Sunday, February 25, 2007

Unpardonable Sin

I don't know if you have heard of this, but my dad told me about this blasphemy project that is encouraging young people to blaspheme on video. This is from Challenge Blasphemy's website:

ChallengeBlasphemy.com was created in response to BlasphemyChallenge.com; a website designed to target the faith of people all around the world. However, the site is mostly directed at teens. People are being asked to post videos in which they deny the existence of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. By doing this, they are told they are committing the “unforgivable sin”. Blasphemy Challenge has promised to give the first 1001 people who post these videos a free DVD called “ The God Who Wasn’t There.”

Challenge Blasphemy is issuing several challenges to Christians and non-Christians worldwide!

It's simple. You record a short message answering the given challenge, and then you simply upload it to YouTube, and then challengeblasphemy.com will post your video on this website.

It's that easy.

Here's What You Do:

You can make your video however you would like, but somewhere in your video you must answer one or more of our given challenges.

Once you have shot your video, just follow these two easy steps: 1. Go to this link on YouTube to upload your video as a Video Response to the Challenge Blasphemy. You can log in or register on that page if necessary. Then if you could please type in the URL www.challengeblasphemy.com somewhere in the text description when you upload your video.

2. When the video appears on YouTube, send the URL to this email address: contact@challengeblasphemy.com.

That's it.

We are certain that people who took the blasphemy challenge, have not committed the 'unforgivable sin' and we are standing for Christ, as blasphemy challenge attempts to steal the hope of salvation!

[End quote].

I can't tell you how horrified I was about the "blasphemy challenge" when I first heard about it. The idea of anyone distorting the Word of God in a way deliberately designed to draw people away from the hope of salvation took me to tears. There's a reason for that which I may share another day, but how truly evil!!

My first reaction was tears - my second was prayer that God would not allow young people to be corrupted by that project, that He would protect kids who didn't know what kind of evil they had stumbled upon, and that He would stop this organization. After I'd prayed, slept on it, and did some research, I felt a little better, but the lawyer in me wondered whether the "project" had any legal merit.

I remembered that Satan is a liar and the father of lies, and that he loves to twist God's words to try to get human beings to lose their way. That was his tactic in the Garden of Eden, and he's used it quite effectively since then.

I started doing a little more study about the "unpardonable" sin, and I found this on Bible.org:

Question:
What is the unpardonable sin?

Answer:
Matthew 12:31 Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven men, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven.” [Ed. Note: There also are references in Mark and Luke].

The unpardonable sin is the sin of rejection. The unpardonable sin is defined as blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, because when Christ was on earth, the religious leaders were attributing his miracles to demonic powers when in fact they were the product of the Holy Spirit working in the life of Christ (Matt. 12:12-32). This demonstrated a heart that had become so hard that it precluded repentance because Christ’s words and works were a clear evidence of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in Him as the Anointed One, the Messiah of the Old Testament. To reject Christ and claim His works were from Satan was a clear evidence of both unbelief and an unrepentant heart. That’s why it was considered unpardonable.

The one sin that is unforgivable is unbelief or rejection of Christ. Note in the passage quoted below that the convicting work of the Spirit is related to giving demonstrable proof that it is the sin of rejection that is the issue.

8 And He (the HS), when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin, and righteousness, and judgment; 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you no longer behold Me; 11 and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged (John 16:8-11).

[End quote].

I also found this commentary passage at Biblegateway.org:

"The equivalent today would be someone who remained so committed to rejecting Christ that she determined to find alternative explanations for any obvious proof (such as miracles) attesting him. Even in what seems to be that case, however, Paul exhorts one of his students and coworkers to remember that we humans cannot judge who has forever crossed that line (1 Tim 1:12-20). Not uncommonly young Christians read about the "unforgivable sin" and fear they have committed it. We therefore must reiterate the point in this context: the sin is unforgivable only because it reflects a heart too hard to repent. Those who desire to repent, troubled by the fear that they may have committed this sin, plainly have not committed it!"

That was what I thought, because once Jesus died and rose from the dead, the concept that there would even be one sin that His blood couldn't atone for would call into question the efficacy of His entire substitutionary death, burial and resurrection, but it was nice to see it put into such simple and understandable language. The time for accepting His sacrifice is before death, because "it is appointed unto men once to die, and then the judgment," but while there is life, there is hope.

"God wanted to make known to them the glorious riches of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim him by instructing and teaching all people with all wisdom so that we may present every person mature in Christ." Colossians 1:27-28 (NIV).

Thanks be to God for His remarkable gift!!

1 comment:

lawyerchik said...

4 Comments:
SlushTurtle said...
Oh my goodness! That is wretched!!!

6:02 AM

lawyerchik said...
I agree!! My mom and I were talking about it later, and we both thought of the same verse from Matthew's gospel about if anyone leads the little ones astray, better for him to have a millstone around his neck and to be thrown into the deepest sea.

I guess if nothing else, though, it reminds us that evil really exists in the world, and that its target is the hope of the gospel of Christ. "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in heavenly places. Therefore, put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, having done all to stand."

6:13 AM

Kim from Hiraeth said...
An important post. I am shocked and grieved and yet, I guess I should not be surprised. We have an enemy whose purpose it is to blaspheme the Living God. He has been at work since the garden.

Ephesians 6 is an important reminder.

7:19 AM

lawyerchik said...
Amen.