Click or Tap Icons to Share! Thank you!

Authored By  :
Published On :
Last Updated :



Continuing our discussion from part two, as I stated earlier, being the sinful humans that we are, we tend to hold grudges and store negative incidents in our hearts, so that we can use them later in a moment of anger to attack a person who did us wrong in the past. Not so with the Lord. He keeps His word. If He declares that we are forgiven, then we are truly forgiven. We don't need to worry about it anymore. On the other hand, if a person has not come to accept Jesus Christ, and he has not truly repented of his sins, then he has not been forgiven, and his Heavenly Court Record is not clean! His sins are still written in bright red letters which stare God in the face. As a result, someday, when the Lord opens His Great Books, that person is going to be awfully sorry. Here is why. Please note that the words in brackets were added by me for the sake of clarification:

"And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him [the beast], whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world."


"The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is."


And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works . . . And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."


"And there shall in no wise enter into it [the Heavenly City] any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life."


"And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book."


Thus again, we can plainly see that while God the Father does indeed forgive those who humbly approach Him through His dear Son, He does not forgive or forget the sins of those people who willfully and stubbornly continue to rebel against Him until it is too late. As we discovered in part two, a central variable in the "forgiveness equation" is that an offender must first recognize his sins and seek forgiveness from the person whom he has offended, and then from the Lord Himself as well. If such an offender refuses to seek forgiveness, or if he is so hard-hearted that he will not even admit to the crime, what does Jesus advise us to do? The Lord tells us to treat him as a heathen and a publican. Let me share that set of verses with you again to refresh your memory:

"Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican."


Exactly what does the Lord mean by this? The answer becomes clear when we examine the original word in our Greek lexicon. The word "heathen", as it is used in the previous verses from Matthew chapter eighteen, finds its origin in the Koine Greek word "ethnikos". Pronounced eth-nee-kos', Thayer's Greek English Lexicon defines it as follows:

----- Begin Quote -----

1) adapted to the genius or customs of a people, peculiar to a people, national 2) suited to the manners or language of foreigners, strange, foreign 3) in the NT savouring of the nature of pagans, alien to the worship of the true God, heathenish 3a) of the pagan, the Gentile

----- End Of Quote -----

As can be seen, Jesus is simply saying that such a person who refuses correction, and who refuses to submit himself to the Spirit of God, should be viewed and treated as a stranger or a foreigner. In other words, that person is no better than an unbelieving pagan; and in the eyes of the Jews, all heathen were considered unclean, including the Romans who dominated Israel at that time. In contrast to Jesus' remarks, it is for this very same reason that the Apostle Paul informs us that once we come to Christ, and are washed clean by His Blood, we are no longer considered strangers and foreigners. Rather, we have become Royal Members of the Household of God. Consider the following inspiring verses:

"Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ . . . Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;"


In those same verses from Matthew chapter eighteen, Jesus also said that such unrepentant brethren should be treated as publicans. His Jewish followers perfectly understood what Jesus meant by this. Why is that? Well, you see, "publican" -- which is derived from the Koine Greek word "telones" -- was just another word for one of the most detestable classes of people in ancient Israel. That is, the tax collectors. No one wanted to have anything to do with the tax collectors. Well, except other rich people, of course. But as far as the common people were concerned, the publicans were the scum of the Earth; and Jesus said that unrepentant brethren should be treated in the very same manner as the tax collectors. In other words, with utter disdain.

Taking into consideration the stern advice that was offered by Jesus concerning those people who resist the conviction of God's Spirit to repent, we must wonder if we are even supposed to pray for such unrepentant people. While it is entirely up to you to determine how you should react in such a situation, and whether or not you should actually pray for such hard-hearted people, allow me to remind you of something that Jesus said in the Gospel of John:

"I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine."


The previous verse seems to indicate that we are under no obligation to pray for the unbelieving, rebellious people of the world who have knowingly rejected the Salvation that God offers them through the Sacrifice of His Son. Jesus gave us an example which we are to follow. In fact, it may surprise you to know, that there are instances in the Bible where the Jews of Israel had become so wicked, and so rebellious, that the Lord told the Prophet Jeremiah to not even pray for them, because He would not hear such prayers. This shocking truth is made evident by the following set of verses:

"But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear."


"Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee."


"Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them: for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble."


"Thus saith the LORD unto this people, Thus have they loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet, therefore the LORD doth not accept them; he will now remember their iniquity, and visit their sins. Then said the LORD unto me, Pray not for this people for their good."


"We have transgressed and have rebelled: thou hast not pardoned. Thou hast covered with anger, and persecuted us: thou hast slain, thou hast not pitied. Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, that our prayer should not pass through."


"Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth."


Yet to add a degree of balance to what I just stated, let us not forget some of the verses I shared with you in part one of this series. You may recall that in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus also said the following:

"But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and PRAY FOR THEM WHICH DESPITEFULLY USE YOU, AND PERSECUTE YOU; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust."


So now you have seen both sides of the coin. I will leave it up to you to determine how you should personally act in each situation. To pray or not to pray. It is entirely up to you.

But returning to the unrepentant, incorrigible sinner who has refused to even recognize or admit his sin or offense, the sad truth of the matter is that once they have heard the Good News of Salvation through Christ, and made their choice to reject it, then that is it. They have consciously chosen to remain heathen and foreigners in God's sight by their own free will. As I point out in articles such as "Free Will and Personal Choice", "All Are Given a Chance, But ...", and "Is the Message of Salvation Meant for All Men?", it seems that God usually doesn't try to override our free will under most circumstances. We are all free moral agents, and He allows us to live with the consequences of our decisions and actions. As the Apostle Paul wrote concerning one particular issue he had to deal with regarding the brethren:

". . . Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind."


On the other hand, as we saw earlier, rebellious brethren are still our brethren as long as they maintain faith in Christ; even if they are in a backslidden state. Not only that, but the Apostles John, James and Paul did write that we should pray for them, in the hope that they will repent of their sins, and return to the faith. We may have to give them the shock treatment by giving them the cold shoulder for a time as Jesus advised us to do, but we can still be praying for them at the same time. Thus, it would seem that our primary responsibility is to pray for our own. That is, for our worldwide family of brothers and sisters in the Lord. Perhaps this is why in his first Epistle, the Apostle John states the following:

"If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it."


You will notice that in the previous verse, John refers to "a sin unto death". While John doesn't specify exactly what the "sin unto death" is, as I point out in other articles, according to Jesus' own words that are found in the Gospel of Matthew, there is only one unforgivable sin which is worthy of Eternal Death -- that is, the Second Death -- and that sin is blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, as we see by the following group of verses:

"He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come."


Exactly what does "blasphemy against the Holy Ghost" mean? This is in fact an issue which has been debated by Bible scholars for many years now. While I have never claimed to be a great theologian, my personal understanding is that to blaspheme against the Holy Ghost means to deny the ultimate reality which has been revealed to humanity by the Spirit of Truth. Based on Jesus' words in the Gospel of John, it is my personal belief that the Spirit of Truth -- that is, the Holy Ghost -- is an extension of God the Father Himself. Consider these verses:

"But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."


"And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you."


"But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:"


"Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come."


So I believe that to blaspheme against the Holy Ghost is to deny the truth of those verses. If God is a Spirit, and more specifically, if the Spirit of Truth is an extension of His own being -- please notice that Jesus clearly says that the Spirit of Truth "proceedeth from the Father" -- then to call God a liar when He tells us throughout His Word, over and over again, that Jesus Christ is His only-begotten Son who died for the sins of the world, is to blaspheme against the Holy Ghost. Of course, we know that God is not a liar. This is made quite plain by verses such as the following:

"God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?"


"God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged."


"In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;"


"If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us."


"Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son."


"And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world."


"He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son."


"For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist."


What the previous verses also plainly tell us is that anyone who denies God's message to the world regarding the nature and mission of His Son is in fact the real liar, as well as an antichrist, and is guilty of blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. Not only that, but we also know that Jesus called the Devil the real Father of Lies in the Gospel of John, as we see here:

"Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."


Satan is the one who inspires people to rebel against God, to deny the message concerning God's Son, and to blaspheme against Him. Furthermore, the prophecies of Daniel, Second Thessalonians and Revelation all describe a devil-filled man who blasphemes against God day and night, even going so far as to declare that he himself is "God". Consider these verses:

"And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time."


"And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done."


"Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God."


"And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven."


"And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty . . . And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon."


It is my view that the previous verses perfectly describe what blasphemy against the Holy Ghost really is. But to reiterate, it is calling God a liar, denying the Message of Salvation through Christ which He has given us, and in the severest of cases, it is declaring oneself "God" in God's stead. It is blaspheming against the Spirit of Truth which proceeds from the Father, by denying everything that said Spirit says.

Returning to the topic of forgiveness, while the Bible makes it rather clear that we are supposed to forgive and pray for our Christian brethren when they fall into error, or when they are in rebellion against the Lord, is this rule meant to be applied in every situation? When we are told that we won't be forgiven unless we forgive those who have offended us in some way, is it possible that Jesus was saying that we should forgive them IF they seek forgiveness from us first? If they are so proud and stubborn, and so yielded to Satan that they aren't willing to do this, are we still obligated to forgive them; or should we treat them as heathen, and simply commit them to the Lord's judgments?

While this may seem like an unnecessary question to some of you, please don't forget that in the previous Scriptures that we examined, the offender was required to approach the offended, and ask for forgiveness. Yes, out of Christian love we could just forgive them regardless of whether or not they ever come to us. But is this what we are supposed to do?

Allow me to give you a simple example. Consider a criminal who is taken to court. If despite overwhelming evidence which points to his guilt, the criminal refuses to admit to his crime, or to show any kind of remorse for his act, what will be the normal inclination of the judge and jury? Will they simply forgive him and acquit him of the charges which have been brought against him? Are they going to give him a light sentence? Of course not! In all likelihood, they will probably be inclined to give him a very harsh sentence. If the crime merits death, he may even face the electric chair, lethal injection, the firing squad, the gallows, beheading, or whatever happens to be the form of capital punishment in that particular country.

While this may be difficult to understand for some people, God also has a system of Laws. Those people who break His Laws must also face judgment sooner or later. This is why the Apostle Paul wrote the following in his various Epistles:

"But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ."


"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad."


"And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:"


As with the case of capital punishment, depending upon the severity of the sin, a person who defies God's Laws may also merit death, just as we saw earlier in John's first Epistle where he mentioned a "sin unto death". In other words, while some Christians may be shocked to hear this, God may choose to destroy the flesh in order to save a person's spirit. This is exactly the kind of situation that we see the Apostle Paul confronting in the fifth chapter of his first Epistle to the Corinthian brethren. Paul is dealing with a serious case of fornication within the church there. It seems that a certain man has apparently engaged in sexual intercourse with his "father's wife". Whether or not this woman is actually the man's mother, Paul does not say. Consider these verses:

"It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?"


By examining the specific words that Paul utilizes in those verses, we can easily determine exactly how grave the problem was in Corinth. In the opening sentence alone, Paul tells us that the fornication was "reported commonly". In other words, it seems that everyone knew about it. Even worse, Paul tells us that the brethren there had even outdone the wickedness of the Gentiles. He says "fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles". To Paul's dismay, rather than being in a state of humble repentance regarding the sin which has been committed among them, Paul tells us that the Christians there are "puffed up". What does that mean?

As it turns out, this phrase is derived from the Koine Greek word "phusioo", which means to bear one's self loftily, or to be proud. In other words, those brethren were in such a state of rebellion against the Lord, that they were actually proud of their sin. That is how backslidden they were. Is it any wonder then that Paul mentioned delivering "such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus"? Paul concludes the verses by warning the brethren that they had better nip the problem in the bud, or else it will quickly spread. That is why he writes "a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump".

Thus we see that there are times when we must simply commit our brethren into the Lord's hands, so that He can deal with them. If iron sharpening iron does not bring about positive results, then we are left with no other recourse. Consider the following verse:

"Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend."


In other words, if all of our prayers and counseling do not break through a person's wall of pride, then we must simply say, "Okay Lord; we have done all that we can. Now it is up to you to deal with him directly and knock some sense into him." As I explain in other articles, such as "Beholding the Evil and the Good", while at times God can be a very stern Father, nevertheless, He is likewise a very loving one; much more so than our natural parents could ever be. Consider the following verses that are found in Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews:

"Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed."


Please go to part four for the conclusion of this series.

⇒ Go To The Next Part . . .

Click or Tap Icons to Share! Thank you!

---

---

Please avail yourself of other areas of the Bill's Bible Basics website. There are many treasures for you to discover.