Matthew 12:31-32
A frustrated mother shakes her cranky child and scolds, “You little dummy. I never saw such a bad kid!”
A group of workers pass illegal aliens in police custody and yell, “Go home! You dirty foreigners!”
Some teenagers write a graffiti message: “You’re a nerd! You’re a fink! Mexicans and Niggers stink!”
An unemployed highschool drop-out shuffles along mumbling, “I ain’t good for nothin’. I ain’t never been good for nothin’ and I ain’t never gonna be good for nothin!’ ”
Now, what was happening in these cases? The Scripture calls it blaspheming!
To blaspheme something means to consider it as worthless; it means to vilify, defame, or speak evil of it; it means to show no reverence for it, and use abusive language toward it.
If so, then why is it so much worse to consider God the Holy Spirit as worthless than it is to consider God the Son as worthless? Why is it so much worse to speak evil of God the Holy Spirit than to speak evil of God the Son? Why is it so much worse to use abusive language toward God the Holy Spirit than it is to use abusive language toward God the Son? That’s exactly what Christ himself declared: “Any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven men; but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. And whoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age, or in the age to come” (Matt. 12:31-32). (See also Mark 3:28-29 and Luke 12:10).
Christ also demonstrated that blasphemy against his own person was not an unpardonable sin, because the ones who blasphemed him were the very ones he asked God to forgive. “They blindfolded him and were asking him, saying, ‘Prophesy, who is the one who hit you?’ And they were saying many other things against him, blaspheming; But Jesus was saying, ‘Father forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing’ ” (Luke 22:64-65; 23:34).
Christ himself had been charged with blasphemy on several occasions:
Once was for claiming divine sonship. “The Jews answered him, ‘For a good work we do not stone you, but for blasphemy; and because you, being a man, make yourself out to be God.’ Jesus answered them, ‘Has it not been written in your Law, “I said, you are gods”? If he called them gods to whom the word of God came . . . do you say of him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, “You are blaspheming”; because I said, “I am the Son of God”?’ ” (John 10:33-36).
Christ was also charged with blasphemy for exemplifying divine attributes. “They were bringing him a paralytic, lying on a bed; and Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, ‘Take courage, my son, your sins are forgiven.’ And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, ‘This fellow blasphemes.’ ” (Matt. 9:2-3).
He repudiated these charges saying that his enemies didn’t even know the meaning of blasphemy.
Later the early Christians were accused of blasphemy for speaking against the traditions of Moses, the Law, the temple and God. “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God. . . (He) incessantly speaks against this holy place, and the Law; for we have heard him say that . . . Jesus, will destroy this place and alter the customs which Moses handed down to us” (Acts 6:11-14).
In fact, this incident led to the stoning of Stephen. Again, the accusations were false. So, we see that irreverence toward God is not blaspheming the Holy Spirit; attacking Christ is not blaspheming the Holy Spirit; Assuming divine attributes is not blaspheming the Holy Spirit; and rejecting traditional doctrines is not blaspheming the Holy Spirit.
What than is blasphemy, and most especially, what is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit?
There must be some extremely important psychological principle involved in this situation. The Lord wouldn’t have made such radical statements without just cause. He wouldn’t have given such dire warnings lightly or casually.
Why is blaspheming the Holy Spirit so unforgivable?
Blaspheming the Holy Spirit is a deadly sin because the Holy Spirit is within us. Our self-esteem and self-assurance is bound up in our evaluation of the Holy Spirit.
Research has shown that lack of self-worth leads to every problem known to man. California did a recent study and found one commonality among criminals, alcoholics, drug addicts, welfare recipients and patients with mental illnesses. That one commonality was low self-esteem!
Individuals who internalize their low self-esteem become accident prone, unhealthy and unproductive. As the chronic failure remarked, “If the world is constantly turning, why am I always on the bottom?” In extreme cases this leads to depression and suicide.
Individuals who externalize their low self-esteem become defensive, critical and aggressive. As the psychologist remarked, “There’s something wrong with any individual that constantly sees wrong in others.” In extreme cases this leads to violence and crime. In short, self-worth is the magic ingredient in both personal confidence and social interaction. When it comes to accomplishment, it’s almost a fact that you can’t if you think you can’t; and you can if you think you can! This placebo principle enables sugar pills and positive suggestions to effect the alleviation of suffering.
If thoughts are that powerful and beliefs are that crucial; then it’s not surprising that self-worth determines our physical, mental and Spiritual achievements.
Blaspheming the Holy Spirit within destroys this self or soul. It sets up a vicious circle. “If I’m not worth much, then I can’t do much. Therefore, I don’t do much, and thus, I soon have more concrete evidence that I’m not worth much.”
It’s a disastrous process. Paul Tournier calls it a “Pardon me for existing attitude!” He says these individuals “Sit on the edge of their seats as if they don’t deserve a whole place in life.”
The young Eleanor Roosevelt was painfully shy, but as she grew in self-esteem, she made this brilliant observation: “No one can make you feel inferior unless you agree to it!”
That’s the point. It’s up to us. We sabotage our own possibilities. We’re our own worst enemies. Blaspheming the Holy Spirit is unforgivable because there’s no one to forgive it! We’ve done it to ourselves.
How then can we avoid this deadly sin? How can we avoid blaspheming the Holy Spirit?
We can do it by showing a deep respect and reverence for God the Holy Spirit, who is within us.
We can correctly evaluate and appreciate ourselves and our abilities.
We can develop an optimistic and confident outlook on life.
We can exemplify a permanent attitude of personal self-assurance. Of course this is easier said than done; but God can help us.
Paul said one essential function of the Holy Spirit is to assure. Since God knows that a sense of security is essential to our well being, He gives us an unconditional warranty. The Holy Spirit is the tangible proof of our divine inheritance. “Who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge” (II Cor. 1:22).
This helper is dependable and permanent. “He will give you another helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth” (John 14:16-17).
The Holy Spirit cooperates with our own personalities to prove our status as children of God. “The Spirit himself bears witness with our Spirit that we are the children of God” (Rom. 8:16).
The Holy Spirit verifies our actions and attitudes as a Christian. “The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And we know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit which He has given us” (I John 3:24).
Believers are sealed with an unbreakable promise. “In Him, you also . . . were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise” (Eph. 1:13).
Paul combines the conscience and the Holy Spirit in an unusual way. He says they bear witness, or authenticate each other. “I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 9:1).
If the conscience and the sub-conscience are at odds, we are in serious conflict. We aren’t whole! Inner peace, assurance and confidence can only be realized when our conscience and our sub-conscience are at one. Permanent assurance requires a clear conscience.
A farmer was looking for someone to work for the summer. He interviewed one after another until he came to a fellow that impressed him by his straight forward appearance.
“I need someone to look after horses and cattle. I want someone to tend and feed the stock. Can you do that?” The young man answered: “I can sleep on a stormy night.”
The farmer was confused, but he kept questioning. “I need a man to keep up the fences and do a little carpenter work on the barn. Can you do that?” The young man gave the same answer, “I can sleep on a stormy night.”
The farmer was dumfounded by the answers but he hired the man anyway. The employee did everything asked of him. He worked hard and things went well for several weeks. Then one night a storm broke. The lightning flashed, the thunder rolled and the rain came down in torrents. The wind shook the house. The farmer jumped up, rushed to the bunkhouse and pounded on the door. No answer. All he could hear was snoring.
The farmer couldn’t wake his hired hand, so he ran to the barn himself. The cows were in their pens; the horses were in their stalls; the doors were locked and barred; and the gates were tightly shut. He ran to the henhouse. The windows were fastened. Everything was safe and quiet. The hayrack was staked out and tied down. The loose tin on the implement shed had been secured with new nails.
The next morning at breakfast the farmer said, “We had quite a storm last night.” The hired hand said, “Oh, did we? Storms don’t wake me up. They don’t bother me at all.”
The old farmer said, “Yeah, that’s what I noticed. You were snoring away. I understand now what you meant when you said you could sleep on a stormy night.”
It seems this young fellow had a philosophy of life: “I will prepare for storms in advance. I will do my job so thoroughly and plan for crises so carefully that, when they come, they will not even wake me or bother me.” If we have assurance, we too can sleep better on stormy nights, and accomplish more on sunny days!
When we have inner peace; when we have personal assurance; when we feel God’s presence; when we have a sense of self-worth, that’s the work of the Holy Spirit.
Paul calls these traits the fruits of the Spirit: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace . . .” (Gal. 5:22-23).
The gifts of the Holy Spirit meet basic emotional needs. Love, joy and peace are of universal importance.
The love, that is a fruit of the Spirit, does not involve passion or affection. Rather, it is love in a moral sense--desiring benevolence and justice for all. The joy indicates a deep happiness and a calm delight. It is an inner gladness, not necessarily the temporary pleasures we experience in moments of fun and frolic.
The peace is a sense of wholeness. It is a quiet and restful state without conflict or stress.
These are essential traits. Self-worth includes a sensible, honest view of ourselves. It leads to a secure, non-defensive, productive lifestyle.
We should respect ourselves because we are children of God. We should evaluate ourselves by God’s criteria, not by the world’s criteria. A fable tells of a fox who looked at his large shadow at sunrise and said, “I must have an elephant for lunch” However, when he looked at his small shadow at noon, he said, “A mouse will do!” Circumstances change, but our value is not determined by external things!
Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is vitally linked to self-worth because the Holy Spirit is God in me. An old Hindu legend describes a time when all people had access to divine power. Unfortunately, they were immature and abused this tremendous power; so Brahma hid it where they would never look. He hid it where they would search last. He hid it where it could not be found without serious and responsible introspection. Where did he hide it? He hid it deep within each individual.
Paul actually agreed, in essence, when he said, “Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (I Cor. 3:16).
That divine presence in us, and in others, must not be denied, reviled or treated as worthless! A traveler in the diamond fields of South Africa saw a boy amusing himself by throwing stones. One of the stones fell at the stranger’s feet. He picked it up and was in the act of returning it when an unexpected flash caught his eye! This was a diamond! The child was playing with it as with a common stone. The peasant’s foot had kicked it; the cart-wheels had crushed it. It was considered totally worthless until someone who knew, saw and recognized its value.
This same careless treatment of immortal souls is what inspired Christ to give such a serious warning against blaspheming the Holy Spirit.
Don’t criticize and demean yourself. Don’t criticize and demean others. God the Holy Spirit is in people, and blaspheming that Spirit is fatal!
From: Spiritual Vandalism, by Maralene and Miles Wesner, Diversity Press, 1988 (Plastic Comb binding).
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