?
....
Guest
The "Unforgivable Sin": What to do if you think you have committed it
I have seen online Christians who believe that they have committed the "Unforgivable Sin," and end up going through a nightmare of panic, horror, agony, heartbreak, sleepless nights, and utter despair. They feel they have lost their salvation, and they are doomed; that God cannot forgive them and that they are now bound for the Lake of Fire.
If you are in that position right now; PLEASE read the following article carefully. It's going to be a bit long, but trust me: you'll be happy you did.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You’ve probably read Hebrews 10:26-31 and think that because you willfully went along with a sin, that you have lost your salvation. Or a blasphemous thought about the Holy Spirit entered your mind and you distinctly remember Matthew 12:31-32, or you came across 2 Peter 2:20-22 and are now in despair over it.
It will be okay. Let's go through this one at a time:
" Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU,” so that we confidently say, “THE LORD IS MY HELPER, I WILL NOT BE AFRAID. WHAT WILL MAN DO TO ME?”" (Hebrews 13:5-6, NASB, emphasis mine)
" “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand." (John 10:27-29, NASB, emphasis mine)
Pay special attention to John 10:27-29:" NO MAN can snatch them". YOU, being a "MAN", cannot remove yourself from God's hand. And no one else can remove you either.
"The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. " (2 Peter 3:9, NASB, emphasis mine)
God IS NOT looking for a way to "kick you out of the program" or to boot you into hell. If He sent his son to die for us on the cross, does that mean he's then going to turn around and drop kick us into hell at the slightest whim?
No.
But you are asking yourself:” what about those verses I read? What about what they say? Doesn't that mean I've lost my salvation?" Once again, NO, and I'll explain why.
Let's take these one by one, and I'll show you what they mean:
Matthew 12:31-32:
" Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come. " (NASB)
You see those verses, and assume it's a slam dunk: you are DONE.
Not quite.
Let's read the whole passage:
"Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed him, so that the mute man spoke and saw. All the crowds were amazed, and were saying, “This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?” But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.” And knowing their thoughts Jesus said to them, “Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand. If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand? If I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason they will be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house. “He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters. Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come." (Matthew 12:22-32, NASB, emphasis mine)
In reading this, we see that the Pharisees called Jesus "Beelzebub"; essentially, they were saying his power was of the devil. The Pharisees knew full well who Jesus was and what he was doing, but they rejected him and his message entirely, preferring their own self-righteousness. Now, how do you blaspheme a spirit?
Jesus gives us that answer: the same manner as you would worship God:
" Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” " (John 4:21-24, NASB, emphasis mine)
If the Holy Spirit is God, and God must be worshiped in spirit, then the only way to blaspheme the Holy Spirit is IN SPIRIT. And that means your HEART.
The Pharisees had PERMANENTLY hardened their hearts to Jesus' message, and thus the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Because of this, they had committed the unforgivable sin, and they could have cared less. This is why if you are scared you committed it, then you haven't: because the person who commits the unforgivable sin doesn't care that they did!
2 Peter 2:20-22:
"For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them. It has happened to them according to the true proverb, “A DOG RETURNS TO ITS OWN VOMIT,” and, “A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.” (NASB)
First, we need to read the beginning of the chapter to see whom Peter is referring to:
"But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep." (2 Peter 2:1-3, NASB, emphasis mine)
Then reading the latter part, we see what the Lord has in store for those false prophets and teachers:
"These are springs without water and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved. For speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error, promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved. For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them. It has happened to them according to the true proverb, “A DOG RETURNS TO ITS OWN VOMIT,” and, “A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.” " (2 Peter 2:17-22, NASB, emphasis mine)
We have to be careful that we don't "cherry pick" verses, or we lose much of the meaning, and in this case, dangerously so. God wasn't talking about his children in this passage, but those wolves in sheep's clothing, which know the truth, yet lead astray those that seek the Lord. God is promising them that they will dearly wish they hadn't. (See Matthew 18:6-7 for further details.)
Hebrews 6:4-6:
"For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. " (NASB)
Once again, we need to read the whole passage for context:
" Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. And this we will do, if God permits. For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned. But, beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation, though we are speaking in this way. For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints. And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises." (Hebrews 6:1-12, NASB, emphasis mine)
Believers not only taste the goodness of the word of God, they drink it in. There is a major difference between those that simply sample what God has offered, and those that partake in FULL. If you're scared you have committed the unforgivable sin by backsliding, you haven't.
Hebrews 10:26-31:
" For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES. Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY.” And again, “THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE.” It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God. " (NASB)
These verses, along with Matthew 12:31-32, seem to be the mother of all "unforgivable sin" misunderstandings. By now you'll notice a common theme: deliberate, wholehearted rejection of the Lord and his mercy. All sin is done essentially willfully; that being said, this is a deliberate "in your face" to the Lord. You would be telling him in this that you no longer want anything to do with Him for all eternity. These are people who are committing an ultimate act of rejection against the Lord: they know the truth, yet they defiantly continue on in their sin, and relish it. They have no sorrow.
And you do have sorrow; this means these verses are not talking about you.
1 John 5:16-17:
" If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death; I do not say that he should make request for this. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not leading to death." (NASB)
Our final example here is equally misunderstood. Many assume that because it speaks of a 'brother" and "a sin unto death", that it means a brother in Christ can commit the unforgivable sin. If we look at the example of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5, God does punish with death when he deems it appropriate. But taking it in the case of the Unforgivable Sin, the clue here is that we are told not to pray for it. Just as God cannot grant mercy for someone who has utterly and finally rejected him, it wouldn't do us any good to pray for such a person. Once a person's heart has turned to solid rock as it were, they are set.
Putting it all together:
I think by now, you have seen the common thread that binds all these verses together: a deliberate, final, willful rejection of the Lord's mercy and grace. And that is the reason why if you are afraid that you have committed the unforgivable sin, then you haven't. Simply put: the reason the unforgivable sin is unforgivable is because the person who commits the unforgivable sin doesn't want forgiveness!
So, if you are agonizing over this, stop right now. None of the previously examined verses are referring to you; God is talking about those that have "flipped him off" and want nothing more to do with him. If you want forgiveness, you are by no means beyond it.
" If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us " (1 John 1:8-10, NASB, emphasis mine).
" My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. " (1 John 2:1-2, NASB, emphasis mine)
Right now, go to the Lord in prayer. Ignore the voice in your head that's telling you “no, you can't”. Don't pay that any heed; that's the Adversary trying to keep you down and defeated. Just go to God the Father, confess your sin to him and ask him to forgive you. He's not going to get mad at you, nor will he throw you out:
" Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day." (John 6: 35-40, NASB, emphasis mine)
If anyone happens to be reading this and are unsaved, this also applies to you as well; there is no sin that, if you truly want to turn from it and turn to God through his son Jesus Christ, cannot be forgiven.
"But what does it say? “THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED. " (Romans 10:8-13, NASB, emphasis mine)
I apologize for this being so long, but I had quite a bit to say, I pray that this message reaches those that are frightened, and offers them some comfort and hope. I have been there, and I have felt the horror and dread of this.
I bid you peace.
YBIC,
-Sojo414
I have seen online Christians who believe that they have committed the "Unforgivable Sin," and end up going through a nightmare of panic, horror, agony, heartbreak, sleepless nights, and utter despair. They feel they have lost their salvation, and they are doomed; that God cannot forgive them and that they are now bound for the Lake of Fire.
If you are in that position right now; PLEASE read the following article carefully. It's going to be a bit long, but trust me: you'll be happy you did.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You’ve probably read Hebrews 10:26-31 and think that because you willfully went along with a sin, that you have lost your salvation. Or a blasphemous thought about the Holy Spirit entered your mind and you distinctly remember Matthew 12:31-32, or you came across 2 Peter 2:20-22 and are now in despair over it.
It will be okay. Let's go through this one at a time:
" Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU,” so that we confidently say, “THE LORD IS MY HELPER, I WILL NOT BE AFRAID. WHAT WILL MAN DO TO ME?”" (Hebrews 13:5-6, NASB, emphasis mine)
" “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand." (John 10:27-29, NASB, emphasis mine)
Pay special attention to John 10:27-29:" NO MAN can snatch them". YOU, being a "MAN", cannot remove yourself from God's hand. And no one else can remove you either.
"The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. " (2 Peter 3:9, NASB, emphasis mine)
God IS NOT looking for a way to "kick you out of the program" or to boot you into hell. If He sent his son to die for us on the cross, does that mean he's then going to turn around and drop kick us into hell at the slightest whim?
No.
But you are asking yourself:” what about those verses I read? What about what they say? Doesn't that mean I've lost my salvation?" Once again, NO, and I'll explain why.
Let's take these one by one, and I'll show you what they mean:
Matthew 12:31-32:
" Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come. " (NASB)
You see those verses, and assume it's a slam dunk: you are DONE.
Not quite.
Let's read the whole passage:
"Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed him, so that the mute man spoke and saw. All the crowds were amazed, and were saying, “This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?” But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.” And knowing their thoughts Jesus said to them, “Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand. If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand? If I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason they will be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house. “He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters. Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come." (Matthew 12:22-32, NASB, emphasis mine)
In reading this, we see that the Pharisees called Jesus "Beelzebub"; essentially, they were saying his power was of the devil. The Pharisees knew full well who Jesus was and what he was doing, but they rejected him and his message entirely, preferring their own self-righteousness. Now, how do you blaspheme a spirit?
Jesus gives us that answer: the same manner as you would worship God:
" Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” " (John 4:21-24, NASB, emphasis mine)
If the Holy Spirit is God, and God must be worshiped in spirit, then the only way to blaspheme the Holy Spirit is IN SPIRIT. And that means your HEART.
The Pharisees had PERMANENTLY hardened their hearts to Jesus' message, and thus the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Because of this, they had committed the unforgivable sin, and they could have cared less. This is why if you are scared you committed it, then you haven't: because the person who commits the unforgivable sin doesn't care that they did!
2 Peter 2:20-22:
"For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them. It has happened to them according to the true proverb, “A DOG RETURNS TO ITS OWN VOMIT,” and, “A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.” (NASB)
First, we need to read the beginning of the chapter to see whom Peter is referring to:
"But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep." (2 Peter 2:1-3, NASB, emphasis mine)
Then reading the latter part, we see what the Lord has in store for those false prophets and teachers:
"These are springs without water and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved. For speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error, promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved. For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them. It has happened to them according to the true proverb, “A DOG RETURNS TO ITS OWN VOMIT,” and, “A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.” " (2 Peter 2:17-22, NASB, emphasis mine)
We have to be careful that we don't "cherry pick" verses, or we lose much of the meaning, and in this case, dangerously so. God wasn't talking about his children in this passage, but those wolves in sheep's clothing, which know the truth, yet lead astray those that seek the Lord. God is promising them that they will dearly wish they hadn't. (See Matthew 18:6-7 for further details.)
Hebrews 6:4-6:
"For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. " (NASB)
Once again, we need to read the whole passage for context:
" Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. And this we will do, if God permits. For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned. But, beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation, though we are speaking in this way. For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints. And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises." (Hebrews 6:1-12, NASB, emphasis mine)
Believers not only taste the goodness of the word of God, they drink it in. There is a major difference between those that simply sample what God has offered, and those that partake in FULL. If you're scared you have committed the unforgivable sin by backsliding, you haven't.
Hebrews 10:26-31:
" For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES. Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY.” And again, “THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE.” It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God. " (NASB)
These verses, along with Matthew 12:31-32, seem to be the mother of all "unforgivable sin" misunderstandings. By now you'll notice a common theme: deliberate, wholehearted rejection of the Lord and his mercy. All sin is done essentially willfully; that being said, this is a deliberate "in your face" to the Lord. You would be telling him in this that you no longer want anything to do with Him for all eternity. These are people who are committing an ultimate act of rejection against the Lord: they know the truth, yet they defiantly continue on in their sin, and relish it. They have no sorrow.
And you do have sorrow; this means these verses are not talking about you.
1 John 5:16-17:
" If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death; I do not say that he should make request for this. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not leading to death." (NASB)
Our final example here is equally misunderstood. Many assume that because it speaks of a 'brother" and "a sin unto death", that it means a brother in Christ can commit the unforgivable sin. If we look at the example of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5, God does punish with death when he deems it appropriate. But taking it in the case of the Unforgivable Sin, the clue here is that we are told not to pray for it. Just as God cannot grant mercy for someone who has utterly and finally rejected him, it wouldn't do us any good to pray for such a person. Once a person's heart has turned to solid rock as it were, they are set.
Putting it all together:
I think by now, you have seen the common thread that binds all these verses together: a deliberate, final, willful rejection of the Lord's mercy and grace. And that is the reason why if you are afraid that you have committed the unforgivable sin, then you haven't. Simply put: the reason the unforgivable sin is unforgivable is because the person who commits the unforgivable sin doesn't want forgiveness!
So, if you are agonizing over this, stop right now. None of the previously examined verses are referring to you; God is talking about those that have "flipped him off" and want nothing more to do with him. If you want forgiveness, you are by no means beyond it.
" If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us " (1 John 1:8-10, NASB, emphasis mine).
" My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. " (1 John 2:1-2, NASB, emphasis mine)
Right now, go to the Lord in prayer. Ignore the voice in your head that's telling you “no, you can't”. Don't pay that any heed; that's the Adversary trying to keep you down and defeated. Just go to God the Father, confess your sin to him and ask him to forgive you. He's not going to get mad at you, nor will he throw you out:
" Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day." (John 6: 35-40, NASB, emphasis mine)
If anyone happens to be reading this and are unsaved, this also applies to you as well; there is no sin that, if you truly want to turn from it and turn to God through his son Jesus Christ, cannot be forgiven.
"But what does it say? “THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED. " (Romans 10:8-13, NASB, emphasis mine)
I apologize for this being so long, but I had quite a bit to say, I pray that this message reaches those that are frightened, and offers them some comfort and hope. I have been there, and I have felt the horror and dread of this.
I bid you peace.
YBIC,
-Sojo414
Last edited by a moderator:
I've encountered so many online who lived in that kind of terror, and it's just heartbreaking, as I know what that's like!. That said, this is truly a case of "the truth shall make you free!
