Understanding Bible Mystification - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Understanding BibleMystification

Blasphemy of the Spirit

S

cripture that is often misapplied or improperly interpreted – an explanationSlide2

Blasphemy of the Spirit

This parcel of scripture has forever been a stumbling block for both casual readers of scripture and even the most devoted students and pastors.

In most cases we find someone in personal peril after reading passages dealing with this topic.

On the face value of being considered an

“

unforgivable sin,”

it instantly creates

a conundrum for the believer and non-believer alike.

How can it be that the gift of salvation through Jesus could possibly be undone by the frailty of people to sin? Isn’t the whole point of His gift to break us free of our iniquity and deliver us into a state of security?

And if we are secure in our salvation, how then can it be taken away if we should blaspheme the Spirit?

The short answer? It cannot. Slide3

blas·phe·my

ˈ

blasfəmē

/nounthe act or offense of speaking sacrilegiously about God or sacred things; profane talk.“to speak against,” or “speak evil of,”speaking evil of God or denying Him some good which we should attribute to Him.the willful rejection of Jesus or any member of the Triune God.

DefinitionSlide4

Where in the Bible does it mention this?

The actual references to the meaning of this occur throughout the Old and New Testaments. But they are not in particular a reference to the Spirit.

We see variations of the word used as blaspheme, blasphemed, blasphemer, blasphemers,

blasphemeth, blasphemies, blaspheming, blasphemous, blasphemously, and finally – blasphemy. But in the case of this discussion, we are looking in the New Testament. We find three references of importance in three of the four gospel accounts. Let’s review the following slides for each, with different translations. Matthew 12 : 31-32Mark 3 : 28-30Luke 12 : 10Slide5

Matthew 12 : 31-32

KJV

~

 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.NASB ~ Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven.32 

Whoever 

speaks

a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever 

speaks

against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the 

age

 to come

.

AMP

~

Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy [every evil, abusive, injurious speaking, or indignity against sacred things] will be forgiven people, but 

blasphemy

against the [Holy] Spirit will not be forgiven.

32 

Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit 

[by attributing the miracles done by Me to Satan]

 will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the 

age

 to come.Slide6

Mark 3 : 28-30

KJV

~

 Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: 29 But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation. 30 Because they said, He hath an unclean spiritNASB ~ Truly I say to you, all sins shall be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter; 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”—

30

because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit

.”

AMP

~

I assure you 

and

 most solemnly say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and all the abusive 

and

 blasphemous things they say

;

29

but whoever 

[

j

]

blasphemes against the Holy Spirit 

and

 His power 

[by attributing the miracles done by Me to Satan]

 never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin [a sin which is unforgivable in this present age as well as in the age to come]”— 

30

[Jesus said this]

because the scribes and Pharisees were

[attributing His miracles to Satan by]

saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”Slide7

Luke 12 : 10

KJV

~

 And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven.NASB ~  And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven himAMP ~ And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit [that is, whoever intentionally discredits the Holy Spirit by attributing the authenticating miracles done by Me to Satan]

, it will not be forgiven him [for him there is no forgiveness]Slide8

AMP compared to King James and New American Standard

________________________________________________________________________

We see that the Amplified interpretation includes some additional context for us to take into consideration. If fact, this is often the first place that many pastors will begin when explaining what is happening in these passages. First we should note what was going on at the time. Remember, scripture should always be understood from the position of time, place, and circumstance in order to grasp what is being conveyed by the author.

So let’s take a closer look at one passage in particular.But this time we are going to look at the scripture the predicates the reference to blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. This will help us get a better picture in our heads about what Jesus was doing, where he was, and who he was talking to.Knowing who the audience is in this case makes a good deal of difference.Let’s read the whole thing…Slide9

Matthew Chapter 12 ~ The Pharisees Rebuked in verses 22 – 32

Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed him, so that the mute man both spoke and saw

.

23 All the people wondered in amazement, and said, “Could this be the Son of David (the Messiah)?” 24 But the Pharisees heard it and said, “This man casts out demons only by [the help of] Beelzebul (Satan) the prince of the demons.”25 

Knowing their thoughts Jesus said to them, “Any kingdom that is divided against itself is being laid waste; and no city or house divided against itself will [continue to] stand. 

26

If Satan casts out Satan [that is, his demons], he has become divided against himself 

and

 disunited; how then will his kingdom stand?

27

If I cast out the demons by [the help of] 

Beelzebul

(Satan), by whom do your sons drive them out? For this reason they will be your judges. 

28

But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out the demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you[before you expected it]

. 

29

Or how can anyone go into a strong man’s house and steal his property unless he first overpowers 

and

 ties up the strong man? Then he will ransack 

and

 rob his

house.

30

He who is not with Me [once and for all on My side] is against Me; and he who does not [unequivocally] gather with Me scatters.

31

“Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy [every evil, abusive, injurious speaking, or indignity against sacred things] will be forgiven people, but 

[

f

]

blasphemy against the [Holy] Spirit will not be forgiven

.

32

Whoever speaks a word

against the Son of Man will be forgiven

; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit [by attributing the miracles done by Me to Satan] will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the 

age

 to come.Slide10

Notice first of all that this is a spoken sin. Some views on the issue will also say this can be considered a matter of the heart as well.

Matthew 15 : 18-19 [AMP]

But

whatever [word] comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this is what defiles and dishonors the man. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts and plans, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, slanders (verbal abuse, irreverent speech, blaspheming)Psalm 141 : 3

Set a guard, O 

Lord

, 

over

my

mouth; Keep

watch over the door of my lips

.

What we are seeing happen are the Pharisees deliberately denying the direct evidence in front of them (and everyone else). They do it by accusing something Holy (the Spirit in Jesus) of being something evil.

They do this by directly

speaking it out in ‘the open’

where they are effectively giving testimony. Because of this Jesus tells them it is unforgivable.

Right then. Right there

.

In this frame of mind, many apologists will assert that this sin, exemplified here -

cannot be done again because the circumstances cannot be re-enacted at this time

. That is to say, Jesus isn’t here for us to deny Him

face to face

as the Pharisees did on the day in question.Slide11

Blasphemy of the Spirit is rejecting Jesus ~

Even though some may argue that this particular sin cannot be committed today by believers, you may still encounter another interpretation. This is the case that is brought up in Hebrews and essentially frames Blasphemy of the Spirit as a direct and willful rejection of Jesus (and all aspects of the Christian Triune God.)

Hebrews 10 : 26-29 ~ AMP

For if we go on willfully and deliberately sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice [to atone] for our sins [that is, no further offering to anticipate], 27 but a kind of awful and terrifying expectation of [divine] judgment and the fury of a fire and

burning

wrath which will consume the adversaries

 [those who put themselves in opposition to God]. 

28

Anyone who has ignored and set aside the Law of Moses is put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 

29

How much greater punishment

do you think he

will deserve who has rejected

 and trampled under foot the Son of God, and has considered unclean and common the blood of the covenant that 

sanctified

him,

and has insulted the Spirit of grace

[who imparts the unmerited favor and blessing of God

]?

Hebrews 12 : 17 ~ AMP

For

you know that later on, when he wanted [to regain title to] his inheritance of the blessing, he was rejected,

for he found no opportunity for repentance

[there was no way to repair what he had done, no chance to recall the choice he had made], even though he sought for it with [bitter] tears

.

In this case we are dealing with a hardening of the heart. This is when someone is so set against Jesus or any ideal of God at all – that they will simply, absolutely not accept Him. The is in effect the only sin that is not pardonable.Slide12

The Peril of Falling Away from our salvation ~

Not only do we see how the rejection of God is a direct blasphemy, we can also understand the possibility of falling away. But can a person become ‘un-saved?’

Again, the answer is no. You cannot loose your salvation. But why is it suggested so in Hebrews? Why is this often confused with the blasphemy of the Spirit?

Hebrews 6 : 4-8 KJV ~ For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, 6

If they shall fall away,

to renew them again unto repentance

; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame

.

NASB

~

For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, 

5

and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 

6

and 

then

 have fallen away,

it is impossible to renew them again to

repentance

.

AMP

~

For [

it is impossible to restore to repentance

] those who have once been enlightened [spiritually] and who have 

tasted

and

 consciously experienced the heavenly gift and have shared in the Holy Spirit, 

5

and have tasted 

and

consciously

experienced the good word of God and the powers of the age (world) to come, 

6

and

then have fallen away

—it is

impossible to bring them back again to repentance

, since they again nail the Son of God on the cross [for as far as they are concerned, they are treating the death of Christ as if they were not saved by it], and are holding Him up again to public disgrace.Slide13

I’m still worried about it.

The idea of losing salvation can be absolutely terrifying

These scriptures will strongly effect most any believer

The devil wants you to be afraid and doubt yourselfOnly someone with a renewed spirit will feel convictedRemember what has been promised and believe Slide14

2 Timothy 23 : 16-17

“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”Slide15

Hebrews 3 : 6

“

but Christ was faithful as a Son over His house—whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the

end.”Slide16

1 Timothy 4 : 1

“Now

the Spirit

speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;”Slide17

Ephesians 4 : 29-30

“Let no unwholesome

word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is

good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by

whom you were sealed for the day of redemption

.”Slide18

2 Corinthians 5 : 17

“Therefore

if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new

.”Slide19

Romans 6 : 14

“For

 sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace

.”Slide20

End of PresentationThank you for your attendance

By: Matthew Grayson

Copyright © 2017

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