Thursday, June 29, 2006
HE HAS YOUR WORD ON IT
Vv. 36-37. "And I say to you, that every careless word that men shall speak, they shall render account for it in the day of judgment. 37. "For by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned."
The religious leadership had hijacked God’s true and pure religion for a personal system that circumnavigated God’s spoken requirements. Jesus again alludes to that which was said by these frauds through His opening statement: “And I say to you.” We witness the “God-man” proclaiming the serious error of attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to that of Satan. These blasphemies are their own careless words that they will face in their day of judgment. MacArthur writes, “What a person is on the inside, his mouth will give on the outside, the most immediate illustration of the principle showed that it was the evil hearts of the Pharisees that made them blaspheme the Holy Spirit by accusing Jesus of casting out demons by Satan’s power. They spoke evil because their hearts were filled with evil, and by their own words they condemned themselves as they sought to condemn Jesus.”
Again we see only two options; you shall be justified or you shall be condemned spelled out in verse 37, "For by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned." It is now time to take inventory of our own words. Do these words edify those we speak to? Their ears are the receptacles that connect directly to our heart; do we inject venom into their hearts by our words or do we seek to speak the cleansing words of God designed to regenerate their soul?
Much time has been consumed on the serious subject of blasphemy and particularly the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. These passages indicate that this is an eternal sin that finds no forgiveness. The question arises, “Can a Christian be guilty of this sin?” The answer in a word is no. I leave John Calvin to explain, “Blasphemy of the Spirit is a token of reprobation, and hence, it follows, that whoever have fallen into it, have been delivered over to a reprobate mind, (Rom. 1:28). As we maintain, that he who has been truly regenerated by the Spirit cannot possibly fall into so horrid a crime, so, on the other hand, we must believe that those who have fallen into it never rise again; nay, that in this manner God punishes contempt of his grace, by hardening the hearts of the reprobate, so that they never have any desire towards repentance.”
The religious leadership had hijacked God’s true and pure religion for a personal system that circumnavigated God’s spoken requirements. Jesus again alludes to that which was said by these frauds through His opening statement: “And I say to you.” We witness the “God-man” proclaiming the serious error of attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to that of Satan. These blasphemies are their own careless words that they will face in their day of judgment. MacArthur writes, “What a person is on the inside, his mouth will give on the outside, the most immediate illustration of the principle showed that it was the evil hearts of the Pharisees that made them blaspheme the Holy Spirit by accusing Jesus of casting out demons by Satan’s power. They spoke evil because their hearts were filled with evil, and by their own words they condemned themselves as they sought to condemn Jesus.”
Again we see only two options; you shall be justified or you shall be condemned spelled out in verse 37, "For by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned." It is now time to take inventory of our own words. Do these words edify those we speak to? Their ears are the receptacles that connect directly to our heart; do we inject venom into their hearts by our words or do we seek to speak the cleansing words of God designed to regenerate their soul?
Much time has been consumed on the serious subject of blasphemy and particularly the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. These passages indicate that this is an eternal sin that finds no forgiveness. The question arises, “Can a Christian be guilty of this sin?” The answer in a word is no. I leave John Calvin to explain, “Blasphemy of the Spirit is a token of reprobation, and hence, it follows, that whoever have fallen into it, have been delivered over to a reprobate mind, (Rom. 1:28). As we maintain, that he who has been truly regenerated by the Spirit cannot possibly fall into so horrid a crime, so, on the other hand, we must believe that those who have fallen into it never rise again; nay, that in this manner God punishes contempt of his grace, by hardening the hearts of the reprobate, so that they never have any desire towards repentance.”
# posted by Castusfumus : 3:06 PM
