The Truth About The Unpardonable Sin;
Blasphemy Against The Holy Spirit Of God
“Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw. And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David? But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. Or else how can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house. He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.” (Matthew 12:22-32 KJV)
When The Word became human (John 1), Jesus put aside His Godly powers and relied solely on the Holy Spirit to perform the miracles, as He was fully human and fully God.
Jesus was speaking directly to the Pharisees in Matthew 12 , who were attributing His casting out of devils by the power of the Holy Spirit, to satan. This was the sin that Jesus said would not be pardoned. It was utter and complete UNBELIEF and Jesus knew they would never believe in Him as Messiah. The Pharisees knew the prophesies the foretold Messiah would perform. They were without excuse. Even the other Jews seeing such amazing miracles as the passage knew!
“And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David?”
So by attributing the miracles as being by power of satan, their UNBELIEF was very clear indeed!
Because Jesus is seated at the right hand of God and not on earth, it is not possible for anyone to commit this sin now. However, outright unbelief and rejection of Christ for salvation is the only sin that dooms a person to remain condemned.
There is no scriptural basis to support any sin committed today to be unforgivable. Their is also no Scripture read in proper context to support that a born again believer can lose salvation either.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH IN HIM should not perish, but have EVERLASTING life.” (John 3:16 KJV)
“He that BELIEVETH ON THE SON HATH EVERLASTING LIFE: and he that BELIEVETH NOT the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” (John 3:36 KJV)
The ‘whosoever’is anyone; regardless of what they have done. On this side of the cross event, believers have the Holy Spirit SEALED within us until our bodily resurrection (Eph. 1:13-14, 4:30), so it is not possible for us to commit this sin, nor lose our salvation.
For us living in the dispensation of grace, the Church Age, the unforgivable sin is TO REJECT the FREE GIFT of salvation, the pardon for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2) that Jesus purchased for us with His very life. The same thing the Pharisees had; out right unbelief that Jesus is the foretold Christ.
“For the wages of sin is death; but the GIFT of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)
Rejecting Jesus as Messiah, as the foretold Christ, means a person has no other way to be forgiven their sins. The wages of sin is eternal death, and belief on Christ for forgiveness is the only way provided by God for our sin problem.
“He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned ALREADY, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:18 KJV)
“Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.” (Hebrews 10:18 KJV)
A believers salvation can never be lost. Salvation is ETERNAL. Anything we do wrong after our moment of salvation is sin. And all a believer’s sins were paid in full by Jesus Christ on that cross. Such sin was already judged regarding condemnation.
We can lose rewards for sin. We will have consequences in our Earthly life for sin. BUT NEVER condemnation in hell. We are COMPLETE IN CHRIST by belief in Jesus’ blood atonement and that happened and was sealed 2000 years ago by Christ (Colossians 2, Hebrews 10).
Some people say, this is not an important question to answer and that we are living in The Church Age and so it does not affect us. Yet, it does affect us and is affecting this generation in regards to the true Gospel of Grace, which is not of works in any manner to be saved nor to remain saved. Answering this question is actually very important for us today, living in the dispensation of the Grace of God as Apostle Paul taught. Understanding the answer from Scripture also affects how one interprets the Sheep and Goats Judgment of Christ. A passage of Scripture that many preachers are telling us is about The Church, when in fact it is NOT about the Church Age believers of today but about survivors of the Tribulation Period. The Church will already be in Heaven BEFORE this takes event takes place. How one answers this question about Old Testament believers can even affect if one will believe the false ‘works for salvation’ gospel that is rampant in this End Time Generation.Yes, the answer is very important to understand today!
DISPENSATIONS – A Quick Overview in regards to this question.
God gave Daniel a 70 week prophecy which is an overview of human history and it shows us different dispensations wherein God is working His purpose with humankind for salvation. Not to get into the great detail that the Bible shares about different dispensations (that is different time periods in human history where God relates to humankind in a slightly different perspective and manner), in this article of discussion. A study of the Dispensations is a vast topic. In this article, I will present a summary about the topic of dispensations to help in answering the question of the article.
There is the Old Testament believers and the lives they lived up until the Messiah, Jesus The Christ, was crucified and rejected. This included the Prophets of old and the age of the Law given to Moses. Then there is the dispensation of the Grace of God as Paul described it, which we call The Church Age in which we today are living within. It is a time from Pentecost after the cross of Christ until the Harpazo Rapture event takes place. And there is a future Dispensation coming soon. We see Apostle Paul discuss these in Ephesians as ‘times past’, ‘and now’, ‘to come’.
God gave the prophet Daniel and Prophecy of 70 weeks of 430 year time spans that will happen in human history. Much of it Daniel did not even understand himself but God told him to write it down and that in the Last Days it will be understood. Well, here we are with great understanding of the prophecy and living in the End Times indeed. Daniel states in Daniel 9:26, that at the end of the 69th weeks of 430 years each, the Messiah would be “cut-off”. This is precisely what happened at this appointed time by God when Christ was rejected as the foretold Messiah that would come to bring the Kingdom Age promises to come to pass. Yet, that is not what happened because although God did His part and Christ came, the Jewish Pharisee leaders rejected Him as the foretold Messiah. Due to this rejection, God’s discipline was instead going to be on Israel as God had done many times in Israel’s past when they fell away from God and turned to Idols; a time of discipline would now befall them.
Once the Pharisee leaders accused Jesus of doing His miracles by the power of satan, they utterly rejected Him (Matthew 12:24-26) and then we see Jesus foretelling of the Temple being destroyed where not one stone would be left on another (Matthew 24:2). We see Jesus change in His purpose teachings against the Pharisees because of their great rejection of Him as Messiah. In Matthew 23, Jesus calls the Pharisee leaders out with harsh words such as hypocrites, vipers and serpents. Jesus said,
“Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?”
(Matthew 12:33 KJV)
Judgment is now all they will have to look forward too. God’s great discipline is going to fall upon the nation of Israel now. This of course, happened in 70 AD after the cross event just as Jesus foretold. The Jews were dispersed into other nations around the world ever since. God foretold that Israel would one day again become a nation and that the dispersed Jews around the planet would one day return to their reborn nation (Amos 9:14-15, Jeremiah 30:1-31:40, Isaiah 11:12, Deuteronomy 30:3, Zechariah 12:3). We see this has come to pass in our time! This happened on May 14, 1948.
Israel Is Still God’s People But Were Put Aside In Discipline
Because they rejected Christ 2000 years ago, God had put Israel aside and focused on building His Church in the dispensation of Grace in which we now live. Because Israel rejected Christ, God put a pause on when the Kingdom Age promised to Israel would occur. A pause in Daniel’s 70 weeks of 430 years prophecy. The Church Age dispensation began and we have been in this dispensation since Pentecost, 50 days after the cross.
Once the Pre-Tribulation Harpazo Rapture occurs, then the Tribulation Period will begin which is Daniel’s Prophecy of the 70th week beginning. The Church Age pause will be over once the Rapture occurs. God will now turn back to save the remnant believers of the nation of Israel. This is the Tribulation Period as God gave Daniel to write down as a End Time prophecy. Then after the Tribulation Period, Christ will return to setup His Earthly Kingdom Age that was promised to the Jewish peoples. That is just a very brief summary.
Now there is a whole bunch of prophetic events in each of these dispensations that I am not even mentioning as this is not to be viewed as a detailed Biblical Prophetic timeline of the specific events the Bible gives us information about. The purpose here is to explain a general overview of dispensations in light of the topic of this article, which is whether or not Old Testament believers were indwelt and sealed in salvation from the moment they believed. Understanding this overview will clear up some misconceptions, especially regarding the Sheep and Goat Judgment of Christ on people at His 2nd Coming Event. So many are teaching falsely that it is about Church Age believers when it is not. And believing so, turns the true Gospel of Grace into a false works based salvation, which contradicts Scripture.
How The Holy Spirit Operated In Old Testament Times
In Old Testament Scriptures we have a hind sight view because it is in the past and we now live in the Dispensation of Grace. So when we read Old Testament Scriptures, we do so by the filter of what Christ did on that cross. In Old Testament Scriptures we see that the Holy Spirit did work with people, and at times even withing people. Yet, it is always under the idea of the Holy Spirit coming “UPON PEOPLE”.
For example. in Exodus we read,
“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah: And I have FILLED HIM WITH THE SPIRIT OF GOD, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, To devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, And in cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship.” (Exodus 31:1-5 KJV)
No where in this passage does it state that Bezaleel was sealed in salvation nor indwelt by the Holy Spirit with permanence of Eternity. Instead it states that the Holy Spirit filled him with wisdom and knowledge to build the Tabernacle. The Holy Spirit came upon him to accomplish what God wanted. Without this, Bezaleel would never have been able to do this exactly the way God purposed.
In Numbers 11, we can see that the Spirit was upon Moses and that part of the Spirit given to him was placed upon the 70 elders who were ministering with Moses. Again, it is God making his will happen exactly as He purposed and the Holy Spirit of God moved within all of them to accomplish this. If they were sealed and indwelt forever by the Holy Spirit as Church Age believers are today, then why would this happen in this way. The 70 elders would have already had the indwelling Holy Spirit. Instead, the Spirit gave Moses, and also them, what they needed individually to accomplish God’s purposes in their specific lives. A portion of knowledge given the by the Holy Spirit to empower them to do God’s work through their lives.
Another small and clear verse is found in Psalm 51. King David had committed adultery with Bathsheba, got her pregnant and then had her husband killed to cover it up. Not a very Godly thing to do. He fell into a great sin that spiraled out of control. This progression of sin did not go without notice of God. And David was faced with that. We see David pleading to God,
“Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.” (Psalm 51:11 KJV)
If David knew he was sealed by the indwelling Holy Spirit why was he pleading for God to take away the Holy Spirit from him?
There are many other examples in Old Testament Scripture that show that the Old Testament believer was not sealed by the Holy Spirit in salvation. What we instead find, is that the Holy Spirit came upon the people, temporarily filling them for God’s purposes. Even under the Dispensation of The Law of Moses, the animal sacrifices did not take away their sins. It was only a temporary covering of the sins of the Jewish people. It was a remembrance of how terrible sin is and that one day the promised Messiah would come and become the final, once for all blood atoning sacrifice (Hebrews 9 and 10) for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2). It was their BELIEF that Messiah would come and become this atonement for all sins that drove them to sacrifice animals as they looked in belief for that day when they would be permanently be set free from the penalty for sin. This temporary covering had to happen year after year. The people were not permanently sealed in salvation with the Holy Spirit indwelling them.
How The Holy Spirit Operates In New Testament, Church Age Times
Within the dispensation we now live within, a person who believes on Christ and His once for all blood atoning sacrifice for the sins of the whole world and His rising again, is sealed in salvation and indwelt permanently by the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of eternal life. Jesus said that,
“…I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18 KJV)
Jesus is gathering members of His church. A group of people called out by God, in belief on Christ, who will become The Bride Of Christ. This group of people called The Church, includes any person who believes on Christ as the only begotten Son of God, who is God, that came born of the Virgin Mary, and lived a perfectly sinless life in thought and deed. Who as a sinless person who is God, willingly died on the cross and paid for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2), was buried and rose again on the third day (1 Cor. 15:1-4). Anyone that believes this, regardless of race, Jew or Gentile, has become a member of the Church; The Bride Of Christ. From the very moment they believe this, such a person has been sealed in eternal life. In Ephesians, Apostle Paul states this,
“In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also AFTER THAT YE BELIEVED, YE WERE SEALED with that HOLY SPIRIT of promise, Which is the EARNEST of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 1:13-14 KJV)
“And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, WHERBY YE ARE SEALED unto the day of redemption.” (Ephesians 4:30 KJV)
What is this day of redemption?
It is the day that Church Age believers will receive their new glorified eternal bodies. It is the very day of the Harpazo Rapture. Paul explains it more in 1 Cor. 15. Our Spirit has been born again and fully redeemed from the moment of belief on Christ and His finished work on the cross. Our new Spirit of God is eternal and heaven ready, right now. Yet, our body and mind is not yet redeemed. It is corrupt with this thing called SIN. That is why we need new glorified eternal bodies like Christ now has to enter Heaven. There is NO SIN in Heaven. So, when we die physically, our Spirit, which is fully redeemed and has no sin (1 John 3:9), will go to Heaven and at the Harpazo Rapture we will receive new resurrected glorified bodies as Jesus has, allowing us entrance in physical form into the New Jerusalem, the home of the Bride of Christ. A physical place that Jesus said He is going to prepare for believers (John 14).
A person who has come to believe in Christ has been sealed in salvation forever from the very moment they believe on Christ for righteousness by faith. Such a person’s Spirit is IN CHRIST and CHRIST IS IN THEM. They have become the very righteousness of God, IN CHRIST (2 Cor. 5:17-21) and are now complete in Christ (Read Colossians 2, so amazing!) This is the very good news of the Gospel! During His Earthly ministry, Jesus was teaching the Gospel of The Kingdom to the Jewish peoples.
“But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
(Matthew 15:24 KJV)
The Kingdom Age is what the Jewish people knew all about and were looking forward too with hope, as it was prophesied to them in the Torah, which we know as the Old Testament. For Church Age believers today, we are looking toward The New Jerusalem, which is the future home of The Bride Of Christ. They are not the same thing.The Church is headed for the place Jesus is preparing for His church (John 14) and that is The New Jerusalem, that heavenly city. It is not an Earthly city but a Heavenly one.
What About After The Rapture Event? What About Those Living In The Tribulation Period To Come? How Will The Holy Spirit Operate In The Tribulation Period?
Once the Rapture takes place, The Church Age pause in Daniel’s 70 weeks prophecy will end and the 70th week will begin. A 7 year period of time. God will now turn back to save the remnant in Israel. This is what the Tribulation Period is all about; ISRAEL. For the most part in our current Church Age, Israel is pretty much a non believing nation in Christ. Yes, there are Jewish people who have come to salvation in Christ but overall as a nation, it is an unbelieving nation in salvation through Jesus. They still reject Jesus as Messiah. In Matthew 23, Jesus stated emphatically to the rejecting Israel at the time of His first coming,
“For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.” (Matthew 23:39 KJV)
God is going to bring back a remnant of Israel who will indeed say and believe this very much and it all starts with the Tribulation Period. Unfortunately, it is going to have to happen through the toughest, harshest time in all of human history to accomplish this. God will fulfill His promises. Jesus said,
“I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.” (John 5:43 KJV)
This indeed is what will happen in the Tribulation Period. The Antichrist is coming on the scene of the world and he will at first make peace in the Middle East and that means with Israel. “Him shall ye receive”. God made a reborn Israel happen. God made it so that the Jews who were scattered under discipline have returned to Israel (and still are returning to this very day of writing this). Yet, in stubbornness, they still reject Jesus as Messiah and they are looking for Messiah to still come and setup his one world Kingdom Age government. Unfortunately, this will be the Antichrist. He will show his true colors mid way in the Tribulation Period and start persecuting the Jews and Christians and all who would refuse to take his Mark.
What About The Sheep And Goats Judgement At Christ’s Return To Earth? Is This About Church Age Believers Or Israel?
Now, let’s turn to Matthew 24 and 25. These chapters are being taught by some preachers and pulpits as being about The Church. Yet, the very context of Jesus’ own words shows us that He is addressing the Nation Israel. The whole text is about Israel and not the Church. Jesus talks about ‘the Temple’ being destroyed which we now know happened in 70AD as the first thing we read. Remember, chapters were introduced for our easy referencing. Matthew 23, 24 and 25 should be read as one continuous work.
In Matthew 23, the Pharisees rejected Christ and Christ moves and talks about the discipline and judgement they will now be receiving for their unbelief. Jesus tells them what will now befall the nation because of their unbelief. Matthew 24 then starts with,
“And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” (Matthew 24:1-2 KJV)
The Church has nothing to do with the Temple. The Temple is all Jewish. Jesus is about to talk with the disciples about Israel in a private conversation. The disciples only knew of the promise of the Kingdom Age. Jesus had previously sent them out, in pairs, to preach The Gospel Of The Kingdom. This is the promised Kingdom Age to come when Christ is ruling on the Earth. Jesus also told the disciples to only go to the Jews and not Gentiles. The Gospel Of The Kingdom is for the Jews only. This promise is still going to happen! God promised Israel this Kingdom and it is still going to happen. In fact, it will begin after the Tribulation Period when Christ comes again to Earth and lands His feet on the ground.
Notice that Church Age believers were already Raptured and met the Lord “in the air” (1 Thessalonians 4:17) and not “on the Earth”. Two events for two groups of people. The Bride will be involved in the Kingdom Age as Kings and Priests, but our home is The New Jerusalem, which will be hovering over the Earth during the 1000 year Kingdom Age to come. It is the beloved “heavenly City”. See how watching the words closely shows the truth by context?
As we follow through in Matthew 24, we see exactly what will happen during the Tribulation Period. Jesus gave signs of it coming and then describes the horrible things that will happen within this period of time; Daniel’s 70th week. Then in Matthew 24:29, Jesus switches a little bit to what will happen right after the 7 year Tribulation period as He states,
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:” (Matthew 24:29 KJV)
Everything Jesus said after that in Matthew 24 and 25 are all about those living in this time period. It is addressed to the survivors of the Tribulation Period and not Church Age believers. Some are associating The Parable Of The Ten Virgins with the Rapture of Church Age believers, but they are very wrong and the context is clear. Matthew 25 starts with the word “THEN”. We need to understand this!
I ask you, WHEN IS THE THEN? Well, we obviously go back into Matthew 24 as one continuous writing, and that goes back to Matthew 24:29; after the tribulation of those days. This parable talks about Bridemaids and not The Bride. It is not about Church Age believers at the Rapture. It is again, all about the nation Israel.
Then as we continue in Matthew 25 we see The Sheep and Goats Judgement. This is why I explained all the previous context in relation to whether Old Testament Saints were indwelled permanent by the Holy Spirit. Because this judgment shows that during the Tribulation and after, the Holy Spirit will not be indwelling a believer from the moment they believe in Christ. The Holy Spirit will be working the same way as he did in Old Testament times. This is why we read that the believers must ENDURE UNTIL THE END. This is why we see in the Sheep and Goat Judgement on the nations, that the works of the Tribulation survivors will show that they either believed or did not believe on Jesus as The Christ, the true Messiah. People either believed and refused the Mark of the Beast, refusing to worship the Antichrist as God, and endured the immense persecution of the Antichrist, helping each other survive, visiting their fellow believers who were imprisoned by the Antichrist etc. These are the Sheep who will inherit the Kingdom Age along with Resurrected Old Testament Saints at Christ’s Second Coming. The Sheep will enter the Kingdom Age time period of human history in mortal bodies, and will repopulate the Earth for 1000 years. The Church Age believers are not found in mortal bodies repopulating the Earth. Instead, they have immortal bodies as Jesus now has. The Church will have no more SIN PROBLEM and no corrupt body. In fact, the Church Age believers were already in Heaven WITH CHRIST during the Tribulation Period.
The Goat nations and people are seen as those who helped in persecuting the Jewish people and Christians and all who oppose the Antichrist. They did not visit believers in prison; they put them in prison. They did help them;they persecuted them. These will be put to death by Christ and will await their final judgement at The Great White Throne Judgement of the unbelieving which happens after the 1000 year Kingdom Age on Earth.
What is my point here?
My point that those teaching that the Sheep and Goat judgement is for the Church Age believers are very wrong.
They even use this passage to teach that it is our WORKS that save us and keep us saved. They use this passage to teach that salvation is not eternal and that the Church Age believers are not sealed in salvation from the moment of belief on Christ. They use this passage out of proper context and teach the very false gospel that Apostle Paul warned about in Galatians and that Jesus warned about in Matthew 7:15-23. Works do not save anyone! Context matters. Context is important!
Quick Summary Points:
1. Old Testament Saints were not sealed nor permanently indwelt by the Holy Spirit, in salvation. The Holy Spirit came unto them and worked in them, but not woth permanence. This could not happen until our Spirit was born again by Christ in their future. Their belief in the coming Messiah who would pay for all sins kept them saved. They had to remain in belief until their death.
2. Church Age believers are sealed and indwelt by the Holy Spirit from the very moment of belief on Christ (1 Cor. 15:1-4, Ephesians 1:13-14) and salvation is not by our works. nor deeds, before nor after this moment of salvation (Galatians 3, 5:4-5).
3. Tribulation Saints Will Not Be Permanently Indwelt By The Holy Spirit As The Church Is. After the Harpazo Rapture of Church Age believers, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (which is holding back even more evil than we see today) will be taken off the Earth and the Holy Spirit will be working with people and nations as he did in Old Testament times.
“8 And when he is come, he will REPROVE THE WORLD OF SIN, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 Of sin, because THEY BELIEVE NOT on me; 10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;” (John 16:8-10 KJV)
Verse 9 is about unbelievers. The Holy Spirit is convicting THEM of their sins so they might call out to God for salvation and mercy.
Verse 10 shows the truth for an already eternally saved believer. It is our newly created , born again Spirit and the fact of our righteousness of God, (which God made us by imputation, in Christ -2 Cor. 5:17-21). Our new RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD at our core being is the reason for us feeling icky and guilty when we sin. Jesus said ‘because I go to my Father’, because He could not send the indwelling Holy Spirit until He was back in Heaven. The Holy Spirit indwells a believer in their new born again, forgiven 100%, Spirit of God; our great comforter!
No more are we condemned (Romans 8:1)! Our sins are remembered no more by God against us as believers (Hebrews 10:17) and we should have no more consciousness of sins (Hebrews 10:2). That should not be our focus. A believer’s sins were all paid for by Christ crucified 2000 years ago (1 John 2:2). It is so hard for us to believe but that is the fact stated.
Our mind still needs renewing but our newly created Spirit NEVER SINS and cannot sin (1 John 3) because it was already made by God into the righteousness of God, in Christ.
“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” (2 Cor. 5:21 KJV)
Our core being, The Spirit, is already COMPLETE IN CHRIST and already risen with Christ (Colossians 2). So, when we sin, it is because our body and MIND is not yet renewed. It cannot inherit the Kingdom of God because it is still corrupt (1 Corinthians 15:50). That is why we need the resurrection of the body at the Harpazo Rapture.
Because there has been a change in our core being, in The Spirit, it is our own righteousness that makes us feel guilty and wrong when we sin in the body and mind. Why? Because that is not us anymore! Amen.
That is also why Paul tells us to ‘walk in the Spirit to avoid the lusts of the flesh’ (Gal. 5:16) and why Paul says we should renew our MIND by God’s Word (Romans 12), replacing wrong beliefs with true beliefs from the Word of God. We live outwardly as we believe in the mind and renewing the mind leads to better decisions when tempted and more good works outwardly in love toward others.
An inward change moving outwardly into our life until our bodily resurrection.
Q: Do you think repentance ( changing our minds) is a work?
A: No. Repentance is defined in the Bible as simply.. ‘change your mind’. For more details read this article.
Q: Do you think repentance (changing our minds) is a free will response to the conviction of the Holy Spirit? Do you think we have to change our minds once the Holy Spirit convicts us ?
A: God the father reveals to a person Jesus is the Messiah by the Holy Spirit. Repentance UNTO SALVATION is a free will choice to believe and have eternal life or reject Christ and remain condemned (John 3:18). In John 3, Jesus is addressing the Jewish Pharisee Nicodemus and Jesus tells him “WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH IN HIM” (in Jesus as Messiah) Whosoever is whosoever believes by free will.
After salvation, we are positionally in Christ, if we truly believed. We are made the very righteousness of God, in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). Not that we achieved this righteousness; it was imputed to us.
After Salvation with the Holy Spirit indwelling us, things have changed. We still have the thought processes of the Flesh and it wars with the new us; The Spirit.
“And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
OF SIN, because THEY BELIEVE NOT on me;
OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;
OF JUDGEMENT, because the prince OF THIS WORLD is judged.”
(John 16:8 KJV)
Based on John 16 and the context, the indwelling Holy Spirit for the believer does not ‘convict’ believers of sins. That is what the Holy Spirit does to an UNBELIEVER (verse 9) so they call out for mercy and Salvation through Christ crucified.
The Holy Spirit convicts the believer of their RIGHTEOUSNESS IN CHRIST (verse 10). And look at what Apostle Paul wrote in Romans :
“Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is GOD THAT JUSTIFIETH. 34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also MAKETH INTERCESSION FOR US.” ( Romans 8:33-34 KJV)
As for judgement, that is not for the believer but for Satan as he is currently the ‘ruler of this world’ (verse 11). Satan wants us focusing on our sins and judgement for them. But Jesus came NOT TO CONDEMN BUT TO SAVE!
What believers should be doing is focusing on the GRACE OF GOD; our sin punishment paid in full on Christ on that cross! What we need to fear is what Hebrews tells us,
“Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of ENTERING INTO HIS REST, any of you should seem to come short of it.” (Hebrews 4:1 KJV)
One thing is a for sure and crystal clear in the Word of God and it is the truth that focusing on your sins with a sin consciousness, you have you SINNING MORE!
“Moreover the law entered, that the offence MIGHT ABOUND. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:” (Romans 5:20)
“The sting of death is sin; and the STRENGTH OF SIN IS THE LAW.” (1 Corinthians 15:56 KJV)
Focus on Gods grace, learning that God has made you the righteousness of God IN CHRIST. We need to take this truth to heart!
“As far as the east is from the west, so far HATH HE REMOVED our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103:12 KJV)
“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; 17 And their sins and iniquities WILL I REMEMBER NO MORE.”
(Hebrews 10:16-17 KJV)
This New Covenant is the Gospel of Grace Through Jesus Christ crucified!
“And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” (Ephesians 4:30 KJV)
Notice the words ‘ARE SEALED’. It was a past event and you ARE SEALED forever. Your Salvation cannot be lost. Jesus paid it all my friends! What is meant by ‘grieving’ the Holy Spirit then? Does this mean when we sin that God will get angry with us? Is that what this means? Does it mean that if you have the Holy Spirit dwelling within you (which means you are in God’s eyes, Holy, Righteous and redeemed) that God will condemn you now because once again you failed and sinned in the flesh? It does not make much sense given the truth of the Scriptures shown does it?
To God, the real you is the Spirit. In your spirit being you are in Christ.You are ONE with Christ and without condemnation penalty for sin. Sinning does have consequences in life and possible loss of rewards at the Judgement Seat Of Belivers. But loss of Salvation is not a consequence for a believer. Salvation is eternal (John 3).
God already knew beforehand what sins you would commit. And He nailed them to the cross in Jesus. So your sins are already done with and put away from God. Jesus took that punishment. You will never be condemned for the sins Christ already took the punishment for. NEVER! Christ’s sacrifice was 100% sufficient to God the Father.
How Is The Holy Spirit Grieved When We Fail, And Sin?
Let’s use an analogy to see the truth. Before I was a father to my daughters, I did not understand this. But now I do! I get it! Here is me to my daughter, “Listen, do NOT run on ice. If you do you are going to get hurt physically and it will affect you badly.” So what happens when I get a call from the school that she hurt her ankle running on the ice in the playground? Am I ready to yell at her and disown her forever? Or am I firstly concerned for her as my daughter who I love? Do I feel grieved that she did not listen and she got hurt? Yes of course. I did warn her! Does that mean that I am going to disown her and kick her out of the family? Of course not.
Did she disobey me and cause this ankle issue? Yes she did. She has the consequence of the action to deal with (pain, healing time, loss of school studies, more time in school to catch up.) And what do I do? I try to help her in her healing and at the same time, she sees the consequence and hopefully learns from the experience.
God is not looking for robots. He gives us FREE WILL. In our fleshly bodies, we are going to be tempted. We can overcome the temptations but we will sometimes blow it. When we do it grieves the Holy Spirit. Of course it does! And the more a believer knows the Holy Spirit is within dwelling, that is He is right there while you are blowing it watching.. we do feel guilty afterwards right? God is not “out there somewhere”. He is ‘Emmanuel’ GOD WITHIN YOU and you cannot get much closer than that! Feeling guilty about a sin you commit is a sure way to know that the Holy Spirit is correcting you and disciplining you. It is not to condemn you of your sin as some are teaching these days. NO, it is out of love for you. When you blow it,
“My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we havean advocatewith the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:” (1 John 2:1 KJV)
“I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
SANCTIFY THEM THROUGH THY TRUTH: THY WORD IS TRUTH.
As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.” (John 17:15-19 KJV)
When a person believes Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, who was with God before the foundation of the world, and that He as God became human for the purpose of paying the penalty for OUR sins, and rose from the dead, that person IS MADE the very righteousness of God, in Christ.
“Being then MADE FREE from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.” (Romans 6:18 KJV)
“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might BE MADE the righteousness of God in him.” ( 2 Corinthians 5:21 KJV)
Such a believer has become one with Christ, who is one with the Father. And so that person has been made one with the Father as well. This is a truth that many believers fail to grasp because after our moment of Salvation in Christ, we still have our mortal flesh and sin nature. We are not yet complete in Christ from our mortal perspective. And we will not be until our bodily Resurrection when the sin nature in us will be removed.
However, to God, He foreknew every person that would accept His unmerited Free GIFT of Salvation from before the foundation of the Earth. When Moses asked God at the burning bush what name of God to tell Pharaoh sent him, the reply was “I AM THAT I AM”.
This is significant! Our God lives in the forever present. By that, I mean that God sees our past, present and future all at the same time. Hard for us to comprehend because we are living within this thing God created called time. God knew before he created you and me, who would accept Christ and who would reject Christ. The Bible says there is ‘The Wicked’ and ‘The Righteous’. To us living in time, we all start out in the ‘wicked’ group from the age of accountability. And “whosoever” accepts Christ, God predestined to conform to His image (Ephesians 1) and become the Righteousness of God, IN CHRIST. To God, we are already in Heaven and the New Jerusalem with Him because God exists in all times. He is the great “I AM”. The ONE and ONLY.
Hard for us to grasp right? So when you fail, when you fall into sin, when you stumble, remember that NOTHING you do takes God by surprise. He has it all worked out before you were even born.
“And we know that ALL THINGS work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28 KJV)
Knowing this to be true is a real wake up call. We are to God already completely righteous.Because we Christians are so good? No. It is because what Christ did on the cross when He shed His blood for the remission of our sins (Matthew 26:28). When a person accepts the Gift of Salvation the Holy Spirit indwells the person. He then starts to guide and teach and sanctify the person (John 14:26).
Do We Sanctify Ourselves or Does The Holy Spirit Sanctify Us?
In John 17:17, Jesus answers this question.
“Sanctify Them Through Thy Truth: Thy Word Is Truth.”
Before Jesus became human His name was The Word. (John 1) Jesus Christ is not only the truth, He is the way and the life!
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6 KJV)
Jesus Christ is the only way back to a proper relationship with God. Such a relationship requires a perfectly Holy Righteousness but we have sins committed standing in the way of this. That is why The Word (Christ) became human, never sinned, and shed His blood for the remission of our sins. Believing in the atonement for our sins through the Passion of Christ, God made us the Holy Righteousness of God, in Him.
What Is Our Part Though?
Again, what should we do as believers? First, thank God for such an amazing gift! Second, read the Bible because it is God’s Word and the absolute truth. The more you read the Bible and the words of Jesus the more you are helping the Holy Spirit renew your mind. You will see the truth and be set free from the guilt of your sins and set free from the punishment of your sins. You will look at things from God’s viewpoint and not the world’s viewpoint and that will empower you to accomplish the good works of God through you.
“Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall MAKE YOU free.” (John 8:31-32 KJV)
Notice the word ‘make’. The Bible does not ever say it is our efforts making us saved and righteous before God. And it is not our own efforts that sanctify us completely. Only the Holy Spirit renews our minds and changes us from the inner self outwardly. That said, by reading the truth from the word of God we are pressing toward the goal of the Holy Spirit. It says over and over again what Jesus said in John 8. It is God alone that MAKES US positionally righteous and justified. It is never our works accomplishing this. It is our belief in Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world! (John 1:29)
Writing to even the the carnal believers in Corinthians Paul makes this statement,
“For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.” ( 2 Corinthians 4:16 KJV)
And we see in Titus,
“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” ( Titus 3:5-7 KJV)
Paul also makes it clear that we should do our part in this renewing of our mind. How a person thinks and believes about the world will determine their actions in the world. A person’s viewpoint is an important key factor in how a person lives. We all begin with the world’s viewpoint. And who is controlling the world’s viewpoint of truth? The Bible says it is our adversary, Satan.
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” (Ephesians 6:12 KJV)
In Ephesians 6, Paul continues and is telling us to put on the whole armour of God and it is all about knowing the truth in the Bible and allowing this to transform us. And that means we should be studying the word of God to know the truth. Knowing the truths in the Bible will also protect us from our adversary!
“Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:” (Ephesians 6:13-17 KJV )
We have our part to do in the Holy Spirit’s work of renewing our mind to God’s view point and truth.
You still have free choice after the moment of your Salvation to walk by the Spirit in truth (by God’s word) or to walk by the flesh in carnality as the Corinthians were doing. Are you still saved either way after Salvation? Yes. Paul called the Corinthians believers. Does that mean there are no consequences for sin and we can just keep sinning and ignoring God’s word without consequences? No!
We have our part to do and why would we not want to know the truth from God’s word? Jesus redeemed us with His shed blood and has given us all things. Christ says in John 15 to abide in Him and His words and Christ will abide in us.
Do not just listen to Pastors or Priests. Do not just read my articles or e-books and believe. No.. start reading your Bible after your moment of Salvation, having received this most amazing GIFT from God. The Holy Spirit within a believer will Sanctify you and guide and teach you the truth.
“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” (Romans 12:2 KJV)
When that happens over time, you will be changed and conformed more and more into the image of Christ. God will place desires in you to accomplish good works He has prepared for you to perform.
Start reading the amazing truth in God’s word; The Bible.
It is important to know the attributes of God. God is 100% perfectly Holy and 100% Just and He must punish sin. And the wages of sin are death; that is eternal death in a place of torment. But God is also 100% Merciful so He sent His only begotten Son as a human. Jesus is the ‘God-Man’. He was sent in human form so that He could take the punishment for the sins of the whole world. On the cross, Jesus Christ (God in human flesh) took upon Himself the punishment that we deserved even though He NEVER sinned. Not even once. This was a satisfactory punishment for our sins. Jesus took our place and our sins were nailed to that cross. When we believe this, we are at that very moment forgiven all our sins (past/present/future) and MADE RIGHTEOUS and are saved for all eternity and we can never lose our Salvation. He sealed us with the Holy Spirit indwelling within us as a new created being.
“In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 1:13-16 KJV)
At the moment of belief in the atonement Christ provided on the cross, we were changed positionally. Positionally we are now 100% righteous before God because all the sins we committed, or will commit after Salvation, were all penalty paid on the cross in Jesus. And now this is what God says about those who believe on the atonement of sins through what Christ did on the cross,
“For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” (Hebrews 8:12 KJV)
That is the GOOD NEWS of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! We are saved 100% by the GRACE of God. Salvation is NOT based on our good works in ANY MANNER, neither before or after Salvation. Paul repeatedly wrote to not mix The Law (10 Commandments) with Grace. It is a false Gospel. There are many Scriptures from Paul that make this very clear.
The Holy Spirit Is Our Down Payment And Proof That We Are Heaven Bound!
The Holy Spirit is our proof of inheritance and shows that we were purchased by Christ and are Heaven bound from the very moment of our Salvation through belief in the atonement provided by Christ. Once sealed nothing can separate us from the love of God and our Salvation cannot be lost.
“And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” (Ephesians 4:30 KJV)
“Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.”
(2 Corinthians 5:5 KJV)
“Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:26-28 KJV)
You know those times when something happens in our life so stressful and so confusing that we just do not have the words and we just do not know what it is we should pray? Either an extremely stressful situation at work or a relationship issue that you do not know how to resolve? Some event that leaves you utterly confused as to what God is doing and why He allows things that are not very comfortable in our lives. Such incidents can have you feeling that you do not know how you should pray to God about the situation. Sometimes all you can do is groan, scream or just cry – fully overwhelmed. You do not want to pray in a way opposite to what God wants to accomplish but you just don’t know how you should pray and your feelings make things very confusing.
Regardless of the situation you need to pray and it is good to know that the Holy Spirit knows the full situation and He makes intercession for you to the Father. And no matter what the situation is, minor or major, you can rest assured that nothing surprises God!
“And we know that allthingswork together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28 KJV)
The word ALL means every situation in life you find yourself in. The good, the bad.. all of it. God knew the situation you would be in before you got to that point in your life. God goes before you, before you reach that point and He already has plans to use it for your good! (Deuteronomy 1:30) Rest assured that God is in complete control of every situation you are in at every point of your life. God is not the one that brings evil against you but He can and will use the situation for your good. When Jesus was before Pilate a dialogue exchange happened as we see in the book of John,
“Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee? Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.” (John 19:10-11 KJV)
God gives us free will. A will to do good or to do evil. If God allowed the crucifixion to happen to His Son, He can also allow things to happen to us. Not that God causes evil to happen to us. That is from Satan and because of our own sin nature. But ask yourself this; what if God intervened and did not allow Jesus to be crucified? Where would we be? We would be headed for everlasting punishment. The people cried out to crucify Jesus but He allowed it so that the world could be saved. God used this very extremely bad situation to occur for us. And the end result is that many will receive Christ as their Lord and savior and Christ now sits at the right hand of the Father.
You see, what we sometimes see as bad in our lives may be something that God will use for good. So you do not understand what is happening to you and you do not know how to pray? The Holy Spirit will intercede for you and God will respond in the best way and always for your good and the good of those around you.
