Week 5, Day 34 - Unforgiven

"And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, ‘he is possessed by Beelzebub! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons'... ‘I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. But who ever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.'"  Mark 3:22, 28-29

REFLECT

Zacarias Moussaoui was defiant to the end of his trial. It was a known fact that he had taken flying lessons, as had the terrorists of 9/11. He was preparing himself for the most unthinkable and heinous acts and was proud of it. Prosecutor David Raskin said in his closing argument that Moussaoui's own testimony demonstrated that he had no remorse and personified "unforgivable evil".

Raskin was right but not, perhaps, for the right reason. There is sin which is unforgivable, but it's unforgivable not because of the degree of the sin - but because one chooses to close the door to the Holy Spirit where God can do no more.

Jesus talks about the unpardonable sin. Most of us want to know which sin is that bad. We know the Bible talks about thieves being forgiven along with murderers and adulterers. What could be worse than that?

The comment about the unpardonable sin occurred one day when Jesus was in conflict with a group of religious people, the teachers of the law. It was a low point. Jesus had been healing people and casting out demons - the most spectacular display of God's awesome power. And the teachers of the law accused Jesus himself of being possessed. They said that the spirit by which He drove out demons was the spirit of Satan himself.

Actually they turned reality upside down. These teachers of the law were not just blind to the amazing work of the Holy Spirit in their midst. They were calling the work of the Holy Spirit the work of the devil. The unpardonable sin is the complete and abject refusal to believe. What makes it unforgivable is that the mind is closed to any more influence the Holy Spirit might have on that person. Thus the door is closed; there is nothing more that God can do because God's methods never include force.

And for believers with a tender conscience who worry whether in a phase of doubt they have committed the unpardonable sin, there is assurance. It is only when someone refuses to believe and cuts all communication with God's spirit, becoming unwilling to fall at the mercy of Christ, that the guilt of our sin hangs over our heads. That underscores the amazing freedom of choice we have as beings created in the image of God.

MAKE IT REAL

Think of someone you know who is in the "far country" refusing to believe in the true Lord Jesus, and pray for that person. Never give up, never stop. Only God knows when the refusal to believe becomes their ultimate choice thus closing the door to His spirit. We need to keep interceding on their behalf. Only be prepared to become part of God's solution as you pray that prayer.

Day 35