03/28/2022 – Day 029 – Matthew 11 thru 13: What is the unpardonable sin? – Matthew 12: 30 – 32.
Below the line at the bottom is a repost of a 06/30/2020 post from our previous read through the BIble. There is so much to cover in these three chapters, but the “unpardonable sin” appropriately draws in our attention. Let me start with some new material from William Barclay’s Gospel of Matthew commentary- Volume 2:
“It is quite possible that we may misunderstand a merely human messenger from God; but we cannot misunderstand — except deliberately — when God speaks to us through his own Holy Spirit. A human messenger is always open to misconstruction; but the divine messenger speaks so plainly that he can only be willfully misunderstood. It certainly makes this passage easier to understand, if we regard the difference between the two sins as a sin against God’s human messenger, which is serious, but not unforgivable, and a sin against God’s divine messenger, which is completely wilful, and which , as we shall see, can end by becoming unforgivable.”
Now, from “A Puritan Theology / Doctrine for Life” by Joel R. Beeke & Mark Jones – pg 602 – chapter on: “The Puritans on Perseverence of the Saints”:
“The Westminster divines go on to say that no believer can finally fall away. They do not say that true people of God cannot temporarily fall away. It is important to notice the distinction, because when the divines discuss the difficulty of perseverance in the Westminster Confession of Faith (17,3), they acknowledge that the elect may indeed ‘fall into grievious sins; and for a time, continue therein.’. THe Puritans did not define this doctrine as ‘Once saved, always saved,’ because the assertion can easily be misunderstood to mean that the true Christian never falters in the face of temptation and is never troubled by lack of assurance. Thomas Watson (c. 1620 – 1686) quoted Augustine as saying, ‘Grace may be shaken with fears and doubts, but it cannot be plucked by the roots.’ What the Puritans taught about salvation was, ‘If you have it, you can never lose it.’ They also taught, ‘If you lose it, you never had it.’ Hypocrites do indeed fall away, but not true believers, Watson wrote, adding that ‘though comets fall, it does not follow that true stars fall.’
The Puritans used 1 Peter 1: 3-5 to support this assertion: ‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.’
Also noted on this page is Jude 1:1: “Jude , a servant of Jesus Christ, and a brother of James, To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ:…”
“Did Christ finish his work for us? Then there can be no doubt but He will also finish His work in us.” — John Flavel
A parting tip: 1) As mentioned before, capture a list of “memory” bible verses that you can then work on committing to memory.; 2) Create a queue of “future group study” topics after our read through is complete in February 2023.
And finally, the post of two years ago:
The unpardonable sin Matthew 12: 31 -32:
“Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Anyone who speaks a word against the son of Man, it will be forgiven him, but whoever speaks against the Holy SPirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.”
So what might that unpardonable sin be?
“The best means of resisting the devil is to destroy whatever of the world remains in us, in order to raise for God, upon its ruins, a building of all love. Then shall we begin, in this fleeting life, to love God as we shall love him in eternity. ” John Wesley
-We are at war with the devil and this world until our last breath but the Kingdom of God is now.
“Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, ‘The kingdom of God does not come with observation, nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.” Luke 17: 20 – 21 Note – The devil and his minions cannot possess the body of a Christian because the Holy Spirit is within him or her.
Soli Deo Gloria!