Unforgivable Sin Archives

Good Fruit, Bad Fruit, and the Unforgivable Sin (Matthew 12:33-37)

What is the “fruit” in Matthew 12:33-37 (Luke 6:43-45)?

Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned (Matthew 12:33-37)

Matthew 12:33-37 (and the parallel passage in Luke 6:43-45) is a key passage for understanding the symbolic use of fruit in Scripture.

The context makes it explicitly clear that the fruit which comes from a person is not the works their life produces, but rather the words that proceed from their mouth. After Jesus says that “a tree is known by its fruit,” He states that the words of a person reveal what is in the heart. In this context, it is extremely clear that the good fruit of a person’s life are the good words that proceed out of their mouth. If these words agree with the rest of Scripture, they are good words, and therefore, good fruit.

Matthew 12:33-37 Primarily has Bible Teachers in View

It is important to point out that all of the teaching in Scripture about the good fruit of good words primarily have Bible and theology teachers in view.

Most of the passages that invite us to look to the words a person says as an indication of whether they should be listened to or not, only have in view the words they say about Scripture and theology, and even then, primarily to professional teachers.

The biblical teaching about good fruit does not apply to the views a person might have about politics, science, current events, or history. If a person has some nutty views about such things, while we might be wise to ignore their ideas, the biblical teachings about good and bad fruit do not apply to such cases. The biblical teachings about good and bad fruit only apply to people who are teaching Scripture and theology.

We can go a bit further as well.

The biblical teachings about good and bad fruit don’t even apply to the average person who is generally uniformed or uneducated about what the Bible teaches. Instead, the warnings from Scripture about good and bad fruit primarily apply to those whose job it is to teach others about Scripture and theology.

In the days of Jesus, it was the religious leaders, the Sadducees, Pharisees, and scribes. Today it would be the pastors, theologians, and seminary professors. These are the ones whose teachings we must carefully analyze to see whether or not their words align with the overall teaching of Scripture.

In regards to their teachings, we are to be noble Bereans, and search the Scriptures to see whether or not what they say is true (Acts 17:11).

Good Fruit is Not about Good Works

One thing we are not invited to do is look at a person’s works.

The Bible reveals that if you want to know whether or not a person is a false teacher, all you need to do is listen to what they say and compare it with the teaching of Scripture.

After all, when it comes to false teachers, actions can be deceptive, but their teachings will rarely lie. It is as Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 11:13-14 that false apostles can appear as apostles of Christ and even Satan is transformed into an angel of light. That is exactly what we see here in Matthew 12:33-37.

But what about the Unforgivable Sin?

It is significant that in the immediately preceding context, the Jewish religious leaders had accused Jesus of casting out demons by Beelzebub (Matt 12:24). In response, Jesus warns them about speaking blasphemy against the Spirit (Matt 12:31-32).

This does not mean that they had spoken blasphemy against the Spirit; only that they were about to. As I explain in my book Why You Have Not Committed the Unforgivable Sin, there is no passage in Scripture which clearly tells us what blasphemy against the Spirit is. Though the sin is related to speaking words against the Holy Spirit (cf. Luke 12:10), no passage clearly states what these words are that should not be spoken. It is probably not specific words anyway, but more of general attitude of the heart that is revealed through one’s words.

Nevertheless, although the Bible doesn’t say precisely identify the nature of this particular sin, many pastors and teachers claim to know what this sin is and they use their teachings to create fear in the minds of others by warning them against committing it. Such pastors and teachers should be ignored and avoided, for they are speaking where Scripture has not. Such teachers are close to doing the same thing as the Pharisees in this passage, and it is toward them that Jesus directs the warning about blasphemy!

Matthew 12:33-37 and Good Fruit

This entire context reveals the truth of Jesus’ teaching about fruit.

By verbally challenging the words and teachings of Jesus, the Pharisees revealed the fruit of their heart, showing all that they were bad trees who produce bad fruit, and therefore should not be heeded, listened to, or obeyed. Though by all outward appearances, the Pharisees were the most observant and scrupulous keepers of the Mosaic Law, their accusatory words revealed the true condition of their hearts.

Note, however, that once again, nothing is said in this context about being able to discern the eternal destiny of others. Even when someone speaks falsely, while their words may mark them as a false teacher, this does not mean they are eternally condemned. It is possible that they have eternal life, but are simply confused or deceived themselves.

Though bad fruit from the lips reveals that a bad tree has taken root in the heart, bad fruit reveals nothing one way or the other about whether or not a person has eternal life.

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Thanks to my Book Launch Team (and an Invitation to you)

By Jeremy Myers

What is the sin unto death in 1 John 5:16-17?

By Jeremy Myers

30 Comments

Recently someone sent in a question about the sin unto death.

When I was writing my book about The Unforgivable Sin, I originally intended to include chapters on Hebrews 6, 1 John 5:16-17, and other similar passages that cause trouble in the minds of many. If you have read that book, you know that while it deals with some of the popular teachings about the unforgivable sin and the primary text of Matthew 12:31-32, it doesn’t deal with these other passages that are used to teach that certain sins can lead to God’s ultimate rejection. I have plans for a future expanded edition of that book, but that is still many years off.

So until the new version of that book comes out, maybe I can write a few blog posts once in a while about these other passages. I was given the opportunity recently when someone sent in this question about the sin unto death in 1 John 5:16-17:

Got any thoughts on 1 John 5:16-17? What is the Father telling us about the sin unto death? Most ministries I have heard really don’t know and don’t teach on this.

For some reason, when people read the Bible, they tend to put on spiritual-colored glasses so that words which mean one thing in any other context mean something completely different when read in the Bible.

For example (and I have written about this before), take the word “saved.” If you were reading a book on finances, or energy conservation, or health tips, or almost any other topic, and the headlines read “8 Ways to Save!” you would understand that the word “save” has nothing to do with eternal life.

Yet when people read the Bible, they put on their spiritual-colored glasses so that when they read the word “save” they often put a spiritual twist on the word “save” and interpret it as having something to do with eternal life. Most of the time in the Bible, the word “save” (and saved) have nothing to do with eternal life.

The same is true with the word “death.”

Sin Unto Death

If you read an article in a newspaper with the title, “8 Things that Bring Death,” you would know that the article is probably going to talk about 8 things that ruin your health and bring an early death. It might include things like smoking, not exercising, stress, or jumping out of airplanes.

Yet when most people are reading their Bibles (and they have their spiritual-colored glasses on), and read about some sort of sin that brings death, they put a spiritual twist on it, and think it is referring to spiritual death, or losing your eternal life, or something like that. This is what happens when people read about the sin unto death in 1 John 5:16-17.

A similar thing happens, by the way, when people read James 5:19-20 which talks about saving a soul from death. The word “soul” doesn’t mean “spirit;” it means “life.” So to save a soul from death means to save a life from death. And again, if we read without our spiritual-colored glasses, we will remember to read the word “save” as having nothing to do with eternal life and the word “death” as not referring at all to spiritual death or losing eternal life.

Sin Can Cause Death

In other words, James 5:19-20 is saying the exact same thing as 1 John 5:16-17: there are certain sins which can bring death.

But how should we respond to people who commit these sins? Here is where some of the confusion enters, because John seems to instruct his readers not to pray for people who commit sin leading to death. Does this mean that when Christians commit certain sins which may lead to death, we should not pray for them?

Hardly!

In one of his commentaries on 1 John, Zane Hodges points out that all sins ultimately lead to death, so what John is referring to here are “sins for which death is a rapid consequence” (BKC, 902). So when John says, “I am not saying he should pray about that,” Zane Hodges writes, “But this clearly does not forbid prayer even in the most serious cases. But naturally in such cases believers will submit their prayers to the will of God” (BKC, 903).

If this sort of interpretations seems strange to you, just remember that there are groups of people today who do in fact pray for the forgiveness of people who have already died. Apparently, there were people in John’s day who were praying similar prayers. John is saying that such prayers are unnecessary. If a person commits sin that leads to their death, we don’t need to pray about that. Pray instead for those who are still living, no matter how serious their sin might be.

In other words, it is wise for Christians to pray for people who are caught in sin and help rescue them from these sins so that they don’t die. Once a person has died because of sin, we do not need to pray for them any longer, because they are now in the hands of God. Prayer for the sins of the deceased accomplishes nothing.

Examples of Sin Unto Death

When read this way, the verses about the sin unto death not only make more sense in context, but also make sense in light of the rest of Scripture, and in our own experience as well. For example, we all know that there are certain behaviors and actions which can lead a person to an early grave. But aside from that, there are even some sins which may cause God to discipline a person with early death. Those who did not properly observe the Lord’s Supper are another example (1 Cor 11:30).

There is also the example of the man who was boasting about sleeping with his stepmother (1 Cor 5:5). In 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 there is a whole list of regenerated people who died as a result of rebellion against God. Then there is the account of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11). All of these people committed a sin unto death, that is, a sin that led to their untimely death.

The sin unto death is not a sin to spiritual death, but a sin that leads to an untimely physical death.

Conclusion

John’s advice (as well as that of James) is that when we see a brother or sister caught in a sin that may lead to their death, we should pray for them, plead with them to turn from their ways, and do all we can to help restore this person back into fellowship with God and with one another. If they die as a result of their sin, we can learn from their mistakes and plead with others to turn from similar sins, but we need not pray for those whose sin has led to an untimely death. Such people are already dead, and are with God. So we don’t need to pray for them. We can pray instead for those who are alive and in need of our prayers.

Do you fear that you have committed the Unforgivable Sin?

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You may think God hasn’t forgiven you for that sin. But you’d be wrong. Here’s why…

By Jeremy Myers

28 Comments

Lots of people have some some of secret sin in their past (or in their present life) which they think is so bad, God could never forgive them.

Well, they’re wrong.

If you think you have committed a sin which God cannot forgive, let me tell you…. God has already forgiven you for this sin.

And yet He still wants you to confess and repent of this sin. Why? So He can forgive you.

Confused yet? That’s because there are lots of confusing statements in the Bible about forgiveness.

On the one hand, forgiveness seems unconditional and free (Col 2:13).

However, there are other verses which seem to say that we will not be forgiven unless we confess or repent of our sins (1 John 1:9).

A few passages indicate that we can lose forgiveness simply by not showing forgiveness to others (Matt 6:15). So does this mean that even if you confess our sin, we may not be forgiven of it if we fail to forgive others?

Then, there is apparently a sin which will never be forgiven, no matter what (Matt 12:31-32).

And of course, there are the confusing verses which seem to indicate that certain human beings have a special power or ability to forgive others (cf. John 20:23).

Finally, there is the issue of what forgiveness actually accomplishes. Many believe that in order to go to heaven, we must be forgiven of all our sins. Therefor, if any of our sins remain unforgiven due to one of the conditions of forgiveness listed above, does this mean we end up in hell?

I cannot begin to address all these texts in this post, and even if I did, there would be dozens of other similar passages which would demand explanation as well.

So instead of trying to explain every verse about forgiveness, let me try to briefly summarize what the Bible says about forgiveness and why there is so much confusion surrounding this concept in the church today.

What the Bible Says about Forgiveness

One of the biggest reasons there is so much confusion about forgiveness is that there are three Greek words used in the New Testament for forgiveness, but they often (though not consistently) get translated as “forgiveness” into English. For my own study of Scripture, it often helps to know what kind of forgiveness is in view.

Charizomai Forgiveness

The first kind of forgiveness is charizomai. It is what I think of as “God’s unconditional forgiveness.” This makes sense, because it is based on the word charis, which means “grace.”

Charizomai refers to the removal of guilt, but not necessarily the removal of consequences. Charizomai is God’s free pardon (cf. 2 Cor 2:7, 10; Col 2:13). As such, charizomai is offered freely, to all, with absolutely no conditions.

This kind of forgiveness is a free gift of God to every single person on earth, emanating purely from God’s love and grace. In this way, you have been forgiven of every sin, no matter what.

Aphesis Forgiveness

The second kind of forgiveness is aphesis. It is best to think of aphesis as release. It often is used to refer to the release of a financial debt or burden, but is often used in the sense of gaining liberty or freedom.

Aphesis, however, is usually not without condition, so in this way, it is different from the unconditional charizomai forgiveness. Aphesis is usually connected with repentance, meaning that aphesis does not come unless there is repentance.

This makes sense when we understand that sin enslaves us and puts us in bondage. If we do not repent of our sin, that is, if we do not turn away from it and turn back toward God, how can we gain freedom, liberty, or release from it? We cannot.

But note that even if we do not gain aphesis, we still have charizomai from God. He freely forgives us out of His grace, and calls us to repent so that we might also gain aphesis. If we do not, He still loves as forgives us (charizomai), but we will continue to experience bondage and enslavement to sin.

Apoluo Forgiveness

Then finally, there is the third kind of forgiveness, which comes from the Greek word apoluo. Apoluo is based on the Greek word luo, which means “I loose.” So apoluo is to be loosed, or set free. This word is nearly indistinguishable from aphesis, and may be nearly synonymous. There may be some small shades of differences, but nothing worth noting in this post.

So How Does This Help Christians Learn to Forgive?

First of all, we need to understand that we are forgiven, freely, by God’s grace, of all our sins, no matter what. You have the charizomai of God whether you confess your sins or not. You have charizomai for your sins whether you are Christian or not.

As far as God is concerned, your guilt has been removed from you. Your sin is no longer an issue with God. I have written about this previously, and so will say nothing more here.

However, we all still struggle with the consequences of sin in our lives and in our relationships. How can we fix this problem? This is where most of the teaching in the Bible about forgiveness comes in.

Aphesis forgiveness and apoluo forgiveness have absolutely nothing to do with whether or not a person goes to heaven when they die. Aphesis forgiveness and apoluo forgiveness are about whether or not we live in bondage and enslavement to sin here and now. They are about whether or not we destroy our lives, our health, our marriages, our family, our finances, our jobs, and pretty much everything in our life.

God does not want us to live our lives surrounded by destruction, addiction, and enslavement, and so He encourages us to confess our sins, repent of our sins, purify our lives and in so doing, gain release, freedom, and liberty from sin and the damaging consequences of sin.

God encourages us to forgive others, because often, that is the only way we can gain release to the bitterness and resentment we hold in our hearts toward them. Until we forgive others we cannot gain the release of forgiveness for ourselves.

You are already Forgiven, so Forgive to be Forgiven

That subtitle sounds like gibberish, right? But from a biblical perspective it is true. You already have the free charizomai forgiveness of God, completely free of charge. So in light of this free gift of forgiveness, it would be wise to give aphesis and apoluo forgiveness to others so that you can experience the release of aphesis and apoluo forgiveness in your own life.

Study Forgiveness on Your Own

I encourage you to embark on a study of forgiveness of your own. Find some sort of Greek-English parallel Bible, and whenever you see the words “forgive,” “forgiven,” or “forgiveness” in Scripture, take a few minutes to look it up and find out which kind of forgiveness is in view.

By doing so, you will be encouraged. God is not dangling your sin over your head as a way of threatening you with eternal punishment in hell. No, He has already forgiven you of all your sins, past, present, and future.

However, God wants more for you than to just have your guilt removed from you; He does not want sin to reign in your body; He does not want sin to rule over you, to destroy you, to ruin your life, your health, your finances, and all your relationships. He wants you to experience freedom and liberty. But for these, there are conditions and steps that must be met…

I encourage you to develop in your thinking about forgiveness. There are different kinds of forgiveness, with different conditions to receive the various kinds, and different consequences and results from each. Learn to distinguish which forgiveness is which, and your Bible will make a whole lot more sense.

Tell God Your Blasphemous Thoughts

By Jeremy Myers

97 Comments

A reader recently sent in the following question about blasphemous thoughts and the unforgivable sin.

I got your book on the unforgivable sin. What advice can you give for those who suffer with blasphemous thoughts? I have not said anything but they are still upsetting. I am going through a lot of stress right now. I have been having this issue about 2 years now. Any advice is appreciated. I was told just not to accept them (or cry-which I have done). God bless you.

I am glad you got the book. There is so much more I could have said about the unforgivable sin in that little book. This is one of the questions I should have dealt with in more detail.

What is a Blasphemous Thought?

First off, I am not sure what you might consider a “blasphemous thought.” As I have had hundreds of personal and online conversations about the unforgivable sin over the years, I find that lots of people have some sort of idea about what constitutes blasphemous thoughts or actions, but which are not really blasphemous at all. The reason most people have these ideas is because they heard a sermon, read a book, or had a pastor tell them that certain actions or thoughts were blasphemous. But when we really look at the what blasphemy is, we find that most of these sermons, books, and pastors were simply misinformed or were trying to control other people to act or behave a certain way.

So, to take an extreme case as an example… I have sometimes talked with people who say that they were told that it was blasphemy to question something their pastor taught. They were told that the pastor is “the Lord’s anointed.” Often the pastor will quote Psalm 105:15 as a way of showing that to touch, harm, or question “the Lord’s anointed” is some sort of affront to God. Therefore, to question or challenge the pastor is considered to be some sort of blasphemous challenge to God Himself.

This is an extreme example, to be sure, but it does happen (more than we realize!). But a moment’s reflection reveals that in these cases, the pastor is usually just trying to control people to conform to his own desires, wishes, and commands.

However, I would say that easily 95% of the teaching out there about the “sin of blasphemy” falls into this same category. Usually, what is being taught as blasphemous is not blasphemous at all! Sure, those certain behaviors or actions might be sinful, but there is a vast ocean of difference between sinful thoughts or actions and blasphemous thoughts or actions.

But here’s the thing… I am just going to go out on a limb and guess at what blasphemous thoughts you might be having. Though there is a whole variety of things that people think qualify as blasphemous thoughts or actions, in my experience, there is one main thing that people think is a blasphemous thought.

And it is this… when most people think they have thought or said something blasphemous, it is because they thought or said these words:

F*** you, God! I hate you!

Probably there is not much worse that could be said toward God, and I hesitate even putting such a thing on this blog. If anything qualifies as a blasphemous thought, this is probably it. (Though even here, nowhere does the Bible say that such a statement is blasphemous. In Matthew 12:31-32, when Jesus accuses the Pharisees of being close to committing the unforgivable sin, this is not what the Pharisees were saying, and is not even close to anything they ever would have said…)

So the statement above is not a blasphemous thought, but is still pretty bad, but I wrote it out for a purpose.

If you are saying or thinking these sorts of things toward God, there are two things God wants to say to you in return.

God Wants You to Know He Loves You

The first thing God wants to say to you is this:

Oh yeah? So you hate me, huh? Well guess what?
I love you.
Yeah, that’s right.
I. Love. You.
No matter what, I love you.
No matter what you say or do, no matter what you think, no matter how hurtful your words or thoughts, I will love you forever. My love for you will never change, will never diminish, will never fade away.
Say what you will. Do what you will. I forgive you for all of it, because I love you.

love of God How do we know God says this to us, no matter what we say to Him?

Because the Bible tells us over and over that He loves us no matter what. While we were yet sinners, God sent His Son Jesus to die for us (John 3:16; Rom 5:8). Love is the essence of who God is (1 John 4:8). Before you were ever born, God knew every sin you would ever commit, every word you would ever say, and all “blasphemous thoughts” you would ever say or think. And He sent Jesus to die for you anyway! Why? Because He loves you!

More than anything else, God wants to let you know that He loves you and will always love you.

The God you Hate… God Hates Too

But the second thing God would want to say to you in response for any angry or hateful thought you might have about Him is this:

Hey, I understand. In fact, the god you claim to hate is the god I hate too.
The only reason you are having those thoughts or thinking those words is because you thought I was a certain type of god, and I have not turned out to be that way. Your life is going in directions you didn’t think it would go, horrible things have happened to you in life, and you think I did these things to you. Someone told you some wrong things about me. Someone told you that I caused those bad things to happen to you. This is not true.
If I had done those horrible things to you, you would have every right to resent and hate me.
But I didn’t send this pain, tragedy, hardship, or evil into your life. I would never do that.
Remember what I told you before? I love you!
I might discipline you out of love, but when I do, I will make it clear to you what I am doing, and why.
All those evil things that happen to you are only because the world is full of sin, and the enemy is out to steal, kill, and destroy. I never steal, kill, or destroy.
Bad things happen in this world, and I am so sorry you have to experience them.
When these bad things happen, my role, my job, my task, is to do what I can to love you through them, to be with you in the pain, to suffer alongside you. This is one reason I sent Jesus. It is also why I sent the Holy Spirit.
I am not a god who sends suffering into your life; I am the God who suffers with you in life.
I am not a god who sends pain so you cry; I am a God who cries with you in your pain.
And regarding what you thought before… you know, those words you said in your head. Thank you for saying them.
Really.
Many people either try to deny the painful experiences they are facing, or they clam up about their pain and refuse to talk to me about it. But not you. You are honest about your pain and are willing to talk to me about it.
Even though your words are hurtful, they show that you continue to want to talk to me and have a relationship with me. Most people just give me the silent treatment. But you haven’t done that. You continue to want to talk. I want that too.
Telling me you hate me isn’t blasphemy; it’s honesty. It is how you feel. And I am glad you came to me in your pain.
So let me begin by showing you who I really am…

I am not sure if this exactly answers the question that was sent in to me, but in my years of experience as a pastor, author, and blogger, I have found that most people who have fears about blasphemous thoughts and blasphemous words, usually have one of two things going on in their life (and often both). People who think they have committed the unforgivable sin usually have a religious leader who is trying to control them, or warped and dangerous ideas about who God is and what God is like.

Once we can see that God is not like the angry, fire-hurling deity that is often taught in some churches and by some pastors, but instead looks remarkably like Jesus who loved, accepted, and forgave everybody, it is then that we begin to see how much God loves us, and that no matter what we say or do, His love for us will never change, never waver, never diminish.

It is not a blasphemous thought to think that you hate God.

If you think you hate God, go talk to Him about what you are feeling, and why you feel that way.

He loves to have these open and honest conversations with us about who He truly is and how much He truly loves us… no matter what.

Only once we see the love of God, will the thoughts of anger and resentment toward God begin to disappear. So if you are having blasphemous thoughts or ideas toward God, don’t feel bad about them or fear that such thoughts will make God stop loving you. Instead, take those thoughts to God, and say, “God? Do you see what think about you?” Then sit and listen to see what God says in return.

The last thing God wants is for us to shut ourselves off from Him. So if we are having blasphemous thoughts toward God, the best thing we can do is talk to God about them, so that He can show us how much He loves us, and how the God we think we hate is not actually the God He truly is.

Good Fruit, Bad Fruit, and the Unforgivable Sin (Matthew 12:33-37)

What is the “fruit” in Matthew 12:33-37 (Luke 6:43-45)?

Matthew 12:33-37 Primarily has Bible Teachers in View

Good Fruit is Not about Good Works

But what about the Unforgivable Sin?

Matthew 12:33-37 and Good Fruit

Thanks to my Book Launch Team (and an Invitation to you)

What is the sin unto death in 1 John 5:16-17?

Sin Unto Death

Sin Can Cause Death

Examples of Sin Unto Death

Conclusion

Do you fear that you have committed the Unforgivable Sin?

You may think God hasn’t forgiven you for that sin. But you’d be wrong. Here’s why…

What the Bible Says about Forgiveness

Charizomai Forgiveness

Aphesis Forgiveness

Apoluo Forgiveness

So How Does This Help Christians Learn to Forgive?

You are already Forgiven, so Forgive to be Forgiven

Study Forgiveness on Your Own

Tell God Your Blasphemous Thoughts

What is a Blasphemous Thought?

God Wants You to Know He Loves You

The God you Hate… God Hates Too

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