By
Allen White
“Whoever is not with me is against me, and
whoever does not gather with me scatters. And so I tell you, every kind of sin
and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be
forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but
anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this
age or in the age to come.
“Make
a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will
be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you
who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.
A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man
brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that
everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word
they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words
you will be condemned.” Matthew 12:30-37
Words are powerful
things. Words can injure. Words can heal. Words can bring success. Words can
predict failure.
People often scoff
at the power of positive thinking. If you’ve embraced negative thinking, how is
that working out for you?
Considering that
ultimately we will all be judged for our words, there is certainly a case here
for biting our tongues. The condition of our hearts is judged by our words.
Sure we can fake it for a while, but when we get squeezed by this world, our
words will betray what’s inside of us.
The most
troublesome matter regarding our words is this idea of the blasphemy of the
Holy Spirit. It sounds incurable. It sounds daunting. To some, it even sounds
like something they might accidentally do and then get locked out for good.
What does it mean?
The Holy Spirit
came to earth to work on what’s inside of all of us. His mission is this: “When
[the Spirit] comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and
righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me;
in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see
me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now
stands condemned” (John 16:8-11). Through each person’s conscience, the
Holy Spirit activates an awareness of what’s right and wrong (Romans 9:1).
Over the years, I
have heard activists from various persuasions blame evangelical Christians for
making sinful people feel bad about themselves. They have a point. It’s not any
believer’s job to judge other people, but to extend God’s love to them.
But, if every
evangelical Christian in the world shut up (imagine that), people who are
slaves to sin would still feel convicted of their sins. Why? Because the Holy
Spirit is also working on them. No one can escape it.
While plenty of
people use Jesus’ name in vain, we really don’t hear much swearing that
involves the Holy Spirit. So what is this blasphemy? I believe blaspheming the
Holy Spirit comes down to continually ignoring His voice and refusing to seek
forgiveness for our sins.
Every person who
dies in sin and hasn’t sought salvation spends eternity separated from God.
It’s the unpardonable sin – a pardon was available, but they never requested
it.
Who do you know
that believes God has given up on them? As long as they have breath in their
bodies, the Holy Spirit is still working on them. They may have lost
sensitivity to Him years ago, but He’s still right there. Lift them up in
prayer. Pray for their sensitivities to God’s Spirit to be heightened. Pray
that they get themselves in enough of a mess that they’ll cry out to God.
Now, what about
you? What are you telling yourself these days? Are your words positive and
uplifting or are they negative and defeating? What are you saying to those
around you? As a believer, the same power that raised Christ from the dead
lives in you (Romans 8:9-11). Tap into that and see how your words
might change.
To make a tax deductible donation to
Galatians 4:19 Ministries:
To subscribe or leave a comment on the galatians419
devotional blog:http://galatians419.blogspot.com
No comments:
Post a Comment