I was reading about the unpardonable sin and then blasphemous thoughts started to pop into my head. There are surprising medical factors influencing devastating guilt feelings and sacrilegious mental images or thoughts. It is also a form of pride that separates Christians from one another. WebIn addition to being bombarded with uncontrollable blasphemous thoughts, however, he has also deliberately called God every offensive swear word he could think of. This shows that in most cases, uncontrollable blasphemous thoughts are not a theological matter or even a spiritual one, but the product of a psychological condition that is not only most unpleasant, but exceedingly unfair. Upon reading that he was again having blasphemous thoughts, I wrote: Wonderful! The frustrating problem I face in explaining the meaning of bringing into captivity every thought, is that no amount of convincing proof can ever fully put to rest the mind of anyone worried about this. Large numbers of people write to me with similar stories. We must repent and receive His mercy and go and sin no more. This post and other resources are available at Kindle Afresh: The Blog andWebsite of Kenneth Berding. Christians have a very important duty to protect the Holy Spirit from being tarnished. . The fear is awful but it is groundless. Sign up below to receive weekly emails and updates. There are fleeting, flippant, frenzied thoughts that come out of the blue and not from ones solid convictions. Back then, however, the word had a different meaning (it could mean stubbornness, or plotting or devising evil) and later translations (even, as quoted in a subsequent webpage, the New King James Version and the King James 2000 Bible) use a different word. Thus, the unforgivable sin is committed only by unbelievers. You didn't mean it. You cannot simply be ignorant of the Holy Spirit. For example, we may think it is blasphemous to criticize a Christians beliefs, but that is not the case. For a few people it can have side-effects and what works well for one person might not be as effective for another. To those who look to supernatural signs or human reasoning to confirm spiritual truth, the gospel message (the message of the cross) seems weak and foolish but those who abandon trying to confirm spiritual truth this way and instead choose to believe (put their faith in) the message of the cross (Christ securing our full acceptance with God the forgiveness of all our sins through his death) will be saved and they will connect with the genuine power and wisdom of God. This anxiety kept driving his restless mind to find some sort of rational basis for his irrational anxiety some indication that he might be doing something displeasing to God. Because he had failed to seduce Kate into genuine sin, the old Deceiver tried to fool her into taking responsibility for the devils own filthy thoughts. blasphemous thoughts Many Christians plagued with the irrational fear of being unforgivable are suffering from psychological problems that medication might help. Likewise, it is common for us to mistake as our own thoughts things whispered into our minds from spiritual powers that hate us and hate our Lord. I am a Christian so I know the thought is utterly false, but I am so mortified that I cant get rid of thought. It is an issue of the heart that manifests in ones words (and actions). I was scared and lived in fear, making sure I would not say anything against the Holy Spirit. Moreover, a concept that Matthew would also expect you to attend to while reading through his gospel is the theme of fruit. He introduces this theme first in the words of John the Baptist that we just observed (3:8, also 3:10), develops it substantially when he includes Jesuss teaching in the Sermon on the Mount (7:15-20), incorporates the same theme of fruit into the passage were primarily thinking about today (12:33), again into the parable of the soils (13:23), and finally in a judgment section that focuses, unsurprisingly, once more on the Pharisees failure to produce fruit (21:43). Unsure if obedience is out of Love for Jesus or the act itself. UNFORGIVABLE Blasphemy is a choice we make when our thoughts are not in agreement with what God says. To learn more about the precious Holy Spirit, check out my e-book called Walking in the Holy Spirit. The greater the perceived danger, the harder it is to get it out of ones mind. I have gotten over them in the past. Matthew 12:22-30 (before the verses about blasphemy) deals with the story of Jesus healing the mute and blind by casting out a demon from the person. Here are some ways to deal with them. It is referring not to fleeting or superficial thoughts that one hardly believes, but to mindsets deliberate thoughts and ways of seeing things that are so consistently believed that they transform ones understanding of spiritual truth. For proof that this is not so, see Unforgivable Sin and the page it leads to but then return to this page.) However, the devil causes blasphemous thoughts. Theres not a lot of consistent feedback in the Bible about mental blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. My response to his plea to help him stop these thoughts was: Scan this QR code to download the app now. People post sometimes that apparently don't have OCD and don't understand it and I wish they wouldn't. Most attacks occur when we least expect it and least deserve it. Every time that happens, pull yourself back to faith by thanking God for your salvation that was secured solely by Christ crucified. WebGod tells us that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. the sinning with a high hand of Num 15:30-31)the flagrant, willful, and persistent rejection of God and his commands.[1] Notice Blombergs connection between sinning defiantly and blaspheming, which brings us squarely into the language of Matthew 12:31. People who commit this offense will receive judgment. We must walk closely with Him in these last days. The New Living Translation makes this abundantly clear: We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. Blasphemy comes from the heart, from a hatred of God in your soul. Its not for nothing that our enemy is called the Evil One. It is a deliberate, malicious act. Rather, as stated before, blasphemy against the Spirit is ongoing hardening of your heart against the Holy Spirit who is trying to lead you to repent of sin and believe in Christ. In other words, as the Scriptures affirm, they have to cease trying to find some convincing argument or supernatural sign, and take it by raw faith that despite their awful thoughts and worries they are cleansed through the blood of Jesus. But medication has the potential to stop some Christians from suffering needless torment. They were educated rebels who could pass Bible exams, write first-class papers in Bible school, and yet refused to submit to Christs authority. But first I should raise another matter that could be nagging away at you. Pray for forgiveness, and learn what blasphemous thoughts are and what it means to be unforgivable. Blasphemy WebKate was so upset by those blasphemous thoughts because such blasphemy is disturbingly contrary to her own views of Christ. Intrusive thoughts can even extend far beyond religious themes and still terrify some believers. Blasphemous Thoughts and Unforgivable Depending on the religion, it involves actions or words directed against God. You do it effortless and perfectly. But to reject continually the Spirits work will result in a person never being able to reach that point.[3]. The person who repeatedly and without repentance rejects the Holy Spirits testimony to Christ is the one who has blasphemed the Holy Spirit. He is your Savior, so let the thoughts be his concern, not yours. F. F. Bruce, referring to the Markan parallel (3:28-29), makes an interesting comment in this regard: For every kind of sin, then, for every form of blasphemy or slander, it is implied that forgiveness is availablepresumably when the sin is repented of. As long as one rejects the Spirit, one can never find forgiveness for sins.[2]. God is love. When I was a teenager, I was bombarded with thoughts to say something wrong about the Holy Spirit. WebYes, Jesus said only one sin couldnt be forgiven, and that was blasphemy against the Spirit (Matthew 12:31). the Holy Spirit They indicate how evil our enemy is; they do nothing to suggest that we are ungodly. While all blasphemies against God can be forgiven, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is never forgiven. Salvation depends on Christs efforts, not your efforts. So common is it to be tormented in this way that this dear woman has nothing to be embarrassed about. You hate these thoughts, so they are not yours. 13800 Biola Ave, La Mirada CA 90639 BiolaUniversity, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Or is it because you feel alone or unanswered? He is anauthor of various books, some academic (such as Polycarp and Paul), some semi-academic (such as What Are Spiritual Gifts? For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. The precise meaning of the Greek word translated thought in 2 Corinthians 10:5 is hard to express in English. As a result, they get a form of godliness, but deny the power of God. The way to win that war (figuratively speaking, destroy defenses pull down strongholds and take prisoners of war captives) is not through using the means (weapons) that opponents of the gospel rely on human reason (in the case of Greeks) or expecting supernatural signs and wonders (in the case of Jews) but through simply preaching (declaring the truth) about the reconciliation between God and humanity that Jesus achieved through his sacrificial death. Ive had OCD for a while but its usually on Superhero and movies, but recently it seems I obsess over the Unpardonable sin and whether I committed it or not. There are many forms of blasphemy, but it is most often rooted in religious beliefs. No matter what floods her mind, she is spiritually safe because she believes the truth about Jesus. As you follow these pages, we will soon examine this. I always have to remind myself that there is no sin (outside of the mark of the beast or denial of the Lord) that is unforgivable or to great that cannot be forgiven. . This, in fact, is exactly what one would expect. No Christian wants it, but it is normal. Supposing we can gain Gods approval by thinking nothing but pure thoughts is as heretical as abandoning faith in Christ and supposing we can be saved by works. It has put my life on pause because I feel like I am going to be left behind and that terrifies me. Wouldnt that end up giving you greater dignity? Hailed as one of the best evangelical New Testament scholars (D. Stewart) and elsewhere called master New Testament exegete, Murray J. Harris specifically says in this commentary on 2 Corinthians 10:5, It is not a case of the Christians effort to force all his thoughts to be pleasing to Christ.. Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is a deliberate and calculated act of defiance against the Holy Spirit Himself against overwhelming evidence. If we do that, then we are not blaspheming the Holy Spirit. When Gods grace opened his eyes, he repented and put his faith in Jesus. Did I commit the unpardonable sin (Though even here, nowhere does the Bible say that such a statement is blasphemous. The point, for Matthew, is that whatever resides in peoples hearts begins to show up in how people live and speak (fruit). By putting thoughts in our minds thoughts that seem like our own but are from them. Is the anger due to anxiety? You are wise, generous, patient, kind, loving and forgiving. It is like living in hell. Write CSS OR LESS and hit save. Nevertheless, it would have so shaken her that to her dying day it is unlikely she would ever forget it. Jesus responds by saying that the devil is not having a civil war. Kate knew that the lies speared into her head were not true. In this context, captivity refers not to total control of individual or fleeting thoughts but to the defeat of an enemy by taking prisoners of war. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. She was not committing the unpardonable sin. There was this fear in me that if I were to say something against the Holy Spirit, I would be condemned for all eternity. Life Path 4 and 6 Compatibility: Numerology Deep Dive, Understanding the Spiritual Meaning of Hiccups, 10 Signs You Have a Toxic Daughter in Law, The Importance Of Regular Health Screenings, Capturing Love: How Photo Books are the Ultimate Way to Preserve a Couples Memories, 6th April Zodiac Sign Element, Compatibility, And Lucky Number. The higher off the ground you raise it, however, the more fear of falling will begin to grip you. As made more obvious by some Bible versions, but implied elsewhere, an analysis of the verse reveals that it is not even about your viewpoint, mindset, and so on, but about that of your spiritual enemies. Therefore, it is important to remember that blasphemous thoughts are unforgivable, even if they are not in our conscious mind. Some of the most disturbing and intrusive thoughts are violent thoughts or inappropriate sexual contact. WebPharisees quickly jumped to conclusions claiming that Jesus was casting out demons by the power of the devil. The implication is that one who has committed the unforgiveable sin is not accidently saying some particular set of words, but is willfully rejecting the Lord. As we had two large areas making it difficult for many to find, we decided to combine the Mental Health & the Recovery sections of the forum into Mental Health & Recovery as a whole. Since Matthew 3:7-8 is about repentance (bear fruit in keeping with repentance), we should keep the repentance theme in mind when we try to ascertain the nature of the blasphemy against the Spirit/the unforgiveable sin in Matthew 12:33. Up until the night of Kates disturbing experience, everything had been going well for her. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is an unpardonable, eternal sin. All you have to do is believe Jesus is the Son of God and you are saved! Is this normal? To a casual observer it is obvious that thoughts so contrary to Kates own thinking could not be her thoughts. The Holy Spirit can be invoked only once. Your faith is strong and by you being afraid of this thing you know that you absolutely believe and are saved. The passage about the unforgivable sin makes me so afraid, that now I am a mess. Whenever a lying thought about Jesus comes to you, turn it into an occasion to praise Jesus, thanking him that he is the holy Son of God; pure and sinless. Moreover, this sin is more serious than blasphemy against the Son or Father. More disturbing still, anxiety feels like a nagging conscience and can easily be mistaken for a divine warning that one is somehow displeasing God. Although venial blasphemy is not considered a grave sin, it is a good idea to confess this type of sin to your priest, even if you arent sure what to say. Through greater revelation and understanding, that deficiency can be overcome, the person can repent, and the person can then find forgiveness of sin. . Whenever you worry about thoughts, you have slipped from faith and reverted to a dangerously non-Christian works-based theology. Quite a number of people, for example, are horrified to suffer uncontrollable thoughts or images of harming loved ones. For example, in the King James Version conversation can mean not just speech but ones entire behavior, even though few readers today are aware of this shift in meaning. Thoughts It becomes a no-win situation because it is contrary to the fundamental design of the human brain. If you are having struggles, need support in a particular area that you aren't finding a specific recovery area forum, you may find the General Struggles forum a great place to post. Whether it be a fear of harmless creatures, or a fear that God has suddenly turned unforgiving, if medication can ease the fear and help one act more rationally, Im all for it. He has a heart for God and ministry, has written many worship songs, and has served as a worship pastor in local church ministry. You could just say because Jesus said so but I As one final attempt to help you understand what anxiety-driven people typically fail to grasp, let me share my response to another e-mail I received. Everyones experience confirms that to cease thinking something we are desperately trying to stop thinking is as impossible as it is to stop all thought. To be spiritual is to look not to ones thought life but to Christ alone. Notice, he is ready to forgive all blasphemies. (NIV), 2 Corinthians 2:11 Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices. Wouldnt it be better, however, for God to allow you to be normal so that you can eventually overcome your ridiculous fear? However, the thoughts have recently come back and I can't tell if they're my thoughts or not. For brevity, I use the term blasphemous to cover anything you fear might dishonor God. As I read the Bible, I see that the devil plants some of these fears, but also ignorance can play a huge role in empowering the temptation.Lets dig deeper into this.If you want to understand any topic in the Bible, for example, what blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is, or what Jesus meant by it, you have to read what the Bible says in the context so read the chapter before and the chapter after for a broader perspective. Moreover, a blasphemous thought must be unique to qualify as blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. I also suffered from this but i just cut the devil saying god is good or god is lord. For proof that this is not so, see Unforgivable Sin and the page it leads to but then return to this page.). It was often used to refer to other forms of obsessive thinking. Jesus also warns the teachers of the law, who were dangerously close to blasphemy. It wasnt Jesus doing, nor was it Gods. I keep telling Jesus that I am sorry, and powerless to get rid of this false image of him. Blasphemy But now, a year later, I am being attacked by more blasphemous thoughts. Let me direct you towards a few things that will help you overcome that battle. The Holy Spirit is the third pillar of Christianity. Blasphemy against the Spiritthe unforgivable sinis ongoing hardening of your heart against the Holy Spirit who is trying to lead you to repent of sin and believe in Christ. Furthermore, this portion of Scripture uses war terminology, describing the war between Christian and anti-Christian ideologies. Because he has despised the word of the LORD Craig Blomberg makes the following comment about Matthew 12:33: Listeners steeped in the Old Testament would call to mind the laws that labeled particularly defiant sin as blasphemy and seemingly unforgivable (see esp. (She was also needlessly afraid that saying blasphemous things might be unforgivable. Why did Jesus talk about blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? This sin is particularly grave and dangerous. . For the first few weeks the memory would rarely leave her. I dont want to blaspheme the Holy Spirit in any way! We can simply reject them as being untrue and continue to enjoy closeness with our loving Lord. Did you see the word blasphemer in there? [1] Craig L. Blomberg, Matthew, NAC (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1992), 203-204 citing W. C. Kaiser, Jr., Toward an Old Testament Ethics (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1983), 298. Is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit unforgivable? . The unforgivable sin is not about the church itself. WebThe unforgivable sin is blasphemy defiant irreverence of the Holy Spirit in the context of the Spirits work in the world through Christ. Churning around in our mind are not just our own thoughts but the occasional thought direct from God and the occasional thought direct from Gods spiritual enemies. Trusting what Christ did on the cross is the only way to please the Holy Lord. Her fear was yet another dirty trick from the Evil One. to be copied in whole or in part without citing this entire paragraph. Since no amount of rational understanding of the cause of unwanted thoughts can change ones body chemistry, he kept feeling anxious. I am not in any way saying we should sin so that grace will abound (compare Romans 6:1-2). Many more compassionate, inspiring, sometimes hilarious writings For it is written: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate. Where is the wise man? Medication cant save anyones soul; only Jesus can. This is typical of many e-mails I receive and shows that the person had failed to take on board what I keep stressing in my webpages. https://redeeminggod.com/sermons/hebrews/hebrews_6_1-8/. Physical Health still remains as it's own area within the entire Recovery area. However, this forgiveness is not automatic, and a person must repent if he or she wants to be forgiven. If you are battling with thoughts or attacks in your mind that say something against the Holy Spirit. Blasphemy is a form of sin and an abomination to God. And addicts are repeatedly tempted to return to their old coping mechanism, which will never deliver what they actually need. Any any that is related to emotions, self-esteem, insomnia, anger, relationship dynamics due to mental health and recovery and other issues that don't fit better in another forum would be examples of topics that might go there. And yet we have all had evil spiritual powers trying to tempt us. Blasphemy against the Spiritthe unforgivable sinis ongoing hardening of your heart against the Holy Spirit who is trying to lead you to repent of sin and believe in Christ. These thoughts are similar to what the Pharisees said about Jesus and also towards the holy spirit. Please help me! The vivid, recurring memories would be most unwanted, but a perfectly natural reaction to a traumatic experience. It is astounding how high a proportion of those who e-mail me fearing that they have committed the unpardonable sin suffer from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), or some other psychological difficulty. Just my thoughts. But then I read your webpage and it helped me a great deal. I dare not! Copyright, 2004, 2015 Grantley Morris. So it is with those who fear thoughts. The more I try, the more it comes back, she agonized. Nevertheless, mortified is how Kate described her reaction to the haunting devastation of being plagued by thoughts she wanted nothing to do with. If you are among the majority whose body tolerates it, however, and it helps you think more rationally about spiritual things and so helps you cling to the biblical truth that all sin is forgivable through simple faith in the power of Christ sacrifice then I see such medication as a plus. Pharisees quickly jumped to conclusions claiming that Jesus was casting out demons by the power of the devil. Therefore, it is important to remember that blasphemous thoughts are unforgivable, even if they are not in our conscious mind. The more messed up our thought life is, the better, in that it forces us to realize we can only be saved by faith in Christ, not by our works. It is like living in hell. Sometimes the thoughts would come into my head and it would seems like I intentionally let them but it's just the way OCD is.