Unforgivable Sin - Ellis Skolfield
http://www.ellisskolfield.net/essaysI have heard from several believers who are afraid they might commit the gravest of all sins
(blasphemy against the Holy Spirit) if they speak out against a spiritual manifestation that doesn't
agree with the Bible. Well, that sin is far more than just criticizing a spiritual gift or criticizing a
work that you don't believe to be of God. What's more, it's never wrong to obey the Bible and the
Bible actually tells us to test the spirits behind spiritual manifestations. Here is the command:
1John 4:1-3 "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are from God;
for many false prophets have gone forth into the world. By this know the Spirit of God: every
spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is from God. And every spirit which
does not confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not from God; and this is the antichrist
which you heard is coming, and now is already in the world."
That isn't optional, it's a command (for more details, read "The Shining Man with Hurt Hands,"
downloadable free on
www.fish-house.com). Point being: just because someone gives a
prophecy or whatever doesn't mean it's from God and we aren't supposed to believe it unless that
spirit is tested. Guess what else, it's impossible for a true to Christian to blaspheme the Holy
Spirit. Here is how you can prove it. While Jesus was casting demons out of a blind and dumb
man He told the surrounding Pharisees about that blasphemy, first in Matthew and then in Mark:
Mat 12:31-32 "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."
Mark 3:28-29 "Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and
blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: But he that shall blaspheme against the
Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation."
Notice that ALL sins except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is forgivable. John the Baptist,
through the Holy Spirit, also tells us about an unforgivable sin:
John 3:36 "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son
shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him."
So if someone rejects the Lord Jesus he will never be forgiven either. But wait a second, isn't
blasphemy against the Holy Spirit the only unforgivable sin? Yes indeed, so rejection of the Lord
Jesus and blasphemy against the Holy Spirit are the same sin or there would be TWO
unforgivable sins! Let me explain:
No one comes to Jesus through his own volition. God the Father, through His Spirit, draws us to
His Son (John 6:44, John 12:32). The Holy Spirit then witnesses in our hearts that Jesus is the
Son of God to the point that we know it to be so down into our innermost being. If we stand
against His irrefutable witness, we are turning against God with the knowledge that we are
turning against the truth. That is what happened to those Pharisees. Jesus was standing before
them casting out demons. Meanwhile the Holy Spirit was witnessing in their hearts, saying:
Matthew 17:5 "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him."
The Pharisees knew that Jesus was the Christ from the Holy Spirit's irrefutable witness in their
hearts. When they spoke against His witness they were calling the Holy Spirit a liar. In so doing
they blasphemed the Holy Spirit. The unforgivable sin is rejection of the witness of the Holy
Spirit in our hearts by which we know without question that Jesus is the Christ.
In the Islamic Dome of the Rock (on the temple mount in Jerusalem), is a major inscription in
Arabic that reads: "God forbid that he should have a son." That declaration is also in the Koran.
So here is the question: Did the prophet of Islam commit blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? The
answer is obvious from what the Bible says his fate and the fate of his followers will be:
Revelation 14:9-11 "If any man worship the (Leopard-Bear-Lion) beast and his image, and
receive his mark (666) in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the
wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall
be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of
the Lamb."
Revelation 19:20 "And the beast (Islam) was taken, and with him the false prophet (Muhammad)
that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the
beast (666), and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire
burning with brimstone."
That God has no son is a major tenet of Islam and there are 1.3 billion people in Islam today. We
need to pray for Moslems, their eventual fate is a spiritual tragedy of unimaginable proportions.
How the above verses apply to Islam is explained in "The False Prophet" and in other books,
letters and essays downloadable free from this site.
Ellis Skolfield
