Unforgivable sins and other stuff...
Theologians have argued about the idea of limited atonement for centuries. I dont claim a monopoly on the truth, but this is quite an interesting way of looking at it...
Who is forgiven by Jesus' death on the cross? There is no difference, for ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified freely by his grace. I think the New Testement reads easier as a general rule if you accept the idea that Jesus died for everyone, and God's forgiveness is for everyone. Is everyone saved then? No. The Bible makes a clear distinction between the 'people of God' and the 'world'.
What could the dividing line be then? One of the most contentious passages in the Bible is Matt 12:31, and i think it holds the answer. And so i tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. What about if Jesus' death on the cross forgives everyone their sins, but the dividing line is whether we commit this unforgivable sin? Seems to make sense...
The question is then raised - in this context what could the sin be? Blasphemy against the Spirit is denying his unique divinity. Thus this sin is proclaiming by word and action that the work of God's spirit is not of God (and that something else is more important). This might work itself out in refusing to recognise Him in creation, refusing to recognise the work of the Holy Spirit on the cross, or more prominantly - refusing to recognise that Jesus' presence with us requires the submission of our lives.
Assuming therefore that what saves me is making Jesus Lord of my life.
This has not resulted in any vastly different conclusions compared with the contemporary church, but i think it makes a lot of sense and helps me understand that God can be both soverign and big enough to let us make our own choices...
Theology leading to doxology - always a good test!
Mukama Yebazibwe!!
Who is forgiven by Jesus' death on the cross? There is no difference, for ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified freely by his grace. I think the New Testement reads easier as a general rule if you accept the idea that Jesus died for everyone, and God's forgiveness is for everyone. Is everyone saved then? No. The Bible makes a clear distinction between the 'people of God' and the 'world'.
What could the dividing line be then? One of the most contentious passages in the Bible is Matt 12:31, and i think it holds the answer. And so i tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. What about if Jesus' death on the cross forgives everyone their sins, but the dividing line is whether we commit this unforgivable sin? Seems to make sense...
The question is then raised - in this context what could the sin be? Blasphemy against the Spirit is denying his unique divinity. Thus this sin is proclaiming by word and action that the work of God's spirit is not of God (and that something else is more important). This might work itself out in refusing to recognise Him in creation, refusing to recognise the work of the Holy Spirit on the cross, or more prominantly - refusing to recognise that Jesus' presence with us requires the submission of our lives.
Assuming therefore that what saves me is making Jesus Lord of my life.
This has not resulted in any vastly different conclusions compared with the contemporary church, but i think it makes a lot of sense and helps me understand that God can be both soverign and big enough to let us make our own choices...
Theology leading to doxology - always a good test!
Mukama Yebazibwe!!
posted by Dan | 1:09 AM
3 Comments:
Great blog! I'm fascinated by the line... if Jesus' death on the cross forgives everyone their sins, but the dividing line is whether we commit this unforgivable sin... though I may quibble about exactly what that is. Generally it clarifies Christ's absolutist-sounding statement.
I'm not going to quote you or even comment on your blog other than to say your post was interesting. However, I want to get something off my chest and don't know where to put it. The blogger at http://talkevangelism.blogspot.com/ reads my blog but doesn't allow comments on his. He does have a link to yours so I thought the two of you might know eachother. If that is the case please refer him to my post I Spent The Day Reading on page http://lifeupdates.blogspot.com/2005_03_01_lifeupdates_archive.html. He walks a fine line in helping and destroying someones' life all in the name of God thinking he is doing Gods' will. If you don't know this person, sorry for your space, if you do, please tell him to allow comments! Thanks
not sure who this guy is... i'm quite suprised that people i've never met even want to read what i write - much less put links to it from their web pages!
I just started doing this so i had somewhere i could record thoughts to look back on in the future, but if people wanna read it then that's cool... God is welcome to use this webpage for anything he wants to.
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