A Heart of Blasphemy

What sin is there, if any, that God will not forgive? People (including me) often wrestle with this question. Sometimes even those of us who believe in Jesus are plagued by a gnawing  doubt about our own salvation. If we don’t understand the answer to this question then it is difficult – or sometimes impossible – to receive from God. As with every other question pertaining to life the answer is found in God’s Word, the Bible.

The only sin that God will not forgive is the kind which is wrought by a heart of blasphemy. This principle is found throughout Scripture in both the Old and New Testaments, yet it always manifests in the same way. A heart of blasphemy can be found in both groups of people – the lost (those who don’t know God, including ‘religious’ people) as well as those who have trusted Christ as Savior. The fact that this heart attitude can take place in anyone is an important distinction, because it gives us a way to gauge our own hearts. We can know, surely, if we have done the unpardonable and have become what God abhors!

People who are lost demonstrate this heart attitude by rejecting the Word of God once they hear it. It doesn’t apply to those who have never heard the Word of God, as they are unable to reject the Word they never heard. They are lost, to be sure, but their condition is the same one we are all born into as descendants of Adam. A heart of blasphemy is one that, when presented with the Word of salvation, rejects it.

Atheists (at least in the western world) are a pretty good example of the difference between one who is lost and one who rejects salvation. The aborigine in the bush is innocent of rejecting the Word, but the educated professor who continues to reject the offer of salvation is without excuse. In fact, it is worse for the professor! Not only did the professor hear the offer of salvation and discard it, but repeated exposure – and rejection of that Word – hardens the heart against change;

2 Thess 3:1-2
Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified, just as it is with you, and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men; for not all have faith.

Why did the Apostle Paul describe those people as “unreasonable and wicked?” It’s due to the fact that when someone continuously rejects the truth they become antagonistic toward it. Spiritually-speaking, once the Word of God enters the picture it acts as a polarizing agent. You can’t remain neutral when you hear it. Whether someone consciously wishes to or not, those who reject the Word make themselves enemies of God;

Col 1:21-22
And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled…

Blasphemy comes into play through the discounting of the offer of salvation. They deem the sacrifice of Christ as nothing; a fable, a fairy tale. Many refuse to even investigate the Word to see for themselves, they simply choose to ignore the leading of the Holy Spirit. They will not be forgiven because they don’t seek forgiveness. God does not violate a person’s free will, and if that person chooses to reject the plan of salvation then God will honor that choice – just as He will honor the choice of faith when someone responds to the leading of the Holy Spirit and accepts His free gift.

A group of people closely associated with the actively rebellious are often religious people. Religion, in and of itself, is a deadly thing. It gives a person the false assurance of salvation, yet they are still bound up in sin and rebellion to the Word of God. This was evident in the Jewish religious leaders in the days of Christ’s earthly ministry. They knew the Word of God (the Old Testament) and were raised under constant and thorough instruction of all things Biblical. They, more than anyone else in the world at that time, should have recognized the promised Messiah – Jesus – when He showed up. And even though Christ fulfilled so many prophecies and taught the Word with undeniable power, they did the unimaginable. They rejected Him. The very One Who is the physical manifestation of the written Word was discounted by the people who claimed to know that Word more than anyone else. They were (and still are) without excuse. Now if this situation is bad (and it is!), it is far worse for those who have received the Word and then decide to abandon their faith.

Notice I didn’t label those who were deceived into disbelief. Neither did I didn’t mention anyone who is still a believer and yet gets caught up in sin, or even a whole lifestyle of sin. These things happen, and they have their own consequences (which are bad enough). The people I am referring to – those who have a heart of blasphemy – are those who have actively rejected the Lord they once knew and served.

There’s a doctrine within certain Christian denominations which claims that once a person becomes Born Again they cannot ‘lose’ their salvation. That doctrine is true. Nobody can lose their salvation because of sin, as salvation is not based upon performance. If salvation were based upon your actions then we would all be doomed! So would every saint mentioned in the Word of God, because all of us – all of us – have committed sins after we repented from sin and made Christ our Lord. In the Old Testament, David committed some pretty heinous things. So did Abraham, Lot, Solomon, the prophets and everyone else. In the New Testament Paul did. So did Peter and the other Apostles. Yet all these people, OT and NT alike, were named as saints and followers of God. That is because our salvation isn’t something we can earn;

Rom 4:1-8
What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”  Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:
“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.”

You cannot lose something that was never yours in the first place. Salvation is a gift, and always remains in the domain of God’s control. He’s the One that grants or rescinds salvation; it has nothing to do with us or our individual performance! That being said, God does not, never has and never will violate an individual’s free choice.

Those believers who develop a heart of blasphemy do so out of a desire to depart from God. I know it’s difficult to image for many of us, but it happens. Sometimes they start out by flirting with sin or by investigating supposed ‘truths’ that violate the Word of God. While they know in their heart (through the leading of the Holy Spirit) that they are not being obedient, they stubbornly continue in their determination to exercise ‘free will.’

It is the leading of the Holy Spirit which brings us to a saving knowledge of Christ. It is the leading of the Holy Spirit which enables us to live lives that are pleasing to God. A continual, insistent rejection of that leading will lead to what the Bible refers to as a seared conscience;

1 Tim 4:1-4
Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron…

These people KNOW that what they do and teach is contrary to God’s Word, yet they do it anyway. Yet even in spite of this open rebellion, they are not without hope. If they listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit they have the chance to repent and seek the truth of God. Those who continue on soon face the inevitable decision of knowingly – and willingly – rebelling against God.

Do you know why Lucifer can never be forgiven? Do you know why demons can never be forgiven? It’s because they don’t want to be forgiven! God is a Person of love and great compassion. He is understanding and merciful. Yet for all that, should someone continue in rebellion He will honor their choice of lifestyle, thereby becoming that individual’s Judge. That is what happens to those who have developed a heart of blasphemy. They actively reject and rebel against the One they served, the One they swore to love and honor above all else;

Heb 6:4-6
For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.

The people of this passage are not novice Christians. They have been intimately involved with the leading of the Holy Spirit and are well acquainted with His Word and ways. They simply decide – for whatever reason – to discard what they have. They can’t be forgiven because they don’t want to be forgiven. Unfortunately for them, they will meet the same fate as Lucifer and those who rebelled against their King.

Do you see a pattern in what we’ve reviewed? That pattern is one of rebellion against the Word of God! The pattern is available for all to see, but you have to want to  look in order to see it. I pray that each of us will choose to remain dependent upon the leading of the One Who has called us. Only by maintaining a pure and receptive heart to the leading of the Holy Spirit can we clearly hear His voice;

Heb 4:6-7
Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, again He designates a certain day, saying in David, “Today,” after such a long time, as it has been said:
“Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.”