Sins Against the Holy Spirit
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Christians have always asked the meaning of the sins against the Holy Spirit. What is this unforgivable sins as proposed by Jesus Christ in all the synoptic Gospels? They tend to query, (Cf. Mathew 12:22- 32, Mark 3:22-30, Luke 12:10). People continue to wonder what kind of sin, a merciful and compassionate God will not pardon. In what does it consist? To them, this seemingly unforgivable sin of God might in a way be seen to limit his love for mankind.
Going through the book of Matthew, one cannot but evaluate the circumstance; Jesus gave the teaching in the light of his ministry. It was an occasion when the people brought to Jesus, a patient, who was blind, dumb and possessed by the devil. He immediately cured him and all the people gathered were astounded and began to ask:
„Can this be the son of David? " (Mathew 12:24).
But annoyingly, the Pharisees in their jealousy and unmerited attack on Jesus retorted,
"The man cast out devils through Beelzebub, the prince of devil.".
Jesus then proved to them this absurdity, and consequently, the malice of their explanation, by showing them that it was by the Spirit of God he cast out devils. After his explanation and education, Jesus concluded:
"And so, I tell you, every one of men's sins and blasphemies will be forgiven, but blasphemy against
the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. And anyone who says a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but let anyone speak against the Holy Spirit and he will not be forgiven either in this world or in the next (Mathew 12:31-32).
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So, for one to sin against the Holy Spirit is to confound the Holy Spirit with the spirit of evil and to deny from pure malice, the divine character of works manifestly divine. It has also been interpreted to mean in its most literal signification, uttering of an insult against the divine Spirit, applying the appellation either to the Holy Spirit or to the three Divine Persons. On the other hand, St Augustine has explained this to mean the final impenitence, perseverance till death in mortal sin. The impenitence is against the Holy Spirit in the sense that makes the
situation frustrating and absolutely opposed to the remission of sins, and this remission is appropriated to the Holy Spirit, the mutual love Of the Father and the Son. To this end, Jesus did not accuse the Pharisees in the above case but was warning them against the danger of doing so.
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On the other hand, some Scholastic theologians ascribe the sins against the Holy Spirit as those that are committed from downright malice, either by despising or rejecting the inspirations and impulses which, having been stirred in man 's soul by the Holy Spirit would turn him away or deliver him from evil. To be sure, the sins against the Holy Spirit are commonly known six in number. These are, despair, presumption, impenitence, or a fixed determination not to repent, obstinacy, resisting the known truth, and envy of another's spiritual welfare. One can see that these sins are not in any way helpful to one's journey to the kingdom of God as it is God's will that all be saved.
GOD BLESS YOU