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My parents were very religious and active in the Assemblies of God Church. I grew up being taught that making jokes about the Holy Spirit is the unpardonable sin. Years later, as an adult, I visited my brother, who grew up in the same environment and he was performing for those of us in his backyard at a party. He was mimicking an altar call, if readers are familiar with the term. (After the sermon, there's a call for sinners to come forward to the altar to accept Christ as their Savior.) My brother's performance included making jokes about the Holy Spirit and I was shocked to the core of my being that he would do this. We've never talked about it, but I'm sure he is aware of what he did and it wasn't the first time because he was asked to repeat a previous performance.
My parents were very religious and active in the Assemblies of God Church. I grew up being taught that making jokes about the Holy Spirit is the unpardonable sin. Years later, as an adult, I visited my brother, who grew up in the same environment and he was performing for those of us in his backyard at a party. He was mimicking an altar call, if readers are familiar with the term. (After the sermon, there's a call for sinners to come forward to the altar to accept Christ as their Savior.) My brother's performance included making jokes about the Holy Spirit and I was shocked to the core of my being that he would do this. We've never talked about it, but I'm sure he is aware of what he did and it wasn't the first time because he was asked to repeat a previous performance.
My two cents says that this has nothing to do with blaspheming the Holy spirit.
But then I don't know a single person living today or in the last 1900 years that can say that they have the Holy spirit.
People can debate whether or not they have the Holy spirit, but not one person on this earth can do what the first disciples did.
If somebody has the Holy spirit, then why don't they walk into a children's cancer unit and heal all the children?
I think blaspheming the Holy spirit is when you are given the Holy spirit and you return to your sin.
I don't believe anyone has had the Holy spirit in order to blaspheme the Holy spirit.
I grew up in Assemblies of God, but I am no longer a Pentecostal.
Without quoting the OP (it's quite lengthy and this is an old thread so I don't expect a response) I will state that his/her fear is the exact reason I let go of Christianity.......it can drive a person insane. I was tired of all of that nonsense going through my head constantly and after a long journey I am now an agnostic atheist. If one can just let go of the fear of wrong thinking and of hell it is soooooo freeing, and then really research and study, the whole religion thing starts to fall apart fast.
If there is a god (which I don't believe there is) he/she/it would not be like the bible version.....he would be all for independent thought and questioning and would not hold it against anyone for having the wrong ideas or beliefs. If god is loving then the bible and the ancient ignorance of the writers, in my mind makes the entire thing null and void.
I feel for the OP, I hope he/she was able to calm their mind and be at peace.
John - From what you described - I don't think you blasphemed the Spirit.
Let me give you something to think about.
Christians will be raptured up and not be subject to the events in Revelation. This is a debated subject as to if and when a rapture takes place. The rapture is described here.
1 Thess. 4:13-18 - 13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
I take these events to occur before the judgment on the earth in Revelation. Why? Because is consistent with God's track record.
God allowed Noah to escape the judgment of the flood.
God allowed Lot to escape the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Check out this dialogue w/ Abraham before Sodom and Gomorrah...
Gen. 18:23-26 - 23 Abraham came near and said, "Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 "Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will You indeed sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it? 25 "Far be it from You to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?" 26 So the LORD said, "If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the whole place on their account."
And...
Gen. 18:32 - Then he said, "Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak only this once; suppose ten are found there?" And He said, "I will not destroy it on account of the ten."
In this case, God found only Lot and his family as righteous, so He removed them before destroying the city. So when it comes to judgment, God will remove the righteous and those who are His. Christians, since they are one with Christ, do not have to concern ourselves with the events described in Revelation. Hopefully this will help you think things through.
John - If you don't mind me asking - you said you are a Christian - on what basis do you make that claim?
The very fact that you are concerned shows that your conscience in intact and all is well. You seem to be suffering from a touch of O.C.D. though which exacerbates the problem. You may want to consult a mental health professional about that, it's a fairly common ailment and I have a couple of friends who suffer from it. Briefly, as a child I myself suffered with it as well.
God has not given us a spirit of fear but of love, power and a sound mind.
Let God's perfect love cast out all your fear.
There are many threads here about God's universal love and what that means.
Praying for you...
Don't share the religious belief, but concur, it sounds like OCD.
There was the First Aion Age when Jesus was walking the Earth and arguing with the Pharisees, which corresponds to when Jesus said “This age” (Bible, New Testament, Matthew 12:31-32)
There was the Second Aion Age when Jesus was dead in the tomb, which corresponds to when Jesus said “the age to come” (Bible, New Testament, Matthew 12:31-32)
There is a the Third Aion Age when Jesus was resurrected alive again and also is the Age when Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit is forgiven and is also the age that we are in now. This age goes on for eternity.
Thus ALL GO TO HEAVEN and nothing changed about grace.
Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is the term word for unbelief.
ALL GO TO HEAVEN BECAUSE unbelief is forgiven.
A Time in the Life of Jesus is an Age because Jesus is God and is that important.
“Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. ” (Bible, New Testament, Matthew 12:32)
Matthew 12:32 is when Jesus canceled the Old Code of the law found in Matthew 12:31.
“And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.” (Bible, New Testament, Matthew 12:31)
“Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. ” (Bible, New Testament, Matthew 12:32)
In the Third age blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is forgiven along with all sins.
Jesus died for You You will go to heaven.
There was the First Aion Age when Jesus was walking the Earth and arguing with the Pharisees, which corresponds to when Jesus said “This age” (Bible, New Testament, Matthew 12:31-32)
There was the Second Aion Age when Jesus was dead in the tomb, which corresponds to when Jesus said “the age to come” (Bible, New Testament, Matthew 12:31-32)
There is a the Third Aion Age when Jesus was resurrected alive again and also is the Age when Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit is forgiven and is also the age that we are in now. This age goes on for eternity.
I'm a Christian but I have to admit I'm not always very faithful. Anyway, for awhile now I have been suffering from anxiety, partly caused by obsessive religion thoughts. They main centered on God's character; I would obsess about his justice, the fact he would send people to hell, ideas like pre-destination, the evil in the world, the fact when Christ returns he will judge the world violently, as in Revelation. Sometimes I would get so fearful I would forget the loving part of his nature and he would appear almost like an ogre in my mind. I always tried to dam up these thoughts before they would drive me insane.
Anyway, a couple of nights ago I was in a depressive mood when I thought about God I could only see him as being angry, and wrathful; i.e. that part of his personality. I felt he was merciless and hard to talk to. I know I shouldn't have been dwelling so much on it, but I continued to. Anyway, it got to the point where I thought that maybe God wasn't essentially good. Now I know he is, and believe that fully, but at the time, the Devil used fear to trick or try to convince me into believing otherwise. It's hard to explain; a part of me knew I was being deceived, yet a part of me - the fearful part - had the FEELING I was convinced it was true. This led to me thinking about the verses in the Bible where Jesus talks about the sin that will not be forgiven, and then I thought about the Holy Spirit. If God might not be good, and even evil, what if the Holy Spirit was? At the time I seemed to be convinced the Holy Spirit was somehow sinister; not that he was the Devil or anything, but that he wasn't all good and all Holy. I knew, deep down, these thoughts were false, and it seemed like someone else was putting them in there. For what seemed like 10 whole minutes I thought I believed this dreadful lie. I prayed to the Lord to deliver me, and after those 10 minutes I seemed to recover and the thought seemed so absurd and unbelievable. Yet there still remained a seed of doubt: 'what if?'
I was mortified that I had somehow thought something so offensive, so false and abominable about the Holy Spirit, that I had commited blasphemy in thought. I worried and worried, until the fear returned the next day, and the same thing happened. If I worried I did it and was damned forever the Devil would put the idea into my head that 'God is Evil'; it seemed so because he would cause me so much pain. Yet still I realised his holiness and his omnipotence; yet because of the fear he caused, the fearing part of my mind associated him with a sort of dreadfulness; I almost felt like one opposing God, even though I have never, ever wanted to or even felt tempted to, always understood who he was and his essential goodness. It was like I was experiencing the fear of his wrath. That flash when I felt God seemed evil made me think I had commited the sin. I feared that the Holy Spirit might have left me because I had become His enemy!
This, too, seemed to last about 10-15 minutes. Then the thoughts largely left me; but would still nag me from time to time. The attacks seemed to come out of the blue, and cause me to panic.
Even though I had no control over the thoughts, I sincerely repent of them and having the negative thoughts that preceded them. I prayed and tried to calm myself by reading the Bible, and don't THINK I have, but I still worry about WHAT IF? I can honestly say I had no control over my thoughts; it was like, when I was having them I couldn't believe I was having them. I sincerely believe Satan was using them to doubt my own attitude towards God; what I worry is, that even if I did it out of ignorance or fear (like the Pharisees) it would still be unacceptable and unforgivable. I think it would grossly unfair because I really didn't do it willfully at all, and all I want is to feel the same love and the dwelling of the Spirit. Yet I feel I have so shamed him that he would not dwell in me anymore, and I can't have the same love anymore.
I apologize if this was a bit long. I can't concentrate or think of anything else, it is tormenting me. I read up alot on the websites, and sometimes fear my case is different because I seemed to be convinced of my thoughts. Once again, they did not seem my own; in my heart I fought against them, resisted them, but evil powers seemed to overwhelm me at that point. I still held on and held out through the power and grace of God, yet I am still paranoid that that single THOUGHT was unforgivable. I feared it reflected some deep seated belief in my heart. I have read many interpretations of what the sin is, but I am paranoid that thinking something blasphemous about the Holy Spirit, even if you didn't mean it, is unforgivable. Please put my mind to rest!
Thankyou and God Bless,
John
ocd.
god's got nothing to do with it. And the holy spirit doesn't care, It only needs you to be you.
1Timothy 1:13, Paul said: Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief.
God would understand when someone is sick (and there are mental sicknesses) and has no control.
Or when someone is not really knowing what he is doing. (acting in ignorance)
Some say that after you do that, the Holy Spirit will leave you.
And how will you know that he left? Because you won't be concerned about your spiritual condition anymore or about God.
So the fact that you are still concerned means he is still with you.
I feel sorry for people when they blame themselves for their mind problems. Concentrating on God's bad qualities only - is definitely something a mind disorder can do in some people. And then you have no choice, you can see God as an enemy. You become the victim of your disorder. And if God can't see that and can't forgive that, well then he has no wisdom. And I think that God would have to have the highest amount of wisdom.
I believe i have blasphemed against God and is scared. I was reading what blasphemy is and some unholy words towards God appeared in my head. Words that i would never say from my mouth. I have been having this uneasy feeling with me and is scared. I dont know what to do, because i believe that words thought are just as good as words spoken. I have cried because i am worried, afraid, scared that i may have condemned my soul to hell for my thoughts. I am 27 I believe in God; I haven't been baptized. I have been inquisitive about God and is trying to learn. I don't go to church like i should but i have been recently. Can someone help me? or am i unsaveable
Get a life, turn off Pat Robertson and if youbdo not have one, adopt a pet.
If you could read my mind,
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