- Sep 23, 2014
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- Faith
- Lutheran
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- US-Republican
So I have yet another question. What does it mean to blaspheme against the holy spirit? Because before I was saved, I once thought that Jesus was the devil in disguise. And I have also been pressured into saying the sinner's prayer and then after that I turned away from Jesus. But then I accepted Jesus truly last year. I found this quote on a source I was looking at and I feel concerned:
Why is it more certainly fatal to speak against the Holy Spirit than against the Son of Man, may be in part beyond our powers of comprehension; but this much we know, that one who speaks against the latter may subsequently be convinced by the testimony of the Holy Spirit, and become a believer. But if he reject the evidence given by the Holy Spirit and ascribe it to Satan, he rejects the only evidence on which faith can be based; and without faith there is no forgiveness. If it be answered that a man might do this at one period of his life and subsequently be convinced and repent, we reply that this is precisely what the Savior, in effect, says he can not do; and we therefore suppose that one who is so desperately wicked as to be guilty of this sin, is already beyond the reach of redemption. Such was the condition of some of the Pharisees. ([Matthew] xxiii.33; John viii. 21.)
So does this mean I'm not forgiven because I had thought Jesus was the devil in disguise? I know it's probably just the devil talking, but this worries me a lot. The passage seems to say "even if someone rejects the holy spirit at one point in his life and then tries to repent, the Savior still can't forgive". I hope that's not true, because I rejected Jesus and called him the devil at one point in my life and then turned around and repented. I could use some reassurance.
Why is it more certainly fatal to speak against the Holy Spirit than against the Son of Man, may be in part beyond our powers of comprehension; but this much we know, that one who speaks against the latter may subsequently be convinced by the testimony of the Holy Spirit, and become a believer. But if he reject the evidence given by the Holy Spirit and ascribe it to Satan, he rejects the only evidence on which faith can be based; and without faith there is no forgiveness. If it be answered that a man might do this at one period of his life and subsequently be convinced and repent, we reply that this is precisely what the Savior, in effect, says he can not do; and we therefore suppose that one who is so desperately wicked as to be guilty of this sin, is already beyond the reach of redemption. Such was the condition of some of the Pharisees. ([Matthew] xxiii.33; John viii. 21.)
So does this mean I'm not forgiven because I had thought Jesus was the devil in disguise? I know it's probably just the devil talking, but this worries me a lot. The passage seems to say "even if someone rejects the holy spirit at one point in his life and then tries to repent, the Savior still can't forgive". I hope that's not true, because I rejected Jesus and called him the devil at one point in my life and then turned around and repented. I could use some reassurance.