quick blasphemy question

[strayed]

hiya everyone. i got kinda freaked out this afternoon before work. i was reading a post when i saw a quote: "all things can be forgiven, except blasphemy" im sure i paraphrased that, but either way, yikes! i completely forgot about blashpemy! during my time as an atheist i was quite the little blasphemer. am i just plain out of luck salvationwise because of this? i mean seriously; i was downright hostile towards god during those years, and i know ive said alot of nasty things. ive already asked sincerely for forgiveness, but im really worried that thats not going to make any difference. help, please?

 

[Greyshade89]

Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is the only unforgivable sin. Did you do that?

 

[repentant]

It's blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 12:31,32
"Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit shall not be forgiven unto men. 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."

Jesus said this against the Pharisee's who accused Jesus of performed miracles by way of Beezlebub (a demon), instead of by the Holy Spirit. So the unforgiven sin of blasphemy that Jesus is speaking of, is basically denying the Grace or the Power of the Holy Spirit. Not saying a curse word about God or Jesus, like so many have missinterpreted this verse as. Although that is not good either. I wouldn't worry about it, unless you have done something like that. And being an aethist and not believing in God is not the same thing, as blasphemy. Well it could come to that, but wouldn't worry.

 

[strayed]

well, okay, lets do this... yes, i've spoken very, very ill against jesus and god. i have to admit though; i really never quite understood the concept of the holy ghost. is that the culmination of god and jesus, or something that i havent been introduced to yet.. i really dont understand who the holy ghost is. i gotta tell you though, im really getting bummed out about this.. either way, the fact remains: i know with certainty that ive told god he was a sadistic ******* for putting these parameters on me,(the basic concept being that god created man, who is the only being capable of sentient and rational thought, and then told that if he doesnt accept the concept of god, which, i swear im sorry to say, is totally against ratiional thought, will burn in hell for eternity. pardon my french, but im screwed, arent i? you guys are scaring me beyond belief. is there nothing i can do?

 

[repentant]

well, okay, lets do this... yes, i've spoken very, very ill against jesus and god. i have to admit though; i really never quite understood the concept of the holy ghost. is that the culmination of god and jesus, or something that i havent been introduced to yet.. i really dont understand who the holy ghost is. i gotta tell you though, im really getting bummed out about this.. either way, the fact remains: i know with certainty that ive told god he was a sadistic ******* for putting these parameters on me,(the basic concept being that god created man, who is the only being capable of sentient and rational thought, and then told that if he doesnt accept the concept of god, which, i swear im sorry to say, is totally against ratiional thought, will burn in hell for eternity. pardon my french, but im screwed, arent i? you guys are scaring me beyond belief. is there nothing i can do?

Thats blasphemy but not the unforgiven blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. So it is forgivable. Jesus said that if anyone speaks against the Son of man or the Father, it is forgiven. There are verses from this in all the Gospels.

 

[strayed]

***, thank you! im seriously freaking out here. could i trouble you to explain what the holy ghost is? im so confused now. either way, thank you for taking the time to set my mind a little more at ease regarding this matter. really, thank you. =)

 

[repentant]

Oh boy..strayed to answer your question..the Holy Spirit is the 3rd person of God. God is one but has 3 essances..Father, Son and Holy Spirit..the Father is the Creator, the Son, Jesus, is the Word, and the Holy Spirit is the messenger and helper so to say. All the Prophets were full of the Holy Spirit, that is how they prophesized. But there is only One God. Jesus promised His Apostles before He ascended into heaven, that He would send a helper (the Holy Spirit) that proceeds from the Father, to guide them in spreading the Gospel of Christ, and to also guide the Church.

And to help you understand what I mean by God is one person in 3 essances...look at this tree, is it one tree or more than one tree? It's one tree, but has 2 (3) parts. But still one tree.

 

[strayed]

okay, i sorta get what you mean. but i still gotta ask; did i blaspheme against the holy spirit? if its all the same, i guess im s**t outta luck? i hate to be this blunt, but obviously this holds a heck of a lot of weight on what i am attempting to accomplish here, (saving faith). am i wasting my time??

 

[repentant]

Here is what the Orthodox Church says about that quote...

"Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is blasphemy against the divine activity of the Spirit-the accusation that Jesus healed the demoniac by demonic power rather than by the power of the Holy Spirit. Every sin against the Son of Man can be forgiven, because the Jews do not yet know much about Him. But balsphemy against the Spirit, who's divine activity they know from the Old Testament, will not be forgiven. This blasphemy is a willful hardness of heart. It attributes the saving action of the Holy Spirit to Satan and refuses to accept God's forgiveness and mercy."

-Orthodox Study Bible..

So here it says that blasphemy is not believeing in the actions of the Holy Spirit, and refusing to accept God's forgiveness and mercy. So you would basically have to die with this belief for it to be unforgiven. If you repent and ask for God's forgiveness and mercy, than you can not be blaspheming the Holy Spirit, can you?

I would just wholeheartedly ask forgiveness. By the way what denomination are you?

PM me.

 

[Tawny]

MOD HAT ON!

Please remember that 'Questions by Non-Christians are ONLY to be answered by Christians.

All answers by Non Christians will be removed.

Thank you

Tawny

MOD HAT OFF

 

[Adstar]

hiya everyone. i got kinda freaked out this afternoon before work. i was reading a post when i saw a quote: "all things can be forgiven, except blasphemy" im sure i paraphrased that, but either way, yikes! i completely forgot about blashpemy! during my time as an atheist i was quite the little blasphemer. am i just plain out of luck salvationwise because of this? i mean seriously; i was downright hostile towards god during those years, and i know ive said alot of nasty things. ive already asked sincerely for forgiveness, but im really worried that thats not going to make any difference. help, please?

The scripture is very specific about this sin. It is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit that will not be forgiven.

Mark 3
28 “Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; 29 but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation”— 30 because they said, “He has an unclean spirit.”


All Praise The Ancient Of Days

 

[PaleHorse]

hiya everyone. i got kinda freaked out this afternoon before work. i was reading a post when i saw a quote: "all things can be forgiven, except blasphemy" im sure i paraphrased that, but either way, yikes! i completely forgot about blashpemy! during my time as an atheist i was quite the little blasphemer. am i just plain out of luck salvationwise because of this? i mean seriously; i was downright hostile towards god during those years, and i know ive said alot of nasty things. ive already asked sincerely for forgiveness, but im really worried that thats not going to make any difference. help, please?

As others have correctly asserted, it is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit that cannot be forgiven. Why? Well, to answer that question we must look at what the Holy Spirit does for us, we must look to the Spirit's function. So what does the Holy Spirit do for us? (and I'll keep the answer centered around the subject of "sin" since that is the crux of the question of this thread):
Ephesians 1:13 - In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Ephesians 4:30 - And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

The Holy Spirit seals us. Seals us with what?
Revelation 9:4 - And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.
Revelation 14:1 - And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads.
Revelation 22:4 - And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.

Among the many things the HS does for us, one of His main "jobs" is to seal us with the Father's name. No one enters heaven without having the Father's name written in their foreheads. If one grieves away the HS they cannot enter heaven for they cannot be forgiven. The "sin" of blasphemy against the HS comes down to this:

• The HS is responsible for convicting us of sin. (1 John 4:2)
• To be forgiven of sin we must confess and repent. (1 John 1:9, 1 John 4:2, Mark 1:5, Romans 10:10, Romans 14:11, etc)
• If we stop listening to the HS then we will not know of our sin, we therefore cannot repent. In short, blasphemy against the HS is the sin which we will not repent of and thus cannot be forgiven for.

The very fact that you were able to come to Christ proves that you did not grieve away the HS - else you would never have accepted His gift of salvation. Blasphemy against the HS is not a single act - it is a gradual process of blocking out the small voice which tells you what is right.

 

[Deb7777]

hiya everyone. i got kinda freaked out this afternoon before work. i was reading a post when i saw a quote: "all things can be forgiven, except blasphemy" im sure i paraphrased that, but either way, yikes! i completely forgot about blashpemy! during my time as an atheist i was quite the little blasphemer. am i just plain out of luck salvationwise because of this? i mean seriously; i was downright hostile towards god during those years, and i know ive said alot of nasty things. ive already asked sincerely for forgiveness, but im really worried that thats not going to make any difference. help, please?

Stray, put your mind to ease, people that were devil worshippers have come back to God. Jesus is addressing the Pharisee who is doing great damage by telling the crowds Jesus miracles are by the devil and not by God. God wants everybody to come to him. All sins are to be avioded that can lead us away from God. A sign of the unforgiveable sin would be a person who would be incapable of asking for forgiveness, the heart would be completely harden and unable to turn to God. They would be like a devil unable to repent. I think this is extremely rare, I do think God had to warn the Pharisees though because of the extreme damage being done to his message. You have not committed the unforgiveable sin, it would be impossible for you to seek God. Jesus will absolutely reject no one who seeks him, in fact, God's spirit is working in leading a soul to seek him. So be at peace and keep going on the journey you have started, God bless.

 

[IiYiIiIzage]

Perfect example.. May everyone continue on and read Norman Doerings essays.
"Hope is the Bait, Fear is the Trap"

 

[PaleHorse]

Perfect example.. May everyone continue on and read Norman Doerings essays.
"Hope is the Bait, Fear is the Trap"

How so?

 

[IiYiIiIzage]

Well, lets see.. He was an Aethiest, True. He wants to become a Christian, True. He doesnt even know about the Holy Ghost, True(meaning he doesnt know the first thing about Christianity and what he is getting into), Hes asking about "hell" which is the fear part of Christianity. I can almost say for certain that his change in belief from Atheism (No God), to Christianity is the Fear Factor, Hell. Read the essays, is all I can say.

 

[Sketcher]

PaleHorse said it right, if you had committed the sin, you would not care. You would not be able to confess and renounce it. Jesus has promised us that if we repent, He will forgive us every time, no exceptions (John 6:37). Those who commit the "unforgivable sin" therefore, cannot come to Him in repentance in the first place.

 

[Deb7777]

Well, lets see.. He was an Aethiest, True. He wants to become a Christian, True. He doesnt even know about the Holy Ghost, True(meaning he doesnt know the first thing about Christianity and what he is getting into), Hes asking about "hell" which is the fear part of Christianity. I can almost say for certain that his change in belief from Atheism (No God), to Christianity is the Fear Factor, Hell. Read the essays, is all I can say.

I'm sure fear has kept many a soul out of hell, as a lack of fear has put many a soul into hell. Fear is a part of human nature, otherwise why don't we just go play with rattlesnakes and bears. We can tell ourselves were not afraid and they will not bite but that would be rather stupid. Fear keeps us away from danger, that's why the bible calls people who do not fear God's judgements a fool. The bible constantly talks about the wise man and the fool. The wise man does have a healthy fear of the Lord, we don't have to be terrified but we also don't want to be careless in thinking I can play with sin and nothing going to happen to me! Healthy dose of fear in the natural and supernatural realm is very good.

 

[Ivy]

Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, I believe is just this: it's a lifelong project, whereby the person refuses the many many many overtures the Spirit of God makes to them to be saved. It's a lifelong refusal to repent, even on the deathbed.

Maybe you said some awful things at one time, but you didn't blaspheme the Holy Spirit, because you repented.

Like someone said to me once when I was a young believer and freaking out over this, "If you're even worried about blaspheming the Holy Spirit, it's impossible that you did or will. You wouldn't even care about such a question if you were in any danger at all."

 

[PaleHorse]

Well, lets see.. He was an Aethiest, True. He wants to become a Christian, True.

So far so good.

He doesnt even know about the Holy Ghost, True (meaning he doesnt know the first thing about Christianity and what he is getting into),

Which is why he is here asking questions.

Hes asking about "hell" which is the fear part of Christianity.

From an atheistic perspective I can see where you would deduce this concept though I would disagree with it.

I can almost say for certain that his change in belief from Atheism (No God), to Christianity is the Fear Factor, Hell.

"Almost" is key to your above statement. The honest answer is you don't have the first clue what is going on in the mind of the OP; neither do I. Nor do we know what that person has experienced, the desires of their heart, or their outlook on life. As such, it is better we stick to the OP's question rather than guessing about their motivations.

Read the essays, is all I can say.

No thanks for I prefer to do my own thinking and after getting through about half of the page that your link took me to I'd say you would do well to do the same. Now before you make a failed attempt at stating I don't think for myself (because I follow the teachings of the Bible) let me say that I've been around the block a few times in my short life. I've been to the highs and extreme lows. I've opened and closed many chapters of my life before coming to the truth of Jesus Christ. I wasn't raised a Christian nor have I lived most of my life as one - but I have witnessed miracles. The fact alone that I'm able to sit here and type this reply testifies to the power of God; it is no mere accident or coincidence or delusion on my part - it is an actual physical fact that can be scrutinized, measured and verified. Once you experience that in your life, first hand, then you'll understand why I am a Christian today.