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I may have unfairly jumped to a conclusion
concerning your concept, Slade, thus lumping you into a group in which you
do not fit. If this is so, please forgive me. When you wrote, "see the
miracles of Yeshua," I was thinking Yeshua would need to be visibly present to
be seen working the miracles; that is all. I did not intend to imply that you
interpret the passage this way in order to rid yourself and others of
the threat. I saw that only as a result of this interpretation of the
passage. I certainly do believe miracles still happen; each time a person comes
to faith, it is a testimony to the greatest of miracles and demonstrates
the ongoing miraculous work of God in Christ through the Holy Spirit.
Allow me to quote Charles Ryrie from his Study
Bible to give you an idea of why I may have prematurely evaluated what you were
saying: "Technically, according to the Scribes, blasphemy involved direct and
explicit abuse of the divine name. Jesus here teaches that it also may be the
reviling of God by attributing the Spirit's work to Satan. The special
circumstances involved in this blasphemy cannot be duplicated
today; therefore this sin cannot now be
committed."
I tend to agree with the Scribes over the limited
view of Ryrie: blasphemy is a deliberate abuse of the divine name, a
twisting of the identity of Christ, which renders him less than Lord (Yahweh)
and Savior, the effect being a denial of the name of Jesus (Yahweh saves). And
so the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, as I understand it, is a refusal to
yield to the present, personal testimony of the Spirit to the person and
work of Jesus Christ. In the Hebrews passage that I mentioned, and you mentioned
as well, the preacher includes in his warning these words: "Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be
thought worthy who has ... insulted the Spirit of grace?" (10.29) What is this
insult (which is certainly blasphemous) if it is not the rejection of Jesus
Christ, a blatant trampling underfoot the Son of God through counting the
blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing (in other words,
nothing at all) and not the absolute and wondrous life giving miracle that it
was?
Thank you and please accept my
apology,
Bill
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, June 23, 2004 3:16
AM
Subject: RE: [TruthTalk] God Hates
I
didn't realize this interpretation removed any threat. Is that why I interpret
the passage this way? If you'd be so kind, which is the correct
contextual interpretation and why?
That is a common interpretation, Slade, one
which gets rid of the threat to us today. There are many commentators who
embrace it; however, as with all interpretative matters, there are many also
who do not.
Thanks for your input.
Bill
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, July 22, 2004 3:38
PM
Subject: RE: [TruthTalk] God
Hates
I have a bit of a question. I know the average commentator will say
that blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is some thing humans can do now - today.
The person in green below (Bill, I think) claims Hebrews speaks of it
as a trampling underfoot the Son of
God. What if the definition is considerably more...
confined? If I may, please read the following passage:
The Scribes [...] were saying, "He is
possessed by Baalzibbul," and "He casts out the demons by the rulers of
the demons."
And [Yeshua] called them to Himself and began
speaking to them in parables, "How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot
stand. If a house is divided against
itself, that house will not be able to stand. If Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot
stand, but he is finished! But no one can enter
the strong man's house and plunder his property unless he first binds
the strong man, and then he will plunder his house.
"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.')
Please pay close attention to the last sentence of Marcus 3:22-30.
Yeshua tells us what blasphemy against the Spirit of the Holy One is. Now
my question... Is this kind of sin that can be committed only by those who
SEE THE MIRACLES OF YESHUA AND CLAIM THEY ARE DONE BY
HASATAN?
-- slade
-----Original
Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]On Behalf Of
ShieldsFamily
Sent: Thursday, 22 July, 2004
17:10
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: RE:
[TruthTalk] God Hates
Bill: I'm
not real sure where the problem is on this one, Izzy. But I will give it
a shot. There is in Scripture the mention (in various ways) of an
unpardonable sin, a sin for which there is no forgiveness. In Mark 3
Jesus identifies it as the blasphemy of the Holy Sprit.* The preacher to
the Hebrews calls it a trampling underfoot the Son of God.** Peter says
it is a denial or refusal of the Lord who redeemed us.*** And John
refers to it as the sin which leads to death.**** All of these
occurrences (and there are others) have at their source a conflict
between the person of Christ and some faction or another of
religious leaders, men (or women, if we are speaking in terms of today)
who claim a stature or position of knowledge and authority. In
each case these are men who blatantly reject Jesus Christ -- they
are called "false prophets"; certain ones of them are "Pharisees";
they are "anti-christs," "deceivers," "wolves in sheep's
clothing." And in each case there is a blatant refusal to accept
Jesus as who he claims or is claimed to be. And so, the blasphemy
of the Holy Spirit, which is described in each of these
instances, is, I believe, a refusal on the part of humans, and
especially any who hold positions of religious influence over other
people, to receive the convicting witness and testimony and call of
the Holy Spirit as to the truth of Jesus Christ, his salvific act, his
personal and corporate identity, and/or his divine nature. These
are those to whom I believe Christ was referring when he
said he will say: "Away from me, I never knew you" (I must also add that
I believe until a person, even one of these really rotten
ones, takes his or her last breath, there is still time to
repent. Nevertheless, John seems to indicate that at some point a person
can become so hardened, after so many wonderful but
squandered opportunities, that he will not and perhaps can not
repent. See cf. 1 Joh 5 -- "I do not ask that [you] pray for [the one
who commits the sin which leads to death]").
Bill
the scripture that I quoted above did not refer to blasphemy of the Holy
Spirit. Jesus said,
�unless you repent, you will all
likewise perish.� How much more
clearly can He state it? Can you admit that refusal to repent of sin IS
a rejection of Jesus? Can we agree on
that?
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