"The scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, 'He is possessed by Beelzebul,' and 'He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.'" (Mar 3:22)
Jesus warned them, "Truly I say to you, all sins shall be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin"-- because they were saying, "He has an unclean spirit." (Mar 3:28-30)
A pastor, named Yong Doo Kim, whom I love and respect, has explained it like this. Just because someone has a difficult time believing the manifestations of the Holy Spirit, they must never judge or insult the work. We must be careful not to blaspheme against the Holy Spirit, which includes neglecting, ignoring, or totally opposing the gift of tongues, prophecy, miracles, and interpreting tongues. It includes aggressively opposing the gifts that have or are manifested in different ways. The spectrum of blaspheming against the Holy Spirit is very broad. At one end of the spectrum are those who incorrectly make allegations, based on their prejudices and humanistic views. At the other end are those who judge and condemn others who operate in the gifts, as well as those who deny or reject the work or manifestations of the Holy Spirit. Those are the people who so easily drive out the work of the Holy Spirit and judge it as a cult or condemn it. Therefore there is the risk of progressing into the sin of blaspheming against the Holy Spirit.
On one hand, we should avoid the error that some have made of accepting every supernatural manifestation as genuinely coming from God. People who do so tend to be mystical and easily deceived. However, we must always cherish the presence and power of the precious Holy Spirit in our lives, and be careful not to lose it. If we do, we could move into a place where we are left with nothing more than a cold doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Once you do so, there is the possibility that this could eventually lead to blaspheming the Holy Spirit. That is an eternal sin, which cannot be forgiven. Those who commit this sin will be greatly judged and tormented in hell.
Therefore, we should love Him and fear Him. "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength." (Mar 12:30) And "do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and turn away from evil." (Pro 3:7). Hopefully this little study has helped to restore you to a correct perspective.
Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. "Receiving the Spirit" painting © 2012 Danny Hahlbohm, all rights reserved by the artist.
Author's note: Also see False Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, Have the Spiritual Gifts Ceased?, Discerning the Things of the Spirit, A Warning to the Nay Sayers, Testing the Spirits of False Prophets and Eternal Destinations. You can access the Main Directory for this blog for more articles like this, as well as my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master." Now I'd like to ask a very important question.
Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus. Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?
“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15). He preached that we must repent and believe.
Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"
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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International. He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.
