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Now let's jump in. We have full confidence that the blood of Jesus has cleansed us and forgiven us of our sins. But I'm still nervous about that one dark figure on the horizon, the unforgivable sin. Let's learn more together coming up right now on the Clear Read Today Show. You're listening to Clear View Today with Dr.
Abadan Shah, a daily show that engages mind and heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm Ryan Hill. I'm John Galantis. Welcome to the Clearview Today Show. We're here in the studio with our host, Dr.
Abadan Shah. Dr. Shah, it's always out there. It's looming. It's the one that everyone's always talking about: the white whale.
unpardonable sin. You know, I knew a gentleman. years and years ago. who who was always very nervous, nervous, nervous, nervous. And one time he Kind of talked to me, and I could tell he was almost on the verge of tears.
And That's like. Mm-hmm. Go ahead. I mean, he wanted to ask a question. I was like, go ahead.
And he said, okay, I have a question. What what if you sin the unpardonable sin? And And and then, you know, you're forever going to hell for that. I I don't want to go to hell. I was like, oh, okay.
That's what you were concerned about. He's like, yeah, that's always bothered me. Always bothered me. It still bothers me because I don't know. Mm-hmm.
What if I've done it? What if I did not know and I did something? That I cannot go to heaven. You know, and And we were laughing, but for him it was a real fearful thought. That he had crossed the line.
But not even being sure, like, did I even do it? Yeah, what is the line? Yeah. Did I do that? I mean, I don't know.
Yeah. I don't know. No, never mind. I'm not even going to do that. That's together.
Did I do that? Do I? Oh, sorry. Did I do that? There you go.
He's standing on Judgment Day. His worst fear gets realized. He's like, Yula, you did it. He did it. Oh, no.
Oh, man. Just tell me, would an Urkel impression get me out of this? Uh yeah, we're laughing, but really. For that person, it's a huge, huge burden. I've heard a lot of people like in my life talk about this unforgivable sin, and no one can quite agree on what it is.
Like, I've heard for some that like suicide is the unforgivable sin. For some reason, people think that if you do this, you don't have any chance to repent. And so that's just it. You're done. And then I've heard others talking about there's just lots of things that are that's the one, that's the unforgivable sin.
That's the only sin Jesus didn't or couldn't die for. Yeah. Is there a definitive answer, Dr. Shaw? What is the unpardonable sin?
Well, before we go into that direction, I want to stop and answer or at least address the situation of the suicide. Is suicide that unforgivable sin or unpardonable sin? You often hear that, especially In the South, I've heard people say that. It's like that's the unpardonable sin. And years ago I was Talking to somebody, and this lady said that.
She's like, Well, Nino, that's the unpardonable sin. And I told this person. That you better not think about doing that because that's the unpardonable sin. I mean, you cannot get forgiveness for that. And so I stopped and I looked at her.
And I said I don't think that's correct. In fact, I know for sure that's not correct. What do you mean? I've always heard that. All my life, I've heard that suicide is the unforgivable sin.
I said, not that I'm telling you. Or anybody else out there.
Now, go ahead and commit suicide because you will be forgiven. I would never, ever tell you that. I think. it can leave a lot of pain. And suffering for the people who are left here.
I've been in situations where I've had to give counsel and prayer and comfort to people. Who you know, they're they're wondering what did I do wrong that caused this family member to take that That step. You know, we say we call that a a permanent solution for a temporary problem. Yeah. So You know, I would never try to minimize that.
Having said that, Suicide is not the unforgivable sin. Suicide is Wrong? Suicide leaves a lot of pain and suffering behind for the people who are. Left. Picking up the pieces, but it's not the unforgivable sin.
What is the difference between that sin and say, Yeah. You know, you lie right before you Get into it. Fatal car wreck. Or you have a an evil thought passed through your mind, a sinful, lustful thought comes through your mind, and the next thing you know, you're standing before God. Yeah.
Does that mean that you're going to hell? Right. I think some people think that. I think I've I've I think people think that If you don't ask for forgiveness, it's not granted. Right.
You have to ask for forgiveness every single time, and then you are forgiven. When I was younger, when I first got saved, like 15 years old, I thought that. Oh, I thought that because that's what it was. It's like you have to ask, because why else would if I've been forgiven once and for all? Why also am I asking for forgiveness in every prayer?
Because I remember hearing my grandparents do the Lord's Prayer: forgive us our trespasses. And so I was like, okay, well, I guess you know how it works. You know, you just make those assumptions. And that's not true. Suicide is.
Painful? Hurtful? But it's not done pardonable sin. Mm-hmm. Having addressed that, Where does this idea of the unpardonable sin come from?
Jesus talked about it. And it's right here in Matthew chapter twelve, verse thirty one. Therefore I say to you. Every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men But the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven man. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.
Un Pardonable. Sin. Here's another one, Mark 3.28. Assuredly, I say to you, again, Jesus speaking here. All sins will be forgiven, the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter.
but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, This is very similar to what Jesus said in Matthew twelve. But whoever He who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiven, but is subject to eternal punishment. Condemnation because they said he has an unclean spirit. That's what they were saying about Jesus: that he had an unclean spirit.
Well, Jesus' spirit is the Holy Spirit. Yeah. Not the same way as I have a soul or I have a spirit.
So, no, no, no, no. The Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead, was always with the second person, just as he's always with the first person. The Trinity is always connected, there is no such thing as a broken Trinity. We often say that On the cross, the father turned his face away. Like there was a moment of separation between father and son.
It worked its way into our worship songs. Yeah, and that's not accurate. I don't think we should do that. I still believe in holding to the penal substitutionary atonement. of Jesus That God the Father Put the wrath Against sin on God the Son.
And God the Son took Every bit of that. But the reason the father did not have to turn his face away from the son is because the son was perfect. Um He who knew no sin became sin for us. It was not just that he who knew no sin became sin.
Well, then, of course, the father would have to sit turn his head away or face away from the son, and then there is that moment of separation. We know we often talk about the separation between the father and the son. No, there was no separation.
Okay, it was always one.
So also Talking about This sin The spirit that was with Jesus. was the Holy Spirit. And because they were calling that spirit in him an unclean spirit. They were saying the Holy Spirit is unclean. Again, don't think of it as a bird being unclean.
The spirit, that person, that person. You know, the person who cannot be seen, and yet he is very, very real with a real personality, with real. Feelings. He can be grieved. He can be quenched.
He can be stopped. He can be saddened. That person who is standing right there with the son, the person who is right there with the father, the person who goes And executes what the Father and the Son command him to do. That person, when you look at him and say, you're unclean. Ooh, Jesus said, I would not have done that.
Yeah. And this is not, and maybe it's it may be worth saying and expounding on that this is not like a moment of doubt or like some struggle or some misunderstanding. This is like willful, deliberate rejection. Of the Holy Spirit, yeah, of this third person of the Godhead. You said, No, we don't need him.
In fact, he is dirty, he is unclean. And that's like, oof. It's kind of, oh, go ahead.
Well, I was just gonna say, it's that's that's such an extreme thing for people to do. I feel like if you are concerned about committing the Unpardonable or unforgivable sin, you probably are not in danger of doing that. Yeah, right. I feel like this is the thing, because we all know that. Or at least among Christianity, we all agree that if you don't, if you reject Christ as your Savior, then of course you can't go to heaven.
This is essentially the same exact thing. It's rejection of the Holy Spirit.
Now, these guys did it with like deliberate, hateful speech. But is it the sp is it the speech? Is it the rejection itself? Is it a combination of both? Yeah, I would say it's both.
Yeah. Is both. And we're going to see that.
Some of the views that are taken on this topic, we're going to see that. And then it'll give us a better, a clearer understanding of what this sin is really about. Yeah. It may be more helpful, maybe, to think of it as like when you don't accept Christ, you think of that as a passive thing. I just didn't do what I was supposed to do.
But really, it is also a. Willful active rejection. saying no to him. In fact, saying that you are not worthy. You're not worthy to.
To claim my life, you're not worthy to bring me the gospel of freedom and forgiveness. That's That's that's Can I be forgiven? Yeah. Another passage here I want to read first is Hebrews chapter 6, verse 4, because it again. Hints at The unpardonable sin, he said.
Hebrews 6.4, 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. Seems like an unpardonable sin, because if you do this. If you have tasted the heavenly gift, you were enlightened, you tasted the heavenly gift, become partakers of the Holy Spirit, but and have tasted the good word and the powers of the age to come, and then if you fall away, You cannot come back. Unpardonable sin.
What do you do with Hebrews chapter 6?
Well, that's again a Question: We have to answer. Yeah, because it seems like. What that's saying is, and I know this is not what it's saying, but I think it's easy for someone to interpret that as: okay, if you have salvation and then lose it, it's lost. You're not getting it. Because if you've tasted the heavenly gift, you've become a partaker of the spirit and you fall away.
So instantly. There's a question mark there. Can I lose my salvation? Yeah. Is is what Hebrews is saying even possible?
Yeah. Context, context, context. The context of Hebrews, I recently explained it to a couple because somebody the gentleman worked with the husband worked with is is coming from a perspective that you can lose your salvation. And this is one of those passages that you can lose your salvation and in fact you may not be able to get it back. And I explained to the person that context is our key.
The context of the book of Hebrews, when you study it carefully. It is written. To second generation. Jewish Bagran believers who were tempted to go back to the old way of their parents. Keep in mind that the first generation of Jewish people who got saved.
they left it all. They left the temple, they left the worship, they left the sacrifices, they left those high holy days, they left all of that and they followed Jesus because all that was fulfilled in Christ. They don't reject the Old Testament. They were not rejecting their ethnicity. They were simply saying that all is fulfilled in Christ.
Now we're going to follow Christ. And this was the Ecclesia. This is the first century church. I mean, the first century church were Jewish background believers. And then the door is thrown open to the Gentiles, and little by little they begin to come in.
Not that the Gentiles were not welcome before. No, they were always welcome. And they came, But they were never given a seat around the table. You could s eat off the floor. Yeah.
But you cannot sit next to the suns. Mhm. But now, because of the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came in all power, now the doors are flung open and then later on with with in Genesis I'm sorry, in Acts chapter fifteen, at the Jerusalem Council, it is given. That It it is decided that Gentiles do not have to keep Circumcision, they don't have to keep the law, they don't have to keep all that, they can come clearly. and boldly to Christ.
Only thing is make sure you take care of those in need. You know, that was the stipulation. It's a very simple thing to do.
So Gentiles were also grafted into the family of God.
Okay, so so now you have both groups. Jewish people and Gentiles. In The church body.
So now going back to the whole Hebrews situation. The first century or the first generation Jewish background believers were rock solid in their faith. Yes, there were Judaizers who were coming in. Paul had to fight them. Paul had to warn them.
and said don't don't go back to the circumcision Don't go back to all those rituals. You don't have to do those things.
Now you have the substance. Don't go back to the shadow. Done. Second generation. These people did not experience.
Their old fate. the old faith that was waiting for the coming of the Messiah.
Now, their mom and daddies were either aged out or they were passing away. And the Gentiles were coming into the church body, and they almost felt sort of. You know. Shove to the side. It's kind of disenfranchised.
Like we were the we were the ones, but now all of a sudden you have a Greek here and you have an African there and you have a Celt over there. Egyptian here, and they don't even have any Israelite background. They're here. What are we going to do with them?
So there was a sense of disenfranchisement, And so Now These second generation people felt like, let's go back to the old way. I want to go back to the temple. I remember as a little boy, I w I was at the temple and man, I remember us us going here and going there. It was so so cool. It was so cool, watching those sacrifices happening and the Levites singing.
I I missed the old thing, old way.
Now, keep in mind, the first generation mom and daddies would never agree with that. But the second generation had this this nostalgia. And Paul, I believe Hebrews was written by Paul, but if you don't, that's fine too. The writer was telling the second-generation Jewish background believers that if you were to go back. To the old way.
What does he say here? If they fall away, After having been enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift, become partakers of the Holy Spirit, tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the age to come, if you fall away. It doesn't say sin. That's true. These are the riches, the blessings we have in Christ.
If you have tasted all this and you go back to the old way, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God and put him to open shame, means what do you want to do then? Go back to the old, and then Jesus does the whole thing again for you, and then you are convinced, and then you come into the faith.
So, as with most passages in an argument like this, Paul is not talking about your salvation. This is he's talking about you've already come to salvation. You've experienced the goodness of God. It is senseless for you to go back to the old. It's senseless, absolutely.
I mean, your Christian life should be moving forward. What are you going backwards? It seems like over these past few episodes, we've come to a lot of these passages that people. Christians just attribute salvation to when that is not the focus of What Paul, or what the author that we're reading about, is saying. And that's how we keep getting these different.
Interpretations of passages that are supposed to be very simple. I think that ties back to our understanding of what salvation is and how we obtain salvation. You know, we have a tendency, I feel like people in general have a tendency to believe that salvation can't just be a free gift. It's got to be, I've got to keep this law, I've got to do this, I've got to have a checklist, I've got to be good enough, or I've got to go to church an X number of times.
So we create all these things where if you don't do this, then you lose it. Or if you do this, then you're disqualified. When in reality, that's not what scripture was ever saying in the first place. Right. It's talking about this unpardonable sin, which is, as it always has been.
Rejection of God's gift. Yeah, that's right.
So there have been different views.
Some people said it's only during Christ's ministry on earth, it doesn't apply. And that's not true. I mean, Hebrews is talking about it, but in a different way.
Some people believe that it's unbelief until the time of death because of some sin. But it doesn't fit the context.
Some people believe that only true born-agains can commit this sin. I don't know about that. Yeah, because I mean, if I tell a lost person the gospel and they reject it, and they look at me and say, Hey, I hear, understand everything you said. I understand the gospel. My answer is no.
Yeah. It's a blaspheme against the Holy. I mean, it's rejection. Yeah. It's willful rejection.
And that's exactly what Matthew chapter 12. Verses 22 to 32 is all about. And I'm going to read that section, or maybe one of you can read it for us. Sure. Matthew 12, starting in verse 22 says.
Then one was brought to him who was demon possessed, blind and mute and he healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw. And all the multitudes were amazed, and said, Could this be the Son of David?
Now when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons. But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out?
Therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can one enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house? He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters abroad. Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.
Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.
So there you have it. Clear knowledge of who Christ is and of the power of the Holy Spirit working through Him. This is. but what is necessary. Willful rejection of the facts about Christ.
Willful rejection means he is. He's doing what was prophesied and promised about him. He is changing lives. He's accomplishing the work of redemption. And yet you are slandering his work.
In fact, you're slandering the Holy Spirit. And At that point, your sin cannot be forgiven. I think this is a great way to cap off our discussion that we've been having over the past couple of days about sin because a hardness of heart like this and Dr. Shah, maybe you can speak about this because you've been a pastor now for going on thirty years. This type of hardness of heart is not something that happens overnight.
This is a this is repeated exposure. and repeated rejection. Right. Yeah. Yeah.
I've seen that in my ministry. but I remember very distinctly my dad talking about this. with the gentleman in his church. He used to This this man, my my father used to invite him to church. Please come to church.
Please lead your family to follow God. and his family, his wife, his sons, they they came to church. little kids and they were growing up. And and this man Was a man's man. I mean, he was, he had this thick mustache in the back of the day, like it curled up, curled up, and he would sit there and curl it up.
And he was that's his way of showing that. I am a man's man, and I don't need nobody to save me. and he would sit there was this a cemetery by his house, Cemetery had a wall. and he would sit on top of the wall, Okay, as people would walk by or drive by, he was sitting on top of the wall. And my dad would often, you know, drive by and and he would just sit there and and be, you know, tweaking his moustache.
And And then One day My dad got word that this man had become terribly sick. Mm. And so His family said, please, please. Could you please come and pray with him? He needs He needs you.
He needs... the pastor to come and talk to him. My dad said, Of course I'll go. You know, that's what pastors do. It doesn't matter how many times you reject it or being hateful or being offensive.
That's what we do. We have to put our Personal feelings and agenda aside because it's about souls getting saved. You have to go after souls. And so my dad went. And when he got to the house, His wife said, Well, he's not in the house.
I said, oh. It's a he's he's In the Back shed. Oh, he's in the shed. He said, Yeah. It just to let you know, he's I mean It's it's a horrible stench.
Oh man, his wife put him in the shed? Yes. His wife and children is like it it's really it's his body's going through this this horrible infection and it's just a horrible, horrible stench. And my dad's like, Sure, well Take me there. And The man's sons, who are now a little bit older, grown, You kind of walk him down this path behind the house to the shed, and my dad walks in.
It's a dark, dingy-looking room. And there he is on the couch, on this on this cot. The moustache is no longer thick and and all tweaked up. It looks like a shoebrush. It's like it's just just fragmented.
There he is. A shell of a man. And My dad walks in, and you can immediately feel the just the stench. The heat of the stench. Yes, and it's horrible.
And his wife says, I've been here, I've been cleaning him and all that stuff, but I can't be here. I'll have to be back later. If it's okay, I'll leave you here. to talk to him. My dad said, Yeah, sure.
And some of my dad said, What's going on? He said, Mm I'm very sick. I don't think I'm gonna make it. I don't think I'm I'm gonna I'm gonna Come out of this one. Is it well?
You know what's going on? He said, I don't know. I'm sick. But I'm gonna die. I'm I'm dying.
And so my dad. being the evangelist, he said, well, let me share the gospel with you. Jesus died on the cross for your sins. He took your sin upon himself. All you have to do is call upon him and be saved.
If you know your time is short, all you have to do is say, Jesus, save me. That's all. You don't have to memorize a thousand verses in the Bible. You don't have to like You know, do some rituals simply saying, Jesus, save me, and you can be saved. That's all.
And the man then proceeds to tell him of How good a life he lived, and how his family is not treating him right, and how they threw him out in the back. And my dad's like trying to get back on subjects. Like, I understand. I understand. I mean, they're they're trying to maintain a house while you're sick.
This is your house, but They're trying to keep it going. But You know, you need to get your life right with the Lord. That's right. And and The man could not understand. As much as my dad kept explaining to him, give your life to Jesus.
And Can I pray with you? And all he could say is why. Why is this happening to me? Why is this happening to me? And then Finally, my dad said, Well, I'm gonna Let you rest.
And As my dad is walking out, He's still moaning. Why is this happening to me? Why is this happening to me? And my dad remembers, and he said, It was so chilling. I'm walking down this path.
back towards the house and I can hear this man moaning in his in his little cot. In this This barely lit room. and crying, Why me? You see, he had so rejected the Holy Spirit That in that moment when he could have said, Yes, I need Jesus to save me. All he could cry was why.
Wow.
So, who did that? God didn't do that. The Holy Spirit didn't do that. This man Himself had so hardened his heart. That on death's door he could not See his need for salvation.
So what is the unpardonable sin? When you harden your heart, Right, Dr. Shah, just at risk, I know we might go over time a little bit, but we can cut some stuff before that. If someone's listening to this show and they know in their heart, maybe they won't admit it to anybody else, but they know in their heart, that's me. I'm that man in the story.
Can you just give them 60 seconds of hope? Absolutely. You haven't committed the unpardonable sin. If you are the one saying, have I? No, you haven't.
If your heart is open to God, if your heart is open to repenting before God and saying, God, forgive me of my sins, you haven't. And until the day That moment you take your last breath. God's grace comes to you. And it's simply saying, receive my son Jesus as your savior. Ask him to save you.
You say, what does that mean? It's simply saying, Jesus, you died in my place. I need you to be my savior. and my king. And trust me when I say this, on the authority of God's Word.
You haven't committed. the unpardonable sin. Amen. That's the hope for us. And if you are listening to the episode today and you want to know what the next steps need to look like, contact us here at the Clearview Today Show.
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