What comes to mind when you consider the unpardonable or unforgivable sin? Your mind might drift back to sinful things you’ve done in the past or are presently doing. You might think about the sins committed against others or against yourself. Many people have a sort of hierarchy of sins taken from a list curated by society over the centuries. There are even some sincere Christians who have a sliding scale of sin severity based on wisdom and traditions of men. The Bible cuts through the clutter of human opinion. It explains precisely what the unforgivable sin is and how to deal with it because ignoring it has eternally tragic consequences. Romans 6:23

As humans, our collective ability to falsely rate and rationalize sin is profound. We have a list of the biggies like murder, robbery, adultery, rape, and abuse, among others. Then there are the so-called lesser evils of gossip, slander, hatred, emotional adultery, lying, greed, pride, and sexual immorality, etc. Then we try to fool ourselves and our Creator by making excuses for sin by blaming our family, upbringing, culture, socioeconomic status, the past, our surroundings, or God. Although the conscience might be soothed for a season, the nagging guilt and knowledge of who we really are inside reemerges.

In Matthew 12:22, Mark 3:22, and Luke 11:14, Jesus has an encounter with the Pharisees and warns about committing the unpardonable sin. Jesus heals a man who was demon-possessed, blind, and mute. The Pharisees are murmuring among themselves and saying that Jesus cast out demons through the power of the prince of demons. Of course, Jesus rebuked them and gave the famous response that a kingdom divided against itself can’t stand. The Lord also warned His listeners that all sins can be forgiven except for the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. The Pharisees blasphemed the work of the Spirit by attributing it to demonic power, but that’s not all.

Jesus warned that those who aren’t with Him are against Him, and whoever doesn’t gather with Him scatters. Not only were the Pharisees guilty of crediting the Spirit’s work to demons, but they were also guilty of opposing the work of the Spirit by scattering people. The Pharisees were guilty of blaspheming the Spirit by lying about and ultimately rejecting Him.

When we consider much of what the Holy Spirit does, we have to take a close look at John 16:8-9. Every believer knows that the Holy Spirit is with us as our Comforter, Helper, and Friend. In the verses above, we see that a large part of the Spirit’s work is bringing conviction to the world regarding sin, righteousness, and judgment.

For thousands of years, right up to our present day, scores of faithful preachers, perhaps billions of Christian witnesses, have spread the gospel. In recent times, we still have some biblical solid radio, television, and internet evangelists bringing the good news. There are Bibles in virtually every hotel room, tracts left for others to find, and evangelical churches on almost every corner in every town in Western society. Creation itself shouts there is a God, and every person’s conscience attests to the fact that we have a Creator to answer to. Romans 1:18-21

As the gospel goes out and the Holy Spirit moves among and convicts people of sin, some will respond with repentance and saving faith in Jesus, while others will hear the same good news and respond with rebellion and hardness of heart. When people ignore and reject the work of the Spirit, they are setting themselves up for blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. They go through life gambling with their eternity by not coming to repentance. Revelation 9:20-21 shows there is a time when people choose not to repent, leading to the time when they can’t repent.

Whether we’re taken into eternity by death or the Lord’s return, whatever our standing is with Jesus at that moment will be our reality forever. To reject the good news that Jesus came into the world to save sinners and decide not to respond by faith and repentance is to blaspheme the Holy Spirit. That is the one sin that God won’t forgive.

Remember the list of sins we mentioned earlier? Every one of those sins can be forgiven, and we can be made clean by the blood Jesus shed on the cross for all of us. The word of God clearly states that today is the day of salvation and not to harden your heart if you hear His voice. Don’t be deceived by Satan or yourself through rationalizing sin. Don’t gamble your eternity with unfortunate sentiments like: “He knows my heart” or “The God I know would never send anyone to hell.” Here’s what famous preachers said about our human ability to rationalize sin and reject the good news:

We’ve tried to call our sin errors, mistakes, or poor judgment, but sin itself has stayed the same.” -Billy Graham

“We have the strange illusion that time cancels sin.” -C.S. Lewis

“People on Earth hate to hear the word repent, while those in hell wish they could hear it just once more.” -A.W. Tozer

Dear friends, this isn’t a hyper-grace message, and I want to make it clear that the temporary pleasures of sin always come with a price. Consequences are measured in broken relationships, families, and lives. When we finally come to the end of ourselves and realize that the wages of sin is death and we only deserve judgment and hell, then will God’s grace truly be amazing to us. If you haven’t come to repentance and made Jesus your Lord, please do it today and be free from the only sin God won’t forgive, Romans 10:9-10.

Fellow Christians, Time is short, Jesus is coming back soon, and many lost people are going into eternity every day. We must do everything we can to bring the good news to everyone the Lord leads us to.

All for Him,

Howard

Podcast Episode: The One Sin God Won’t Forgive

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/concerning-the-times/id1565453348?i=1000732861814

 

While discarding old files, I came across an old and venerable essay. It was a buried treasure.

In “Winning Christ,” best-selling author and evangelist David Wilkerson puts a different spin on a familiar verse and provides the reader with a superb mindset to prepare for both the Rapture and the judgment seat of Christ.

The verse: “1 count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, THAT I MAY WIN CHRIST” (Philippians 3:8).

Paul’s focus here is to win Christ, not “win souls,” as one may expect, but “win Christ.” Wilkerson takes this to mean to win Christ’s favor.  Somewhat different, in that we would tend to think Jesus Christ is surely “already won” because he loved us enough to die for us, but it appears Paul (and Wilkerson) is going to a deeper level: addressing our actual, personal, interactive, and reciprocal relationship with Christ.

Background

The verse’s original Greek is:

• κἂγὼ ἡγοῦμαι πάντα ζημίαν ὡς ζημίαν ὑπὲρ τὴν ὑπερβολὴν τῆς γνώσεως Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ τοῦ Κυρίου μου

Parsing:

• ἡγοῦμαι (hēgoumai) – “I count, consider, regard.”
• πάντα ζημίαν (panta zēmian) – “all things as loss” (literally “all as a loss/damage”).
• ὑπὲρ τὴν ὑπερβολὴν τῆς γνώσεως Χριστοῦ (huper tēn huperbolēn tēs gnōseōs Christou) – “because of the surpassing value of the knowledge of Christ”
  • γνώσεως (gnōseōs) = knowledge, relational/intimate knowledge (not mere intellectual information).

So literally, from the Greek, the verse is: “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”  The sense of “winning,” or “gaining” Christ comes from “counting everything as loss” in order to obtain or experience the surpassing value of Christ.

Like Wilkerson, Matthew Henry (1662-1714, who wrote the six-volume Commentary on the Bible as well as a summary version, goes a step farther here to interpret “win Christ” as securing Christ’s friendship, favor, and eternal fellowship — the only true treasure a believer can seek. “He (Paul) tells us what it was that he was ambitious of and reached after: it was the knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord, a believing experimental acquaintance with Christ as Lord, not a merely notional (i.e., theoretical) and speculative, but a practical and efficacious knowledge of him.”

Wilkerson surely sought to “win Christ” in his own life. Wilkinson started preaching at 14; he attended Bible college; he was ordained as a minister and served small congregations in Pennsylvania. Then something remarkable happened: the Lord called him to minister to New York City street gangs. So, like Abraham, he picked up and went. His faith was living, practical, and reciprocal. His was a real relationship with the Lord. He wrote a book about his experiences, and a certain amount of fame and notoriety ensued.

Here is his remarkable essay:

Winning Christ By David Wilkerson

“1 count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, THAT I MAY WIN CHRIST” (Philippians 3:8, KJV CAPS OURS).

Have you won the Lord’s heart? The apostle Paul stated the purpose of renouncing his past life as this: “That I may win Christ.” He was completely captivated by Christ, having eyes only for the Lord.

Why would Paul feel the need to “win” Christ? Christ already had revealed Himself not just to the apostle, but in him. Even so, Paul set out to win Christ’s heart and affection.

You see, Paul’s entire being—his ministry, his life, his very purpose for living—was focused only on pleasing his Master and Lord. All else was rubbish to him! I believe one of the reasons Paul never married was to give himself more time to care “for the things that belong to the Lord, how (I) may please the Lord” (1 Corinthians 7:32). And he urged others in the same direction, “that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing” (Colossians 1:10).

Is this scriptural—this “winning the heart of Jesus”? Are we not all the object of God’s love, regardless? Indeed, His benevolent love extends to all mankind. But there is another kind of love—an affectionate love such as occurs between a husband and wife—and only a few ever experience it.

The Example of Ruth

The Book of Ruth is a wonderful story of a converted heathen maiden who won the heart of her earthly lord. I believe it is a prophetic story—a message that speaks powerfully to us today. For we win Christ in the same way that Ruth won Boaz!

When this message stirred in my heart, I searched throughout my library, including all the commentaries—but could not find a single writer who saw the spiritual and prophetic meaning of the book of Ruth. Only one writer even suggested that, since Ruth was a Moabite, God may be telling us something about the Gentiles being grafted into the vine.

But this story is more than just historic! Paul writes: “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come” (1 Corinthians 10:11). Paul says that even the Old Testament’s mention of muzzling oxen was written “for our sakes, no doubt” (1 Corinthians 9:10).

Find this wonderful (and copyrighted) essay in full at https://www.worldchallenge.org/winning-christ

“Winning Christ” makes spirituality personal, meaningful, interactive, and rewarding rather than academic, abstract, and for some, oppressive. Yes, we are saved by grace; yes, there is nothing more to do about that, but seeking his favor elevates us to a new status with Christ, remarkably, as “friends.”

“Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you” (John 15.15).

Friends relate, engage, give, “win” each other’s favor. So should we, with God. If our prayers or Bible study have flagged, good news: he is waiting to hear from us.

We can each ask Him what we can do today to “win” his favor. Then – we can do it! How much better it will be at the bema seat of Christ, where rewards are distributed if our bond with Christ is close, personal, and favored. At His right hand are pleasures for evermore (Ps. 16). We will be thrilled beyond measure both in this world and in the world to come because we wisely use our time here to “win Christ.”

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David Wilkerson (May 19, 1931 – April 27, 2011) was president of World Challenge, Inc., in Lindale, Texas, and founded Teen Challenge in New York City. Widely known as “the gang preacher,” he traveled to the heart of New York City to preach the gospel to gang members, and became famous as “the gang preacher.” His remarkable account, The Cross and the Switchblade, sold more than 15 million copies, was translated into 30 languages. A film version was made as well (1970).

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John A. Sarkett wrote After Armageddon, Strangest Stories in the Bible, Bach and Heaven: The Promise of Afterlife in the Text of the Cantatas, and most recently published Revelation Illustrated.