DAILY DISCIPLINE #140
By Colleen Donahue

When I was a college student and a new Christian I was haunted by the verses that we'll study here in Matthew 12: 31-33. I often wondered if I might have committed the unpardonable sin and felt fearful lest that should ever happen.

If you have thought the same then the truths of this study will reveal the one person that can't be guilty of .....

An Unforgivable Sin

Studies continued from Matthew 12

 

Day 1- It is strange to hear Jesus speaking any words about unforgiveness since His mission in life was to take the penalty of man's sin and reconcile us with His Father. He is speaking here to the scribes and rabbis. They did not know about the Holy Spirit as we know today and so this passage must be interpreted in the light of the Jewish conception of the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 12: 31-33

Day 2- In Jewish thought the Holy Spirit did two things. First, he brought truth to men and was God's instrument of revelation.
1 Corinthians 2:10 / 2 Peter 1:20-21

Day 3- Secondly the Holy Spirit enabled men to recognize truth and understand it.
Nehemiah 9:20a / Ezekiel 36:27 / 1 John 2:27

There is in every man a spirit given faculty that enables us to recognize goodness and truth. But like everything else, if we refuse to use it, we lose it.

How can we lose the ability to recognize goodness and truth when we see it?

Day 4 - We do so if..... we choose to shut our eyes and our ears to God's way and therefore don't see or hear. We become blind and dumb to the truth.
Jeremiah 6:10 / Zechariah 7:11-12 / Luke 16:31

Day 5- We do so if..... we hear God, but refuse to listen to Him when He gives us guidance. Therefore, in the refusing we disobey.
Ezekiel 12:2 / Matthew 7:26 / 2 Timothy 4:4

Day 6- We do so if .....we choose our own way, our own human ideas over God's.
1 Samuel 8:19-20 / 2 Kings 17:15-17 / 1 Corinthians 2:14

Day 7- We do so when..... evil seems to us as good.
Isaiah 5:20 / John 3:19

When you summarize the verses you just looked up in Day 4-7 notice the willful choices in these verses.
-Their ears are closed
-They refused
-They turned their backs
-They stopped up their ears
-They made their hearts as hard as flint
-They would not listen
-They have eyes to see but don't
-They have ears to hear but don't
-They don't put God's word into practice
-They turn their ears away from the truth
-They refused to listen
-They rejected God's decrees
-They followed idols
-They imitated ungodly nations
-They forsook
-They bowed down to the stars
-They sacrificed sons and daughters
-They practiced divination and sorcery
-They do not accept the things from the Spirit
-They call evil good and good evil

Day 8- And so, in the willful rejection of truth, a person becomes dull -- a man without understanding or conscience.
2 Corinthians 3:14 / 2 Corinthians 4:4 / Ephesians 4:18

Day 9- Like a person going blind their dullness turns to darkness until they ARE totally blind.
Psalm 82:5 / Proverbs 4:19 / Isaiah 59:10 / Matthew 6:23

Day 10- This is what the Scribes and Pharisees had come to. They had insisted on their own way for so long that they had become blind and deaf to the guidance of God. Therefore, they couldn't recognize God's truth and goodness in Christ when He came.
John 1:5 / John 3:19

Day 11- When a person reaches this stage, repentance is impossible. He does not recognize good when he sees it and he doesn't recognize evil as evil. If he can't repent then he can't be forgiven because repentance is the only condition for forgiveness.
Isaiah 30:15 (especially the last part of verse 15) / Jeremiah 5:3

Day 12 - This is why the sin against the Holy Spirit is unforgivable. The one person who cannot have committed this sin is the one who fears that he has. For with this sin we have lost all sense of sin. Be sensitive to God. Learn to heed his still small voice and that voice will become your compass and true guide.
Psalm 73: 24 / Isaiah 30:21 / Isaiah 42:16

 

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