NOT the World's Way
Remember it is a WAY OF LIFE. It is not the way the world is living. It is a different ATTITUDE altogether. Jesus said we must live by every Word of God — that is, the WHOLE BIBLE! Since the world lives a different way — travels a different ROAD, if you get interested in, absorbed in, and walking down that road, you certainly will no longer be walking with the living Christ down the spiritual road, with God's LIFE — His Spirit — dwelling in you!
Remember, Jesus tells us it is "he that shall endure unto the END, the same shall be saved" (Mat. 24:13). He means the END of this Spirit-LED road, which every Christian must travel — if LED BY the Holy Spirit. That is LIFE'S road. So it means the remainder of your life.
You cannot travel down Two different roads, leading in opposite directions, at the same time. Once you have started traveling with the living Christ on God’s road that leads to eternal life, if you allow materialistic interests to dominate, they may soon lure you back on the carnal road of this world.
And then what?
If you leave THE WAY that God's Spirit is leading, then God's Spirit may leave you — no longer dwelling in you! You will commit sins, but you will not be sorry — and you will probably not repent!
So UNDERSTAND! Salvation is from sinning! It comes as God's GIFT — by grace.
"Works" do not earn or produce it. "Works" determine the degree of "reward," or office, or glory, in God's Kingdom, IF you are born into that Kingdom, by grace!
To be "saved" — to inherit eternal life in God's Kingdom — you must still be traveling THAT WAY at the end of your life! Stumbling — falling down — on that road, repented of, DOES NOT PUT YOU OFF THAT ROAD! But to deliberately change roads, to willfully go back on the world's road, or to let the false glamour and glitter of the world's road begin to dominate your life, may bring you to a place where you are unable to REPENT and get back on God’s WAY. You may never WANT to get back on the right road, traveling with the living CHRIST!
Important!
Yet I am persuaded that anyone who does seriously REPENT, and earnestly SEEK Jesus Christ, may find Him, and forgiveness, and get back on the right road.
But don't take chances!
Remember Esau. He "found no place of repentance, though he sought it with tears" (Heb. 12:17). It was too late! The Birthright had already been confirmed to Jacob! And Judas found it was TOO LATE to move time back and prevent betraying the very CHRIST — after Jesus was crucified! Judas "repented himself," — but it was TOO LATE. He "went out and hanged himself."
DON'T take chances on it being TOO LATE for YOU!
Probably it is NOT "too late" yet! Don't delay repenting and getting back to Christ!
How About NON-Christians?
So far, we have treated only with the case of converted Christians, who have actually received the precious GIFT of God's Holy Spirit.
But can a NON-Christian commit an Unforgivable sin?
Let me say, first, MANY have supposed they had been converted, but who, actually, NEVER WERE!
I knew a man who thought he had repented, and was baptized. Others thought he had been really converted — that is, had received God's Holy Spirit. His attitude seemed changed. He now had the same attitude toward the world in general that spirit-minded people do. He certainly could see what was wrong with this world. He was disgusted with it. He was accepted among spirit-minded people as one of them.
But very soon he turned the other way. His Christian friends wondered if he had committed the unpardonable sin. Then it came to mind, they didn't remember ever hearing him expressing any disgust with his own SELF. The WORLD was wrong — but was he? Had he, after all, ever come to any real REPENTANCE — or only a little of the sorrow that people of the world experience?
HAD he, after all, received the Holy Spirit? Were there any FRUITS of it? Very doubtful. He seemed still to be SELF-centered, more concerned with SELF than going God's WAY.
Such a person might have had no more than a FALSE "conversion," like multiple MILLIONS in the world today. If so, he certainly had NOT committed an unforgivable sin!
IF such a one DOES come to real repentance, and real heartrending DESIRE to be God's son, to go GOD'S way henceforth, and to find salvation, HE CAN!
Those deceived with the popular FALSE "salvation" of this world's "Christianity" are not necessarily yet CONDEMNED!
Blaspheming the Holy Spirit
Now notice what Jesus said about blaspheming the Holy Spirit. There had been brought to him a demon-possessed, blind and dumb man. Jesus healed him. The man then saw and spoke. The people were amazed! But the Pharisees (Mat. 12:24) and the scribes which had come up to Galilee from Jerusalem (Mark 3:22) accused Jesus of being Satan-possessed, and casting out demons by Beelzebub (Satan).
These hypocritical scribes and Pharisees knew their accusation was a lie! Just before this, they had been holding a council, plotting to discredit — and to MURDER — Jesus! (Mat. 12:14.) They accused Jesus falsely, attempting to discredit Him in the eyes of the people.
The modern "Pharisees" of this world's organized but deceived "Christianity" — resisting the same true Gospel of the Kingdom of God, now being heard by the MILLIONS worldwide today through this Work of God, use the same tactics against us! They falsely accuse us of being what they are — false prophets. They deliberately misrepresent what we teach. They falsely say we teach what we do not — and that we do not teach what we do!
Jesus had been casting out demons. The crowd was awed! Many were beginning to believe! These religious leaders said to the crowds, "He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of demons casteth out demons" (Mark 3:22).
To these scribes and Pharisees — and to the crowds — Jesus replied:
"Verily I say unto you, all sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith so ever they shall blaspheme: BUT he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Spirit hath never forgiveness, but is IN DANGER OF eternal damnation" (Mark 3:28,29).
Now what does "blaspheme" mean?
The Greek word, in which it was originally written, means "intentional indignity offered to God or sacred things."
With these scribes and Pharisees, it was intentional. And they KNEW it was false. To say a thing like this in ignorance of the true facts, or impulsively in emotional anger without thinking, would be different. But these religious leaders knew their accusation was false! Their blasphemy was deliberate, premeditated, intentional. They had just been counseling together on HOW to discredit Him, and to murder Him.
So, this unforgivable sin is one committed deliberately, knowing they are wrong, after thinking it over, and doing it intentionally, willfully. Jesus said they were IN DANGER OF damnation in gehenna fire, the final, second death!
And this sin was committed by unconverted men!
No ordinary sin, even by a Christian, is unforgivable. Jesus said plainly that ALL sins, and blasphemies — against even GOD — even against Jesus Christ — will be forgiven on repentance. It is ONLY premeditated, thought-out, planned, deliberate, intentional, willful indignity, insult, false accusation against God's HOLY SPIRIT that is unforgivable.
Sinning WILLFULLY
Now, finally, notice the two passages in the book of Hebrews, speaking of sinning WILLFULLY, and being IMPOSSIBLE to repent.
These, actually, have already been explained at great length in this article. So now we come to these Scriptural passages themselves.
Notice: "For if we sin WILLFULLY after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of GOD, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and HATH DONE DESPITE UNTO THE SPIRIT of grace ?" (Hebrews 10:26-29.)
I have fully explained in this article the meaning of WILLFUL sinning. This passage refers only to those who have become truly converted — received God's Holy Spirit. The "WE" refers to converted Christians. None can, in fact, come to the real "KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH," until they have received the Holy Spirit to open their minds to that spiritual TRUTH (I Cor. 2:9-11, 14).
But notice, this sinning WILLFULLY is connected with doing "despite to the SPIRIT of grace" — certainly dangerously close to blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
However, as explained above, most sins committed by begotten children of God are NOT in this category!
The other passage is this:
"For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift" — the Holy Spirit — "and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good Word of God, and the powers of the world to come, 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" (Heb. 6:4-6).
Actually, if you understand one phrase here, it is self-explanatory. That is this: "For it is IMPOSSIBLE . . . IF they fall away, TO RENEW THEM AGAIN UNTO REPENTANCE."
Now there may be degrees toward "falling away." How shall we know how far is here meant? By the next words: whenever it becomes IMPOSSIBLE to renew one to repentance — well, he has "fallen away" — completely!
Remember, God grants repentance (Acts 11:18; 5:31). Yet of course God never forces repentance on one. When one has come to the place where he WON'T — can't — has totally, completely, lost all desire to repent — is UNABLE to repent — he has "fallen away."
And of course this is NOT speaking of unconverted people — those who never had been converted — but only those who had been.
The TEST is this: IF and WHEN one really does DESIRE to repent — does feel completely disgusted and abhorrent of himself — does DESIRE to repent and get back into God's grace — HE CAN!
What about the "backslider" — as some phrase it? If he at any time becomes willing to repent — comes to DESIRE to repent and return to God's WAY, the gracious, merciful, all-loving GOD will forgive — and will grant full repentance.
God inspired James to close his book with this important admonition:
"My brothers, if anyone of you goes astray from the truth and someone brings him back, understand that he who brings a sinner back from the error of his way saves the man's soul from death and hides a host of his own sins" (James 5 :19-20 — Moffat translation).
That's the final answer. If he's committed the unpardonable sin, he won't want to. If he wants to — if he does REPENT, and WANTS the contact reestablished with God — HE CAN!
And how about one never yet truly converted — or one who thought he was, but had only a false "conversion" and backslid? Well, whenever he is willing to really REPENT, and WANTS to find Christ — HE CAN — if he just WILL!
How WONDERFUL are the ways of GOD!