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on October 10, 2015

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Thoughts on the Unpardonable Sin

Since people in the Group found this helpful in dealing with the Unforgivable Sin, I thought I'd post it here. 1. Blasphemy, by its very definition, must be spoken out loud. "Blasphemous thoughts" are thoughts that would be blasphemy if uttered. No matter how nasty a thought may be, thoughts cannot be blasphemy unless they are uttered. Even if the thoughts somehow could be blasphemy,... 2. Jesus says in the very statement in which He speaks of the Unpardonable Sin that ALL blasphemies will be forgiven, whatever their content- but that THE blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be. It is obvious from this that since THE blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is not included in "ALL blasphemies," it must be something very different from merely saying something nasty about God (again, thinking something nasty about God, if it is not uttered out loud, cannot be blasphemy in the first place). It is unique. 3. Since Jesus says categorically that He will never,

C.F.W. Walther on the Unpardonable Sin

From The Proper Distinction Between Law and Gospel: Thesis XXIV. In the twentieth place, the Word of God is not rightly divided when the unforgiven sin against the Holy Ghost is described in a manner as if it could not be forgiven because of its magnitude. This current description of the unpardonable sin is a horrid confounding of Law and Gospel. Only the Law condemns sin; the Gospel absolves the sinner from all sins without an exception. The prophet writes; “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white a snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Is 1, 18. The Apostle Paul writes, Rom 5, 20: “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” Accordingly, Luther sings out in a glorious strain: — Though great our sins and sore our woes, His grace much more boundeth; His helping love no limit knows, Our utmost need it soundeth. Now, then, what does Holy Scripture say regarding the sin against the Holy Ghost? Concerning this sin we have th

The Hammer of God by Bo Giertz, Part One

The Hammer of God by the late Swedish Lutheran Bishop Bo Giertz is not only one of the greatest works of Christian fiction ever written, but my personal favorite. My seminary advisor, the late Dr. Ralph Quere, used to read this book over every year. He had those of us in his advisee group read it, too. And I make it a point to re-read it as often as I can. There is no better way I've found to keep it straight in my own mind what the Gospel is, and what it is not, and where the greatest pitfalls for a preacher truly lie. I urge you to read it for yourself. But this video is a summary of the first part. I think you'll see why it's so great and so helpful- especially for a person who suffers from scrupulosity. Here you'll have it plainly laid out what God has given the Church to preach, and what the heart and core of the Christian faith truly is. Anything else is a counterfeit. This is a summary of the first of the three stories.

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It isn't about how good you are. It's about whether Jesus is telling the truth

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