believe, our minimal foundation of commitment to evangelism. From this point, I think, only the individual can know in their relationship with the Lord what their calling may be. Matters of consideration along the lines of 2 Peter 3:2, 2 Peter 3:18.

 

[1Tonne]

At the very least we should have a sense of evangelism in whatever we do in living a Christian life. The Lord tells us to give alms and pray in Matthew 6:1-13. We should at least try to realize that these are closely linked ( James 2:14-16 etc.).

I believe this starts with prayer and that we are called to pray for all people ( 1 Timothy 2:1-6) and salvation of souls should be our first priority. Charity is secondary but also extremely important since it shows we should actually want to serve others in not only physical, but spiritual, welfare. I believe what St. Paul says in Ephesians 2:8-10 is actually related to what St. James says in James 2:14-16.

We are called to pray for evangelism and evangelists ( Matthew 9:36-38, Luke 10:1-2) . This is, I believe, our minimal foundation of commitment to evangelism. From this point, I think, only the individual can know in their relationship with the Lord what their calling may be. Matters of consideration along the lines of 2 Peter 3:2, 2 Peter 3:18.

Prayer is important. We are to pray as often as we can. And we are to pray that God will send out more harvesters. But in praying this, we need to remember that we ourselves should also be telling others of His great sacrifice. I have noticed in some churches that people will pray and pray and pray that God will send people into their town to the lost, but then they themselves do not go out.
This reminds me of a great quote: "We need to pray for our nation like never before, and then put legs to our prayers and preach the gospel. To pray for the lost and at the same time ignore that command to preach the gospel to every creature, is nothing but empty hypocrisy. It is to honour God with our lips and have cold hearts that are far from Him. May He give us a love that moves us from the pews into the streets, and from our homes into our universities. God save us from the cozy comfort of lukewarm contemporary Christianity." Ray Comfort

I believe we should all be sharing the Good News. Not just evangelists. We should have a zeal or excitement that drives us to tell people of His great sacrifice.
I remember back in 1998 when The Titanic came out. People went and watched it, and they came back saying it was an amazing movie. They spoke about it with excitement and told others to go and watch it. It was a common conversation. And so, I watched it and after, I was so excited that I then went and told my friends about it.
Now when we watched The Titanic, we were not given a special gifting to tell others about the movie. It was an excitement that drove us to speak about it. A zeal. And I believe that those who have truly seen their sin for what it is, and they realise how depraved and sinful they are, and then they see the great sacrifice that Jesus done on the cross for them, then they will tell as many people as possible. And they will do it with an excitement and zeal. What better story is there than this. No movie can compare.
We need to stop making up excuses by saying that "I am sharing the Gospel by how I live" or "I am serving in the community, that is my witness", or "God has not called me to that. That is only for those that have that gifting".

If the heavens will speak of His greatness without having the gift of a mouth, how much more should we who have mouths speak of His great sacrifice. See Psalms 19:1-4 "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no utterance nor language; they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”
We have been blessed with mouths. So, God has given us this gift to be able to proclaim His goodness. If the stars, the moon or the sun were given mouths, I believe that their words would continue day and night. They would never stop proclaiming. Likewise, we have been blessed with eternal life and we have been blessed with mouths, and so with excitement, we should declare of His great sacrifice often as possible.