Commonly asked Questions About Faith in Jesus

What is the Unpardonable Sin

The bible mentions an unpardonable sin, a sin that can not be forgiven. The verse states.

Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. - Mat 12:31-32

Many people fear this verse, for to not be forgiven by God is a fearful thing. But what is the sin? The bible says he who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. Many people, may in a time of stress say something against God, speak evil of God. When they do that they often feel condemned. Or they may walk away from faith for a time and feel they cannot return. But praise God, neither of these things are unpardonable, both can be forgiven.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. - 1 Jn 1:9

Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. - Mat 18:21-22

Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins. - Jas 5:19-20

The bible tells us that the cross covers a life time of sins, the power of the cross to forgive is unwavering:

And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; - Hebrews 9:27-28

We see Jesus was offered once, as a sacrifice for a life time of sins, if our life time of sins is covered, what is the unpardonable sin?

In it’s context the pharisees had just said the following:

But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. - Mat 12:24

Jesus replied by mentioning the unpardonable sin. He followed up by saying:

O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. - Mat 12:34

So when Jesus mentioned speaking evil of the Holy Spirit, he was referring to what the pharisees were doing in their hearts. He continues in the passage to say:

But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here. - Mat 12:39-41

The pharisees were not willing to believe the signs, the workings of power that Jesus did, and the reason was they wanted to stay in their sins. They were unwilling to change, or repent. In such a state of heart here was nothing more God could do to save them, He had given them signs, they were essentially unpardonable.

And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. - Joh 3:19-20

Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. - Joh 8:44

The good news is however that if we seek repentance it is available to us. Because the cross covers our life time of sins.

Hebrews 6 and the Unpardonable Sin

Another verse that people may fear is Hebrews 6, it speaks of it being impossible for a Christian to return to God if they fall away. But when looked at in more detail you will see it is not referring to a person who abandoned faith for a time, but rather a person who falls away from faith and dies in their sins.

If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. Hebrews 6:6

The verse above says that the person is "crucifying Christ again", but in order to do that the cross must no longer be available, but we see it has been provided for a lifetime of sins, as we saw in Hebrews 9:27-28.

And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; - Hebrews 9:27-28

Christians and Entertainment

Is it wrong as a Christian to watch TV, movies, or play video games?

Resisting the Devil

It is possible for a Christian to start to hear voices of condemnation, or voices demanding or suggesting us to do evil. The bible says, we should keep our mind clean by filling it with His word, then resisting the negative thinking.

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. - Rom 12:2

The first step to understanding how to beat the voices, is to get God’s word into us, for only His word has power to defeat the devil, and protect our mind. If we have not done so we must ask Jesus into our lives. If we have asked Jesus into our lives, then we can use His word as a key.

The bible tells us:

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. - Jas 4:7

This is a two phased process, firstly we must submit to God, this involves ensuring that we are trying to obey God’s word. If we are moving towards obedience, then we need to do the second step, which is to resist the devil. Resisting is a forceful process by which we do not allow the negative or sinful thought to rest in our mind. When we get a negative thought we push it from us. We try to silence it. Often times Satan will continue to bring a thought to us, but eventually he will tire of it if we resist him long enough.

A key that Jesus used when confronted by the devil was to quote God’s word back to the devil. As an example when the devil tempted Jesus to jump of the temple to prove he was from God. Jesus quoted scripture back to him. This is a key we can use. Replace the negative thought with a positive one from God's word.

Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. - Mat 4:5-6