Warning for “Christian” Religious Leaders – Part 2

I am among a small group of theologians that have been trying to introduce other pastors as well as other people to the revolutionary truth of the Bible according to the evidence of the Bible itself and from verifiable history. Truth that is relatively unknown by most religious leaders. We have not had a great deal of success thus far. Mostly, we have been ignored or resoundly rebuffed and rejected on many an occasion. We realize that ours is a difficult task to try to effectively communicate to Catholic and Protestant religious leaders. It’s like trying to teach medical doctors, steeped in the allopathic medical model, the truth about nutrition and how the body can heal itself. The indoctrination from medical schools and big pharma has been pretty complete. A seminary or Bible school education does the same thing. It’s hard to break through the mind control. Nevertheless, religious leaders have a very serious responsibility to know and teach the truth because, as the Scripture says, teachers “… will incur a stricter judgment” (James 3:1). It’s one thing to personally believe something and another to teach it. If you are wrong and you teach others what is wrong, you will be held to a higher standard and condemnation will be more severe – unless, of course, you repent. Eternal Judgment There is a story in Matthew 12:22-32 of an encounter between Jesus and the Pharisees who were the religious leaders of that time. Jesus healed “a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute” (v. 22). After Jesus healed this man he both “spoke and saw” (v. 22). When the Pharisees heard about it, they said that Jesus “casts out demons only by Beelzebul” (v. 24). Who was Beelzebul? There are different theories about the identity of Beelzebul. Some say it goes back to a Hebrew name Baalzebub, which is referred to as an ancient pagan god. In the text of Matthew, Beelzebul is identified as “the ruler of demons” (v. 24) and Jesus references “Satan” only in respect to making a point that it was not possible that “Satan” could cast “out Satan” or else “his kingdom” would not be able to stand (v. 26). (Translators capitalize “Satan.” The Greek word simply means “adversary.” However, in v. 12 the term is in the masculine singular form and has an article before it. This means the term is a definite masculine subject, although not specifically defined as who it pertains to in this passage.) So, the Pharisees’ accusation really didn’t make sense. But that wasn’t the end of Jesus’ response to them. Jesus then posed the possibility that He was casting out demons “by the Spirit of God” and if that was the fact of the matter, then it followed that “the Kingdom of God” had come upon them (v. 28). Then Jesus made a couple of statements as a warning to the Pharisees: “Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven men, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. And whoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age, or in the age to come” (vs. 31-32). Speaking against Jesus was forgivable, “but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven … either in this age or in the age to come.” Blasphemy Against the Spirit Blasphemy is translated from the Greek word blasphemia. In classical Greek it meant “profane language, slanderous speech … defamation, by which another person is damaged.” 1 In this Matthew 12 passage, blasphemy is misrepresenting the ministry and working of the Holy Spirit in the actions of Jesus (healing the deaf and mute man) by attributing them as of the devil, a completely contrary evil source of His actions. Let’s take this meaning of blasphemy now as “against the Holy Spirit” by identifying the Spirit. In the Gospel of John, the Spirit is called the “Spirit of Truth” (John 14:17, 15:26, and 16:13). The Holy Spirit is truth and reveals truth through Jesus Christ and the written Word of God. Blasphemy against the Spirit occurs when someone claims that an action or belief is not the truth but is of another satanic, devilish source when it is actually the truth of God. Such a case is slanderous defamation against the Holy Spirit. That’s what the Pharisees were doing. As such, they were in grave danger of the unforgivable sin and eternal judgment. Jesus duly warned them. Don’t Miss This Lesson Religious leaders today – pastors, teachers, evangelists, seminary professors, Bible study teachers, and so forth – must never believe that they are somehow exempt from blaspheming the Holy Spirit. When men like me, who carry within us what we believe is a sacred message of the truth of God’s Word, are told: “What you are teaching is of the devil” – beware! Don’t get too cocky. Because if we are speaking the truth and it is of the Holy Spirit and you say it’s of the devil, you may be in immortal danger. This I can guarantee. We can defend our theological position. We don’t know it all, but we know a significant part of the truth now more than ever. And it grieves us when religious leaders thumb their noses at us and the truth. Remember and consider, hear us out. Talk to us. Don’t blow us off. Don’t make a potential mistake that in reality could be blasphemy in God’s sight. The Pharisees, with the exception of a few, all died in their sin. Lost. Excluded from the presence of God forever – without hope. Eternal judgment – forever! Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit of truth is war with God. I thank and praise God every day for rescuing me from false theology. By His grace, I was saved. I pray God’s grace for you in the same way. There is still time and still hope. And yet, remember the warning … _________ 1 Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Vol. 3, p. 341