Fruits of the Holy Spirit(4): Continence (3)

Continuing, now, our study of the fruit of the Holy Spirit called Continence. Remember that the Bible is a record of living people and living events, as they interact with each other and the living God, not a book of magic formula. As such the books of the Bible having been written in various languages, rely on common sense in the "how to apply" department of the study of God's word. So we can turn to the Bible and better understand the fruit of Continence if we remember two things. One is that the realization that the Holy Spirit yields a fruit called Continence is the result of many centuries of study of God's word, not because on page xyz of the Bible is there a "recipe" and "instructions" about how to receive or develop "Continence." In fact, the relatively modern word "continence" might not even occur in the scriptures, but that does not mean it is "put in there" or "made up" or "ex-scripture" or, heaven forbid, that dreaded Roman Catholic habit of "tradition" ;-) Rather, generations of Christians, just as the Jews before them, having studied God's word are able to glean from its richness many guidances and conclusions, all based on God's truth.

Here's a quick analogy to tell you what I mean better. Suppose you have just read an instruction booklet about a new set of children's toy building blocks you have purchased. You have read about the materials they are made from, what the designs or lettering mean, and how they can be assembled, either placed alongside or on top of each other, or even latched together. There may even be a sample of a building that you can make using the building blocks, such as a house. The Bible is like that, whereby you understand the "what" and the "how" of God's truth. In Bible figures and events you even see an example of what is built, what is wrought, within the context of God's truth. So you are, to use the analogy, reading in the Bible the building blocks God has provided, and a sample of how these blocks were used, such as a house.

Once one really understands the building blocks and example, you realize other buildings you can build. You or your child might now build a toy school using those building blocks, even though the instruction book does not mention anywhere in the text "how to build a toy school." You can build a lighthouse, or a store, or a toy fortress, or a castle, even though the instruction book does not use the words "school, lighthouse, store, fortress" or "castle." You are not going "outside the Bible" if using God's word and your own well discerning brain if you realize that you apply the word of God (the instructions) and what the Prophets, such as Moses, did (the toy house example) to now recognize that other good things can be constructed (the school, the lighthouse, etc) using those principles and example. Thus it would be silly to expect that the instruction book included word by word every example of every possible thing you can do and construct with the toy blocks! Likewise people should not expect to flip open the Bible and "believe" in "fruits" of the Holy Spirit and one of them being "Continence" only if those exact words are used, for obviously they are not. God's word is revealed over thousands of years of scripture and then pieced together, prayerfully and honestly studied, and then gleaned.

Therefore to understand Continence in the scripture you have to look for examples of Continence, as it appears under all its similar verbiage and meanings. Continence is thus examples of self restraint, moderation, self denial and, here we have it..... not coveting. Ah ha, you see, there is a certainly familiar bona fide scriptural word, coveting. Continence means the ability to restrain, be moderate, and put boundaries around what one may desire to do or to have. So the fruit of the Holy Spirit of Continence has, of course, the most firm foundation when one studies what God instructs, and what is shown as examples, of coveting. Naturally we have seen the first terrible example of lack of Continence (Adam and Eve) and the perfected example of the purest Continence, Jesus Christ during the temptation, and so we can realize the actual meaning of two of the Ten Commandments in what is basically their prohibition of a lack of Continence.

Exodus 20:17
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.

God is giving you the building blocks (telling you not to covet) and then providing instruction manual "examples" that are pertinent to the times, but apply to ALL things that are capable of being coveted. People did not have cars or tractors or trucks, in those times, obviously, so God explains that not only should the house or spouse or servants not be coveted, but also the means of travel, plowing the field, food and livelihood of the household, such as oxen and asses. Just because God does not "list sheep," for example, does not mean it is "OK" to covet them, to say nothing of not being "OK" to covet something that had not yet been invented, such as trucks, tractors and cars! That is why God says "nor any thing that is thy neighbour's." We no longer, hopefully, have slaves those in servitude in modern times, but we have employees, students and followers, and obviously we should not covet them in modern times any more than in those times the examples of man or maid-servant are given by God.

This is also the reason that having what we call "spiritual envy" is also a sin that breaks one of the Ten Commandments. When someone envies how spiritually blessed (either in reality or because the person is perceived as being blessed but is not) someone else is, one is coveting, because when God says "nor any thing" he means "nor ANY thing." Any jealousy and any envy is prohibited by these Commandments, whether it is a person, a possession or a personal quality.

In theory, God could have made this a "Do" instead of a "Don't" Commandment. He could have said, in theory, "Thou shalt have Continence at all times." But in God's constant perfection He understands how things must be expressed to people, to all humans, who are constantly thick-headed and stubborn in their sin. God has to first simply and plainly define what people are NOT to do, when it comes to sin. The person who strives to perfect their "not" doing that sin, in this case coveting, becomes a person with a "do" with a gift of grace, which is the fruit of the Holy Spirit of Continence. Adam and Eve envied (and thus coveted) God's knowledge and they ate the apple. Jesus Christ did not, of course, covet, envy, seek, want or need any of the earthly powers that Satan demonstrated to him during the temptation, and thus Jesus is the model of perfect Continence. When one does not covet one has the fruit of Continence.

The Commandments would be reiterated by God, and thus spoken to the people by Moses, and so this Commandment is repeated in Deuteronomy 5:21.

Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour's wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbour's house, his field, or his man-servant, or his maid-servant, his ox or his ass, or any thing that is thy neighbour's.

Notice the different order from Exodus 20:17 and also the inclusion of "his field." Again, this is the living and breathing word of God, not rigid magic formula. It does not mean that the Bible is "inconsistent" or that it was "OK" to covet someone's field during Exodus but it became a "new don't" during Deuteronomy! God says do not covet ANY THING, and in the course of his very real dialogue and conversation with his followers that takes place over time and in their own language, God says with perfection the words that the people need to best comprehend and serve him in God's perfectly consistent message.

So now that you have seen the Biblical basis for the "Don't" in the Commandments (the instructions) now let us look at how God hates covetness (the examples provided with the instructions)!

Psalm 10:3
For the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the Lord abhorreth.

So David, who composed this Psalm, observes that wicked people boast about their wants and cravings and that they, going further, bless people who share their desires and actions of coveting. David then states that God abhors (hates) those who are covetous.

Genesis 14:22-23
And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lifted up my hand unto the Lord, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, That I will not take from a thread even to a shoe-latchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich.

Abraham is held up, thus, as an early example of one who would not accept nor desire even the smallest item as gift from anyone, and thus is free of covetousness. Therefore Abraham is one of the highest examples in the Bible of one who has Continence.

Jeremiah 8:8-11
How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is vain.
The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the Lord; and what wisdom is in them?
Therefore will I give their wives unto others, and their fields to them that shall inherit them: for every one from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness, from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.
For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying Peace, peace, when there is no peace.

The prophet Jeremiah is conveying the word of God condemning that entire generation for their falling away from Him in faithlessness and rejecting His word. God through Jeremiah observes that at the root of their faithlessness is coveting, which is demonstrated by everyone from the least in rank to the greatest, including even priests and prophets. Notice especially that God teaches that there is no genuine peace when the waters are constantly roiled in society by covetousness. That is what he means by the hurt of the daughter of God's people (an expression indicating a parental affection felt by God) is barely healed at all because the hypocrites all around her say "peace, peace" yet there is no peace when everyone is coveting everything that belongs to everyone else. If it was bad then imagine what God thinks of these times when it comes to coveting, and the lack of peace for the daughter of His people.

Mark 7:20-23
And he [Jesus] said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man, For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts...[he lists many of them]...covetousness...All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

The entire passage of Luke 12:13-28 consists of Jesus speaking a warning against covetousness.

Luke 12:15
And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of things which he possesseth.

Ephesians 5:5
For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

1 Timothy 6:6-11
But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
And having food and rainment, let us be there-with content.
But they that will be rich, fall into temptation, and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.

Acts 5:1-6
But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession. And kept back part of the price (his wife also being privy to it,) and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet.
But Peter said, Ananias, Why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?
While it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.
And Ananias, hearing these words, fell down, and gave up ghost. And great fear came on all them that heart these things.
And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him.

The couple Ananias and Sapphira pretended to donate to the Apostles all the proceeds from the sale of a piece of their land, but because they coveted money they held back a portion of the money from Peter, thinking he would not know. When Peter pointed out that not only did he know but more important, God knew, since Ananias and Sapphira were cheating and lying to the Holy Spirit, Ananias dropped dead. Young men witnessed this death, wrapped him in funeral cloth and buried him. In the next verses the same thing happens as his wife, not knowing what had happened, tried the same deception and she too died: And the young men came in and found her dead, and carrying her forth, buried her by her husband (Acts 5:10).

This is a specific example of how proclaimed baptized Christians who covet money (or anything else) risk being struck dead by God. This was witnessed by many people so that God could demonstrate the danger and evil of coveting, but also that God does indeed Know All, and is the All Knowing. God sees ALL the covetousness in ALL the people's hearts.

So the Bible is, of course, filled with cautions against coveting, including this specific real life example of consequences in Acts. It is part of the reality that in life people have repeatedly needed to be warned against covetousness (and thus to cultivate its opposite which is Continence).

In the next blog post we will look at Bible examples of the positive traits of Continence, such as self restraint.

Understanding God: His "emotions"

God does not have emotions in the way that humans think of emotions, where emotions are defined as strong feelings. God has what one needs to think of as perfect appropriate responses to human activities. God is beyond complete understanding, but it is important that you be on the right path toward understanding him truthfully, rather than think you understand him and are on a completely wrong path of supposed insight. So I thought of this analogy (of course!)

When I say that God has "perfect appropriate responses" this is what I am trying to say. Since God is total perfection, his "emotional" response to anything that a human does (or anything else) is perfect for the situation. God "feels" only what is entirely truthful and authentic and correct to feel, regardless of the situation, since obviously there is no situation in heaven or in the God created universe, all of which were created by God, that he does not already have complete insight regarding. Thus God has "emotions" that humans sometimes observe, but what they are is the perfect appropriate response that God give to a situation, even if the humans who observe God's response don't fully understand it. But do not kid yourselves. If you read the scriptures you will notice that people are rarely actually "puzzled" or "dumbfounded" by God's reactions... people can pretty much understand in advance when God is wrathful or when God is pleased, since Biblical people pretty much knew full well what to expect. So here is the analogy I thought of to help modern people understand God's "feelings" better.

Suppose that you lived in a city that had one courthouse and one judge, and that judge always rendered perfect justice. In other words, the judge never made a mistake in any case brought before him. Here's how to understand God's wrath. Imagine that a person drags an innocent person off the street, into the courthouse, and right in front of the judge shoots the innocent person dead. The judge would be wrathful but not with the tinges of human anger. That perfect judge, who has already rendered perfect judgment to all types of cases would not be, like a human, "angry," "shocked," or "scared." The judge's reaction would be wrath. Wrath is also called "righteous anger," because it is a combination of indignation at unjust behavior combined with the perfect comprehension of what happened, all the implications and having the perfect "final say" in what happens to punish that person.

Because God is all knowing, whenever a person sins or is unjust, it is as if that sinning or unjust person dragged a innocent person in front of God the judge and shot the person, and one better be prepared for God's wrath, either immediately (on the spot justice, which means during one's life) or deferred wrath (which means upon the person's death and judgment).

So that is how to understand in Biblical times and in present times God's "anger," which is really wrath. It means that it is punishment time, either immediate or delayed, for the sins and injustice that God, as judge, always observes since he is all knowing. People who think God does not see and know all sins and all injustice are like the person in the analogy who drags an innocent person before the perfect judge and shoots him right in his presence, doing so either for shock effect, terrorism, or because he actually thinks he is better than the judge and is showing the judge "how to get things done." God is always present and God already knows all the circumstances around every thought and deed of humans, and thus there is no defiance or shock value one can manipulate before God. Further, God, like the judge in the analogy, is going to render perfect justice regardless if the crime is done in an anger inducing way by a human or not.

When you understand that, you can more fully appreciate how often God holds back his wrath, deferring it, allowing some time (but not as much as you think) for repentance and conversion of the heart and soul back to God. You also can understand why God "doesn't seem angry" because "he allows the wicked to flourish," but then those wicked find out just how "angry" God "really is" because they all wake up in hell when they die.

So God does not get "angry" like humans do for imagined or real slights, out of fear or shock, or vengeance, or jealousy, or even what some imagine to be good reasons to be angry (like being in war, for example). God is only "angry" when a person sins or is unjust (and that includes sins of neglect, meaning they are not doing the honorable things in service to God and in charity that they should be doing.)

You can also use this analogy to understand how God can be "sad," "grieved," be "aggrieved" or have a "grievance." You see how flexible the root concept of grief/grievance is, because it means both grief as in sadness, and grievance as in having a complaint. Complaint is a similar word, where one may complain over an inconvenience, but to be "plaintive" is to be sad (as in plaintive music). God cannot be sad in the way that humans are because humans are sad when they are in a situation that cannot be changed, while God is the source of all help and so he is never in a situation he cannot "change." So God can grieve but he is not sad. Here's how to use the analogy to understand it.

Suppose that after the shooting is done in the analogy courtroom, the bystanders suddenly realize that the innocent person who was dragged in front of the judge and shot was the child of the judge himself. A human judge would of course feel unbelievable sadness and grief at having his child murdered in front of him, because that child is now dead and gone. God, though, receives that child "on the other side," in heaven, and thus God is not sad the way the human judge would be because God "fixes it." God is not stuck with being "without" the child because of course the child is now in heaven. The human judge would be remaining stuck in sadness, however, because he is now without his beloved child. So for a human sadness is added to anger, while for God sadness is not added to his righteous wrath.

However, both God and the human judge in the analogy would both feel grief. How to understand grief? Grief is what happens when one has to now tell the grandparents, the mother, the siblings, the cousins, and the friends that the child has been killed. Grief is seeing the sadness that others must endure because of that action. This is why St Paul in Ephesians warns not to grieve the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not made sad, but feels grief.

Now, to expand on the analogy to better understand God and especially grief, which he manifests, for lack of a better word, through the Holy Spirit. Suppose the innocent person who was murdered was not a child and perhaps not even a good person. Suppose the innocent person was a sinner or an evil doer, or an unbeliever. God would still feel grief for that person even though that person does not count among those who are saved and going to heaven. Why? Because only God takes no joy in injustice, whether against good people or "bad" people because it tarnishes in the darkness of sin both the person who performs the injustice and it cuts short the chance for the so called "bad" person to be redeemed. I say "only God" because just about every person I know succumbs to temptation to gloat at injustice if that injustice happens to someone "who deserves it." Some of the most unspiritual people I know like to post "karma is a bitch," because they are already gloating at a hopeful injustice happening in the future to catch up with an unjust person. In other words, the Bible warns that one will "reap what one sows," but that is different from an almost pagan hope that something bad will "happen" in the future, unrelated, to "make up for" something "bad" the person did in the past. That is trying to justify injustice with another injustice, a very unspiritual and incorrect take on reaping what one sows.

Anyway, remember, God knows the future, not only what will happen but all that could have happened. God knows if, for example, the innocent but sinful person who was killed in that analogy would have someday repented his or her ways and had been converted in heart and saved. But due to the injustice of the murderer that person's life ended and he or she receives perfect judgment, resulting in hell, if that be the case. The Holy Spirit grieves 1) at any injustice because it is against the good ways of God that God has enjoined upon humans 2) at the person who is not saved and goes to hell and 3) at the besmirching of the soul of the person who perpetrates the injustice. The Holy Spirit is not "sad" because as I said, God dispenses all perfect justice (both comfort and punishment) and thus is not ever in the helpless situation of sadness. The Holy Spirit of God does, most assuredly, feel deep grief (hence reference in scripture to the groaning of the Holy Spirit). It is not "sadness," it is grief... grief at the wrong road taken by humans, grief at the dirtying of their own and others' souls by humans, and grief at the unnecessary and avoidable chastisement that humans who perform and/or enable injustice must endure.

I hope that you have found this useful to think about and ponder. You can think of God's perspective of "joy" and "satisfaction" also in the way that "sadness" and "grief" were analyzed. Because God is the source of all joy and satisfaction, he does not feel per se those feelings which depend on fluxuating circumstances and processes required to reach those feelings which God already is (not "has" but "is"), but he does feel them, like grief, on behalf of humans in various situations. The one exception is creation, which God as Creator feels indeed as pure satisfaction, not self-satisfied the way humans are, but when God creates because all is good, and thus God is pleased with that. This is why God is able to appreciate a beautiful sunset alongside humans but of course from his perspective of its goodness, not only the aesthetics.

I just thought of a quick way artists can relate. Think of your favorite work of art and the time, either short or long, it took you to develop it. Part of your satisfaction with it is not just the aesthetics of it, which pleases you, but the method and time by which you achieved it. God created the entire universe with less than a sentence of speech, ha, so you can understand how God's aesthetic appreciation is pure as it is centered on its goodness, and not in the effort or cleverness or talent that went into its making. God didn't have to "work hard" to "paint" a perfect sunset. I hope that helps you understand! And "Hi" and "hey" to all the young people. God is not emo :-)

Understanding God: timing of his wrath

This is going to be a short post that should hopefully provide lots of thought. I can't really believe that I have to explain this, but here goes. The motivation for this topic is the gradual uncovering of the many occult beliefs that have permeated society, culminating with so called Satanic worshippers and horror rap, etc., such as that Sam guy who is accused of murdering four people. He poses with religious icons and graves to degrade them, etc. This has shocked some people who are "in the know" enough to at least admit the widespread problem in the comment sections of news articles, etc. So I'm going to now "spell it out for you" whether God is tolerating this evil or not, and help you to understand his timing.

First of all, you must understand something right up front. No one "gets away" with evil and living lives full of sin. No one. Why? Because God's "batting average" is one hundred percent to send them to hell for all eternity when they die. It really is as simple as that.

Somehow these past two generations have decided that if God does not zorch on the spot someone who sins or "disrespects him and his" that God either doesn't exist or does not mind, or is powerless. That is so lame, stupid and wrong that it would be laughable if it wasn't so serious for the millions and millions (imagine a very big number) of evil people AND chronic sinners who now occupy hell. They all thought they "got away with it" until they died and woke up in hell, thrust there by God's avenging angels. No, they do not get to "argue their case" in front of God: they wake up in hell, forever (Luke 16).

That's why I mentioned my combination of boredom and dismay several years ago when kids made Internet vids kind of daring the Holy Spirit and God by stating their disbelief and blasphemy. They should have stated their youthful stupidity instead. The Bible and the Qur'an make perfectly clear that humans lead lives filled with their own crap and own free will, and then when they die, rather than be "free and clear" and "getting away with it," they awake in hell with no dialogue, no appeal to God, no nothing but "There you Are!"

The second point is that the Bible and the Qur'an make clear that God does indeed smite when he chooses to do so, either in temporal (while alive) punishment of some sort or in actually striking down a person or even a country. God usually does so by "raising up an enemy" against the sinners, rather than actually striking the blow out of the blue, miraculously. Why? For the mercy, duh. He, who is ALL Knowing, intervenes when certain points that only he knows are reached in his patience. You can trust that since he knows all that will ever happen, he smites when there is a maximum chance of those who observe and likewise sin to come to their senses, while at the same time doing minimum "loss of patience" intervention.

For a reminder of that read the section of Genesis, recently blogged about here, where Abram (Abraham) negotiates with God (who appears as an angel) about how few good people who might exist in Sodom and Gomorrah would be enough for God not to strike down the entire city. This will help you to understand that God knows all the "numbers" in advance, obviously, yet he allows even one human being to try to speak up for the rest and change the free will that humans exercise. So when God hardens his heart and lets someone evil or sinful fall on their own sword, or, as he will do, directly smite them, you can trust that it is because he knows the best time to do this so that 1) those around the persons will get the point and maybe, just maybe, actually repent and convert and 2) future evil that the persons he smited will either perform willfully or enable is minimized. Sometimes God pulls the plug for just that reason. Think of King Solomon, much loved by God, who lived to an old age, but could have lived a lot longer if he had not started to worship idols brought in by his many wives and concubines. God curtailed his life rather than 1) allow him to throw away all his grace and mercy and risk hell and 2) so that he not continue for more years to lead many souls of his people into idolatry.

Only God can do that, as I have repeatedly reminded and warned people. No human can "decide" in kind of "star chambers" who is "good" and who is "not" and thus who should be "contained" or "harmed" for the greater good. Nazis thought that and believe me, they obviously 1) did a lot of damage and 2) there is a lot of screaming done in German in hell. The analogy I've been using is that if people who think they "know who is good" and believe they can "defend" "people" from "evil forces," would have been the first to kill Saul (who persecuted Christians, them doing so in "self defense" you know) before the resurrected Christ converted Saul to, yes, St. Paul. It is absolutely forbidden in the Bible to have even evil and judging thoughts about another person, say nothing of taking God's place in judgment and thus gravely sinning, even to murder. Seen a lot of that recently.

Regardless if someone evil or a completely incorrigible sinner or enabler of sin seems to live out his or her life and is does "OK," believe the Bible and the Qur'an, and the testimony of Jesus himself (Luke 16) that those people, to their astonishment, wake up on their death in hell, one hundred percent. There is no debate or conversation with God, St. Peter or anyone else, for those who God will send to hell for their deeds: they wake up there without any argument or advocacy.

Finally, I really hope that kids (and adults) who are punked out and who think that hell really can't be all that bad a place and that Satan will "take care of them there," wise up and grow up. The Qur'an is helpful in letting you know that God ups the punishment in hell to the totally unbearable for all eternity, not Satan. Satan despises the people he fools and torments them even worse.

Why and how do we know that? Because the more Satan leads astray the sooner the End of Times and the full wrath of God will descend, and when the earth is destroyed Satan is stuck without his main home and now has to spend all of his time in hell. Duh! In the Bible you read how Satan roams the earth. Do you think he wants to be in hell? DUH! If he thought the people he fools (allegedly, since most people are wicked all on their own) are such awesome company and he could turn the thermostat so that it is cooler, why would he spend all his time on earth and dread being chained into hell with the losers?

If you actually read the Bible and/or the Qur'an, it is amazingly helpful.

Remember, no one "gets away" with evil or unrepentant continual sin and enabling: it is one hundred percent to hell for all eternity, regardless of the lack of obvious smiting any individual (or country) may experience up until that day of personal death.

Sleep well!

Understanding sin or "doing something bad"

Hi young people especially. It has been a while... I've not been blogging much (and not much that is cheerful) because I've been sad and upset about a friend of a friend's unnecessary death... and also some continuing really bad behavior I've been seeing and experiencing. So I've thought of a kind of spiritual lesson to think about today that is rooted in these past few days, and also one that I think young people need to better understand (since they've not gotten good data on this in the past!)

Bad behavior is sin; they are not two separate matters. This is a confusion that has crept into the modern mind and you young people get the brunt of the confusion regarding understanding God, and avoiding sin, as a result.

Let's look at an obvious easily agreed upon example and analogy. Suppose that someone murders someone else. That can be easily categorized as: bad behavior, a crime, and a sin. So everyone can easily understand that a murder is both doing something really bad to a person, but also a sin against God.

See, many people think that a "sin" is defined as breaking a list of laws or instructions that God has given you. If the thing is "not on the list" then people think it might be bad behavior, or uncouth, but not a sin. That's wrong and not Biblically accurate. No where does the Bible say that sin is the breaking of a list of specific laws given by God, and the rest falls into kind of optional "good" or "bad" behavior that does not "involve God" since it is person-to-person behavior. In fact, the opposite is true that all bad behavior including even thoughts but not follow up deeds ARE sins against God.

If you missed it, you can go back in my haphazardly organized blog ;-) and read my long commentary that cites scripture indicating that Jews and Christians have well understood from the very beginning that even having a mean thought about another person is a sin against God, not just a mean spirited thing against a fellow human being. I probably labeled that under "sins" so you might find it easily that way. So I won't repeat all that, but I cited much scripture regarding the explicit statement that even having a mean thought about another human, even if you don't actually follow up on it, is not only a mean spirited and unrighteous feeling to have, but also an actual sin and offense against God himself. So yes, every mean thought, say nothing of actual follow up bad behavior, is a sin against God, even though common modern thought assumes that it is "just" poor behavior and lack of self control or "spirituality."

So here is where you get into very tricky territory indeed. If you pick on someone, or scorn them, or otherwise torment them, such as stalking and bullying, even if you are not breaking a "Biblical law" or Commandment or committing a human "crime," you are committing a sin directly against God. There are two Biblically cited ways that one can understand why that is.

The first reason is that avoiding sin is not a matter of do's and don'ts, but the maintenance at all time of a righteous mind. Throughout the Bible there are numerous explanations that all humans are sinners, but it is the righteous who are saved. Righteous is not defined as someone who dodges a list of sins. A righteous person is one who strives ALWAYS to do and to think/feel only what is Godly, pure and correct. When one walks in righteousness one does not "do good deeds" but have a mind and a heart like a sewer. Righteousness is a lot like the old fashioned concept of being "honorable." This is why in Revelation 21 you see, depending on the translation, that God through Jesus Christ at the End of Times states that "dogs" or "the fearful" or other translations of kind of craven sorts will not be in heaven. I blogged about that too, recently, that God does not mean that four footed canines are denied heaven but that "dog" is a widespread ancient cultural concept for humans who act dishonorably or who are dishonorable. Someone who thinks something dirty in their mind about a child he or she sees, for example, is a
"dog" and craven, and even if the person does not follow up that thought with actual molestation, they are guilty of that sin.

So to summarize the first way to understand the enormity of the problem to maintain a state of not sinning against God, remember that sin is not simply refusing to heed a stated prohibition in the Bible but is being un-righteous in any way at all, both in the commission of un-righteousness, but also in the thoughts or feelings of it AND, further, deliberately avoiding chances to be righteous. That is why some translations of Revelation 21 include the word "fearful." Those who are fearful to be righteous will not inherit their place in heaven and will, instead, go to the lake of eternal fire.

The second Biblical way to understand how crucial it is to not sin against God by behaving badly toward other human beings is to understand that God stated that he created men and women "in his image." When one torments another human being through bullying, for example, one is mocking and degrading a person who is created, like everyone else, in God's image, just one step below angels. No matter how ugly or unpleasant that you think the person might be, having that thought falls in the category of un-righteousness, and hence a sin, because you are being 1) uncharitable, which Jesus repeatedly said is a requirement of his saving grace and 2) you are mocking something that God has created. A human being may have a bad hair style, but that human being's body and dignity is created by God. There is a huge difference (and that is called "sin") between thinking that a person has a bad haircut that does not suit them, and is even a bit funny (but humorous through kindness) and having degrading thoughts about that person, which is mocking God's creation and a sin. Skin color, as in racism, ought to be another obvious example, one much more serious than the haircut example (though the cruelty of these times regarding a person's appearance is astonishingly destructive and thus serious). Blacks who hate whites and whites who hate blacks are committing individual sins with each and every thought and deed generated by that un-righteousness, since God is neither black nor white, but all are created in his image.

God will not be mocked, as St Paul warns in the scripture. One mocks God not only directly, by making fun of God or attempting to degrade Him, but one also mocks God by tormenting and mocking one of His creations: a fellow human being. Beware of this because hell is getting packed, yet there is always plenty of room.

Do not false hope that all sins forgiven

The good news is that people seem to increasingly understand that they have committed some terrible sins, and they are seeking information from their ministers and priests about forgiveness. They want to know if God, particularly through Jesus Christ, since it is through him the promise is made, forgives all sins. The bad news is that many who provide this spiritual direction give false information based on their own lack of understanding of the scripture and also the temptation to sugar coat bad news.

The hub of the problem is to distinguish between God’s ability and willingness to forgive all sins, even the worst of them (Yes) and God’s assurance that he will forgive every sin (No). In this blog post I will use “can” to indicate that certainly God is able to and has an infinitely merciful heart to be able to and to be motivated to potentially forgive even the worst of sin. I will use the word “will” to indicate what people are seeking, which is the absolute assurance that God will forgive their particular sin. Why is there a difference? Because there is, to put it in modern terms, an “eligibility requirement” for the forgiveness of sin, one that while it seems like one requirement, it actually has two parts. Far, far, FAR too many ministers and priests urge the first half and gloss over the second half. They thus give false hope to certain people that God has forgiven their particular sin.

Even the best of the best fall into this trap, such as the Rev. Billy Graham, who people know I greatly admire. Here is from a recent column. Title: “If you confess, God has promised to forgive you.” Question: “I’d give anything to know that God has forgiven me for a terrible sin I committed many years ago. But how can I know if he has? Maybe he decided I don’t deserve to be forgiven, and he’s condemned me to carry this burden the rest of my life.” The good news is that I fully support the majority of the Rev. Graham’s assurances that it is exactly for this reason, to demonstrate his love, but his hatred for sin, that God sent Jesus Christ his Son. People need to realize that anything (with one exception) can be forgiven by God. The one exception is that as Jesus states, offense against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. As I have blogged repeatedly, even Judas would have been forgiven if only he had not despaired and taken his own life. Imagine how he could have been one of the greatest witnesses to God’s mercy if he stayed alive and sought the forgiveness of Jesus Christ, who resurrected from the dead and appeared to the Apostles only three days after his crucifixion! So God is obviously, in his own words, but to put in modern terms, “ready, willing and able” to forgive even the worst of the worst. However, there are conditions and this is where I see ministers gloss over the second half of the conditions.

Excerpt from Answer: “What must you do? First, turn to Christ and confess your sins to him. Then trust him alone for your salvation and receive him by faith into your heart and life. The Bible says, “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord!” (Romans 6:23).

Sounds good, but here’s the problem. What does it mean that one MUST “receive him by faith into your heart and life?” Too many ministers make it seem as though to be forgiven of a sin one must only confess and trust in Jesus. Yes, sure, but you also must totally convert your sinful ways. It is not a coincidence that Paul uses the analogy of a paycheck “the wages of sin is death.” It’s not a fee for a one time sin. One must not only confess one’s sin but totally remove one’s self from the nesting place of that sin and stop encouraging it and enabling it, even if your hands no longer commit that sin. God will NOT forgive a sin until that is done. THAT is what it means to receive Christ into your heart and life.

Let’s use two modern analogies before getting into the actual scripture. The modern analogies help you to hone your discernment so you read the scriptures more correctly and thus get my point better.

Analogy One:
Jesus Christ went to medical school so that all people will be cured of cancer. Would you agree with this? Obviously you should not agree. Even if Jesus Christ went to medical school, he did not do so in order to eliminate all cancer, since anyone can see that if anything incidents of cancer have increased, not decreased. However, if you want to defeat cancer you emulate Jesus Christ and go to medical school. You do not claim that either Jesus, your yourself, will eliminate cancer.

Analogy Two:
You work for an investment bank and you totally ripped off a client, bankrupting him. You used legal tools and products available at the bank, but used unethical guidance. You ask God to forgive you of destroying that person’s life (and you’ve done nothing to fix his problem, perhaps he died in poverty since that was his retirement account). Yet, putting aside that you can’t fix what you did, here is the heart of the problem: You continue to work for that bank and that place of low ethics. Even though you never bankrupt the innocent again, you continue to work for an institution who can and does do so. Your “hands are clean” but you provide income by working at that bank for people who continue to have dirty hands. Why in the world would you think that God will forgive your sin in that circumstance?

Whoa, you are probably yelling at the screen. How do I know this? THAT’s not in the Bible you shriek or sniffle. Oh, but it is.

As you know in the Bible, Rome controlled the entire empire and collected taxes from all people, including the Jews. The tax collector appointed by Rome has the job title of “publican.” When you read the Bible you will observe that an entire group of all people who performed a single job, tax collector, were condemned not only by the people, but in God’s eyes, as being sinners en masse. When you read the Gospel of Luke (who was a professional himself, a physician), you understand this very clearly since he includes detail on not only the public’s opinion but that of Jesus Christ.

Luke 3:12-13
Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do? And he said unto them, “Exact no more than that which is appointed you.”

We see in the passage when John the Baptist is baptizing and preaching that publicans approached him and asked “what shall we do?” Why would an entire job class of people come to him and ask how to get out of a jam? Because this is evidence of what I am saying that the entire class of publicans, whether an individual was sinful or more just than the others, was viewed as notorious doomed sinners. John does not reply, “Oh, don’t worry, individual sin is between you and God and all will be forgiven.” No, John recognizes and validates the entire class of sin problem immediately by telling them not to exact more taxes than what is assigned to them (taxes were like bonus payments back then, where if the tax collector could get more from a person than Rome expected, he could pocket the rest). See the problem? Even an individual “good” tax collector was part of and supportive of an oppressive sinful system, and this is why they are all viewed as doomed sinners.

Here, Jesus has just finished teaching and preaching, when this occurs:

Luke 5:27-32
And after these things he went forth, and saw a publican named Levi, sitting at the receipt of custom [the tax collector’s place of work]: and he said unto him: “Follow me.”
And he left all, rose up, and followed him.
And Levi made him a great feast in his own house; and there was a great company of publicans, and of others that sat down with them.
But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying “Why do you eat and drink with publicans and sinners?”
And Jesus, answering, said unto them, “They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

Here is what you see as hard evidence in the scriptures:
1. Jesus calls Levi, who will become named Matthew, out of his place of work in total. Unlike the fishermen Apostles who continue to fish to feed their families, Jesus does not let Matthew “stay in the job.”
2. Publicans are throughout the Gospel identified by name as, here, as a group of doomed sinners, despite the behavior of any individual, just or not, within them. Tough luck: that is reality. By distinguishing publicans from the other “sinners” common thought is that they are not only sinners like the other average Joes, but doomed as a group.
3. Jesus does not discourage that attitude. He in fact acknowledges that publicans as a group are on his list of sinners in need of repentance.
4. This is why you can see that Jesus goes a step beyond John the Baptist (which is why Jesus is Jesus and John the Baptist is John the Baptist). He doesn’t just tell Levi to continue working but take no more than what is due to him; Jesus removes Levi in total from the publicans, something he did not do to those who fished among other fishermen for a living.

Yeah. I thought you might not have noticed that.


Luke 5:37-8
And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish. But new wine must be put into new bottles, and both are preserved.

You must read the scriptures with your eyes and your fingers, but also in a holistic understanding of the action that is taking place, as it is Jesus role modeling the truth. Jesus does not lecture the crowds that they are being “mean” to publicans and “discriminating” against them. In fact, he demonstrates, by voting with his feet, that he loves Levi as an Apostle, even though he is a publican, but hence removes Levi entirely from the context of sin he was in. We, of course, do not know since the scriptures do not say if Levi was one of the good, moderate, or bad publicans, if he was a huge sinner or a moderate sinner within the context of publicans. All we know is what the scripture demonstrates is that his sins were forgiven and he was made an Apostle only because Jesus removed him in entirety from the group of publicans.

John the Baptist was not incorrect, as he, presumably, baptized the publicans and told them not to gouge the people with extra taxes for their own benefit. But John did not speak for God. Jesus spoke for God, both in his speech and in his actions, which we must emulate in total for any assurances of what God promised is possible.

5. We can now notice the fifth point, which is that Levi throws a dinner for Jesus and invites many publicans.

Levi is no longer of the publicans, but he immediately, through the grace he has already received in just one day from Jesus, upon his calling by Jesus and his acceptance to Jesus, casts a life net for those he has totally left. Levi did not stay within the publicans, since Jesus took him totally from them, but through grace immediately throws the life net to the publicans by inviting many to meet Jesus. Too many ministers focus only on the lesson that Jesus reached out to sinners and miss that other point. Levi and Jesus both underscore through their actions that not gouging people is not enough: people within a group of sinners must have a total conversion of life and heart, symbolized here by their being invited to meet Jesus outside of the sinful workplace, to totally leave their participation therein. They must do their outreach and ministry from the outside, not the inside. That is another way to understand the parable of the new wine being placed in new bottles, and not put into old bottles, where both will be destroyed as they are now incompatible.

When one has committed a dreadful sin, one must not only find God through Jesus and repent, but he or she must also with total and immediate sincerity, as Rev Graham puts it, “receive him by faith into your heart and life.” That’s heart AND life. It’s not enough to love Jesus but still live within the conditions that caused not only your sin, but enables others to continue doing so. To be forgiven in such circumstances, like the publican, you must leave in entirety and belong in your life totally to Jesus. As Paul explains it, you can no longer continue to obtain your wages via sin. If you are still paid by or enabling the people who promote the sin that you committed, you cannot remain among them and be at all assured that God has forgiven you for that sin. No one is being kind or doing you a favor by telling you otherwise. You must follow Jesus and the scriptures for any certainty, and not wishful thinking.


Is it not abundantly better to follow precisely the role model of someone who you know was saved, Levi who became Matthew, as specified in scripture, rather than read into God’s infinite capacity for the forgiveness of sins a free pass that is not truly there? If it was “OK” for Levi to remain a publican but he is now “a good one” and does that work in order to, like the fishermen Apostles, financially support the early Christians, then Jesus would have done so, I mean, duh. Jesus removed Levi from the group that everyone everywhere considered doomed sinners. John the Baptist kind of told them what was wrong with them, that they had to stop gouging extra money from the tax payers who were suffering under the burden, but only Jesus can “fix it.” Yes, Jesus died because of humanity’s sinfulness and also for the forgiveness of sins, but scriptures clearly demonstrate that Jesus did not give a clear pass for continued tacit participation and lack of full repentance from sinful situations.

Ministers and priests must emphasize their own words of spiritual direction so that they and others do not listen with half an ear, hoping for the easy answer. Do not be the one who tells someone that God has forgiven their sin, and then when that person dies they find themselves in hell or at the very least some very tough purgatory. I mention purgatory not to get in a quarrel with those Christians who deny purgatory but, rather, to not totally freak out people in the situation such as the author of the question to Rev Graham. God knows all the circumstances of the terrible sin, since he is, as I constantly remind all people, the All Knowing. It is possible that even a person with an unforgiven sin, that God in his mercy will strip away the sin in purgatory and allow what remains of the soul to enter heaven. But it is also possible, since God knows all the circumstances, that he will cast into hell the person who thinks they were forgiven but are not, since they did not bring Jesus into their life and their heart from that point in their confession onward. If they continue to earn their wages in the place of the sin, that does not look good for forgiveness. But it really is that easy to obtain forgiveness from God, when one follows exactly, not through wishful thinking, what is documented in the Gospel as said and done by Jesus Christ who alone spoke for God with authority. If you remain in the sin factory or the sin wagon where your individual, but genuinely, regretted terrible sin occurred, you are still reaping the wages of sin and have not completely brought Christ into your life and heart, which is required for total forgiveness of sin. Believing that Jesus existed and trusting that he’s a good and merciful guy, and even loving him is not enough if you do not also have him dwell in your heart and your life, peeling away the wages of sin.

I hope that you have found this helpful.

Denying the faith and the Holy Spirit

I'm making just a quick "hold that thought" note about a complicated topic. This morning after watching Mass on EWTN (Father Pacwa hit his sermon right out of the ballpark, right away, totally excellent, I would have added just one thing :-) there was an excellent brief segment about one of the early church fathers. I'll talk more about who when what later but just want to make this point.

He was a bishop who lived a few centuries after Christ, during a time of terrible on and then off persecutions. The emperors and/or their local people would periodically decide to torture and force Christians to renounce Jesus Christ and worship idols, or die.

This became a huge topic (besides the obvious) in the early Christian Church. Remember that is YOUR church too, there was no "Protestant" versus "false church," you ALL come from the truth and the blood of the one true Church.

The topic was... what to do when a persecution was over with, and people who had denied Christ and thus saved their lives repented and wanted to return to the Church, while those who had not denied Christ had died for the faith. Remember, it was not just words mumbled at the point of a sword. Those who were forced to abandon Christ actually had to now regularly worship idols and false gods, not just cross their fingers behind their back and tell a fib. They truly had to turn their back on Jesus Christ AND actively worship idols.

Some in the Church rightly felt this was unforgivable. However some in the Church rightly felt this was forgivable. This is why there is a "Pope," a "Peter," by the way, not to make stuff up because he feels like it, but to help people to respond to the thorny theological questions of the time when they are in it, I mean, duh. By the way, the Pope during the time of this bishop was martyred in the persecution.

The Popes who reigned during the persecutions came to conclude that this was forgivable and believe you me, that was a really unpopular decision for some. The Popes decided on the side of scripture where Christ said that one should not forgive just once, or seven times, but seventy times seven times. The Popes and the bishops, however, felt that not just a hand wave was needed for such people, but genuine repentence and genuine penance (prayer and deeds) to atone for abandoning Christ.

Now, here is why some people correctly could hold the opposite view-that apostacy or whatever it is called-is not forgivable, and I will advise you how to understand how Christ reconciled the two facts that fuel each side in the debate.

Those who feel it is unforgivable cite the scripture when Christ said that offenses against the Holy Spirit are not forgivable. They correctly understand that denying Jesus Christ and then worshipping idols is an offense against the Holy Spirit. This is why people against forgiveness were not being mean, but were God fearing scripture readers, just like the forgiveness side.

Here is the distinction. Christ is saying to freely forgive genuine human weakness. People who broke under torture, or who feared torture on behalf of themselves and their families, were responding to genuine human weakness. Who cannot forgive genuine human weakness when it is genuinely mourned and repented, and conversion of the heart then occurs? That is why Christ says to forgive them repeatedly, as he would have done.

However, here is where that would not qualify for the repeated or even one time forgiveness. The primary offense against the Holy Spirit is to be cynically willing to sin with the planned assumption that "Hey, I'm going to get forgiven anyways." So those who jumped to worship idols, not doing so out of weakness and terror, but doing so because they figure God is mushy and will just forgive them anyways, they are the ones who will be denied forgiveness because they were committing an offense against the Holy Spirit.

So the "forgiving" side and the "tough" side were equally grounded in scripture and equally correct. They needed to discern the difference between those many who caved in due to genuine terror and weakness, and those who caved in due to attempting to manipulate the forgiveness of God through the Holy Spirit. This is why the Popes and the bishops in general decided on the side of forgiveness, trusting that God in his final judgment will sort out the hopefully minority of those who cynically jumped to abandon Jesus Christ, figuring it didn't really matter to God, who was "sure" to forgive them, anyway.

Here is a modern analogy to make it clearer. Sadly this is an all too common scenario.

A single mother lives with a "boyfriend" who abuses the mother's baby. She does not report the boyfriend until the baby is actually seriously injured or killed, and the cruelty is thus uncovered at the hospital by police.

One such mother scenario is that she is weak and craven and is so scared of the "boyfriend" that she lets the baby be hurt and die. That is still absolutely no excuse, either morally or legally, but she would be "eligible" for lack of better words for appropriate forgiveness after genuine repentence.

The other such mother scenario is that she is weak and craven but also cynically figures that at least she still "has" the boyfriend, and that even when they are caught she can claim that she was too scared to stop the abuse. She is planning ahead her "excuse" for her own selfish reasons (continue to have sex, money or whatever from the boyfriend while he abuses the baby). She, spiritually (and legally, of course) is not eligible for forgiveness, using our analogy.

This, by the way, is one reason the Catholic Church is against the death penalty. They hope against hope that even the worse of the worse can experience genuine conversion and repentence, even if they were cynical about it all their miserable lives.

So I wanted to deeply warn, as I have before, those of you who know the truth of the faith yet continue to deny Jesus Christ and the one true God, obeying him, figuring that you can always do it "later" because good old mushy God and "JC" will "forgive you anyway." That is in the realm of the unforgivable sin against the Holy Spirit. And yes, Protestants, Paul warns against grieving the Holy Spirit too... I know a lot of you feel better when Paul says so "in addition" to Jesus Christ himself! :-)

But those of you who cynically worship idols for money or whatever reasons, including fear, but do not do so from weakness, but from cynical strength, counting on God's mushy and easy forgiveness, even if you are absolved by a priest and so forth, if you are under false pretenses you can well wake up in hell, believe you me, just like the man Jesus talks about in Luke 16.

There is an overflowing abundance of mercy like flowing waters for the genuinely weak and flawed, even if it takes them at the point of the sword to denying Jesus Christ. Manipulators and semi-believers cannot count on that, though, as Jesus Christ, and later Paul, both warn.

Discerning offense against God, Jesus, Holy Spirit

Here is something I want to point out to you about the Holy Trinity: God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit (also traditionally called the Holy Ghost). When you read the Bible, notice how you are warned not to offend God in slightly different but highly significant ways among the Three.

Much of the Bible is comprised of warnings against offending God himself centers on two main themes: denying God and disrespecting God. The Bible contains specific statements (such as the First and Second Commandment) about either denying or disrespecting God, and one can also read the historical events of what happens to those who choose to deny or disrespect God.

In the New Testament with the arrival of Jesus Christ, the Gospels and the Epistles emphasis that Jesus is not to be denied, but there is a different tone than the respect that is mandatory for God the Father. Jesus never says, for example, that he must be obeyed or believed in as a requirement of the faith, nor does he say he must be treated with respect. In fact he goes so far as to say about himself “And whosoever speaks a word against the Son of man it shall be forgiven him” (Matthew 12:32). Now you have to read that whole passage in its full context to get the entire gist of what he is saying and we will do so in the section on the Holy Spirit, since Jesus was not speaking so much about himself but rather as an introduction to speaking about the Holy Spirit. My point is that Jesus does not issue Commandments about disobedience or denying of him himself. Indeed sins against Jesus that are repented will be forgiven by God. (No such guarantee is given in the Bible about forgiveness for denying or disrespecting God himself, but one lives in hope that sincere repentance to God will result in mercy and forgiveness). So those are two differences in tones between offending God and offending Jesus, to summarize: Jesus does not command belief and obedience as God does, and Jesus promises that even the worse sin against him is capable of being forgiven by God.

Where one IS, however, warned that one cannot ignore or marginalize Jesus, nor forget that he brought to the world the face of God in human form, can be found in two general formats. The first is that people must believe that Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s scripture regarding the Messiah and Savior. One cannot deny that Jesus is the Messiah. The second format is the absolute requirement that one must have an encounter with Jesus. Many have their own interpretation of what Jesus meant when he said that one cannot enter heaven (come to God the Father) except through him. Different Christian sects and denominations tend to assume different requirements implicit in the word “through” Jesus Christ, and also when citing Jesus as “the way.” I’m not going to expand on that subject in this particular blogging but instead offer the gist of what one must understand and grasp from what Jesus said. One MUST have an encounter with Jesus in order to achieve heaven. Only God knows what encounter is sufficient for each and every person. So Jesus must be acknowledged as the Messiah and the Savior, and also as the necessary encounter through which all must pass.

There is much about the Holy Spirit in scripture but only two real places where warnings are stated about the forms and consequences of disobedience and disbelief against the Spirit. This is such a serious subject, though, that Jesus expounded on the topic very sternly:

Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come (Matthew 12:31-32).

Jesus is saying something of vital importance and is very precise in his wording. He opens by speaking of the general forgiveness of all types of sin and blasphemy, but when he speaks of the Holy Spirit he does not comment about sins against the Holy Spirit being forgiven or not (which implies that they can be), but he says most specifically that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit shall not be forgiven. Further, to drive home the point of the unforgivable nature of humans blaspheming the Holy Spirit, Jesus emphasizes that such blasphemy will not be forgiven by God during the first phase of existence (a human life followed by their death and sending to heaven or to hell) NOR when all the dead are raised and judged by God (“the world to come”). Jesus wanted to make perfectly clear with the most dire warning that Holy Spirit blasphemers not only lose their place in heaven and merit hell for certain, but they also have absolutely no chance of forgiveness during Final Judgment and the creation of the New Jerusalem.

Many wonder, what is the difference between blaspheming God and blaspheming the Holy Spirit? Blaspheming God can be forgiven because the “cure,” if you will, to blaspheming God is to believe, respect and obey God. One who has a conversion and begins to truly believe, respect and obey God will not, obviously, continue to blaspheme God and with sincere repentance and conversion can and will be forgiven by God. Likewise Jesus says that all forms of blaspheme against himself is capable of being forgiven. So what exactly is the difference between blaspheming God and/or Jesus Christ, and the unforgivable blaspheming of the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit is the creator of the world, God’s instrument in creating all that is, and loving all that is. One blasphemes the Holy Spirit when one blasphemes God’s creative role, his powers of life, his powers of love and his powers of forgiveness. With a simple sentence St. Paul makes this easy to understand:

And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30).

Paul understood and explains with this passage that it is the Holy Spirit who seals (as in the modern meaning of the word “certifies”) that one will be among the elect on the day of redemption. The Holy Spirit sets the seal upon the saved soul; the Holy Spirit “closes the deal,” to use another modern term.

With these two warnings, by Jesus Christ and by St. Paul, there is a common theme: do not make the Holy Spirit sad. Blaspheming the Holy Spirit means that one blasphemes the joyous gifts that God offers. To grieve means to sadden. This is an entirely different tone of admonishment and warning than the better understood strictures against sins and against disbelieving or disrespecting God. Blaspheming the Holy Spirit means a deliberate effort to sadden God by blaspheming the part of God that bestows blessings and who saves souls. That is what is so dire and unforgiveable, that Jesus took pains to explain, contrasting that offense with sins and blasphemy against him himself, which he declares to be forgivable. When one blasphemes Jesus Christ, as stupid and ungrateful as it is, it is not singling out the portion of God who bestows blessings for one’s bile. When one blasphemes the Holy Spirit, one is shoving back into God’s face, with the intention to cause him sadness and, in brief, not only reject but mock and scorn most specifically the blessings and the salvation that he offers through the Holy Spirit. That is what makes blasphemy against the Holy Spirit totally unforgivable, and, as St Paul explains, forfeits one’s being sealed unto the day of redemption.

I hope that you have found this to be helpful.

Bible Reading and Commentary re: forgiveness

Many people correctly focus on the importance of forgiveness in the Christian faith, and as a principle for humanity as a whole. The Gospels and Epistles are filled with the teaching of Jesus in regard to the importance of and necessity for forgiveness. The Old Testament also discusses God’s requirement for forgiveness, but that is expressed in terms of the Law, where debts must be forgiven, both of monetary debts and the lending of goods. But there is a problem with how moderns have transmuted the understanding of forgiveness in ways that are contrary to the words of the Bible, in black and white, that are plain to be read.

The reason that moderns now misunderstand and actually preach an incorrect gospel is that they hope that Christians are obligated to forgive all sins. Therefore moderns feel that they are easily let off the hook of sin. That is far from true and a very dangerous “interpretation.”

First of all, forgiveness for sin only comes from God, not from humans. Humans cannot forgive each other their sins! Humans can forgive individual wrong doing against one another with one huge exception that will be bulk of my discussion here today. So a human can and should forgive wrongs if it is reasonable to do so. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that a parent, for example “must” forgive the murderer of their child. One cannot transfer responsibility for a wrong from the shoulders of the wrong doer onto the shoulders of the victim. So look again with clear eyes at how Jesus taught the “Our Father” prayer:

Matthew 6:12
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

This is one of the two passages that people constantly point to as Jesus teaching forgiveness. But notice that Jesus is consistent in the Lord’s Prayer with referencing the Old Testament viewpoint of a forgiveness of debts. His parables also focused on the forgiveness of debts. No where in the Bible, either Old or New Testament is it portrayed as necessary to forgive grave wrongs of a behavioral nature. I know, as you read this you are burning to point out to me the second example I mentioned above, but hang on for a minute. There is another point to first make about Matthew 6:12. Notice that it is a chain of forgiveness. The one praying forgives another person his or her debts to him or her, and then in return God forgives the one praying for sins. God is still in control of the forgiving of sins! The humans can forgive each others debts, but they cannot forgive each other’s sins.

The Bible teaches, repeatedly, that sin is an offense against GOD. When someone sins and harms another person, yes, one has then harmed a person with that sin, and the harm is legitimate discussion for potentially generous forgiveness. But the sin itself cannot be forgiven by the victim of the sin because sin is an offense against God because it is defiance of God, his will and what he has plainly ordered of humans. Suppose someone robs you. Yes, you can forgive the person for the harm of the robbery, but you cannot forgive them of their sin that violates one of the Commandments. Do not ever forget that. Ultimately God alone judges whether sin is forgiven.

Thus the important exception to what is the Christian credo of forgiveness is that one cannot forgive a sin that is directed against God, even if the actions of the sin are directed toward the person. The obvious example is that prophets sent by God cannot and did not ever forgive those who persecuted them. I know, you are itching to tell me that I am wrong, but no, you are wrong. Prophets cannot forgive those who defy God by refusing his messengers. It is not within their power because their bodies and what happens to them is in the service of God. So it’s not as though “their feelings are hurt” or they are tortured in and of themselves. When a prophet is persecuted it is sin against God to his face, even if the prophet’s body is the one who bears the scars. No prophet can forgive their persecutor; only God can do that.

So now you are not so eager to point out the second example of Jesus, are you? For now you are beginning to understand. Jesus did not forgive his tormentors. He ASKED God to do so. What was done to Jesus was sin against God and can only be forgiven by God. First of all, recall what Jesus said after he had been scourged and is carrying the cross to his own crucifixion:

Luke 23:27-32
A large crowd of people followed Jesus, including many women who mourned and lamented him. Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep instead for yourselves and for your children, for indeed the days are coming when people will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed.’ At that time people will say to the mountains, ‘Fall upon us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’ for if these things are done when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?” Now two others, both criminals, were led away with them to be executed.

Now, this was a lot for Jesus to say as he was suffering up the path to Golgotha. Jesus did not say, “Hey, it’s going to be alright, because I forgive them all and so does God.” Instead, Jesus takes the time to point out that they should not mourn him, God’s prophet about to be executed, but they should mourn themselves because as a result really bad times will come. Jesus is the green wood. To understand this you must understand that green wood is freshly cut wood that still has water in it as it is still alive, and thus it is nearly impossible to burn. So Jesus is the living green wood, there as a sign of God’s love among people, with the water of life still in him. Jesus is saying that if they crucify him, the green wood, while he is still among them, how much worse will it be when Jesus has been away from them, the green wood is now gone, and only the dry brown wood that will quickly burn is remaining. So Jesus is warning the women who mourn him that people will deeply regret the sin against God that is the crucifixion of Jesus.

Luke 23:33-34
When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him and the criminals there, one on his right, the other on his left. Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” They divided his garments by casting lots.

Um, notice that Jesus is not forgiving the people himself. Jesus is not leaning over (as best as he can as he is being crucified after being scourged) and offering forgiveness as he is being crucified. Jesus asks God to forgive them. Jesus does not attempt to forgive them himself. People continually misquote this passage even though it is as plain as the nose on your face. Jesus does NOT do what he cannot do, which is forgive those who are putting to death God’s prophet. Jesus never can or would want to say anything that is misleading, and is anything but perfect in God’s will and truthfulness. So obviously he can not and would not “make a good example by forgiving those as they are nailing him.” I mean, would you actually read the scripture please?

Jesus had previously made the point that sins are the purview of God to forgive, and not humans forgiving each other for sin. That is plain when Jesus actually lists what sins (those against the Holy Spirit) that God will NOT forgive.

Matthew 12:31-32
Therefore, I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

This seems difficult to understand but it is not. Notice that Jesus is referring to himself as the Son of Man, not the Son of God. Thus he is referring to his bodily presence. Therefore if someone blasphemes Jesus he is wronging another human person, and thus can be forgiven by God, in theory. Jesus is saying that any wrong done against him (foreshadowing the crucifixion) can be forgiven if one repents and God wills forgiveness, as it is a “human on human” sin. However, one cannot sin against the Holy Spirit in a “human on human” way. A sin against the Holy Spirit is a sin that is totally different from a sin against Jesus himself, because a sin against the Holy Spirit is directly against God.

Thus Jesus is underscoring that he is God’s prophet, in human body, the Son of God but also the Son of Man. However, the point that anything against him can, in theory, be forgiven, should there be genuine repentance is only made in order to deliver one of his starkest and blunt warnings. When one sins against the Holy Spirit one is not committing a “human on human” offense, but defying and blaspheming God’s will to his face. This is true even if it is a human-on-human method by which one sins and blasphemes the Holy Spirit.

That is why Jesus says “speaks against the Holy Spirit.” Speaking is a human on human action, where someone is speaking and someone listens. So if someone blasphemes the Holy Spirit to someone else, it’s not like the listener can say, “Wow, you said a really bad thing about the Holy Spirit, but I forgive you.” THAT is the point that Jesus is driving home and it is crucial that people understand.

This is because, again, like killing a prophet, it’s not a matter of hurting the feelings of the listener or bruising, cutting or killing the prophet’s body. Just as the persecution and murder of a prophet of God is a direct sin against God, and not per se against the prophet, blaspheming the Holy Spirit is an attempt to hinder the work of salvation that the Holy Spirit is engaged in, constantly. A Holy Spirit blasphemer is not “hurting the feelings of the Holy Spirit” or of the person who reads or overhears the blasphemy. A Holy Spirit blasphemer is attempting to thwart God’s will to save as many people as possible by attacking the faith through blasphemy. Thus the Holy Spirit blasphemer is saying to God, “No, I will not allow you to save people and reach their souls, and bring them to salvation, because I with my mind and my mouth and my deeds will oppose you.” A Holy Spirit blasphemer is assigning his or herself the role of Lucifer.

So when moronic teenagers get on the Internet and “deny the Holy Spirit” in order to test God and demonstrate that they do not believe, they are totally being childish and missing the point. A Holy Spirit blasphemer works against the saving of souls, not just mouth a stupid test into the cameras. Thus someone blasphemes the Holy Spirit when they tear down and embarrass and profane those who are working for salvation under the inspiration and protection of the Holy Spirit. THAT is what cannot be forgiven because the Holy Spirit blasphemer is attempting to hinder God’s work through the Holy Spirit of the rescuing and saving of souls.

Suppose a nun is raped. That is an example of blaspheming against the Holy Spirit and the nun cannot forgive that on God’s behalf. Why? Because the rape is done to degrade and terrorize the faithful and take them off of the path of salvation. The nun can forgive the battering of her body and her degradation, but she cannot forgive the reasoning and objective of the attack and degradation, which was to terrorize and spread disbelief. Thus when someone rapes a nun, in this example, he or she is basically saying, “Look, I have defiled one of your believers. If you, God, actually exist, you would have stopped it.” Thus the rapist is not only a dirty beast of a human, but defying God in order to destroy the salvation of those around who observe the nun’s disgrace.

How do we know this? Again, look at the example of Jesus.

Matthew 27:26-31
Then he released Barabbas to them, but after he had Jesus scourged, he handed him over to be crucified. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus inside the praetorium and gathered the whole cohort around him. They stripped off his clothes and threw a scarlet military cloak about him. Weaving a crown out of thorns, they placed it on his head, and a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They spat upon him and took the reed and kept striking him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the cloak, dressed him in his own clothes, and led him off to crucify him.

Do you notice Jesus is not “forgiving” them as they rip his flesh off with whips, tear his forehead and head with the crown of thorns, strip him in front of the invited throng of the audience, strike him on the head, spit on him, and mock him? Notice that the soldiers “gathered the whole cohort around” Jesus. They deliberately got together a crowd to witness his mockery and torture. That is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, using Jesus as the mechanism. They degraded Jesus in order to defy and degrade the Holy Spirit, and those are the people who will not be forgiven. Jesus only asks God to forgive those who are nailing him to the wood when he is actually being crucified and raised on the cross. There is, as in everything Jesus said and did, great significance, for both hope but also for dire warning. Jesus did not walk in a procession of forgiving everyone as they did it because he would not and could not. Prophet killing and the degradation of those who preach God’s word is direct sin against God, not human on human subject for forgiveness.

This is why God is asked by Jesus to forgive those who are actually doing the nailing of him to the cross. Jesus does not speak a word of forgiveness during all the torture as lead up to the crucifixion, and he never presumes to forgive sin against God on God’s behalf as the sin is taking place. Jesus warned that some sin, the blaspheming of the Holy Spirit, will not be forgiven. That is why he told the women that they should mourn themselves and their people, going forward, not Jesus himself, because the consequences of such sin will be dire. Jesus could not have been more clear throughout the Gospel of the difference between sinning against him as the Son of Man (and thus the potential for forgiveness though, as we saw with Judas, he did not avail himself of that possibility) and “speaking against” and thus blaspheming the Holy Spirit.

What God will not forgive, repeat, will NOT forgive

Jesus warned in the Gospel that some sins will not be forgiven by God. These are sins against the Holy Spirit.

Remember that the Holy Spirit is not a bird flying around, but the breath of God.

Here is a reminder of the sins against the Holy Spirit:

Presumption upon God’s mercy.
Despair.
Impugning the known truth.
Envy of another’s spiritual good.
Obstinacy in sin.
Final impenitence.

I will give examples of each so that their meaning is quite clear.

One presumes upon God’s mercy when one conducts evil and figures it will “all come out in the wash” because “God is going to forgive you anyway.”

One is guilty of despair when one figures that there are some situations God cannot fix. In other words, you rob God of his ability to assist you in obtaining forgiveness.

One impugns the known truth when you know that you are spreading falsehood about faith in God, and does so deliberately for reasons such as financial gain or to rob others of their faith.

Envy of another’s spiritual good is when you envy another human being because you dislike that they are holier or more spiritual than you, either in fact or in your perception.

Obstinacy in sin is an offense against the Holy Spirit because it occurs even when you have had access to a more faithful and virtuous life and yet reject it with full knowledge so that you can continue to sin.

Final impenitence is being deliberately sinful and in defiance of God up to the moment of death. One cannot “repent” after death when one actually sees the fires of hell and the reality of heaven that one has continually scorned.