Blasphemy of the Spirit

Peter said in 1 Peter 4:14-19, “If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you… (18) And if it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved, what will become of the godless man and the sinner?”

Jesus told the Rich Young Ruler what he needed to do to inherit eternal life, but when he heard that he’d have to give up his riches he decided an eternal inheritance wasn’t worth the sacrifice. However, Jesus told those listening to their conversation in Luke 18:25-27, “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” When they heard it they said, “Then who can be saved?” But He said, “The things that are impossible with people are possible with God.”

While both of these passages describe the difficulties that may come in following Christ, they also elude to an important ingredient that makes it possible – the Holy Spirit. Jesus wanted his followers, which includes us, to know that God will not abandon us to face difficulties alone. He impresses upon his followers that when Jesus ascends into heaven, the Spirit would come in his place. He says in John 14:16-17, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.”

     John 14:26-27, “The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.”
     John 15:26, “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me.”
     John 16:13, “When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.”

This begs the question, how important is the role of the Spirit in me going to heaven? Or how important is the role of the Spirit in me being faithful to God? Paul says in Ephesians 4:30, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” In context Paul is describing the life that should no longer define us, and reminding us how our lives have changed because of the power Jesus gave us when we placed our faith in him.

Peter offered some good news to the terror struck crowd on the Day of Pentecost when he told them how rectify their rejection of Jesus as the Christ. He said in Acts 2:38-39 that they needed to “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” What is the gift? Miraculous? Something more? Jesus had said in John 6:63, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.”

Christ has set us free from the bondage of sin. How? Paying the penalty of sin for us, but also by sending the Spirit to be our guide and our conscience. He wants us to allow him free control of our minds, which will never go against God. Paul says several important things in Romans about our relationship with God by the Spirit. Romans 8:9, “However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. (11) …He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. (14) For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. (16) The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God…”

Therefore walking with God is about trusting the guidance of the Spirit. The more we do that the more we realize the tremendous gift God has given us in the Spirit. But to rebel against His guidance will by default lead us away from God’s words of life. Blasphemy is the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence for God. However Jesus said in Matthew 12:32, “but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.” I can’t show contempt for a Spirit that I can’t even understand without God revealing to me (which is the case with the Spirit), and to show contempt for the very gift that seals me for the day of redemption reveals an attitude in my heart that Satan knows how to wield to his purposes.

Many people are worried they’ll slip up and blasphemy the Spirit by accident and thus go straight to hell, but consider that this kind of blasphemy is more of a rejection of the Spirit’s guidance who is your access into the heaven that Jesus made possible. Most of the New Testament is directed to Christians and how to keep their hearts focused on God and to stay clear of Satan’s schemes that can lure us away from Godly devotion.