IS BLASPHEMY AGAINST
THE HOLY GHOST
THE ONLY UNPARDONABLE SIN?
Pr
18:13 ¶ He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it
is folly and shame unto him.
By Dick Carmack
(Please note where
emphasis is added to Scripture, underlining, italicizing, bold, etc.
It has all
been added by the author and is not in the original.)
Ro 6:16 Know ye
not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to
whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto
righteousness?
1Jo 5:16 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.
Mt 12:31,32; and, the
same teaching is found in Mr 3:28-29; and in Lu 12:10. This is
the unpardonable sin. Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost.
Mt 12:31 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. 32 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.
“Blasphemy against the Holy
Ghost is regarded by some as a continued and obstinate rejection of the gospel,
and hence is an unpardonable sin, simply because as long as a sinner remains in
unbelief he voluntarily excludes himself from pardon. Others regard the
expression as designating the sin of attributing to the power of Satan those
miracles which Christ performed, or generally those works which are the result
of the Spirit's agency.”
You can curse Christ and be
forgiven, you can rail against God the Father and be forgiven, but if you speak
against the Holy Spirit, that's it.
There are three distinct persons of God, the Father,
the Son and the Holy Ghost. As the first two persons of the Trinity have
special attributes, so does also the Holy Ghost (Spirit).
But, there is another passage
of Scripture that at first glance seems to contradict the Gospel
accounts of only blasphemy of the Holy Ghost being unpardonable;
Re 22:18 For I testify unto every man that
heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these
things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 19
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.
This clearly teaches the sin of
adding to and taking away from Scripture is also unpardonable because if you do
that your name will be taken out of the Book of Life. We recommend an article
by Paul Benson
where he
applies Revelation 22 teaching to the pre-trib rapture teaching. As we read and
considered Mr. Benson’s article we finally saw a correlation between Rev
22:18,19 and Mt 12:31,32 where the Spirit speaks of the unpardonable sin. At
first glance they seem contradictory but actually complement each other.
We see the Spirit wrote the
Bible through men.
2Pe 1:16-21 ¶ For we have not followed cunningly
devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. …
…2Pe 1:21 For the prophecy came not in old time by
the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy
Ghost.
In the passage given we have
Jesus (Vs. 16), God the Father (Vs 17), and the Holy Ghost (Vss 19-21) who
moved men to write the Scripture.
2Ti 3:16 All scripture is given by
inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction in righteousness:
I emphasize ALL Scripture
because many choose the Word like they would choose what to eat in a cafeteria,
“I’ll have some of this, but I don’t like that so I’ll just pass it by.” That
approach to Scripture contains a deadly seed, which we believe can lead to a
person’s name being taken out of the book of life. If the reader believes that
is not possible he should consider what Moses pleaded to God,
Ex 32:32 Yet now, if thou wilt forgive
their sin--; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast
written.
And God
replied,
Ex 32:33 And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath
sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.
“That’s just Old Testament and doesn’t apply to us!” Oh no?
What does Paul say in Romans?
Ro 2:5 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart
treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the
righteous judgment of God; 6 Who will render to every man according to
his deeds:
We can therefore conclude, if the “deeds” of man include the
changing, taking away from, adding to Scripture they are in very deep trouble,
as God said, “…him will I blot out of my book.(Ex 32:33)”
Who wrote Scripture?
1Pe 1:10 ¶ Of which
salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who
prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: 11 Searching what, or what
manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when
it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should
follow.
The
prophets wrote the Bible as they were moved by the Holy Spirit so the resulting
Scripture was not of the prophet (though it might have his style) but of God
Himself.
2Sa 23:2 The Spirit of the LORD
spake by me, and his word was in my tongue.
Lu 1:70 As he spake by the mouth of his
holy prophets, which have been since the world began: (All emphasis added)
So, logically, if we mess with
(change) Scripture (add to it or take away from it), we are literally playing
with fire, because in so doing we are blaspheming the Holy Ghost because
He is the author of Scripture. Where do you get that? One place is,
Ac 13:45 But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they
were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by
Paul, contradicting and blaspheming.
Paul (instructed by the Holy
Ghost) was the major author of New Testament Scripture. So when the Jews
contradicted his teachings, challenging or changing the Scripture he had
written or used they considered Paul’s words blaspheming, but in actuality they
were the blasphemers because they were using words and teachings that were not
in the original manuscripts. Indeed, the Pharisees were famous for formulating
rules of behavior that were not Scriptural.
When a man changes Scripture from the original writings, for any reason,
he is rejecting the Scripture and the Spirit that wrote it that used men as the
pen. Therefore, rejecting or adding to Scripture is blasphemy against
God.
__________
I
want to explain now the connection I see between Mat 12 and the Revelation 22
teaching and how they mix.
In the denomination in which I
was saved (Independent Fundamental Baptist), their basic position was “A
continued rejection of the Word,” thus not getting saved, meant I was thus
condemned forever.” But, I have recently had a new point of view explained that
puts my earlier view at risk.
My
teachers held (hold) to the doctrine of "eternal security, once saved,
always saved.” Thus if one backslides into sin it is explained as, "He was
never really saved." Eternal life is certainly taught in both the Old and
New Testaments, so let’s look at life eternal. Yes, it is taught in both the
Old and New Testaments,
Da 12:2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of
the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting
contempt.
Isa 66:24 And they shall go forth, and
look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their
worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an
abhorring unto all flesh.
Mt 25:46 And these shall go away into
everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
Other devout Christians believe
you can lose your salvation. Some soften the teaching by calling it a “fall
from grace.” Some believe you can be saved, backslide and lose it, and be saved
again. Who’s right? Can you lose your salvation? Mt 12
clearly teaches you can lose life with God for the sin of blasphemy against the
Holy Ghost. Rev 22 clearly teaches you can lose it for the
sin of adding to or taking away from Scripture. We must admit then in those two
cases at least, you can definitely lose your salvation. But are there other
cases?
If
changing Scripture (rejecting the written Word and substituting
something else) is blasphemy, then are those folks in danger of losing their
salvation? If I read the Scripture accurately they have apparently blasphemed
the Holy Spirit by rejecting portions (or words) of Scripture and substituting
their own views. We rightly compare Scripture with Scripture to establish the
truth of a teaching. So far, I have not seen a comparison between Mt. 12 and
Rev 22 made. Is the comparison valid or invalid? Be careful, you may be either
adding unto, or taking away from the Word!
Here is where I need the help of
those who are more skilled in the Word than me.
If I read the above Scripture
correctly, because the Holy Ghost wrote the Bible using men as the
instrument, the two seemingly separate passages Mt 12 and Rev 22 are actually
hinged together.
In other words if we add to or
take away from Scripture we have blasphemed the Holy Spirit, thus
falling under the curse of Mt 12.
If that is correct it should
throw up a very large RED flag for any “appointed” or self-appointed Bible
translator unless he goes back to the oldest extant manuscripts and
translates directly from them! Be careful not to add in personal bias or views
of learned men, or give them equal weight with Scripture just because they are
considered to be great expositors of the Bible (C.I. Scofield’s Reference Bible
comes to mind)!
That
puts possibly several so-called Bibles at risk but may exclude paraphrases as
they probably make it clear it is a paraphrase and not a translation. I don’t
know about the last sentence because I don’t own a paraphrase and am not
interested in acquiring one.
The last and logical step: A
recent writing
by Paul
Benson applies Rev 22 to a question that crops up again and again nowadays,
“When does the ‘rapture’ occur?” This writer maintains the “rapture” English
for Greek the “catching away,” has been used incorrectly in the Word. Let me
explain:
Regarding 1st Thes
4:13-17, the phrase “shall be ‘caught up’ <harpazo>” is certainly there
in verse 17 and yes it is describing “seizing, plucking, pulling and taking by
force.” The occurrence of the phrase and its definition is not in dispute. What
is in dispute is that a “pre-second coming” which is required for a
pre-trib rapture has been ADDED UNTO the Scriptural description of the
resurrection of the dead and the gathering of the living saints!
In the Scripture quoted there is
absolutely no mention of a “pre-second coming” or a “pre-rapture” event.
In fact there is no mention of anything except the one event! Christ is
going to return to gather His righteous ones (Saints); old and new, dead and
alive. No adding unto, allowed!
The pre-trib teaching has
been added unto the Word and believed by millions because of a very complex
set of reasons. Some fear the coming great tribulation and believe this
gives them an out, “Not to worry, we’ll be gone!” Some are convinced of
the pre-trib position because that’s what they have been taught and have never
really studied it. They are also often the ones who react as by rote and
usually vehemently defend the position, mostly with hot air. Some
attempt to prove how learned they are in God’s Word by showing the dumbbells if
they will just become Christians they have bought a “soon coming” ticket
destination of heaven with no detours. That opens up another can of worms
called “easy believism,” but will have to be discussed at another time. Others,
perhaps the majority, have studied the verses they have been taught point to a
pre-trib position and having done so, conclude they can indeed believe a
circumstantial case and they therefore adopt it as their own.
But, no one can point to a
single definitive passage that plainly states a pre-trib rapture will
occur! If they are honest they have to admit the case for that position is
built by crafting several seemingly unrelated verses together until they make
the case for what they want. Along with the “rapture” a “pre-second coming of
Christ” is required. Those that teach that, explain it as “The second
Coming in two stages.” That teaching however is nowhere to be found in the
Bible. A lawyer or a judge would call the pre-trib rapture position a “circumstantial
case.”
“But!” you say, “When we rise to
meet Him in the air (17)” doesn’t that mean He comes to rapture us and takes us
to heaven for the marriage supper of the lamb?” I reply, “What does it say?”
It says we rise to meet Him in the air, much like we would see a
neighbor coming down the road and when we would walk out to meet him we then
walk together. Does it mean we both will then turn around and go back to where
he came from or more likely, wouldn’t it would mean we both then proceed on
down to my house where he was headed in the first place? All the text really
says is that from that point on, “…and so shall we ever be
with the Lord.”
__________
On the other hand, if we don’t
buy the pre-trib hypothesis, the case for a simultaneous resurrection of
the dead and a catching away of living Saints is taught in 1st Thess
4:13-17. Now consider that the resurrection occurring AFTER the great
tribulation is clearly taught in Mt 24:29-31 (also Mk 13:24-27, Luke 21:27,28).
Mt 24:31 And he shall send his
angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his
elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
The Matthew passage which
clearly teaches a 2
nd Coming of Christ to get his church (both
living and dead) is explained away by pre-tribbers as applying
only to the
Jews “because they are the elect!” and to those Saints who are saved later
during the great tribulation. But that cannot be correct because in the
first
31 verses of that chapter (Mt 24) alone are at least 15 references to
either Christ or His followers (the church). There are a score of plain
references to Christians such as the one having Christ coming in the clouds
with great glory (Vs. 27). If we do a word study of
the elect, instead
of being the Jews, out of 20 mentions there are
only 4 clear references
to the Jews,
12 clear references to Christians and 4 that are debatable.
Indeed, this chapter (Mt 24) in
particular was the genesis of my journey away from the pre-trib position. I
remember going to the preacher after the sermon and asking, “Doesn’t that
chapter apply to us Christians?” “No,” he replied “That’s the Jews, the
Christians have been raptured.” “Where does it say that?” I asked as a young
Christian, “The Christians have been raptured, it’s in 1st Thess,
We’ll discuss it some other time.” He replied. End of conversation.
Another plain
teaching of Christ returning to gather His Saints both living and dead is found
in 2nd Thes 2:1-3 where it states plainly that event the (the
“gathering, Vs 1),” also called the resurrection/rapture cannot occur until
the “there is a great falling away and the man of sin, the son of perdition (Vs
3)” is revealed. We can all agree antichrist will be revealed mid-point of
Daniel’s 70th week, therefore if the gathering cannot occur until
the man of sin be revealed, the church will required to go through at least
the first half of Daniel’s Seventieth Week.
Beyond that
we can find several positions for those that believe in a separate rapture but
not pre-trib. The most prominent being that of Marvin Rosenthal in the
Pre-Wrath rapture theory where he teaches a rapture occurring at an
indeterminate time sometime after the revealing of the man of sin at mid-point
in Daniel’s week when, he says, the great tribulation will begin and will run
for the mentioned indeterminate time period. After the “catching away” the
Wrath of God will fall upon the unrepentant world for the remainder of the last
3 ½ years, culminating in Armageddon.
Regarding 2nd
Thess 2 and the gathering passage found in verses 1-3, Tommy Ice
(Pre-Trib Rapture Institute) and Gary Stearman (Prophecy Watchers) argue weakly
that the “falling away” (apostasia) of 2Thes 2:3 is talking about a physical
departure of the Saints presumably in an upward direction, instead
of a falling away from the faith. These men are so enraptured (pun intended)
with pre-trib they “wrest the Scriptures to their own destruction” (2 Pet
3:16), twisting “apostasia” into a “catching away.”
The Question remains, “How does
the Pre-Trib position add to or take away from Scripture?” Very simply put,
without elaboration, it adds an imagined 3rd Coming of Christ (“phased or
split” 2
nd Coming), and it takes away at a minimum, 3 ½ years of
trouble and strife during the 1
st half of Daniel’s 70
th
Week (Dan 9:27). Benson
argues therefore teaching the pre-trib theory not only puts the teacher in
danger of having his part taken away (Rev 22:19) from the book of life but also
puts in danger all of those who are taught and accept the teaching.
“Breaking The Curse
“If you cannot come to the place yet to embrace the
truth that the Church is going through the time of great tribulation: PLEASE!
for your own sake, at least back off to a neutral position. Let your confession
be something along the lines of: ‘I’m not sure about these things’ or ‘I’m
seeking for more light on this matter, and I don’t know for sure what to
believe or teach’. And ask the Lord to forgive and cleanse you for any error
you have embraced or promoted. He will gladly do so (1Jphn 1:9).
“That neutral position will not defile you and bring
you under judgment for adding to or taking away from what the Bible teaches. It
is a safe place where you can apply yourself to seek God, and the truth of his
Word, on this most serious matter. If I can convince you to at least assume
this safe position I will have made headway in regard to the main burden of my
heart in writing these words; and that is seeing God’s people removed from the
danger of promoting that deceiving and damaging doctrine.
“Let’s enter the final days of this age under
the Blessing of God, and not under a curse for failing to give his Word proper
regard!”
–
P Benson - “The
Curse of the Pre-Trib Rapture!”
__________
Please see the word study for
“ELECT” below.
In short, if you are the ELECT of
God you are a righteous BELIEVER, whether you be Jew or Gentile, old Testament or New Testament.
__________
WORD STUDY FOR “elect.” (20 mentions)
Old and New Testaments -- Blue =Jewish
(4); Red =
Christian (12); Green = Jesus (1);
Underlined black = both Christians & Jews
or angels (3).
Isa 42:1 ¶ Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have
put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
Isa 45:4 For Jacob
my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect,
I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not
known me.
Isa 65:9 And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah
an inheritor of my mountains: and mine elect shall inherit it, and
my servants shall dwell there.
Isa 65:22 They shall
not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as
the days of a tree are the days of my people, and
mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
Mt 24:22 And except those days should be shortened, there
should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake
those days shall be shortened. (John 16:33, and 18 others tribulation;) (Mt 3:7 and 44 others – wrath) All NT, all
Christian context.
Mt 24:24 For there
shall arise false Christs, and false prophets,
and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
Mt 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a
trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect
from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (rapture)
Mr 13:20 And except
that the Lord had shortened those days,
no flesh should be saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath
chosen, he hath shortened the days. (after
tribulation)
Mr 13:22 For false Christs and
false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect. (context)
Mr 13:27 And then
shall he send
his angels, and shall gather together his elect
from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part
of heaven. (rapture)
Lu 18:7 And shall
not God avenge his own elect, which cry
day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?
Ro 8:33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. (context)
Col 3:12 ¶ Put on
therefore, as the elect of God, holy and
beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness,
longsuffering; (context)
1Ti 5:21 I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus
Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without
preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality.
2Ti 2:10 Therefore I
endure all things for the elect's sakes,
that they may also obtain the salvation which is in
Christ Jesus with eternal glory. (context)
Tit 1:1 ¶ Paul, a servant of God,
and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of
God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after
godliness;
1Pe 1:2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father,
through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of
the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto
you, and peace, be multiplied.
1Pe 2:6 Wherefore
also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth
on him shall not be confounded.
2Jo 1:1 ¶ The elder
unto the elect lady and her children,
whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the
truth;
2Jo 1:13 The children of thy
elect sister greet thee. Amen.
Elect: 0972. bachiyr,
baw-kheer' select:--choose, chosen one, elect; (OT - 4 occurrences)
Elect: 1588. ek-lek-tos' select; by implication,
favorite:--chosen, elect. (NT - 16 occurrences)
