Expert: Phillip Senn - 4/15/2010

Question
QUESTION: i was reading one of your responses to a question on this topic. i once thought what if the holy spirit is evil and in my head i once called god evil out of anger, but my pastor sai i can still be forgiven. can i be?

ANSWER: Ryan

"In my opinion"... Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is not speaking of the Holy Spirit as evil, nor of thinking that God is evil. Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, again "in my opinion" is ascribing the work of the Holy Sprit to the Devil. The work of the Holy Spirit is to convict of sin, righteousness and judgement. It is also to teach us of Christ, and the redemption that is found in Him. If one rejects Christ, as did the Pharisees, they have no means of redemption. There is salvation in none other than Jesus Christ, and to reject Him condemns a man (See John 3). Jesus Himself said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man cometh to the Father but by me. Saying, and thinking something in the head, is not the final rejection of Christ and Eternal Life through Him, but saying it in the heart (where it becomes a part of who you are) is condemning.

I hope this clarifies the situation for you.

With Love In Christ,
Phillip Senn

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: i agree! lets persay someone thinks the holy spirit is the devil, if along the road they relize they made a mistake and repent can they be forgiven if they truley come to christ?

ANSWER: Ryan,

No man can come to the Son, except that the Holy Spirit draw him. If he responds by faith in Christ, the Scripture makes it clear that, as a believer, he has Eternal Life. That would mean that he had never blasphemed the Holy Spirit, or he wouldn't have been able to be forgiven. Jesus declared that it would be impossible for anyone that had blasphemed the HS, to be forgiven in this life or the life to come.

With Love In Christ,
Phillip Senn

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: so your saying if someone truely blasphemed the holy spirit they would never come to christ?

Answer
Ryan,

That is correct. If they came to Christ by faith, they would be forgiven of their sins. Some have suggested that the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is the rejection of Christ and His redemptive work. According to Scripture, that is the only thing that would prevent them from being forgiven, either in this life or the life to come.

Jesus said in John 6:44-47, "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me. Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. Jesus told Simon Peter when he declared that Jesus was "the Christ, the Son of the living God", "Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven".

If a man comes to Jesus, he will have everlasting life. This indicates that his sins have been forgiven. Thus, anyone that comes to Christ by faith, has heard the message of Christ from the Father, and has believed. That person has forgiveness of sins, is born again, has the Holy Spirit living within them, and are a child of God. They have been justified from all things, and stand before God as His friend, and not His enemy.

With Love In Christ,
Phillip Senn