Recently I saw a social media post about the unforgivable sin and it got me thinking. Have I committed this sin? I know that I have. Am I doomed to never be forgiven? If that is the case then why should I even bother with God? In case you didn’t know what sin I am talking about:
Matthew 12:30-32: “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. Therefore I tell you, people will be forgiven for every sin and blasphemy, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.
It’s basically speaking against God (although the dictionary says religion as well) which I will tell y’all I have done. After all there was a point when I told God to go his way and I would go mine. That I no longer believed and simply would ignore Him as I felt He had ignored me.
Was that blasphemy? I’m not sure. I didn’t bad mouth or say horrible things about God. I simply had nothing to do with him. The social media post left me with so many more questions than answers. It also made me think about how many people who see that and think there is no point in turning to God or that then need to leave their faith because of blasphemy at some point in their lives.
One thing I am not is a biblical scholar or even someone who studied the bible regularly. That meant I had to go in search of the answer and let me tell you I found all sorts of answers. Some left me wondering about my own faith and if it was truly as shaken as they made it out to be.
Others left me with more questions. Then I came across this post and finally felt like I understood things so much better. In the post Lucas Kitchen says that a professor he once had said this to a student:
“We don’t build good theology on one verse, especially when it’s not clear what the verse means.”
That one line made me look at the blasphemy quote differently. When you take Matthew 12:30-32 alone it can seem as though there are plenty of us walking around who are simply doomed to never having forgiveness. However, when we look at the other things happening around this verse we become more objective.
In fact, I highly recommend reading the Lucas Kitchen post as he explains so much better than I ever could. He does make a good point though that many times we will quote scripture but can get the context of it wrong. That is another post altogether though.
So am I doomed for blasphemy? No, in fact it was during my unbelieving time that God called me back into the fold. It was during this time that He began to change my outlook and my life. It was during this time of life that I can now see that God was working the hardest. Was he upset that I had turned away? Of course he was but like any good parent he knew that I wasn’t a lost cause.
It remind me of my mother with my sister. Whenever she calls her and my sister doesn’t answer my mother worries so much. All of the “what ifs” come into play for so many different reasons. The biggest being my sister is a recovering addict and has mental health issues. My mother is always waiting for the day the phone will ring and she will be told my sister committed suicide. It’s not the way to live but that fear is always with my mother.
However, when my sister finally either answers her phone or returns my mother’s call she acts like nothing is wrong. Like she didn’t spend days not answering. In fact, she turns her phone off to upset my mother. She finds it funny. Looking back on my unbelieving times I wonder if I felt the same way as my sister without meaning to and if God felt like my mother.
I still struggle with my faith and I may always. It is stronger than it was but not as strong as it could be. Today though I know that God is working for me. That my sins are forgiven even if they aren’t forgotten. That I have God on my side in all things. That unforgivable Sin, isn’t so unforgivable when we look at all the other verses and context around it. The Bible tells us time and time again that nothing is impossible for God.
