Friday: Further Thought – Grieving and Resisting the Holy Spirit
The mere fact that people anxiously ask whether they have committed the unforgivable sin reveals that they most surely haven’t. If they had committed it, they certainly wouldn’t be worrying about it. Their worry is all the evidence they need that, indeed, they are still open to the Spirit’s leading.
Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com
What the person should do is claim the righteousness of Jesus and, clinging to Jesus’ merits, press on ahead in faith and obedience. Only under the covering of Christ’s righteousness, which is the “righteousness of God” Himself (Rom. 10:3), can they have the peace and assurance that they so sorely lack now.
There is, really, only one person God cannot forgive, and that is the person who persistently refuses to come to Jesus for forgiveness. “The sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit does not lie in any sudden word or deed; it is the firm, determined resistance of truth and evidence.” – Ellen G. White Comments, The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 5, p. 1093. “No one need look upon the sin against the Holy Ghost as something mysterious and indefinable. The sin against the Holy Ghost is the sin of persistent refusal to respond to the invitation to repent.”-Page 1093.
Discussion Questions:
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Well the reason I could put forward is that many people if not all cling to cultures that are not biblical hence grieving the holy spirit. Now what is needed is total surrender to God leaving everything that God abhor. If we proclaiming that we are sons and daughters of God we should have to sync ourselves to Him alone. Heaven can not be attained by mere pretence but by total surrender.
I would like to wish you all a blessing weekend. May the HS guide us all in every difficulty. May we all gain the blessings of resting! And delight in the company of family and friends! Like you all. Thanx.
Thanks JC. Yes indeed the Holy Spirit is guiding. We desire the Truth. We give ourselves to Christ without reserve. We seek salvation as though it were the most valuable commodity in the world. We surrender our bad habits to Christ. We visualize Christ. We ask for the Holy Spirit. We go out and tell the world what Christ has done for us.
Have a blessed Sabbath tomorrow.
I must share. I just read the rest of Romans 10. And the last verse is an awesome promise. Romans 10:13. You have turned to Him, therefore have NOT committed the unpardonable sin.
Sorry, the middle of Romans 10.
John, are there not conditions for every promise of being saved? Jesus said many would call upon Him, yet they will be lost and called "workers of iniquity". One verse cannot stand alone to establish truth.
I agree that "One verse cannot stand alone to establish truth," but I'm not sure what you mean by this in the context of John Herscher's comment. Perhaps you can clarify, Robert.
I read that the condition of this promise is that we "call upon" God. That implies an acknowledgement of our own insufficiency and helplessness. I can't think of anything in the Bible that implies that persons with such an attitude will be called "workers of iniquity."
The last point is good. Those who pull away from the church because of the sinners in it are a self righteous people. If they find a church that is righteous, they would do well to not join it, for they would have to start all over again.
Robert, are you speaking for every situation? Are you aware of how some congregations have turned from the fundamental beliefs of the denomination? Would you suggest that those who wish to teach the truth remain where truth is trampled upon? Even if only one vital point? What does the Bible tell us to do when truth is rejected by those who will not "endure sound doctrine"?
I would really like to hear some of the discussion on question 4 "Fearful of being “tainted” by what they feel are corrupt influences in the church, some pull away completely from the body and strike out on their own. What’s wrong with that idea, and why is it not the biblical model for a Christian to follow?"
I know a few people like this and I am not quite sure how to approach them about it or what I should say..
Stephanie, I think the phrase is "fearful of being tainted." It seems like a very self-centered attitude. It sounds like persons more interested in their own salvation, rather than having the heart of Jesus who yearns to save all his rebellious children. It also implies a "holier than thou" attitude. That's why it is not fitting for followers of Jesus.
On the other hand, sometimes a group splits off from another group to form a new congregation. That is not bad, unless feelings of criticism and superiority are fostered. The way I see it, more centers of worship we can establish the better. It is often better to have 12 small congregations of 200 than one large congregation of 2,400, since the small congregations can work more live yeast to permeate society. To do big projects the smaller churches can cooperate.
From another perspective, God does calls His people out of the confusion of Babylon into His pure truth - into a relationship with Him who is self-renouncing love. (When we reference Babylon, perhaps we need to remember that we may have Babylon [confusion] in our own hearts. And when we respond to His call He will expel Babylon from our hearts too.)
Stephanie, I'm not completely certain what you mean. I agree with the quarterly statement in part, yet this idea is often misapplied by some. When a congregation departs from the will of God as expressed in our fundamental beliefs, it would not be safe to remain in support of that congregation. While there are sinners in every congregation, it is the open departure by a group or leaders of that group that will necessitate a departure once all means have been tried to restore faith.
Jesus instructs that if truth is rejected, we are to leave and "shake the dust" off, meaning to leave the matter there and not carry it with us. It is not safe to remain where sound doctrine is not endured, but rejected for fables. Those who leave such a situation have not left the church, they have only left those who have left the church themselves, being no longer in harmony with it, even though they might retain the name and conference connections.
This has been my experience anyway. I have seen those who have left the denomination, calling it "Babylon", but they were only deceived. Sinners will be found anywhere there are people, but God Himself will cleanse the church of all sinners before the last message to the world is given in power. Isa 4 is one among several such prophecies, soon to be fulfilled.
I guess my question was aimed more at a single person not wanting to be part of a church family or specific congregation because, in their words, "people are corruptible, so church is corruptible" Basically they tell me that if people can change things and rules in churches why bother going to any church or associating with any specific church. My conundrum is that I have a hard time explaining why it's good to be in specific sect of Christianity. My response usually includes that it's good to be around and fellowship with people who have the same beliefs as you and to grow with those kinds of people, even though we're not perfect. I also like to say if there is something that is being done by said church that is not biblical and it is pointed out, addressed/discussed, and resolved then that's a good way for the church to grow. I feel like maybe they think that most churches just do things the way they do them because they've been doing it for hundreds of years.
Growing up and hearing the statement "blasphemies against the Holy Spirit will get no forgiveness" painted a picture of doom if we curse the Holy Spirit or so we thought. But as the word is studied diligently in prayer, and the increase level of spiritual maturity ensued, we recognize that rejection requires persistent, willful, disregard for the Holy Spirit and his internal working on our heart. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is a process not an act. However, it is comforting to know that the love extended by the members of the Godhead, 'suffers long and is kind.' The Holy Spirit therefore pleads consistently, long and hard with every/anyone who rejects him or refuses to follow God's precepts before he leaves them/us alone.
happy sabbath brethren.on the issue of moving away,i dont think it is a good idea!We are obliged to do an in-reach and rebuke brethren in love using scriptures so that you are not held responsible by God by not speaking the truth as it is written in the bible for we are our brother's keeper!!We need to stay in there and do our job prayerfully of spreading the gospel of Christ in Jerusalem first before we go for our outreach.our counsel is in the bible when Christ says let the wheat and tares grow together until harvest time...so brethren we need to hang in there prayerfully and realise that if brethren are going astray it is our mission field we should preach the word of God and stand by it!!!!let us not move away lest the devil takes advantage of us whilst we sre out there.
on discussion point 1.when a person comes thinking they have committed an unpardonable sin!!thank God they have not since they still need God's pardon for their sin.so you need to pray with them and give them verses that deal with victory over sin and on how to stay connected to the Vine,Jesus Christ !!
There were wrongs committed by the leaders in the temple in the days of Jesus but this did not lead Him to leave off going to the synagogue. Jesus continued to go there to worship and we should follow his example. The church is God's responsibility and He has a plan to take care of it. Individually we need to allow The Holy Spirit access to our lives, then corporately the church will be filled with the Spirit. Jesus brought change to one heart at a time
As we claim ourselves, as the agent of God. In able for the Holy Spirit to dwell in us, we have to let God takes control our lives completely. We need to live our preferences aside, for example the will of
God should be our will and our life desire should be the Lord\'s desire. Our main predicament is, we doubting God all too often. It is so hard for us continually to insert our trust in HIM with love and humbleness. Sin can convey estrangement in us between our LORD. Satan definitively wants to draw us away from God because the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ was shed on the cavalry for the humanity, he is extremely jealous of us. We need to act honestly like David. When we sin, we have to confess our wrongness with our deep sincerity before God. To this point, the holy spirit will according us power and confidence in our relationship in Jesus Christ our savior Lord.