So I've been away for a while and haven't had a lot of time to post... But I'm back now. I thank all of those who have presented key ideas that have helped me to arrive at the following conclusion:
It is an issue of the heart. If someone reads the verse in Romans 10:9 and is dumb, does that mean that they cannot be saved because they cannot speak? I have a translation of the Scriptures at home that words a key passage the clearest of any that I remember. It portrays Christ as saying, "The world's sin is unbelief in me." Some other Bibles that I looked at I think worded it differently so that it was harder to see what he was saying. Until I came across this passage, I was unsure of how rejecting the Holy Spirit or unbelief in God or unbelief in the work of the Holy Spirit could be sin or even blasphemy. That passage that I showed above demonstrates that it is sin because unbelief in Christ is sin.
Is every sin a blasphemy? Regardless of that let's go on. Mark 3:28 says that all sins and blasphemies will be forgiven men. If you blaspheme, it is possible to be forgiven. If you blasphemed in the Old Testament, then you were generally stoned for it I think. But some blasphemies can be forgiven. So the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is a very particular blasphemy. And in Mark 3:28-29 it says that all sins and blasphemies will be forgiven except the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit which is also a sin of course. So that seems to illustrate that the speaking evil with regard to the Holy Spirit is the only unforgivable sin that there is. This is a very specific sin here that can't be forgiven, and yet those who do not believe in Christ are committing a sin that warrants eternal death (God said that he is willing that none should perish, therefore putting yourself in a situation in which you would perish is going against God's will and is therefore likely a sin). Are they being condemned to eternal death for one of the forgivable sins? Probably not. I think that unbelief in Christ - which is a sin - is the same as speaking evil of or with regard to the Holy Spirit - which is blasphemy and therefore a sin.
So it just took that extra passage of Scripture I listed above to bring me to this point of reasoning. The two definitely appear to be the same. The only thing that remains to be understood is how 'speaking evil of' can be related to a nonverbal action or a matter of heart within that cultural period. For instances in Scripture which show the heart as performing some sort of verbal activity or participating therein, see Ephesians 5:19, Psalm 15:1-2, Psalm 49:3, Matthew 12:34, and Luke 6:45. I think one of the key ideas here is found in the latter two passages.
Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is disbelief in God's work. This is a sin because it is going against the will of God and/or is calling God either a lie or a liar. But it is an unforgivable sin because it rejects God's gift of salvation and therefore his forgiveness. God cannot forgive you of punishment if you reject his forgiveness with your unbelief. Well, that's a summary of my thoughts. Only those who believe in God are counted righteous. And no unrighteousness can live with God for eternity. Therefore, those who disbelieve in God are counted unrighteous and will be met with eternal destruction. See Psalm 15:1-2 concerning righteousness and dwelling with God. There are probably other passages as well that will support this idea.
Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit
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Sounds right to me.Packrat wrote:Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is disbelief in God's work. This is a sin because it is going against the will of God and/or is calling God either a lie or a liar. But it is an unforgivable sin because it rejects God's gift of salvation and therefore his forgiveness. God cannot forgive you of punishment if you reject his forgiveness with your unbelief.
"Faith sees the invisible, believes the unbelievable, and receives the impossible." - Corrie Ten Boom
Act 9:6
And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?
Act 9:6
And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?