*** g78 2/8 p. 27 Can Blasphemy Be Forgiven? *** The Bible’s View Can Blasphemy Be Forgiven? JESUS CHRIST on one occasion told certain Pharisees: “Every sort of sin and blasphemy [abusive speech; slander; impious word] will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the spirit will not be forgiven. For example, whoever 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.” (Matt. 12:31, 32; An American Translation; The New English Bible; Weymouth) This gives rise to such questions as: Why may blasphemy against the Son of God and his Father be forgiven? How might a person blaspheme them and yet not also be reviling God’s spirit? What does it mean to blaspheme the holy spirit? The Bible provides a specific example of one who blasphemed God and Christ but did not become guilty of unforgivable sin. This one was Saul, or the apostle Paul, prior to his conversion. Paul wrote to Timothy: “Formerly I was a blasphemer [abusive speaker] and a persecutor and an insolent man.”—1 Tim. 1:13; compare An American Translation; The New English Bible. Before his conversion, Paul regarded disciples of Jesus Christ as apostates deserving of death. He felt that the Mosaic law approved of his course, for that law stated regarding an apostate: “You must not accede to his wish or listen to him, nor should your eye feel sorry for him, nor must you feel compassion, nor cover him protectively; but you should kill him without fail.” (Deut. 13:8, 9) Convinced that he was right, Paul continued to act against Christ’s disciples in a high-handed, arrogant manner and so revealed himself to be an “insolent man.” As a persecutor of Christians, he was one like those of whom Jesus said to his disciples: “Everyone that kills you will imagine he has rendered a sacred service to God.” (John 16:2) Paul was guilty of blaspheming or speaking abusively of the Son of God. His hatred for Christ’s disciples demonstrated that he viewed Jesus as an impostor and thus he reproached the Christ. By speaking abusively of the Son, Paul was also guilty of blaspheming the Father whom Jesus represented.—John 7:29; Matt. 27:39; Mark 15:29; Luke 23:39; Jude 8, The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures. After his conversion, the apostle Paul came to appreciate how perilously close he had come to committing the unforgivable sin. In his letter to Timothy, he acknowledged the great mercy that had been shown him and also indicated why he could be forgiven. We read: “I was shown mercy, because I was ignorant and acted with a lack of faith.” (1 Tim. 1:13) Note that Paul, before his conversion, did not knowingly fight against God and Christ. He was ignorant, blind to the truth about the Son of God, and so without faith in Jesus Christ. Therefore, the appeal of the dying Stephen, whose murder Paul approved, was also in Paul’s behalf: “Jehovah, do not charge this sin against them.” (Acts 7:60) At heart, Paul really wanted to do what was right, as is evident from his zeal for Jewish tradition and his strict adherence to the teaching of the Pharisees.—Phil. 3:5, 6.
Posted on: Tue, 11 Jun 2013 00:39:05 +0000
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