Mark 3:28-30

CARM on blasphemy of the Holy Spirit:

http://www.carm.org/questions/blasphemy.htm

liveforjesus said:

Can someone explain this to me?

Mark 3:28 "...I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them.29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin."30 He said this because they were saying, "He has an evil spirit.".

Were they going against Jesus by saying he has an evil spirit, or going against the Holy Spirit by saying it is evil?

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I believe it's as it says, blaspheme against God (He is ONE) and it is more than just speaking evil.


To DEFAME means: harm somebody’s reputation: to attack somebody or somebody’s reputation, character, or good name by making slanderous or libelous statements.

To speak IMPIOUSLY means: 1. religion showing lack of religious respect: not showing due reverence for God or something holy
2. disrespectful: showing a lack of respect for somebody or something

And there is record of this happening in both Acts and 1 Tim.
Act 5:3 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?

Ananias tried to deceive the Holy Ghost.

He was killed for what he did, and so was his wife.
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2Ti 2:17 And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus;
2Ti 2:18 Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some.

Although we do not know if these people were actually saved to begin with, they all were accused for committing the most grievous sin and they all were killed for it.

Matt 12:31 is the same verse.

The greatest blaspheme against Christ was His crucifixion. those who crucified Jesus were perpetrating blasphemy against Him. Yet, He asked that they be forgiven because they know not what they do. So, it is not blasphemy against Christ that is unpardonable.

What I have alwasy gleened from this is that the Holy Spirit is what works in us and through us to bring about the Will of God in our lives. To turn people away from Christ by attributing the works of the Holy Spirit to other entities for diabolical means (turning people away from Christ) is what I have always thought was the unpardonable.

liveforjesus said:

Can someone explain this to me?

Mark 3:28 "...I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them.29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin."30 He said this because they were saying, "He has an evil spirit."

Were they going against Jesus by saying he has an evil spirit, or going against the Holy Spirit by saying it is evil?

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Christ answers the question for you. He termed the assertion that His works were accomplished through the power of Satan as a sin against the Holy Spirit. When considering blasphemy against the Third Person one should take notice that, for whatever reason, men don't seem to swear in His name. This leads me to the conclusion that there is now, and always has been a certain sanctity belonging to the Holy Spirit.

In Christ,
Tracey

I've read the phrase. From my reading it appears that Jesus is asserting that neither he nor the victim are creations of Satan, because Jesus was able to free the man of his insanity and the man was able to become free. Satan, if he owned the soul of either man, would not allow this to happen. Thus the mind of the man has been bound but is not impure. The eternal sin, in this case, would be disparaging the soul within the man.

End result, you can be led astray but your inner core is a creation of God, and thus immortal.

duster1az said:

This leads me to the conclusion that there is now, and always has been a certain sanctity belonging to the Holy Spirit.

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Nice point. I never thought of that...

Maybe God snuffs 'em out as soon as it happens to keep the problem at bay. (sounds like a nice doctrine anyway)

Paul.

liveforjesus said:

Can someone explain this to me?

Mark 3:28 "...I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them.29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin."30 He said this because they were saying, "He has an evil spirit."

Were they going against Jesus by saying he has an evil spirit, or going against the Holy Spirit by saying it is evil?

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The blaspheming against the spirit as represented in the passege you quoted is taking God-things and attributing them to evil -- calling what God is doing/has done evil and corrupt.

clinzey said:

The blaspheming against the spirit as represented in the passege you quoted is taking God-things and attributing them to evil -- calling what God is doing/has done evil and corrupt.

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The Scripture quoted by the OP (Mark 3:28) directs the offense towards the Third Person in particular. To widen the scope by saying God-things, thereby including every member of the Trinity, seems to move beyond what is written. Is it your opinion that attributing works that men may be doing in the power of the Spirit to Satan today is the same offense as that quoted in our passage?

In Christ,
Tracey

duster1az said:

Is it your opinion that attributing works that men may be doing in the power of the Spirit to Satan today is the same offense as that quoted in our passage?

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Yes, to answer your question. Jesus himself is not the holy spirit, but they were attributing his works to the devil. This is what brought up his statement about blaspheming the spirit. In like manner, if we are Jesus' representatives and if we do works in his name, wouldn't people who call our works devil inspired be blaspheming against the spirit?

clinzey said:

Yes, to answer your question. Jesus himself is not the holy spirit, but they were attributing his works to the devil. This is what brought up his statement about blaspheming the spirit. In like manner, if we are Jesus' representatives and if we do works in his name, wouldn't people who call our works devil inspired be blaspheming against the spirit?

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Since it's your belief that attributing man's work that might be done in the power of the Spirit to Satan is the same offense as that committed in (Mark 3:28), then you must also believe that this sin is unpardonable as well. If so, what do you do with the "whosoever will" gospel that is preached? It would seem to me that every invitiation and promise related to the salvation of lost men would have to carry a restriction. The gospel would have to be addressed to those only who have not sinned in such a manner, but I know of no such condition ever being imposed in any grace relationship.

In Christ,
Tracey

duster1az said:

Since it's your belief that attributing man's work that might be done in the power of the Spirit to Satan is the same offense as that committed in (Mark 3:28), then you must also believe that this sin is unpardonable as well. If so, what do you do with the "whosoever will" gospel that is preached? It would seem to me that every invitiation and promise related to the salvation of lost men would have to carry a restriction. The gospel would have to be addressed to those only who have not sinned in such a manner, but I know of no such condition ever being imposed in any grace relationship.

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"Whoseoever will" gospel? What, pray tell, is that? And not everyone has committed the same sin as those in Mark 3. In our story, those attributing Jesus' actions to Satan are supposed to be Godly people. If we ever reach such a hardness of heart that we, as believers, call God's work Satan's, then we've reached a point of no return. I don't know of non-believers who attribute God's work to Satan (I'm talking about the average non-believer, not Satanists).

"Whoseoever will" gospel? What, pray tell, is that?

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"For God so loved the world, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).

And not everyone has committed the same sin as those in Mark 3.

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Your not being consistent. In your previous post you said you believed that anyone today attributing the works that man may be doing in the power of the Spirit to Satan would be the same as what took place in our passage in Mark.

In our story, those attributing Jesus' actions to Satan are supposed to be Godly people. If we ever reach such a hardness of heart that we, as believers, call God's work Satan's, then we've reached a point of no return.

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Your comparing apples to oranges. The leaders of the time were not regenerate like those who are members of the Body of Christ, and the sin committed was peculiar to the situation that was at hand. It consisted in asserting that Christ's works were satanic which can't be repeated today since Jesus is no longer present in bodily form. Therefore, it's impossible for this sin to be committed today. To say otherwise is going beyond what is written.

In Christ,
Tracey

duster1az said:

Your comparing apples to oranges. The leaders of the time were not regenerate like those who are members of the Body of Christ, and the sin committed was peculiar to the situation that was at hand.

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They were the religious leaders of God's chosen people and they failed to recognize God's work. Not only did they fail to recognize it, they attributed it to Satan. This is what the passage is talking about. God's people can still get to a hardness of heart to this point today.

It consisted in asserting that Christ's works were satanic which can't be repeated today since Jesus is no longer present in bodily form. Therefore, it's impossible for this sin to be committed today.

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Jesus talked about blaspheming the Spirit. The Spirit is still in the world today, is it not?