Thread by @glprater

#GeraldsDevotional
This is a very timely message from the Lord for us on this longest day of the year as we look around and seriously ponder the conditions. Thank You Lord for Your mercy.

The Unforgivable Sin
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The theme and scripture of today’s devotional are interesting for several reasons. As I studied and prayed on it this morning, the Lord showed me several interesting connections.

In today’s scripture from Mark chapter 3, Jesus makes that statement about the one and only sin that

can never be forgiven. It is important to place His statement today into the proper context. Even though it is listed as a new section in some translations of the bible, this quote is actually a continuation of Jesus’ response to the previous statement by the Jewish teachers.

They had just accused Him of having an unclean spirit. They accused Jesus of casting out demons with the power of Satan. In essence, they were accusing the Holy Spirit (who was the actual power at work here) of being satanic. After explaining about the fallacy of their reasoning

(how a divided house can not stand), Jesus then issued this sharp warning about the danger of blaspheming against the Holy Spirit. It is the one sin that will never be forgiven.

It is ironic because these Jewish leaders were projecting. They had consistently been accusing Jesus

of blaspheming against God when right here, Jesus is pointing out to them that they are actually doing what they accuse Him of doing.

This is also interesting because yesterday morning in this devotional series we just discussed the naming of the 12 disciples.

Specifically we talked about how the sin that Judas Iscariot committed was not terminal and could have been forgiven. Judas did NOT commit the unpardonable sin. When Matthew describes this very same scene in his gospel, Jesus goes on to say “Anyone who speaks a word against the

Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.” (Matthew 12:32)

Jesus came here to bear all of our sins. Our Father sent the Holy Spirit to be our Helper living inside of us

to show us how to live righteously and without sin. If we reject (or blaspheme) that Helper, there remains no other remedy for us. God even says NOT to pray for people who commit this sin. In yet another connection, we recently discussed this in a devotional back on June 10th of

this year during that series where we went backwards through 1st John chapter 5. In the scripture on that day, the Lord said that there was one sin that leads to death and that we should not pray for others who commit that sin (1 John 5:16).

Finally, there is another place in the scripture with a stern warning to all of us about how serious this is. In Hebrews 10:26-29, the writer warns us to not play around with sinning willfully when we already know the truth about what God has done for us. It is a dangerous thing

to selfishly play around with the Holy Spirit of grace. This is a warning for each one of us brothers and sisters, especially today that we should all be very aware of. This is especially true in these current times of such lies and deception by our enemy when the stakes are so

very high (life and death). Take the Holy Spirit very seriously and submit to be led by Him.

Now let’s read the last part of that quote from Jesus as He responds to being accused of having the spirit of a demon. It is found in Mark chapter 3 beginning in verse 28.

The Unpardonable Sin
28 “Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; 29 but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation”— 30 because they said, “He has an

unclean spirit.” - Mark 3:28-30
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