Several scriptures support the idea that sinfulness and spiritual nakedness are synonymous. The most obvious are:
(Rev 3:17) Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: (18) I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
First, Jesus tells the church of the Laodiceans that they are naked. Do you think that these people were living in nudist camps? Of course not. Then, Jesus counsels them to buy white raiment. Is the secret to salvation based upon the color of one's clothes? No. Jesus was speaking figuratively.
(Rev 19:7) Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. (8) And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
This verse explains the spiritual meaning behind being clothed in white raiment--righteousness. Conversely, spiritual nakedness is unrighteousness--sinfulness. Sinners who have not clothed themselves in righteousness will someday stand before their maker ashamed of their nakedness.
"And they were both naked . . ."
(Gen 2:25) And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
The man and woman were naked before they sinned. Now, how important is it that we are told that the man and his wife were wearing no clothes? It has little significance, if it refers only to physical nakedness. However, the knowledge that God created Adam and Eve spiritually naked is fundamental to understanding God's plan for man and the purpose for this physical life.
"All manner of sin . . . shall be forgiven unto men" . . . except
(Mat 12:31) 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.
God is in the process of teaching man to reject sin. He is doing this by allowing His children to experience evil. This can be likened to the process by which an earthly father will teach a child to avoid getting seriously burned. Suppose a young child is about to touch something that his parent knows is hot enough to be uncomfortable, but not hot enough to cause serious injury. The parent would probably say, "Don't touch that, it's hot!" However, parents expect that a child who doesn't know any better will usually touch the hot object anyway. What happens? The child touches, feels pain, and may even cry. Why would a parent let their child do that? Because, now the child knows what the word "hot" means and will avoid hot objects in the future--objects hot enough to cause irreparable damage.
Another example is vaccination--the greatest prevention of deadly disease known to man. How does it work? A person is introduced to a non-lethal dose of a disease in order for their bodies to experience and become immune to the disease. This is what God is doing with man. He has allowed man to experience physical, non-lethal sin (it shall be forgiven him) so that man will not participate in spiritual, deadly sin (it shall not be forgiven him).
So, what is the sin against the Holy Ghost? What is spiritual sin?
(Heb 10:26) For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, (27) But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
(Rev 3:17) Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: (18) I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
First, Jesus tells the church of the Laodiceans that they are naked. Do you think that these people were living in nudist camps? Of course not. Then, Jesus counsels them to buy white raiment. Is the secret to salvation based upon the color of one's clothes? No. Jesus was speaking figuratively.
(Rev 19:7) Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. (8) And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
This verse explains the spiritual meaning behind being clothed in white raiment--righteousness. Conversely, spiritual nakedness is unrighteousness--sinfulness. Sinners who have not clothed themselves in righteousness will someday stand before their maker ashamed of their nakedness.
"And they were both naked . . ."
(Gen 2:25) And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
The man and woman were naked before they sinned. Now, how important is it that we are told that the man and his wife were wearing no clothes? It has little significance, if it refers only to physical nakedness. However, the knowledge that God created Adam and Eve spiritually naked is fundamental to understanding God's plan for man and the purpose for this physical life.
"All manner of sin . . . shall be forgiven unto men" . . . except
(Mat 12:31) 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.
God is in the process of teaching man to reject sin. He is doing this by allowing His children to experience evil. This can be likened to the process by which an earthly father will teach a child to avoid getting seriously burned. Suppose a young child is about to touch something that his parent knows is hot enough to be uncomfortable, but not hot enough to cause serious injury. The parent would probably say, "Don't touch that, it's hot!" However, parents expect that a child who doesn't know any better will usually touch the hot object anyway. What happens? The child touches, feels pain, and may even cry. Why would a parent let their child do that? Because, now the child knows what the word "hot" means and will avoid hot objects in the future--objects hot enough to cause irreparable damage.
Another example is vaccination--the greatest prevention of deadly disease known to man. How does it work? A person is introduced to a non-lethal dose of a disease in order for their bodies to experience and become immune to the disease. This is what God is doing with man. He has allowed man to experience physical, non-lethal sin (it shall be forgiven him) so that man will not participate in spiritual, deadly sin (it shall not be forgiven him).
So, what is the sin against the Holy Ghost? What is spiritual sin?
(Heb 10:26) For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, (27) But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
