29th June 2024

29th June 2024


Pray (ACts)


Read (1 John 5v16-17)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


We have all said at one point or another that there is nothing that God can't forgive. I fully understand the sentiment and it is mostly true but not completely. The vast majority of sins can be forgiven and if we ever see a brother committing one of these sins we should earnestly call upon the Lord on our brother's behalf (v16).


This is a great challenge to our own sinfulness. We often rush to condemn a fallen brother when we should actually be praying for him. The majority of sins can be forgiven and therefore they do not lead to death (v16). We should pray that the Lord would restore our wayward brothers and sisters and give them life (v16b). Was John talking about physical death? No. All humans will die once but there is a second death for those who reject Christ. Anyone who has shunned the offer of the Gospel will have a place “in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur” (Revelation 21v8), this is the second death.


The Gospel is good news for sinners of all kinds. There is hope in Christ for the liar, adulterer, slanderer, thief and chief of sinners. However there is a sin that cannot be forgiven and therefore it always leads to death. John says that this sin exists and we are not duty bound to pray for the one who commits it (v16c). All wrongdoing is sinful and the majority of sin does not necessarily lead to death (v17) but there is a sin for which there is no hope of forgiveness.


What is this unforgivable sin? It is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. What does this mean? Jesus cast out demons by the power of the Spirit and the Pharisees declared Him to be Satanic (Matthew 12v22-32). This is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. This is the unforgivable sin. It is ultimately a sin of terrible unbelief that assigns the work of God to the enemy himself. It is a sin that sees the glory of the Gospel and spits all over it. It is a sin that shows such hardness of heart that the individual in question cannot and will not repent. It is an awful spiritual condition and Christ's teaching should serve as the strongest of warnings to the one who has no time for the things of God. Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit cannot be forgiven, it will receive its due reward in the lake of fire.


Can a Christian commit blasphemy of the Holy Spirit? No. The child of God has been transformed by the Gospel and Holy Spirit. The individual who has received a new heart from God will be kept to the very end. Will such a person sin after their conversion to Christ? Yes. But will they be eternally lost? No. The true Christian is no stranger to the grace of repentance and the assurance of forgiveness that the Gospel gives.


This is not so for the blasphemer of the Holy Spirit. Such a person has no regard for Christ and thinks Jesus to be evil and His truth to be a lie. I do not write this with arrogance but with holy fear. Sin is always rotten and corrosive but sometimes it can also lead a man to such hardness that there is no longer any hope of salvation. 


What should we do in light of what we have heard? Three things. Brothers and sisters, keep a close eye on your own soul lest you be deceived by the deceitfulness of sin. Secondly, pray earnestly for fallen brothers and sisters calling them back to Jesus. Finally, if you ever come across someone who you suspect may have committed the unforgivable sin, be wise. You can never know anyone’s heart so declaring such a person to be doomed is not within your remit. Even so, you are not bound to pray for such a person’s salvation. Instead I would suggest when we meet raging sinful unbelief, we thank God that He has kept us from such an awful state. Thanks be to God, for the one who has been born twice will die only once.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC


Q78 What is forbidden in the ninth commandment? The ninth commandment forbiddeth whatsoever is prejudicial to truth, or injurious to our own or our neighbor’s good name.
​