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Did David’s Mother Commit Adultery?

By Jeremy Myers
231 Comments

Did David’s Mother Commit Adultery?

Nizbeth mother of DavidAs I was researching a text for my book on Calvinism, I stumbled across the Jewish tradition that David was born as the result of an alleged adulterous relationship. Have you ever heard of this idea that David’s mother committed adultery? I hadn’t either. But I researched it, and checked with several of my Rabbi friends, all of whom said that this is the traditional Jewish history regarding David and David’s mother.

I am sharing it with you because it has many surprising parallels to Jesus.

The tradition is based on Psalm 69

David Was Despised by His Family (Psalm 69)

If you open up a Christian commentary on the Psalms and read the introduction to Psalm 69, you will see that most Christians cannot place the events of Psalm 69 in the life of David very well. They will say that there are numerous instances in the life of David during which he could have written this Psalm. They will usually go on to point out, however, that the Psalm contains many prophecies about Jesus Christ, His rejection by His family, and even how He was given vinegar to drink on the cross.

Curiously, I could find no Christian commentary that mentioned the traditional Jewish interpretation of Psalm 69, that it was written during David’s youth. They say that the Psalm is full of pain, rejection, and hardship because David was an outcast among his family.

They say that David grew up in a family in which he was despised, rejected, shunned, and outcast. He was treated with scorn and derision (Psalm 69:7-8). The community followed the example of the family, and assumed that David was full of sin and guilt (Psalm 69:11-12). If something turned up missing, they believed he stole it, and forced him to replace it (Psalm 69:4). He was often the object of jokes and pranks, filling his plate with gall and his cup with vinegar (Psalm 69:20-21).

If this is true, it somewhat explains why Jesse did not have David present when the Prophet Samuel came to choose a man to be God’s anointed king (1 Samuel 16:1-13), and also why his oldest brother Eliab reacted the way he did when David later showed up at the Israelite camp when they were being mocked by Goliath (1 Samuel 17:28).

But why would David’s family reject him?

David’s Mother Supposedly Committed Adultery

The traditional Jewish answer to why David’s family rejected him is that they all thought that David’s mother had committed adultery and borne him out of wedlock. They thought he was a bastard (in fact, the word “stranger” in Psalm 69:8 has the same Hebrew root as muzar, meaning “bastard”). The traditional Jewish story is stated briefly below.

David’s father, Jesse, was the son of Obed, who was the son of Boaz, who married Ruth, the Moabite woman. The Jewish traditional law explicitly forbade Hebrew women from marrying Moabite men because of how the Moabites treated the Israelites when they were wandering in the desert after fleeing Egypt. But the law was unclear about whether or not a Hebrew man could marry a Moabite woman. Boaz believed that the law allowed such a marriage, which is why he married Ruth.

However, according to Jewish tradition, Boaz died on the night that he and Ruth were married (Midrash, Zuta, Ruth 4). Many believed that his death proved that God had condemned Boaz’ marriage to Ruth, and had punished him accordingly.

However, even though Boaz and Ruth had only been intimate for that one night, she conceived and gave birth to Obed.

Obed was then viewed as illegitimately born, as was his own son, Jesse. Nevertheless, both of these men labored hard in learning the Torah and loving God and so the conduct of their lives helped convince the surrounding communities that though Boaz had sinned, they themselves were accepted by God as part of the covenant community. Jesse married a Jewish girl named Nizbeth (Babylonian Talmud, Baba Batra 91a).

After Jesse had been married for many years, had fathered seven sons with Nizbeth, and had gained honor as a righteous man and spiritual leader in the community, doubts began to fill his mind about whether or not his line and seed were permanently polluted by his Moabite blood. It was at this point that he resolved to cease all sexual relations with Nizbeth. He did this out of love for her, because she, as a pure Israelite, would be sinning to be married to someone who was of impure Moabite ancestry.

Furthermore, Jesse began to doubt the legitimacy of his seven sons. If he was impure, then his children were illegitimate and impure as well.

So Jesse, wanting a legitimate heir, came up with a plan to have a son in the same way that his forefather Abraham had done: through relations with his wife’s Canaanite maidservant. Whether Jesse was viewed by God as a true Israelite or just as a Moabite convert to Judaism, the law allowed him to marry a female convert to Judaism. If he obtained a son from this union, this son would be recognized by all as a legitimate heir, thus securing Jesse’s family line.

When the Canaanite woman was told of this plan, she did not want to participate, for she loved Nizbeth, and had seen the pain that she had gone through by being separated from her husband for so many years. So she told Nizbeth about Jesse’s plan, and the two of them decided to do what Laban had done so many years earlier with Leah and Rachel. So on the night that Jesse was to have relations with the Canaanite maidservant, she switched places with her Nizbeth. On that night, Nizbeth conceived, and Jesse remained ignorant of what had taken place. (My wife says that for this to work, Jesse must have been drunk. Same goes for Jacob.)

But several months later, Nizbeth began to show that she was with child, and her seven sons, as well as her husband, all believed that she had committed adultery. The sons wanted to kill their adulterous mother by stoning (as the law called for) and her illegitimate baby with her, but out of love for his wife, Jesse intervened. Nizbeth did not reveal to her husband that the child was his, for she did not want to embarrass him by revealing the truth of what had happened. Instead, she chose to bear the shame of their son, much as her ancestress Tamar was prepared to be burned rather than bring public shame upon Judah, her father-in-law and the father of her child (Genesis 38:24-25).

David the ShepherdAs a result, David grew up in a family in which he was despised, rejected, shunned, and outcast as described in Psalm 69. He was treated with scorn and derision. The community followed the example of the family, and assumed that David was full of sin and guilt. If something turned up missing, they believed he stole it, and forced him to replace it. He was often the object of jokes and pranks, filling his plate with gall and his cup with vinegar.

It was said that all the great qualities of Boaz were to be found in Jesse and his seven sons, while all the despicable traits of Ruth the Moabite were concentrated in David. The tradition is that this is also why David’s family forced David to be the shepherd in the fields by himself … they were hoping a bear or lion might kill him.

This may also help explain why later in life, when David was fleeing from a murderous Saul, David asked the King of Moab to harbor his mother and father (1 Samuel 22:3-4, according to tradition, one of his brothers was also protected there). Of course, a couple of years later when David becomes king of Israel, he slaughters two-thirds of the Moabite army. Why? Well again, according to Jewish tradition, this was because after David left his three family members under the protection of the King of Moab, the King killed David’s father and mother, but left his brother alive (The Pulpit Commentary, 2 Samuel 8:2). So when David becomes king, he retaliates by killing two-thirds of all the soldiers of Moab.

Finally, this may also explain why David, when he was confessing his own adulterous relationship with Bathsheba, he says “In sin my mother conceived me…” (Psalm 51:5). We will look more at this verse tomorrow.

Of final interest (at least to Christians) about the birth of David is the numerous parallels it has the birth of Jesus. He too, was viewed as one born of sin (John 8:41). Mary, his mother, conceived while she was betrothed to Joseph. And though people urged Joseph to stone her, he decided to marry her instead, thus taking her shame upon himself. But undoubtedly, there were always whispers, raised eyebrows, and sideways glances whenever Jesus and Mary walked by. Like Nizbeth protecting and defending David, Mary would have been the number one protector and defender of Jesus. Also, Jesus was not really accepted by his family until much later in life.

(To research this further, see Yalkut Makiri Tehillim 118,28; Sefer HaTodaah, Sivan and Shavuot; Pinter, Don’t Give Up; Weisberg, Tending the Garden, 187f; Book 2 of Our Jewish Heritage. See also Nitzevet – the Mother of David)

What do you think?

Many Christians may reject this story simply because “It’s not found in the Bible.” But there are lots of things we believe that are not found in the Bible. The Bible cannot (and does not) contain everything. The Bible is all true, but it does not contain all that is true.

I am not saying that this is the way it happened, but at the same time, who’s to say it didn’t? Anyway, let me know what you think in the comments below!

God is Uncategorized Bible & Theology Topics: adultery, Bible Study, David, Jesus, Psalm 51:5, Psalm 69

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Why does Jesus say “Go and sin no more” when it is impossible to “go and sin no more”?

By Jeremy Myers
166 Comments

Why does Jesus say “Go and sin no more” when it is impossible to “go and sin no more”?

Go and Sin no MoreA reader recently sent in this astute question:

Why does Jesus tell people to “Go and sin no more” when He knew it was basically impossible for them to stop sinning?

This is a great question, and one that has been cropping up a lot in the comments on this blog recently. For example, check out some of the comments in my post about “How do I stop sinning?” 

“Go and Sin No More” Disclaimers

Before I attempt to answer this important question about what Jesus means when He says “go and sin no more,” let me state two disclaimers.

Yes, I know that Scripture contains numerous passages which seem to teach that sinless perfectionism is possible in this life (cf. Matt 5:48; 1 John 3:4-10). So please … don’t leave a comment below quoting all the text in the Bible which you think I haven’t read. I have read them, studied them, and believe them.  I simply have a different understanding of those texts than you do.

Second, just because I believe the Bible teaches that it is not possible in this life to go and sin no more at all ever again in any way, this is not at all the same thing as telling people to go sin all they want. I believe that Christians can and should stop sinning, but I approach the issue of sin differently than often encountered elsewhere. I think the primary reason God wants us to stop sinning is not because it offends Him, but because sin damages us.

So can we “Go and Sin No More”?

There are two times in the Gospels when Jesus tells people to “go and sin no more.” One is after Jesus healed the man by the Pool of Bethesda (John 5:14) and the other is after He rescued the woman caught in adultery from getting stoned to death (John 8:11).

“Go and Sin No More” in John 5:1-18

What is strange about the instance with the man by the Pool of Bethesda is that the text mentions no sin which had led to his condition. The text simply says he had been there for 38 years (John 5:5). We aren’t told why. We aren’t told what happened. Though most commentators say that the man must have sinned in some way to cause his condition, the text says nothing of the sort.

Bible scholars say, “Well, it must have been some sort of sin which led to the man’s condition, or else why would Jesus say, ‘Go and sin no more or else something worse will happen to you’?”

Really? I have major problems with this. First, if the man had been invalid for 38 years, how old could he have been when he committed this terrible sin which caused God to strike him down as an invalid for the next four decades? I mean, what sort of terrible sin had this child from 38 years ago (or possibly a teenager) committed, which would cause God to punish him in such a terrible way? 

And then, Jesus comes along and say, “Now don’t do that again, or I’ll have to punish you even worse!” 

Does that sound anything like Jesus? Not the Jesus I know. I don’t think that sin led to this man being an invalid for 38 years, and I definitely don’t think that Jesus was threatening this poor man with some greater punishment if he committed that sin again. 

So how then are we to understand Jesus’ statement, “Go and sin no more”?

Well, notice that it is not in the context of healing the man from being an invalid that Jesus says “Go and sin no more.” It is in the context of the religious leaders threatening the man’s life because he had the audacity to carry his bedroll on the Sabbath (John 5:10). Why do I say there were threating his life? I believe there is a parallel in John 5 with something that happens in Numbers 15:32-35.

There, man is caught picking up sticks on the Sabbath, so they arrest him and take him to Moses, who consults God on the matter. God (apparently) tells Moses that the community should stone the man for the high crime of picking up sticks on the Sabbath.

So when Jesus tells the man “Go and sin no more or else something worse might happen to you,” I think he says it with a sparkle in His eye, some satire in His voice, and a head nod toward the disapproving and judgmental religious leaders.

Essentially Jesus tells the man (read the following with soft sarcasm): “Oh no! You carried your bedroll on the Sabbath! How could you do such a terrible thing! You sinner! Stop it! If you don’t, they’re going to have your head.”

Of course, although Jesus was speaking to the man with satirical humor, the situation was deadly serious as well, and Jesus knew it. It was true that if the man was not careful, the religious leaders would try to kill him simply because he carried his bedroll on the Sabbath. In fact, in the very next verses, their murderous rage gets redirected toward Jesus because He is the one who told the man to carry His bedroll (John 5:15-18). The text says they sought for a way to kill Jesus. The “something worse” which was going to happen to the man is now directed toward Jesus.

So was Jesus telling the man to “Go and sin no more”? Well … yes, but it is more like this: “Go and ‘sin’ no more, or the sin police over there are going to kill you.”

That’s how I read John 5:15-18.

Based on this, you can probably predict how I understand John 8:1-11.

“Go and Sin No More” in John 8:1-11

I think John included this incident in his Gospel just a few chapters after the “grievous sin of bedroll-carrying incident” because unlike the carrying of the bedroll on the Sabbath, the woman in this event was truly sinning. She was caught in the act of adultery.

go and sin no moreThe religious leaders are about to stone her to death when Jesus shows up, scribbles in the sand, and when no one is left to condemn her, tells her to “Go and sin no more.”

Most commentators note the connection here with the Levitical law that the punishment for adultery was death by stoning (Lev 20:10; Deut 22:22). Most commentators also point that the Levitical law required that both the man and the woman are to be stoned, but in John 8, only the woman is present. This was not because the religious leaders didn’t know who the man was, for they had caught the woman in the very act of adultery. Where is the man? We do not know.

There is some speculation that this woman was simply the innocent bystander in a malevolent plan by the religious leaders to accuse and attack Jesus (John 8:6). Since John 5:1-18, the religious leaders had been looking for ways to discredit and kill Jesus, and they had now found (or created?) a way in this poor woman. Could it be that her guilty partner was involved in the scheme himself?

It is likely that the woman was actually a prostitute, and the religious leaders saw this situation as a “win-win” opportunity for them. If Jesus did not defend her, then they got to stone a prostitute. Yay! If Jesus did defend her, then they could stone Him too as a bonus.

The plan, of course, didn’t go as expected, and Jesus wrote something in the sand which caused all the men to slink away. We don’t know what He wrote, though there is endless speculation about it might have been.

Anyway, once they have all left, Jesus tells the woman that He does not condemn her (and He is the only one present who could have!), and that she should “Go and sin no more.”

Why? For the same reason Jesus told the man in John 5 to go and sin no more: because the religious leaders were out to get her. Now that they had been rebuffed by Jesus and their righteous activity of stoning a prostitute had been denied them for the day, they would doubtless begin looking for a way to kill her again.

go and sin no moreBasically, Jesus is saying, “My beautiful lady, I am sorry you got caught up in this. They were after me; not you. They framed you to get at me. I want to protect you from them, so please, consider leaving your current profession. They are likely going to seek to frame you again, and the next time, they won’t bring you to me. They’ll just kill you. Neither one of us want that, so go … do something different with your life.”

Clearly, Jesus did not mean that the woman should never sin again in any way whatsoever. He knew, and we know, that this is impossible. He was simply warning her about the danger of continuing in her current lifestyle.

Can you “Go and Sin no More”?

So what does this way of reading these texts say to you and me? Several things.

First, please, please, please … don’t be a religious jackass. If Jesus is the only one who has the right to condemn and judge a person, but He chooses not to (cf. John 8:11, 15), then we all better think twice (and thrice!) before we cast the first stone. Don’t call for people’s jobs, or pray for their house to burn down, or tell them that because of their lifestyle they are headed for hell.

Such behavior looks less like Jesus and more like the religious leaders who sought to kill Jesus.

Second, recognize what sin is (and isn’t). Sin damages our relationship with God and with one another. Sin destroys our lives and causes emotional, financial, physical, spiritual, and psychological harm. The reason God wants us to stop sinning is simply because God wants what is best for us, and sin does not result in God’s best.

Our sin doesn’t cause God to turn away from us, reject us, hate us, or cast us out. Our sin grieves God because He knows how much sin hurts us, and as our loving Father, He doesn’t want us to get hurt.

God doesn’t care about our sin; He cares about us — which is why He wants to help us not sin.

Finally, as I’ve said before, we stop sinning not by trying to stop sinning, but by walking with Jesus and inviting God into the dark places of our life. When a room is dark, you don’t chase away the darkness by talking against it, praying against it, and commanding the darkness to leave. No, darkness naturally recedes when light enters the room. You want to stop sinning? Invite God into it, and watch the light of His love cast out all sin.

God is Uncategorized Bible & Theology Topics: adultery, Bible and Theology Questions, Discipleship, go and sin no more, Jesus, John 5, John 8, sin, Theology of Jesus, woman caught in adultery

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Make Sure You Never Commit the Unforgivable Sin

By Jeremy Myers
30 Comments

Make Sure You Never Commit the Unforgivable Sin

Unforgivable SinHow can you know if you, or a friend, or relative, have committed the unforgivable sin?

Believers Cannot Commit the Unforgivable Sin

First, if you have believed in Jesus Christ for eternal life, then it is no longer possible for you to blaspheme the Holy Spirit.

Since you have believed in Jesus for eternal life, the Holy Spirit has ceased the work upon you which He performs on unbelievers, and is now living within you to mold and shape you into Christlikeness. Due to this, a Christian can quench and grieve the Holy Spirit, but cannot blaspheme the Spirit in the way Jesus talks about in Matthew 12:31-32.

If you are a believer, do not worry about committing the unpardonable sin. The possibility of committing the unforgivable sin is forever in your past.

Unbelievers who Worry about the Unforgivable Sin Have Not Committed It

If, however, you are not a Christian, and worry that you might have committed the unforgivable sin, be encouraged. Nobody who commits the blasphemy against the Spirit wonders if they have.

They no longer care about such things.

The unbeliever who commits the unforgivable sin has become so morally and spiritually blind that their heart is hardened. They Holy Spirit has stopped trying to convince them of sin, righteousness, and judgment. As a result, they have become fully enslaved to sin, to the point that they no longer care about spiritual things and will never believe in Jesus.

Such a condition is clearly not true of you, because you are reading this book and are concerned about your spiritual state. This proves that the Holy Spirit is still working on you, and therefore, you have not yet committed the unforgivable sin.

A Warning about the Unforgivable Sin

Unforgivable SinBut be warned.

If you have not yet believed in Jesus for eternal life, then the warning that Jesus gave to the religious leaders in Matthew 12:31-32 may apply to you as well.

Jesus told the Pharisees that if they continued to reject the truths which were clearly before their eyes, then there may come a day when the Spirit stops trying to convince them.

So if you have not believed in Jesus for eternal life, do not resist the Spirit any longer. There is still time. Do not delay. Receive eternal life and become a member of God’s family by believing in Jesus Christ (John 3:16; 5:24; 6:47).

Once you have believed in Jesus for eternal life, the possibility of committing the unforgivable sin becomes an impossibility forever.

Do you fear that you have committed the Unforgivable Sin?

Fear not! You are forgiven. You are loved.

Fill out the form below to receive several emails from me which explains how you can know that you are loved and forgiven by God.

(Note: If you are a member of RedeemingGod.com, login and then revisit this page to update your membership.)

 

God is Redeeming Theology Bible & Theology Topics: adultery, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, divorce, forgiveness, grace, Matthew 12:31-32, mercy, murder, sin, Theology of Salvation, Theology of Sin, Unforgivable Sin, unpardonable sin

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Is Failure to Believe in Jesus the Unforgivable Sin?

By Jeremy Myers
3 Comments

Is Failure to Believe in Jesus the Unforgivable Sin?

believe in JesusOne popular view about the unforgivable sin is that it occurs when someone fails to believe in Jesus for eternal life.

The idea behind this view is that while God forgives all sin, He cannot and will not forgive a person for refusing to believe in Jesus until they actually believe in Jesus for eternal life.

In other words, if they continue in their unbelief until death, then they will never be forgiven, and will therefore be eternally separated from God. Of course, once a person believes in Jesus for eternal life, they are forgiven of this sin as well, and will spend eternity with God.

I held this view for many years, but eventually rejected it for several reasons.

Reason I Rejected this View on the Unforgivable Sin

First, in Matthew 12:31-32, Jesus says that those who commit the unforgivable sin will never be forgiven. It is not that they might be forgiven if they eventually believe in Jesus, but that once this sin is committed, it will never be forgiven. To say that it will never be forgiven as long as they don’t believe removes all the force from Jesus’ warning, and makes His argument redundantly self-evident.

Second, if Jesus was simply talking about the sin of unbelief, why didn’t He just talk about unbelief? He frequently warns people about their lack of faith, so if that was the issue here, why not make the same warning again?

Third, the big problem with this view on the unforgivable sin is that it has almost nothing to do with the Holy Spirit. The concern of Jesus in this particular text is that the unpardonable sin is against the Holy Spirit. If a particular view about this sin can be explained without ever mentioning the Holy Spirit, this is a good indication that this view is wrong.

Finally, this explanation of the unforgivable sin reveals a basic misunderstanding about forgiveness. Many wrongly assume that God does not and cannot forgive us of our sins unless we first do something to trigger His forgiveness. For example, many believe that God does not and cannot forgive us unless we first confess or repent of our sin. Those posts I linked to show that this is not true.

Similarly, some believe that God does not or cannot forgive us of our sins unless we first believe in Jesus. But this also is not true. Forgiveness is the free gift of God to all people for all their sin regardless of whether they want it, receive it, ask for it, or believe in Jesus for it. This was seen in a previous post about forgiveness.

This, of course, raises questions about how there can be an “unforgivable sin” if God freely forgives us of all our sin. That excellent question will be answered in a future post.

For now, we must reject this view of the unforgivable sin. The unforgivable sin is not a failure to believe in Jesus for everlasting life. God forgives all people freely without condition.

Of course, if you have not yet believed in Jesus for eternal life, why put it off any longer? Believe in Him today.

Do you fear that you have committed the Unforgivable Sin?

Fear not! You are forgiven. You are loved.

Fill out the form below to receive several emails from me which explains how you can know that you are loved and forgiven by God.

(Note: If you are a member of RedeemingGod.com, login and then revisit this page to update your membership.)

 

God is Redeeming Books, Redeeming Theology Bible & Theology Topics: adultery, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, divorce, forgiveness, grace, Matthew 12:31-32, mercy, murder, sin, Theology of Salvation, Theology of Sin, Unforgivable Sin, unpardonable sin

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Did Israel commit the unforgivable sin by rejecting Jesus as the Messiah?

By Jeremy Myers
7 Comments

Did Israel commit the unforgivable sin by rejecting Jesus as the Messiah?

unforgivable sinSince the controversy in Matthew 12 involves Jesus defending His claim to be the Messiah to the religious and national leaders of Israel, some Bible scholars and teachers believe that the unforgivable sin is Israel’s national rejection of Jesus as the Messiah.

The strength of this view is that it does not simply look at what is said and done in the text of Matthew 12:31-32, but looks at the surrounding context of Matthew 12 and the Gospel of Matthew as a whole, and sees that Jesus is trying to show the people of Israel that He is their promised and prophesied Messiah, but no matter what He says or what miracles He performs, they keep rejecting the truth and denying the clear evidence in the signs that He performs.

It is also argued that Matthew 12 is somewhat the turning point in the Gospel of Matthew. From this point on, Jesus begins to minister more toward Gentiles than to Jews (cf. Matt 13–15). Those who hold this view believe that while Jesus came primarily to the Messiah for the Jewish people, after they rejected Him, He refocused His mission toward being the Savior of the world. Matthew 12 is seen as a key text for this transition.

Those who hold this view point out that after the Pharisees claim that Jesus is performing miracles by the power of Satan (Matt 12:24), Jesus calls them an “evil generation” which deserves condemnation for rejecting the Messiah (Matt 12:39-42). After this, Jesus makes several predictions about how God will turn to a people who will not reject Him, and how Jerusalem and the Temple will be destroyed (cf. Matt 13:41-43; 16:1-4; 21:18-19, 42-46; 22:1-14; 24:1-2).

Nobody Can Commit the Unforgivable Sin Today?

Note that if this theory is correct, then nobody is able to commit this sin except for the Jewish people living at the time of Jesus Christ. In other words, since we are not Jewish and we are not living at the time of Jesus, we cannot commit this sin.

According to this view, the unforgivable sin was a particular sin which only Jewish people could commit who were alive during the ministry of Jesus and who saw the signs He was performing and should have recognized Him as their Messiah, but rejected Him instead.

This view is comforting since it makes the unforgivable sin impossible to commit today.

Weaknesses with this View on the Unforgivable Sin

However, the idea that this sin cannot be committed today is also the major weakness of the view. While Scripture does at times include descriptions of unique sins that cannot be committed by future generations—such as God’s instruction to Adam to not eat fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil—it does not seem that this particular sin falls into that category.

It seems that Matthew included this instruction from Jesus not simply to explain what happened to the Jewish people, but also because he believed that the possibility of committing this sin was a real danger for future generations as well.

At the time of writing, Matthew was warning his readers about this sin, and people today must receive this warning as well.

Furthermore, the very words of Jesus indicate a warning for all future generations. He applies the warning to “anyone” and not just to the Jewish people who were alive in His day.

Jesus also says that anyone who speaks against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but this view about Israel’s rejection of Jesus seems to say the opposite, that Jewish people who rejected Jesus by speaking against Him would not be forgiven.

So for these reasons, we can say that the unforgivable sin is not Israel’s national rejection of Jesus as the Messiah.

There is definitely a warning for all people who read this passage in Matthew about the unforgivable sin, and we must not simply say that because we do not live in the days of Jesus that people today cannot commit the unforgivable sin. People probably can commit this sin, but we must not too quickly assume that people have. Instead, we must discern the nature of the unforgivable sin, and then help counsel and love people who fear they have committed a sin which is unforgivable. Most likely they haven’t.

Do you fear that you have committed the Unforgivable Sin?

Fear not! You are forgiven. You are loved.

Fill out the form below to receive several emails from me which explains how you can know that you are loved and forgiven by God.

(Note: If you are a member of RedeemingGod.com, login and then revisit this page to update your membership.)

 

God is Redeeming Books, Redeeming Theology Bible & Theology Topics: adultery, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, divorce, forgiveness, grace, Israel, Matthew 12:31-32, mercy, murder, sin, Theology of Salvation, Theology of Sin, Unforgivable Sin, unpardonable sin

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