If you mentally uttered a curse against the Holy Spirit, for example. Is there a chance of a petition? What is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit
Question: What does blasphemy against God or the holy spirit mean? How to deal with Blasphemous thoughts? Will God forgive insults against him?
(Victoria)
Answer: These are perhaps the most painful questions that Christians ask themselves when faced with difficult trials. It is not always possible to emerge from such trials with ease and/or spiritually intact, which causes especially severe pain to those who survive them. There has probably been a time in the life of every faithful Christian when he asked himself similar questions and did not find an answer to them. And, of course, you are far from alone in your attempts to find an answer to them.
As I have learned from my experiences, and also from the experiences of those I have encountered in my life, such questions are usually asked by people who have faced blatant injustice. Or with some other horror or misfortune that happened to them or, perhaps, to people dear to them. When this happens to a person, it is quite possible that he will have doubts about God or even anger towards Him. And subsequently, all this taken together can cause pain in such a person that does not go away for many months and years. But it’s even worse when the situation is not corrected and justice is not restored, and when it seems that there is no end to it and that God seems to have turned away, and it seems like you have no hope left.
Unfortunately, all this is usually experienced by people with a sensitive soul, with a heightened sense of justice and a vulnerable heart. However, the most unpleasant thing is that your soul is hurt not only because of what happened or is happening. No, it is doubly painful because it seems as if you, through your own fault, have offended the Spirit of God, cutting yourself off both from Him and from any hope of forgiveness. But is this really true? What is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? And is there a biblical basis for concluding that you are beyond forgiveness?
The Bible describes many situations that allow us to understand God's point of view on these issues. Therefore, looking ahead and speaking very briefly, you need to see the most important thing: God makes a significant difference between the actions of different people who have sinned (including with their lips) against Him. And, although in the case of each sin the right of final judgment belongs only to God’s justice and His mercy, such offenses can be divided into two conditional groups.
The first group of offenses includes cases when a person is and acts under the guidance of false expectations instilled in him or inaccurate ideas about God and His plan. Obviously, being incorrectly trained, a person cannot absolutely correctly evaluate either his own actions or God’s. And, accordingly, he cannot act absolutely sinlessly. Finding himself in such a state under the pressure of unforeseen circumstances, a person can come to an extreme degree of despair and even sin against God. But later he may bitterly repent of what he said or did and make every effort not to repeat his sin.
However, it is a completely different matter when, from a certain point in time, a person is correctly aware of God and His purpose, but continues to deliberately sin against God through constant and malicious resistance, while insisting on his “righteousness” (compare Proverbs 14:17, TAM). .
So now we can look at this with some biblical examples.
What is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit?
The most famous statement that instills fear of the inevitability of punishment for blasphemy against the Holy Spirit belongs to Jesus Christ. To understand what exactly Jesus called blasphemy against the Spirit, we must consider under what circumstances He said this:
“Then they brought to Him a demon-possessed man, blind and dumb; and he healed him, so that the blind and dumb man began to speak and see. And all the people marveled and said, Is this not the Christ, the son of David? The Pharisees, having heard [this], said: He does not cast out demons except [by the power of] Beelzebub, the prince of demons. But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said to them: ...if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then of course the Kingdom of God has come to you... Therefore I say to you: every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven to men, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven to men; if anyone speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; But if anyone speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the next.” (Matthew 12:22-32).
Greek word used by the inspired apostles βλασφημία [blasphemIa], translated in this text as “blasphemy” has the meaning "blasphemy, reproach, blasphemy, slander, reproachful slander" . (See also Mark 3:28, Luke 5:21, John 10:33). For example, in the list of vices given in Colossians 3:8, the same word is translated as “evil speech”, and this is not the same as “foul language”, for which a completely different word is used in the same list - αισχρολογίαν [ayschrologIan], meaningful "foul language, obscene speech, dirty talk".
Those. “blasphemy” is not necessarily “foul language” or “dirty speech.” No, the word translated as “blasphemy” rather means the deliberate attribution of humiliating and disgusting qualities to the object or person against whom the blasphemy is directed. Those. this word refers specifically to the humiliating essence of what was said, but not to the form of words in which this essence is clothed. Consequently, “blasphemy” cannot or should not necessarily be heard in obscene expressions - no, it can be heard in the same way in generally accepted expressions and even quite literary ones.
[An example is the prophet Isaiah, who before the beginning of his ministry was “a man of unclean lips.” From childhood he was dedicated to Jehovah as a member of His people. But, in the language of modern concepts, Isaiah, (before his calling) living “among a people of unclean lips,” simply cursed along with everyone around him. And when a great vision from Jehovah appeared to him, Isaiah was scared to death precisely because of this sinful inclination. However, Jehovah saw much further than the “unclean words” this man uttered. Under this unsightly shell, God saw his kind and sympathetic heart, and without any reproach, he commanded His angel to “cleanse” Isaiah’s lips (Isaiah 6:5-7). And then God called Isaiah to serve as one of the greatest prophets this world has ever known (Isaiah 6:8).
This example helps us understand two comforting things. First, “unclean speech” is not always blasphemy or blasphemy against the Spirit. And secondly, in this example you can see that God's attitude towards a person can be very different from that person's attitude towards himself. After all, first of all, God looks not at how a person behaved, but at what motivates this person and how he relates to his misdeeds.]
Therefore, returning to the words of Christ from Matthew 12:22-32, it becomes obvious that in this case, what Jesus called “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit” was deliberate attributing to evil spirits deeds that were created by the power of God. In other words, the power of God was represented accusers Christ as an unclean, demonic force.
For example, if some ignorant pagan had not seen, but heard about the miracles Jesus performed among His people, then, not knowing the subtleties of what was happening, he could have taken seriously the statements of Jesus’ opponents that His miracles were demonic. Moreover, due to his ignorance, such a pagan could himself (following the opponents of Christ) repeat for some time that these miracles are from demons. However, such an opinion would be more likely due to ignorance rather than conscious opposition, as was the case with Jesus' opponents. Because the opponents of Christ saw the manifestation of the power of the Spirit with their own eyes. In this regard, Jesus said that if in the pagan cities “If the powers that were manifested in (Judea) were manifested in Tire and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes” . By this He also emphasized the obvious maliciousness of the opposition of His opponents.
So why did Jesus classify this offense as one of the unforgivable sins? To understand this, you need to answer two questions: to whom were these words of His addressed? (1) And for what reason? (2)
First, these words of Christ were addressed to inveterate opponents His activities.
Secondly, the gospel writers report that Jesus' opponents had such an opposing attitude constantly. Yes, Jesus clearly did not fit into their expectations of the Messiah. But the miracles He performed were clearly from God! And everything that He taught was in accordance with the just Spirit of the Scriptures, which they knew from childhood. This was so obvious to everyone involved that each of them had every opportunity to change their misconceptions about God and His purpose. But Jesus' opponents stubbornly rejected all this. In this regard, it is obvious that their opposition clearly reflected evil and ingrained intention deny all obvious facts both from life and from the Scriptures.
Moreover, the entire context of what was described shows that their negative attitude was conscious, and it was based on absolute reluctance to admit being wrong before the Scriptures, as well as pride, hatred and envy of the miracles of Jesus. Indeed, in reality, these miracles revealed the callousness and malice of their hearts.
Indeed, was there no reason to rejoice when Jesus healed incurable diseases, relieving the suffering of unfortunate people who had previously suffered all their lives? Any normal person would be happy for them! But Jesus’ opponents became even more angry, attributing demonic origins to the supernatural power of Jesus, and imaginable and unimaginable sins to Jesus himself (cf. John 9:18,19,24). It was precisely this evil attitude that became the basis of their offensive statements, and it is no coincidence that Jesus called all this nothing less than “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.” Finally, He directly pointed out to them the reason for their behavior:
“Born of vipers! how can you say good things when you are evil? For from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man brings good things out of a good treasure, and an evil man brings evil things out of an evil treasure.” (Matthew 12:34,35).
Thus, their blasphemous and humiliating speech was not just some random impulse, uttered under the pressure of some horror, sudden misfortune or other gross injustice. No, this was a manifestation of the fierce hatred with which they were filled hearts, and they did not fight to repent and cleanse their hearts of anger. Therefore, they viciously blasphemed what Jesus had done at the moment when they should have rejoiced in just deeds done for the good of man and the glory of God. This is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. This is essentially the same thing that the murmurers did in the days of Moses, when they stubbornly refused to acknowledge all the good things done for them by the Holy Spirit of God (Hebrews 3:16-19).
Don't judge yourself
Unfortunately, reading the words of Christ from Matthew 12:22-35, a repentant person who has sinned against God with his mouth can also accuse himself of the fact that since he accused or insulted the Father of something, then his heart was certainly evil, and he himself “blasphemed the Spirit” and now does not deserve forgiveness. And if you stumbled in something or sinned with your lips, does this mean that God already considers you to have sinned against the Holy Spirit and worthy only of death?
The fact is that the ancient Israelites, who sinned grievously against God, they also thought exactly that way. It seemed to them that after their sins they no longer had a chance for correction or forgiveness. Based on this, they were sure that now they deserved only death. The prophet Ezekiel wrote about this, and it is very remarkable that God answered them:
And you, son of man, tell the house of Israel: you speak such words: “Our trespasses and our sins lie upon us, and from them we melt away: How can we stay alive?“Tell them: As I live, says the Lord Jehovah, I do not want the death of the wicked, but that the wicked should turn away from his way and live. Convert, leave your wicked ways; and why should you bring yourselves to death, O house of Israel? (Ezekiel 33:10,11,AM)
As can be seen from these words, the very first thing God pointed out to the Israelites through Ezekiel was that they did not know Him fully: after all, Jehovah is a God of life, not death. From these words it follows that for God there are things more important than human misconduct. He has neither the goal nor the desire to necessarily kill every sinner. And if you, having suddenly stumbled, make every effort to seek God’s justice, then you also have hope for forgiveness. God sees not only misdeeds, but also the circumstances that led to them. He also sees the hearts of those who have sinned. And for Him it is much more important how a person ultimately feels about his offense, and whether he has the willingness not to repeat it.
[It should be taken into account that in this article we are talking mainly about sins against God, and not against people. It is clear that sin against people is also a sin against God, but such sins can (and should) be atoned for, for example, by making amends to these people and/or asking them for forgiveness. In the case of sin against God, only the person’s personal relationship with God is affected, and this article is primarily devoted to such cases.]
So just think about what sins Jehovah endured from His ancient people over the centuries. We should reflect on this not in order to think that our sins are not as terrible as the sins of the ancient apostates. No, a person seeking God will not justify himself by the misdeeds of other people ( Galatians 6:5, compare Luke 18:11, Genesis 3:12). When considering the attitude of ancient sinners to their sins, a Christian should first of all think about how merciful God is to all who want to find His favor.
After all, what horrors did His “worshippers” do, having learned this from the corrupt nations that lived around Israel! And what kind of insults did these sinners send at Him! (2 Chronicles 36:16). Yet, over the centuries, God patiently sent prophets to them with the same message: repent and turn from your evil deeds!
And if their persistent sins were not forgiven, then what was the point of sending these messages to them? If their sins were incorrigible, then what is the meaning of the words of the prophet Isaiah, who was also sent to them with the same words:
Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean, remove your evil deeds from before My eyes; stop being evil. Learn to do good; love justice; restore the oppressed; protect the orphan; sort out the widow's case. Come, and let us go to court, says Jehovah. If your sins are like scarlet cloth, everything will become white as snow; if they blush like crimson, everything will be like a wave. If you want and obey, you will enjoy the goodness of the earth. (Isaiah 1:16-19)
You need to pay special attention to these words. The never-changing God seems to still be pointing out that even if your hearts seem hopelessly corrupt and your sins seem as incorrigible as dyed cloth, just “convert” and He will make you purer than white snow. By this, God shows that He Himself - personally - will consider the converted sinner as pure as white snow!
Think about it, if there were no forgiveness upon repentance from the most serious sins, would these words be true? Of course not. That's why don't judge yourself. And, repenting before God, allow Him to forgive you. Whatever happens, every Christian should heed the words of the Apostle Peter: “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time; Cast all your cares on Him, for He cares for you.”(1 Peter 5:6,7).
After all, by refusing God's forgiveness, we would testify that we consider our judgment on ourselves to be more righteous than God's judgment. And that would be even worse than the offense we committed. Moreover, by doing this we would show that we do not know Him, and would present Him as unrighteous and infinitely cruel. But even the very thoughts that lead to such conclusions are unbearably difficult, and, as the Bible shows, they clearly do not come from God. Therefore, you should not let them dominate you. God sees hearts broken by repentance and wants to help them. After all, as the psalmist wrote, “You do not reject a broken and dejected heart, O God.” (Psalm 50:19, SinP; cf. Isaiah 66:2).
“Will God accept my repentance?”
But, of course, everything discussed above applies to those who have sincerely repented and fully trusted God's judgment, and are also making wholehearted efforts to correct their behavior.
But you ask: is it possible that He will not accept someone’s repentance? Will God accept my repentance?
From the ancient Law we know what sin is. But since in the New Testament era relationship with God depends on actions according to the Spirit of the Law, and not according to the Law itself, we do not need to bother ourselves with an exact list of sins for which there will be no forgiveness. Judgment by the Spirit involves an individual approach to each specific case. We just have to trust God’s mercy and justice and make efforts to repent, stay away from sin and try to know God as best as possible- then we will have no doubts about anything.
As we consider the following examples of God's thinking and His judgments, let us remind ourselves that the Bible only mentions a "book of life" that does not include stubbornly unrepentant sinners. In addition, the Scriptures describe a number of cases where people committed the most terrible sins against Him - sins for which the death penalty should have been imposed - but He forgave them when they repented and even actively helped them.
One of these most blatant sinners against God was the ancient Jewish king Manasseh. He not only led himself and God's ancient people into debauchery and bloody lawlessness, but also into stubborn idolatry, which is perhaps the most serious sin against God (2 Kings 21:1-18). However, later, when Manasseh, being punished by God, was captured by the enemy, he deeply repented and was forgiven by God. Moreover, God even helped him - to such an extent that Manasseh was returned to the royal throne * (2 Chronicles 23:10-13). This is, perhaps, one of the best examples of the fact that, seeing sincere repentance in the heart of a sinner, Jehovah acts in the spirit - he forgives completely and selflessly. That is, the example of Manasseh’s repentance shows that even his grave sins were not regarded as unforgivable blasphemy against the Holy Spirit and, in the case of sincere repentance, were forgiven.
Therefore, if you repent from the bottom of your heart for what you have done and try to correct your ways, then you have every reason to be confident that God will forgive you and be favorable to you. After all, He wishes only good for you, and if you understand this, then you have no reason to deprive yourself of strength with unbearable anxiety.
[*– True, in the case of Manasseh, Jehovah never canceled the already proclaimed punishment for the entire people, although he delayed the date of its onset (2 Kings 23:26). But this punishment was not canceled, including due to the fact that (unlike Manasseh), most of the people never repented of their blasphemous sins and idolatry - and this is clearly seen from other books of the Bible, for example, from the book of Jeremiah.]
Another example of God's forgiveness is the case of David, who was subject to a death sentence for his adultery with Bathsheba and for the murder of her husband. David sincerely repented and the death sentence was canceled, although for some time David still reaped the grave consequences of his sin (2 Samuel 12:13,14). However, the best confirmation that after David's punishment Jehovah did not hatch plans of revenge against him is the fact that David's second child from Bathsheba (Solomon) became the ancestor of Jesus Christ.
Thus, the Scriptures show that God is willing not only to forgive the repentant sinner, but to forgive unselfishly and forever.
Will God forgive Judas Iscariot?
As discussed above, there are sins that are so stubbornly committed that they will never be forgiven. And some Christians who have sinned are worried: what kind of sins are these, repentance for which does not help?
Usually, they remember the example of the sin of Judas Iscariot, about whom Jesus said that “it would have been better for him not to have been born.” From the lips of Christ this sounds like a sentence from God, who saw the heart of this traitor.
In the situation with Iscariot, the only thing that is not clear to many is whether he really repented, and if so, will God forgive Him? But the question is, did he really repent, and did he repent before God? or only before the society on which his life depended? We don't know this because, unlike God, we cannot see what was in his heart.
Therefore, taking into account what was said about Judas by Christ, we cannot add anything more specific. We are not God and cannot make a judgment on Iscariot. After all, only He has the right to do this.
None of us saw or heard with our own eyes everything that Iscariot saw and heard. After all, Judas was taught by Jesus Himself, and he had every chance to soften his heart so as not to sin. By committing betrayal, Judas clearly went against the clearly expressed will of God and against the obvious manifestations of the power of His Spirit. As a Jew, He knew the Scriptures from childhood. And he personally received enlightenment from Jesus and, as confirmation of this, I saw His amazing miracles with my own eyes. Therefore, he simply had to understand who was behind Jesus. Moreover, Judas was with the apostles, who were under the direct tutelage of the Son of God (Acts 1:16,17, John 17:12), and not under the influence of deceit, violence, or gross injustice. Therefore He allowed himself to be deceived (James 1:14).
However, after the betrayal, he seemed to repent of what he had done and came to the Temple, trying to return the thirty pieces of silver for which he had betrayed the Lord. And then he just hanged himself.
And some Christians who have sinned are so tormented by their actions that they try to compare their sin with the sin of Judas, trying to use his example to understand whether God will forgive them and accept their repentance or not. And I must say that this is completely unreasonable. And that's why.
Any sin offends the Spirit of God!
As a result of the training they received from their religious teachers, some Christians try to understand which sins will not be forgiven. They are trying to understand this so as not to repeat these sins or to give themselves the “correct judgment.” But, firstly, such Christians take on the role of Judge. And, secondly, they try to evaluate their actions not according to the Spirit, but as if according to the commandment, forgetting that in the era of serving according to the Spirit there is no special list of sins for which the so-called sins will certainly follow. "second death"! The fact of the matter is that the judgment by the Spirit is the judgment of God by considering the condition hearts a specific person, i.e. in relation to his heart towards the wrongdoings he has committed.
And the most important thing that such Christians still do not understand is that any sin offends the Spirit of God! This can be understood from a number of biblical sayings.
For example, this is seen in the following passage from Hebrews:
For if we, having received the knowledge of the truth, we sin arbitrarily, then there remains no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain terrible expectation of judgment and the fury of fire, ready to devour opponents. [If] one who rejects the law of Moses, in the presence of two or three witnesses, is without mercy [punished] with death, then how much more severe punishment do you think will be guilty of the one who tramples on the Son of God and does not consider as holy the Blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and Offends the Spirit of Grace? (Hebrews 10:26-29).
Here we should pay special attention to the word translated “willfully [sin]”: in this phrase in the original language the word meant “[sin] voluntarily, voluntarily, willingly " For example, this same word is directly contrasted with acting under duress in 1 Peter 5:2. Thus, such a willing and voluntary action is in direct contrast to actions committed not fully consciously, for example, due to deception in teaching in the congregation (cf. Luke 12:47,48). As the apostle's further words show, such brazen voluntariness, which underlies conscious sin, is considered an “offense” to the Holy Spirit (10:29). This becomes all the more true if such a sin is consciously and willingly repeated by a person again and again.
Moreover, the word translated "offend" in Hebrews 10:29 means " mock, insult, mock " This meaning largely coincides with the meaning of the word βλασφημία [blasfemIa] - “ blasphemy, slander, reproachful slander ».
Thus, the above idea is again confirmed, any sin committed completely “willingly” and out of “good will” can become such a mockery of the Holy Spirit that it in turn can be recognized as “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.” And in the end it can lead to the fact that there will no longer be “a sacrifice for sins” and nothing but a death sentence.
However, here too, biblical examples show serious differences in God's judgment even in relation to those who deliberately sin. This, for example, is shown by the above examples of the conscious and voluntary sins of David and Manasseh, who, having repented, were justified, although they suffered some punishment.
Another example concerns Ananias and Sapphira, who, having sold a house, brought money into the common treasury and decided to hide part of the amount. While they were simply greedy and deceitful, they wanted to appear generous and sincere. And they lied, saying that they gave everything they had. For which they were immediately recognized as having lied against the Holy Spirit, and died - immediately after their voluntary And conscious lies. (Acts 5:1-10). It should be noted that Ananias’ sin lay precisely where only the Holy Spirit could see it - in HEART this man! (Acts 5:3)
Another example concerns a brother in the Corinthian congregation who fell into debauchery to the point where he “slept with his father’s wife.” The very fact that the congregation became “proud” of itself shows that this brother’s sin was also completely conscious And voluntary. For which Paul severely reprimanded the brothers and urged them to no longer consider the sinner a member of their congregation and a brother (1 Corinthians 5:1-5). However, the same Paul in his 2nd letter to the Corinthians wrote that a brother who realized his sin and deeply repented of what he had done should be forgiven and joyfully accepted back into the loving family of the apostolic congregation (2 Corinthians 2:6-11, 7:9- eleven). Moreover, Paul wrote that this forgiveness comes from the name of Christ (2 Corinthians 2:10), and therefore from the Holy Spirit.
Also, the fact that any sin offends the Spirit of God can be seen, for example, from the situation before the flood, when the earth was filled with atrocities. This is how God described what was happening:
And the Lord said: My Spirit will not forever be neglected by people; because they are flesh... And the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually... (Genesis 6:3-7)
As can be seen from these words, the sins of people offended the Spirit of God! Moreover, it was precisely what filled them that offended Jehovah. hearts!
What does this mean? The Spirit of God that permeates the entire Universe is the Spirit of Love, Truth and Justice. Permeating the entire Universe, this Spirit permeates every heart, seeing and feeling what is happening in it. It cannot be any other way, because everything created by God is, as it were, a particle of Himself, His immense power and energy, as it is written: “For [being the race of God] in Him we live and move and have our being...” (Acts 17:28,29). Therefore, whenever someone somewhere tramples justice or truth, the Spirit of God feels this “pain” as if “within Himself” and is offended by such actions, because they are contrary to His very Essence. This is why Christians are urged to:
“Put on the new man, created according to God in righteousness and true holiness. Therefore, putting away falsehood, speak the truth every one of you to your neighbor, for we are members of one another. When you are angry, do not sin... and do not give room to the devil... And do not offend the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”(Ephesians 4:24-30).
Particular attention should be paid to the Greek word λυπειτε [lupEite], which is translated in this text as “[not] insult" And in the original language this word carries the meaning “to embarrass, burden, sadden, upset, torment, torment”.
This best proves that, every time people sin, “burden, torment and torment” Spirit of God. Moreover, this happens in the case of any unrighteous behavior, and not just when a person is offended or angry with God out loud because of something he does not understand.
Therefore, remember that He also has feelings and “pain”, which subsides every time when He sees hearts striving for righteousness and repenting of their sins. Remember that Jehovah sees every “movement” of your repentant heart, and it brings incredible joy to His “heart”.
God, as can be seen from all of the above, is incredibly long-suffering and “does not want anyone to perish, but that everyone should come to repentance” . Jehovah greatly appreciates the hearts of people who are ready to admit they were wrong and repent of their misdeeds. And as a result of their sincere repentance, God is ready to forgive them. Therefore, having repented, cast your cares on God and trust in Him. Do not grieve and do not torment yourself or the Spirit of God in the future. And, moreover, do not make your sins conscious from now on, lest you provoke the Spirit of God to such anger that there is no room left for forgiveness (Hebrews 10:26-29). And in this you will be helped by knowledge about His love, and about everything that He did for you and what sacrifices He made.
GOD LOVES YOU!
But what if you continue to be tormented by thoughts that make you blame yourself and think that your sin against God is the most special and the most serious sin you can imagine? What if such thoughts depress you so much that you involuntarily begin to believe that God has cruelly rejected you and doomed you to inevitable death? Try to pray about it. Even the shortest prayer will be heard by God, who knows about your need before you ask Him. “...And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:7).
If painful thoughts about God persist in you, then most likely you have had a difficult past, or you have been taught an incorrect idea about the personality of God. Remember that this most often occurs as a result of training received from their religious teachers (for example, within the walls of the Watchtower), who attribute their own teachings and deeds to God's influence. Such teaching can become firmly entrenched in the minds of gullible Christians, substituting the commandments and ideas of human congregational leaders for the justice of God. As a result, the problems and difficulties that occur to a person under the influence of such an environment may seem to him as coming from God Himself! It is not surprising that in such a state a person can blame the Almighty Himself.
In such a situation, it is only important to stop in time and think: do you understand everything correctly? Ask yourself: “What does God have to do with it? Does He, in general, have anything to do with this particular situation?” Pray, or ask someone you really trust to talk to you. Be sure to ask yourself logical questions, and try to use them to find out whether God really looks the way you think, or whether this is a consequence of incorrect teaching of your religion or pain that prevents you from living. And be sure to remember what Jacob wrote:
Let no one say, when put to the test, “It is God who tempts me.” God cannot be tempted by evil, and He tempts no one(James 1:13, ESV)
No temptation has befallen you other than that of man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but when you are tempted, He will also give you the way of escape, so that you may be able to bear it.(1 Corinthians 10:13).
God, like no one else, understands the pain of betrayal and He understands the feelings of a person who thinks that God is unfair to him. However, due to the current circumstances, He is innocent of what is happening and will definitely support you so that you can endure this difficult period for you. After all, He understands that all our troubles come from the influence on us from our environment, and partly from ourselves.
But if you still experience painful thoughts, then think about how you would react if someone sinned against you with their lips, but then repented and asked for forgiveness? For example, what if you were insulted by a loved one, your own child, or a younger brother or sister? Would you, despite his repentance and pleas for forgiveness, demand immediate execution for him? To any normal person, even the very thought of this may seem disgusting and blasphemous. After all, true love is not only fair, but also ready to forgive, hoping for the best. And if you, being a sinful person, are ready to act out of love and forgive a repentant sinner, then what reason is there to think that the Eternal God will act less justly than you? Are you more just and more merciful than Him?
Also, when you regret what you have done, think about the fact that your pain is caused by your own attitude not only to this sin, but also to to myself. But It's your attitude, not God's.! If the very thought of your own sin, your own untruth is unpleasant to you, then doesn’t the All-Seeing One see and appreciate this? God, Who looks at hearts, knows perfectly well not only what happened and what led to it, but also everything that happens in your heart. And the very fact that you know and love His justice says that you walk in the truth and should listen to the words of the Apostle John:
By this we know that we are from the truth and will calm our hearts before Him, no matter what our hearts condemn us for; for God is greater than our heart and knows everything (1 John 3:19,20, Cassian translation).
Therefore, there is no reason to think that God has turned his back on you forever. As can be seen from all the above examples, God always remains faithful to all whose hearts strive for Him and His justice. And if, despite your past sin, your heart still loves Him and strives for Him, then nothing, no one can ever separate you from His eternal love.
Denis Podorozhny answers:
Thanks for the question, Elena.
I think you asked him because you read what was written in the Gospel: “Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven to men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven to men.”(Matt. 12:31).
It is generally believed that blasphemy is the uttering of impudent and blasphemous words against the Spirit of God, but not simply said in ignorance or stupidity, but the deliberate uttering of curses against the Holy Spirit. I am sure that an unbeliever who mocks holy things cannot be accused of committing this sin, since He does not know God at all. A person who is deeply aware of Who God is and Who the Holy Spirit is and at the same time blasphemes Him, according to Scripture, has no justification.
If sin is not forgiven, then it is difficult for a person to count on eternal life. “Pursue peace with everyone and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord,” says the Bible (Heb. 12:14). Without this confidence, the heart of the one who blasphemes plunges into the darkness of hopelessness, bitterness and embitterment.
I can note that more than once I have met people who had worries about their apostasy. They testified that during this period they did a lot of stupid things and sins that could upset the Holy Spirit, and after realizing their guilt, they worried - could their actions become a reason for not being forgiven by God?
Indeed, the New Testament says that we should not offend the Holy Spirit with our actions, but this is not the same as blasphemy (Eph. 4:29-31).
It would be correct to link Christ’s words about unforgivable sin, blasphemy against God’s Spirit, with what is written in the Epistle to the Hebrews: “26 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins, 27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment and furious fire ready to devour the adversaries. 28 who rejected the law of Moses, in the presence of two or three witnesses, by death without mercy, 29 how much more severe punishment do you think he will be guilty of who tramples on the Son of God and does not consider holy the Blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and insults the Spirit of grace?”(Heb. 10:26-29).
Here the reason for Christ’s harsh words becomes clear: there is no forgiveness when a person KNOWED the TRUTH (i.e. he did not just believe and apostatize, but had a serious relationship with God, abided in the Scriptures, was a disciple of Christ, became free - see John 8 :31,32), and AFTER THAT - he retreated and began to SINNER WILLINGLY, trample on the Son of God, neglect the blood of the Covenant and offend the Holy Spirit.
This does not apply to unbelievers and most ordinary apostates!
So, if a person has a desire to return to communion with the Lord and regret for the sins he has committed, then this is not just a human one-sided desire for an “unrequited” God, no. The Lord gives repentance! Look at Acts 5:31; 11:18; Rom.2:4; And if there is contrition in a person, repentance for what he has done, then this is already a sign that he is not rejected, and that the Lord gives him the opportunity for reconciliation.
And finally, I want to note that, although this passage of Scripture speaks of the impossibility of forgiving blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, we still do not need to become judges instead of God, and decide ahead of time who will be forgiven and who will not. It's none of our business. If there are doubts about the possibility of a person turning to the Lord, one should not think that it is impossible for him to become like Him. As long as a person lives, so long should hope for him live.
God's mercy is beyond our understanding. This is what we should be guided by in our attitude towards people. This is exactly how the Apostle Paul instructs Christians “instruct your opponents with meekness, whether God will not give them repentance to the knowledge of the truth, so that they will free themselves from the snare of the devil, who has ensnared them in his will.”(2 Tim.2:25,26).
God bless you.
Sincerely,
Denis Podorozhny
Let us now try to understand what Jesus meant when he spoke about sin against the Holy Spirit. One thing to consider is that Jesus did not speak of the Holy Spirit in the full Christian sense of the term.
This could not be because before the Holy Spirit came upon people in all His power, fullness and light, Pentecost had to come first.
In this case, the expression Holy Spirit must be understood in the light of the Jewish concept of the Holy Spirit.
According to Jewish teaching, the Holy Spirit had two main functions.
1 First, the Holy Spirit brought Divine truth to people.
2 Second, the Holy Spirit enabled people to recognize and understand this truth when they saw it.
And therefore, according to the Jews, people needed the Holy Spirit both in order to find God’s well and in order to know it.
This can be said another way. Man has a given ability to recognize virtue and truth when he sees it.
Now let's take the next step to understand what Jesus meant here.
A person can lose any ability if he refuses to use it. This is true in all areas of life, both physical, spiritual and mental.
If a person stops using a muscle, it atrophies; If a person does not use the knowledge of a foreign language acquired at school, he will soon completely forget what he knew.
This is also true in all areas of perception.
A person can lose all understanding of good music if he listens only to cheap pop music; he may even lose the ability to read good books if he reads only light reading; he may lose the ability to enjoy pure and healthy pleasures if he seeks pleasure in low and dirty things long enough.
And so a person may also lose the ability to recognize virtue and truth when he sees them.
If he closes his eyes and ears to God's path long enough, if he turns his back long enough on the message that God is sending, if he prefers his ideas long enough to the ideas that God is trying to put in his mind, then he eventually comes to the point that cannot recognize God's truth, beauty, and goodness when it sees them.
In this state, his vices seem to him to be the only virtue, and God's virtue seems to him to be vice and evil.
This is the state the scribes and Pharisees reached.
For a long time they remained blind and deaf to the guiding hand of God and to what the Holy Spirit spoke to them; they persisted in their ways for so long that they could no longer recognize God's truth when they saw it.
They could look at virtue incarnate and call it evil incarnate; they could look at the Son of God and call Him an ally of the devil.
Sin against the Holy Spirit is a rejection of the will of God for so long and so persistently that, in the end, it cannot be recognized even when it is manifested in its entirety.
Why should this sin be unforgivable? How is it so terribly different from other sins?
The answer is simple: when a person reaches this stage, repentance becomes impossible.
If a person cannot recognize virtue and goodness when he sees them, he can no longer desire them. If a person is unable to recognize a vice, he cannot regret it, shame and regret about it and the desire to part with it cannot awaken in him. And whoever cannot, despite all his sins, love good and hate evil, cannot repent; and whoever cannot repent cannot be forgiven, because repentance is the only condition for forgiveness.
Much grief could be avoided if people would realize that he cannot sin against the Holy Spirit who fears that he will sin against Him, because sin against the Holy Spirit is a complete loss of the sense of sin.
And it was precisely to this stage that the scribes and Pharisees reached. They had been willfully blind and deaf to God for so long that they lost the ability to recognize Him when they met Him face to face. It was not God who drove them beyond forgiveness; they excluded themselves. Long years of resistance to God brought them to this state.
And this is a terrible warning for us.
We must always look so carefully at God, so that all our days our sensitivity does not become dulled, so that our consciousness does not weaken, our spiritual hearing does not turn into spiritual deafness. Such is the law of life that a person hears only what he listens to and only what he is determined to listen to.
There is a story about a villager who found himself in the office of his city friend, through which the noise of street traffic could be heard.
"Listen!" - he said suddenly. "What's happened?" - asked the citizen. “Grasshopper,” said the villager.
Long years of living in the village tuned him to perceive rural sounds that the ear of a city dweller could not hear at all. And, on the contrary, drop a silver coin here, and the ringing of silver will immediately reach the ears of a businessman earning money, while a villager may never have heard it at all. Only a specialist who has trained himself to hear this can distinguish the voice of each bird in a bird choir. Only a specialist can distinguish between different instruments in an orchestra and catch one false note from the second violin.
Such is the law of life that we hear what we have trained ourselves to hear; we must listen to God every day, so that every day the voice of God does not become weaker and weaker until we cannot hear it at all, but clearer and clearer, it does not become the voice to which our ears are primarily tuned. .
every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven to men, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven to men;
if anyone speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him;
if anyone speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him either in this age or in the future.
Matthew 12:31-32What is "hula"? Any particularly strong swear word or insult? And what do the words “blasphemy will not be forgiven” mean? What if we uttered some kind of curse against Someone specific, then for this we will suffer a terrible punishment, for which there is no forgiveness and never will be?
Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is not a sinful act or verbal blasphemy, but a state of mind in which repentance becomes impossible. And for this reason, forgiveness becomes impossible. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is conscious, persistent and unrepentant opposition to the obvious truth, which a person knows within himself to be the truth.
Example- the murder of Christ committed by the leaders of the Jewish people. His high priests (that is, the highest church hierarchs, in our opinion: metropolitans and patriarchs), Pharisees (that is, monks), scribes (that is, theologians). These were educated and far-sighted people of their time, who comprised the highest authority - the Sanhedrin. When did the Sanhedrin decide to kill Christ? After He raised four-day-old Lazarus. That is, after a completely obvious, obvious miracle, crushing all doubt and even the very thought of it. This has never happened in history! The corpse lay in the heat for four days, half-decomposed and stinking. And he rose again. What is the verdict of the Sanhedrin? This is what it is: “kill Lazarus too.” Conscious, stubborn resistance to the Truth, hatred of It, reluctance to exist to such an extent that they kill the very testimony of It. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
Another example. A sincere desire for holy truth is one thing. Trying as much as possible, as far as it really works out, to realize in your life truth, truth, conscience, and not blasphemy, not resistance to the Holy Spirit, not resistance to the truth and righteousness that is revealed in the human soul. Another thing is the crafty reasoning “we’ll live now, and then we’ll repent.” It is in their wickedness that the evil ones will be caught because this is already blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Saint Theophan the Recluse says: “God is not hypocritical and will judge everyone according to the law that he considered obligatory for himself.” Deep within ourselves, we know what is good and what is bad. Rejecting this knowledge from oneself, resisting it, denying it for the sake of the desires of passions and lusts, autocracy, love of glory, love of money (in the broad sense) is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
So, all sin and blasphemy will be forgiven to people, even blasphemy against the Son of God Himself; blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven to people either in this century or in the future.
Dangerous Example. By following this link to the end, you will be able to familiarize yourself with the data and rational, conscientious scientific arguments confirming the historical existence of Christ and the accuracy of the description of His earthly biography. To continue to deny the historicity of Christ, you will be required to either renounce the reliability of the entire ancient history of mankind, or renounce historical science with all its methods as such, or nothing more than reject the presented data without considering the merits and not take their existence into account in the future ( the so-called argument like “no, well, anyway...”), that is, to commit blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. However, if you do not understand what is written, nothing bad will happen. But if you deliberately declare that you do not understand, you will reject what you read with displeasure - blasphemy has been committed. If you are brave, try it.
Hello, please help. She committed the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. According to this quote: Rev. Nikon Optina: “Try to have mental and physical purity, try after confession not to sin consciously, not to sin arbitrarily in the hope of repentance, since, according to the teaching of the Holy Orthodox Church, if anyone sins in the hope of repentance, he is guilty of blasphemy against the Spirit Saint. People who are sick in soul come to us, spiritual fathers, to repent of their sins, but do not want to part with them, especially do not want to part with any of their favorite sins. This reluctance to leave sin, this secret love for sin is what does this "that a person cannot achieve sincere repentance, and therefore healing of the soul does not work out. What a person was before confession, remained so during confession, and continues to remain so after confession. It should not be like this." Archpriest Valentin Mordasov: “Whoever sins in the hope of repentance is guilty of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. To deliberately sin with a reckless hope for the grace of God and think: “Nothing, I’ll repent” is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. It’s one thing to sin fearlessly, consciously and not repent, but another thing is when a person does not want to sin, cries, repents, asks for forgiveness, but, due to human weakness, sins. It is human nature to sin, to fall, and one should not lose heart and become excessively sad if one has to sin.. ." http://verapravoslavnaya.ru I know that this is an unforgivable sin. What should I do? Is it possible to earn forgiveness? Olga.
Priest Philip Parfenov answers:
Hello Olga!
In fact, there is no unforgivable sin except that in which a person maliciously persists. That is, this is clearly not your case, so quickly calm down and trust the love of God and His forgiveness!
Keep in mind also that many interpret “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit” in an overly broad manner. But in the Gospel, Jesus warned very specifically about what is unacceptable. The scribes and Pharisees slandered Him, saying that He heals people by the power of the prince of demons, that “there is an unclean spirit in Him” (Mark 3:30). And it was in response to these accusations that Jesus warned that such sin would not be forgiven, either in this age or in the next. Which is understandable if people were maliciously passing off the Spirit of God as an unclean spirit!