Mark 3
FORGIVENESS … OR NOT?
Have you ever noticed the first part of the saying of Jesus when he talks about blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? I have often overlooked it because my attention is taken by the “never has forgiveness” section. But have a listen again and take particular note of the first part, which is probably the most important part for you and I to hear.
Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin” (Mark 3 v 28 – 29 ESV).
Did you see it? All sins will be forgiven the children of man, and there is only one that won’t be forgiven. This means that no matter what we have done, no matter how bad we think we have been, no matter how many people we have hurt, or how rebellious we have been toward God in the past, except for blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, forgiveness is there waiting for us when we turn from our sins and ask for it. That’s not to say we should continue in our sin, but that there is forgiveness if we sin. Our past sins cannot hold us back from the grace of God when we are forgiven.
What a blessing we miss when we skip the beginning of what Jesus said and focus only on the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
May God’s grace be seen in our lives this week.
With love in our Lord,
Robert
New on Thinky Things this week:
Sooner Than You Think.
An exhortation in the form of a story to help us realise that our time with Jesus may be sooner than we think. Based on Romans 13.
Watch it at https://thinkythings.com/talks/
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