The Holy Spirit and Temptation

I would like to set the record straight today on what the blasphemy of the holy Ghost actually is. Reason being that it is, according to Jesus, the only sin that cannot be forgiven (Mat. 12:31,32). So many good, honest souls have been plagued by the demon that accuses them of having committed this sin, and it needs to be exposed for what it is so that many can be free from that false condemnation. It really is very simple when it's all said and done, like any other revealed truth of God. We receive God's Spirit and have our sins remitted by faith in the death that Jesus died for our sins, and his physical resurrection from the dead (Jn. 7:38,39; Heb. 10:12-17). Also factored into the equation is believing the reality that he is the Lord, and the high priest and mediator between God and men, who takes away the sins of everyone who fully trusts in him to do so; and that he is coming again from heaven to "judge the quick and the dead" (Acts 2:36; I Tim. 2:5; Heb. 7:24-27; Mat. 24:26,27,30; Rev. 1:7; II Tim. 4:1). There can be no question that the baptism of the holy Ghost with the sign of speaking in tongues, which is administered by Jesus from heaven, is the remission of sins and new birth experience (Mk. 1:7,8; Acts 1:4,5; Rom. 8:9; I Cor. 6:11; I Cor. 12:13; II Cor. 5:17; Gal. 3:27; II Cor. 3:17). I have many posts on the subject of the new birth, but this is not one of them; so you can just reference the scriptures listed there if you like. I will only say that there is no remission of sins apart from receiving the Spirit of God, and there is no such thing in the Bible as receiving the Spirit before or apart from being baptized with the Spirit and having the accompanying sign of speaking with other tongues. It isn't there, and it isn't so. So let me proceed with the point of this article about the blasphemy of the holy Ghost. If it were not that receiving the holy Ghost is the remission of sins, then the blasphemy of the holy Ghost would not be the unpardonable sin. There has to be something involved in that sin that demonstrates that one has despised and blasphemed the very remission of sins that they once received. So again, receiving the Spirit has to be, according to the nature of the unpardonable sin, the very remission of our sins.

Let's look at one of the Bible passages that describes what happens with the unpardonable sin: "For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?" (Heb. 10:26-29). There it is in a nutshell; and a really powerful and sobering nutshell at that! "The truth" that is noted in the first verse there, is what I've already stated; that being that Jesus died for our sins, rose from the dead, and is the Lord and mediator of the covenant; by whom we obtain the remission of our sins. Faith in those things is how we receive the "Spirit of grace" that is mentioned in the last verse of the passage. So it really begins to become self evident as to what the blasphemy of the holy Ghost is, but let me just note what we have read in this passage for the sake of absolute clarity. First of all, whoever has done this thing against Christ has "no more sacrifice for sins" available to them, as the text reads. Now it should be abundantly clear by the passage that someone has to have received God's Spirit in order to even qualify to commit this sin. Nobody could "count the blood of the covenant, wherewith [they] WERE sanctified, an unholy thing," unless they had BEEN sanctified by it to begin with. So this sin would have to be committed by someone who had acknowledged Christ to be the sacrifice for their sins, and somehow had taken that sacrifice away from themselves. The only way that can be done is if someone who HAS BELIEVED on Jesus to BE the sacrifice for their sins, has come to a place where they have fully denied in their heart the faith that he died for their sins and raised from the dead. Along with that denial comes the denial that he is the Lord and the mediator of the covenant, and that he is coming again physically and visibly from heaven. To "sin willfully," means to deny those things.

When someone has completely DISBELIEVED the things that they had formerly believed about Jesus, and after they had been washed from their sins through that faith, then and only then is there nowhere left to go to obtain the remission of their sins. They have literally cut themselves off from the only deliverance from sin, and the only hope known to man. There simply is no way back from that place of absolute misdirection from the faith of Christ. When that denial has been fully made, then the blasphemer has "trodden under foot the Son of God," and has completely "done despite to the Spirit of grace." The scripture says, "For by grace are ye saved through faith," and that faith is in the sacrifice of the Son of God (Eph. 2:8). When that faith is renounced, then the subsequent grace has been despised. Those who have committed this sin have "crucified to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame" just like Judas (Heb. 6:6). I should note here that it actually takes some doing for someone to work themselves into the position of committing this sin. One has to condition themselves to justify sin on a regular basis, and stubbornly resist the conviction of their conscience about sin over a period of time, until they have effectively shut their conscience out. Once a person crosses that line, there will be no temptation or worry about blaspheming the holy Ghost. In fact they will no longer even HAVE the holy Ghost residing in them (Jude 1:19). It is a love and preference for sin that erases the faith of the one who died to take our sins away. The blasphemy of the holy Ghost is the same thing as apostasy, which means "a falling away" (II Thess. 2:3). Again, that "falling away" means to fully fall away from the faith of Jesus, and from the faith of all that he has done, and all that he truly is. Much more can be said, but I hope this short article will help free some who have been tempted by "the accuser of the brethren," who works overtime to discourage the faith and hope of all whom he can. My friend, as long as you believe that Jesus died for your sins, and rose from the dead to take your sins away, you ALWAYS have hope in him! There is no sin great enough to equal the price Jesus paid to take our sins away. Only if we fully deny and cast off that price can we be removed from the hope of his great mercy toward all who repent. Amen.

Many thanks to my son Benjamin, who after years of being hounded by that very accuser, gained the victory over that lie when God revealed this holy truth to him through much prayer and study.