Can You Accidentally Commit the Unpardonable Sin?

Mark 3:28-29 are verses that have caused much consternation.

“Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.”

I have heard some wonder if they’ve committed the unpardonable sin: since they don’t really know what the sin is, what if they committed it on accident and now can’t be saved?!

This worry is unnecessary. There are plenty of better things out there to worry about, like whether you turned the oven off or whether the garbage man already came and you slept in and will there be enough room for the garbage if I have to wait a whole other week before the garbage man comes again?

Legit worries.

Wondering if you’ve accidentally committed the unpardonable sin? Not worth a worry.

The context always provides the answer. Jesus cast out a demon. Pharisees accuse Jesus of only having the power to do that because He’s on Satan’s side. Jesus says that’s ridiculous; divided houses can’t stand.

Then He says the two verses quoted above.

The idea is this:

Jesus cast out demons as a demonstration of God’s power, which He had from the Holy Spirit He received with power at His baptism. His power to cast out demons is a clear demonstration of Holy Spirit power.

The Pharisees, never ones for being fair observers, chalked up this Holy Spirit power to Satan himself. Not a good move.

Jesus, who was God in the flesh appearing as a humble human, came across as just another guy. If you blaspheme His humanity, that can be overcome. People make mistakes. The thief on the cross mocked Jesus in His human suffering, until he repented and even told the other guy to stop mocking Jesus. You can recover from that sin.

But if you think God’s manifested power is Satan? Well, now you have some serious issues.

The reason this sin is unpardonable is because what else is God going to do to get your attention? If you see His power on display in a visible miracle and deny it and credit it to Satan, what’s the next step?

Anyone who does this is clearly hardened to the core. There is no hope for this person.

You have not accidentally committed the unpardonable sin. It’s not possible. The sin of blaspheming against the Holy Spirit is a stubborn, hardened, stiff-necked rejection of obvious divine revelation. There is no hope for a person who has done that. I sure hope you haven’t! You would know it if you had and so would many people around you, I imagine.

Keep the understanding of the issue glued to the context. Much non-worry ensues.

Can a person rely on prayer too much?

Typically when Christians talk about prayer, they make one of these two points:

1) You don’t do it enough you heathen scum, do it more!

2) If you pray, God will give you stuff.

Often these points go together. The main motivation people give for guilting you into praying more is that prayer allows you to get what you want.

And you might, who am I to say? But is getting stuff actually why you pray? Probably for most. Listen to most people’s prayer requests, most are about getting stuff. Getting healed, getting a job, getting repairs done, closing on a house, etc.

They can’t stop praying about the fixing and the getting.

Makes me think that it’s entirely possible for a person to rely on prayer too much.

Here’s a random example:

A severely obese person praying that God will heal their knee problems.

Perhaps your joints not having to carry around extra weight each step is the thing that would help the knees. Not exactly sure what you expect God to do.

Be not deceived, God is not mocked, you will reap what you sow.

How many of our prayers mock God?

When you eat at McDonalds and ask the Lord to “bless this food to our bodies.” Really?

When you ask for the promotion but are a lazy bum who isn’t even doing the current job.

When you have a test but aren’t studying or paying attention.

The list goes on.

Even when we do get around to praying, it’s usually a last minute plea to save us from our choices.

Prayer doesn’t work that way. Maybe shut up for a minute and listen to God’s Word. He hears us when we ask according to His will. If you’re not doing right, don’t expect right results.

I know this is probably blasphemous to many, but I actually think there’s a time to not pray. Or at least I’ll put it like this: there’s a time not to ask for certain things.

Next time you have a physical need, pray about ways maybe you can address the issue. Don’t ask God for a miracle, ask Him where you might need to repent and do better.

How Do I Get Peace?

I’ve met a number of Christians who talk about wanting peace, or what they’ve tried doing to get it.

Most of their attempts boil down to repeating mantras. I don’t know if this is an influence from Eastern Religions that are “so cool” recently, or what.

The idea goes like this:

When you are stressed or have anxiety, repeat verses about God being in control: all things work together for good; mounting up on eagle’s wings; not giving peace like the world does, etc. After so many repetitions a sense of peace drops over the person. Ahhh. Lovely.

Reportedly this works based on the testimonies I’ve heard.

However, I’ve also noticed that the people who say they do this tend to have many episodes of non-peace. In fact, their peace seems very short lived. It’s fleeting and comes nowhere close to passing understanding. In other words, it’s not spiritual in nature; it’s merely emotional.

So, if repeating happy thoughts doesn’t bring lasting peace, pray tell, what does?

Glad you asked.

DO DIFFERENT THINGS!

It’s amazing to me how people don’t consider this option. If you lack peace, it’s probably because your life is messed up. To truly have peace requires you to change some things up.

This is typically where people will label you a legalist or teaching works righteousness. But it isn’t. It’s common sense! Not only that, it’s biblical command!

“Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.”

–Philippians 4:9

Beautiful.

Your lack of spiritual peace is typically a result of fleshly living. Based on what you’re probably doing, there’s no reason you should have peace! If you come over and actually do what the New Testament clearly commands Christians to do, you’ll be amazed at how much peace results.

If this is the answer, why don’t more people do it?

Because it’s hard.

It probably means reorganizing your life around completely different priorities. Most of our anxiety and stress is because we’re living for worldly things and going after them in worldly ways.

What’s easier: completely reworking your life or repeating verses for two minutes until you have a momentary sense of peace?

People repeat the verses and the happy thoughts seem to make them feel better. But the next day, when the anxiety and stress return because they went right back to doing the same things the same way the repetitious mantras don’t last.

You can keep saying mantras or you can actually take care of the problem. I suggest the latter option, but I know you won’t until you get sick and tired and defeated and bogged down and get heavy laden. This might take a while but eventually you’ll see that this is the only answer.

You can actually skip all that sick and tired stuff and the defeat and bogged downness and being heavy laden by simply coming to Christ, renouncing your fleshly life, and using the power of the Gospel to revamp your life.

Peace will happen. It’ll be great. You can start today.

Jesus Christ and the Serpent in the Wilderness

I was thinking about John 3 where Christ is compared to Moses lifting up the serpent in the wilderness.

Back in the day, Israel rebelled and God sent fiery serpents into the camp to bite people. Moses was told to put a serpent on a pole and anyone who got bit and looked at the bronze serpent on the pole would be healed.

The bronze serpent is a type of Christ. Sinners are told to look to the cross of Christ for spiritual healing.

If Christ is typified by the serpent, and the serpent was a representation of the thing that bit the people, is Christ also the thing that “bit us” so we have to look to the cross?

I know this is probably heretical, but think about it. The serpent on the stick represented the actual serpent judgment from God.

Is there a sense in which Christ on the cross, God in the flesh, also represents the one who cursed Adam and Eve for their sin? When God walked through the Garden looking for them and then cursed them, was this a pre-incarnate Christ? Isn’t He the one then who judged them with a curse and now that He, the one who cursed them, is on the tree, those who look to Him can be cured from the curse?

Biting serpents were a judgment on sin; look to the bronze serpent on the pole for healing.

God cursing humanity was a judgment on sin; look to God in the flesh on the cross for healing.

How far do we take the analogy? I don’t know.

That’s all my brain came up with!

Two Sides to The Assurance of Salvation

The assurance of salvation has given many Christians trouble. Some feel it but shouldn’t; others don’t feel it but should. Others don’t think it’s a feeling at all, but rather an intellectual knowing.

When you bring up the assurance of salvation you will be charged with trying to overthrow people’s faith, or promoting works righteousness, or being a judge of people’s souls, or denying God’s election. Someone will have a problem with it.

The basic problem of the assurance of salvation boils down to the two proofs of your salvation: subjective or objective.

The objective proof of your salvation is based on the Scripture’s promises to the believer that they will never be plucked out of the Father’s hands. He who began a work in you will finish it. The believer is sealed with the Holy Spirit until the day of redemption. All these promises are true and binding on the true believer. These are objective proofs of the assurance of salvation—based on God’s faithfulness to keep you.

God is able to keep His people; that is not the question though. The question is: are you one of God’s people? Should you feel that these promises apply to you? That’s where the subjective proof comes in.

The subjective proof of your salvation is based on the Scripture’s tests of salvation. 1 John was written so you might know you have eternal life (assurance). Are you overcoming sin? Is there spiritual growth into Christ Jesus taking place in you? Are good works increasingly a part of who you are? Do you love His commandments, or do you find them burdensome? These are subjective proofs of salvation—based on whether your life demonstrates a new birth in Christ.

Some like the objective proofs, others fixate on the subjective ones.

People who focus on objective proofs place everything on God. God said it, I claim to believe it, that’s enough. No proof on my part is needed. I asked a guy once how he knew he was saved. “The Bible says I am.” I asked him where the Bible said that because I don’t recall seeing his name in there. He quoted a verse like Ephesians 2:8. I asked how that verse says he is saved. “Because I believe it.” His proof of salvation was all God. All he did was nod his head toward that verse.

I appreciate the appeal to Scripture, but it requires nothing to claim you believe a verse applies to you. The question is: does the context apply the verse to someone like you?

Those who fixate on the subjective proof often fall into Puritanism and legalism. They have to maintain, or at least think they maintain, holy perfection. Sin could mean a loss of salvation. You never know when you have crossed the line into losing your salvation and assurance. If you die with unconfessed sin on your account, you won’t make it.

How exhausting is that? The promises of God take a back seat to my effort. God can’t be trusted, or perhaps God isn’t even thought of; I can’t trust me! My assurance is all up to me, thus there is no assurance at all, except to those too blind to see their own sin.

So, the tension between these two sides is what keeps people battling their notions of assurance. The answer, as is the case most of the time, isn’t with one extreme or the other, but with both.

You are kept by the hands of Christ in the hands of the Father. The believer is sealed with the Holy Spirit, the first fruit, the down payment assuring more to come. You cannot be separated from the love of God. God letting you go is not the issue, never has been. God is not slack concerning His promises.

Again, the issue is how do you know you’re one of those who can claim those promises? This is where the subjective proof comes in. Examine yourself to see whether you’re in the faith. Does spiritual fruit show up in you? Is there a pattern of growth, an upward trend to your life? Are you overcoming sin? Do you long for God’s Word and to carry it out?

If those subjective proofs fall short, then there might not be reason to claim the objective proofs. It’s not all up to you to keep yourself saved; but it is up to you to make your calling and election sure! Are you truly following Christ or merely playing a game?

Think this one over for yourself. Be careful to deal with both the objective and subjective sides. You are saved by grace (which is God’s part), by faith (which is our part). Do you believe, or have you believed in vain?

Faith is not Fatalistic Submission

People say a lot of things that are sanctimonious, or perhaps more fairly, people say a lot of things that I think are sanctimonious!

By “sanctimonious” I mean that they sound really good, very spiritual, but in reality they don’t make much sense and aren’t really biblical.

Here’s a recent example:

“True faith rests in God’s answer even when it’s no.”

To me this is sheer sanctimony. It sounds good, yet denies most of the biblical example of actual people of faith in the Bible.

This phrase isn’t talking about faith; it’s talking about fatalism. It’s more akin to the Islamic idea of submission to God’s will. You are not allowed to question authority in Islam. They’ll cut your head off. You submit or else.

Faith in the Bible is a wrestling with God. It’s warfare. Fight the fight of faith. It’s not this sublime, trippy, mellow, and chipper fatalism we hear about so often.

It’s fake. People who saw such things sound detached from reality. Maybe delusional.

One passage that popped into my mind immediately upon hearing this phrase was Luke 18 where the widow keeps coming to the unjust judge. She was told “no” but was not content with that answer! She kept coming and asking him to change his answer to which he finally says,

“Yet because this widow troubles me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.”

Jesus’ application is that you can come to God, who like the unjust judge, will give in to your continual begging! This passage is used to encourage persistence in prayer.

I don’t think God wants brain dead submissiveness. If He did, He wouldn’t have allowed Adam and Eve the opportunity to sin. God doesn’t like sin, but He also doesn’t like robots.

God gives in repeatedly in the Bible to intercession and the intervention of people. He listens to our complaints and adjusts what’s happening.

The idea that mindless, will-less robots is the pinnacle of faith is missing what the Bible says about faith entirely. Would you enjoy a relationship with someone who simply did everything you wanted and never had a different opinion?

Maybe for a little bit! But it would get boring. People are different and God seems to like the differences and He seems to genuinely desire to hear from us.

Don’t be a fatalistic, mindless robot. Enjoy your Creator and the freedom He’s given you. Be careful with it, but don’t bury your talent because you knew your master was harsh. God can handle your weird.

True faith looks a lot more like being honest with God about all your thoughts and feelings and realizing God wants to know you. It looks like the Psalms. The Psalms are not fatalistic submission. They are a real person dealing with a real God.

That’s faith.

Is It Good that Christians are Better at Apologetics?

I heard someone say the other day, “We are in a golden age of apologetics. There are so many great apologists right now.”

I guess that’s a good thing, but I have a theory.

Perhaps we have so many apologists, people who explain basic Christianity to unbelievers, because we are so weak on actual Christian theology.

At the same time there are reportedly a great number of great apologists, there is a dearth of good biblical preaching. The church is probably at its height of biblical illiteracy.

The robust apologetics of our day might be the result of the Seeker Sensitive church growth movement. We’re more interested in adding to our numbers than we are in edifying and building up believers.

Is it a good thing to concentrate so heavily on apologetics? Ravi Zacharias is my prime example. He was the top apologist in Christianity for about 30 years. He was excellent at showing how Christianity was different from other religions and philosophies, great at arguing with atheists.

But after listening to him for about 10 years I noticed he pretty much said the same 15 things over and over. There was no discipleship. The only thing he told people to do after bowing to his arguments was to “read the Gospel of John.” I came to think his knowledge of Christianity was a mile wide and an inch deep.

Lo and behold, some news came out that showed his understanding of Christianity was intellectual and hypocritical. He confirmed my worst suspicions. I know all apologists are not doing Ravi Zacharias things, but shallow Christianity doesn’t work. Most apologetics is shallow Christianity, Seeker Sensitivity to its core.

Another theory of mine is that I don’t think apologetics is even a biblical concept.

I’m not going to say it’s wrong, but I will say there isn’t much proof in the Bible for such things. I know, we are to be ready always to give an answer. But the fuller phrase is that we are to give a reason for the hope that is in us. It’s not “give a reason evolution is wrong” or delving into arguments about the multiverse.

The hope that is in you should make people ask why you have it. When was the last time an apologist was asked for a reason for the hope in them?

Can people see a Christian’s hope if the Christian is not built up in sound doctrine and are not participating in the new life of Christ or being led by the Spirit and applying Scripture?

How can a Christian have hope if the Christian hasn’t been built up in the faith?

I’m not convinced that being in a great age of apologists is necessarily a good thing. Most of the arguments I’m hearing from apologists are about science and using lots of things other than Scripture.

The words of Scripture are the words of eternal life. They have the power to convert the soul. Should we major an arguing with atheists or should we major on knowing these words of eternal life?

I think we’re missing something. I think the next step, once the golden age of apologists is over, is that there won’t be anything left. All our logic and reason and scientific rationales will be debated and muddied and in the end no one will know the Scriptures.

So, that’s my theory. Slightly pessimistic? Probably, but just thinking it through. I might be wrong and I feel no need to stop an apologist from apologeticing, but I will endeavor to learn and think through God’s word and live with more hope as the days slip into more darkness and do what I can to help others get hope too.