A stressful couple of weeks culminated in me at home yesterday with a migraine. In my blog I was sharing my favorite definition of stress and it's impact in my life. Remember when I mentioned my support group would show me if there are other deeper issues that needed rooted out? Well God delivered during my quiet time this morning!!!!
Matthew 12:31-32 jumped off the page at me in a way that left me searching for more. What exactly is 'blasphemy' and why would it be forgiven to blaspheme Jesus but not the Holy Ghost?
In my KJV study Bible it notes that the main issue was attributing Jesus' miracles as Satan's power rather than from the true source. Further search of other verses and notes suggest that the unpardonable sin is when you are attributing power/control to anything other than Holy Spirit. It also states in Mark 3:29 that it puts you in danger of eternal damnation.
As I'm reading it makes me wonder if that is the same thing I've been doing.....attributing control for my life to me rather than with God's Holy Spirit which indwells a person upon trusting Jesus for your salvation. Why is it that we as humans trust Jesus for salvation but then often want to take back the reigns soon after we handed them over? Still not sure about the definition of blasphemy or why Holy Spirit takes precedence over Jesus, I grabbed my Zondervan's Handbook of the Bible and Smith's Bible dictionary.
Zondervan's points out that Jesus's miracles were not about demonstrating his power. Rather the true intent was about him pointing people to the truth of God's Kingdom. While our fleshly viewpoint of "kingdom" involves power and wealth, God's kingdom is about mercy and empowering ordinary, weak people just like us to live according to His will. Jesus speaks of all this in John 14-16. The Holy Spirit's role is to dwell within us, comfort us, teach us and bring God's Word to remembrance when time is right. Reproving the world of sin is another important duty.....however, that can only occur through the believers whom He has been actively working in.
Smith's definition of 'blasphemy' starts off with "speaking evil of" but continues on with other explanations. It was the last statement in that paragraph that really hit home. According to that definition blasphemy is "a state of willful, determined opposition to God and Holy Spirit that no efforts will avail to lead to repentance."
So are my "control issues" stress or good old fashioned blasphemy? Am I attributing blessings/changes to anything or anyone other than God? Do I live with even the slightest bit of willful opposition to God and Holy Spirit? I really hate to even answer those questions!!!!! And essentially since actions too often speak louder than words am I pointing others to self-control or God's control?
No comments:
Post a Comment