We all carry fears of some sort. More often than not, the fear is irrational and at other times, justifiable, but things are seldom as bad as we think they might be. We don’t want to do the wrong thing and even someone with the best intentions can sometimes put a foot in it. As believers in Jesus we know that God has expectations of us; the way we act, treat others, and respond to Him and we want Him to look at us and say that we’re alright. I realise that I am a sinful person but the gift of God’s favour and forgiveness is something for which I’ll be forever grateful. The words of Amazing Grace immediately come to mind. I have no intention of abusing this grace, but every now and again I mess up. But now I’m reading through the book of Mark and I hit Chapter 3 from verse 28.
I promise you that any of the sinful things you say or do can be forgiven, no matter how terrible those things are. But if you speak against the Holy Spirit, you can never be forgiven. That sin will be held against you forever.
Yikes! What happens if I accidentally did that? What happens if I made that mistake somewhere and now I’m unforgivable? Fear sets in. What is the Unforgivable Sin? This is not as complicated as one might imagine. Let’s all just take a deep breath and figure this out. Let’s first get some context. Jesus had just performed a great miracle; healing a blind and mute, demon-possessed man. The Pharisees said that Jesus had done these amazing miracles by the power of the devil. I ask you!! I don’t have loads of time to get too deeply into this, but what Jesus was telling the lovers of the law, was that they were seeing the power of God manifest in their very midst, people being set free from the powers of hell, people being redeemed by God’s grace, and those hypocrites credited the devil! Jesus was implying that they had no desire to truely seek God out. In plain sight of his amazing grace and love, they plain ol’ ignored Him. People that feel this way towards God have no desire to become His true followers. They will go right up until their dying day and still not give God the glory that He deserves, or surrender their lives to Him. They will leave this earth unforgiven. Forgivable, but by their very own choice, unforgiven.
In an interesting turn, those of us that are concerned about whether we have done something to displease God and be unforgiven, are the least likely to be concerned. We acknowledge God for who He is and want to please Him. Immediately we take ourselves out of the running for being in this ‘unforgivable’ group.
I’ll wrap up with a quote from Rick Cornish, from one of his books, Five Minute Theologian: (speaking of those pharisees) “Their problem was not blind ignorance, but willful rejection,” pointed out Cornish. “That deliberate refusal to believe, even though knowing the truth, seems to be what Jesus called the unforgivable sin.”
Let’s step out of the Fear Train that we’re in, enjoy the freedom God has won for us through Jesus, and live that freedom, honouring God above all things and loving others as we so easily love ourselves.