Chapter 9: The Unpardonable Sin
You will sin, while establishing your
"new record," the one that ensures that your name will not
be "blotted out" of the Book of Life. We have discussed the
Book of Life before, but it bears repeating because your understanding
of it has a lot to do with some very fundamental truths. The idea of
"blotting out" only makes sense if there is something written
that needs to be removed. Your name is in the Book of Life and only
Jesus will determine if it is blotted out. Let's look at a number of
references that will help you understand the issue.
First, your iniquity can remove your name from the book of the living.
Listen.
Psalms 69:27-28
27 Add iniquity to
their iniquity, and let them not come into Your righteousness.
28 Let them be blotted
out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.
(NKJ)
When you are "delivered"
it will be because your name is found written in the book.
Daniel 12:1
1 "At that time Michael
shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your
people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since
there was a nation, even to that time. And at that time your people
shall be delivered, every one who is found written in the book.
(NKJ)
Rejoice if your name is written in
heaven.
Luke 10:20
20 "Nevertheless do
not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather
rejoice because your names are written in
heaven." (NKJ)
Philippians 4:3
3 And I urge you also,
true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel,
with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are
in the Book of Life. (NKJ)
Revelation 3:5
5 "He who overcomes
shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name
from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father
and before His angels. (NKJ)
Revelation 13:8-9
8 All who dwell on
the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the
Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
9 If anyone has an
ear, let him hear. (NKJ)
Listen to one definition of those whose
names are not in the Lamb's Book of Life:
Revelation 21:27
27 But there shall
by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination
or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life.
(NKJ)
But since all have sinned, who is it
to whom sin is not imputed? Sin is not imputed to those who believe
in a risen Messiah.
John 3:14-18
14 "And as Moses lifted
up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted
up,
15 "that whoever believes
in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
16 "For God so loved
the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes
in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
17 "For God did not
send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world
through Him might be saved.
18 "He who believes
in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already,
because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of
God. (NKJ)
Your sin will not be unto eternal death, unless you commit the "unpardonable
sin." That sin, a sin of immense proportions, is one of blasphemy
of the Holy Spirit, once you have "known" Him.
Hebrews 6:4-6
4 For it is impossible
for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift,
and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit,
5 and have tasted the
good word of God and the powers of the age to come,
6 if they fall away,
to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves
the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.
(NKJ)
Hebrews 10:26-27
26 For if we sin willfully
after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains
a sacrifice for sins,
27 but a certain fearful
expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the
adversaries. (NKJ)
The word "know," as used
twice in these verses, refers to the same kind of intimacy as between
a husband and a wife. In fact, the Bible makes it clear that those who
repent and obey, those who love the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, with
all their heart, mind, soul and strength and who love their neighbor
as themselves, are as the "bride" of Christ, the Messiah.
Listen to the way the bride is characterized in Scripture.
Isaiah 61:10
10 I will greatly rejoice
in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He has clothed me
with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns
herself with her jewels. (NKJ)
Isaiah 62:5
5 For as a young man
marries a virgin, so shall your sons marry you; and as the bridegroom
rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.
(NKJ)
As much as adultery ruins human relationships,
thank God it is not an unforgivable sin. It does not have
to ruin a marriage but it usually does so. There is a form of
adultery, "blasphemy of the Holy Spirit," that does have eternal
consequence. If you turn to other gods instead of the Truth in you, after having known the Truth, I believe you are in serious trouble
and you had better repent in a hurry. Our God is a jealous God. Exodus
34:14 'for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name
is Jealous, is a jealous God, (NKJ). It is because of the fact that
we are as the bride of Christ that blasphemy is as adultery, a sin of
immense proportions between a man and his wife, the only sin upon which
"divorce" can be scripturally based.
There may be some that feel, "I
wish I had never read about the unforgivable sin. If I am going to be
judged having confessed that I know the Light is in me, I would just
as soon have had no knowledge of the Light. You will only think such
thoughts while in the flesh. Your flesh, Satan in you I am sorry to
say (and everyone not born of the Spirit) is at war with your spirit.
Satan would have you understand nothing at all of God's love. But whether
you acknowledge that the Light is in you or not, you will, on judgment
Day, see your Redeemer, face to face. You will confess that he is Lord
and you will not even consider denying it.
For reasons known only to God, Jesus
Christ has defeated the power of sin over you. He has provided you with
the power of the Holy Spirit, the Helper. You could never commit the
unpardonable sin if you persevere, by the power and presence of the
Holy Spirit in you, in your personal war with Satan and his intent to
defeat you. Your fidelity is anchored in the presence of your personal
Savior in your life. Absent your complete dependence on the power of
the Holy Spirit in you, you are as a leaf in the wind, tossed about
by circumstance.
If you do not understand and believe
that fact, then the verse that says, (Gal 2:20) "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but
Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live
by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me (NKJ), will not empower you to fight
the fight, a battle which will never cease as long as we are in this
flesh. Listen.
John 14:16-17
16 "And I will pray
the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with
you forever--
17 "the Spirit of truth,
whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows
Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
(NKJ)
Several have argued that there is no "unpardonable sin." I
would be prone to agree with them from a human perspective. But, again,
the Word says what it says and I think we should take it very seriously.
That does not mean that the Father will not show mercy to many of us
who do not deserve it. I believe that it does mean that obedience is
more than just a suggestion. Those who would be disobedient, willingly,
and then say that they are counting on God to be merciful, are testing
our Lord in a way that the Scriptures do not support. Get born again,
get cleansed and empowered, and remain faithful forever! Then the debate
of whether there is an unpardonable sin or not, will not be of consequence
to you. |
