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A Mary T. Hoffman Commentary from All-Creatures.org

 

"Joyful Curmudgeon" An oxymoron?
No! I see all the beauty of God's creation and I'm joyful.  At the same time, I see all the suffering and corruption going on in the world, and feel called to help expose and end it so that we may have true peace and compassion.

 

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Blaspheming the Holy Spirit – 30 September 2006
By Mary T. Hoffman

There is a passage in the New Testament – Mark 3:28 and 29 – that puzzles many people. In these verses Jesus is speaking to the scribes who had come down from Jerusalem and who were accusing Him of possession by “an unclean spirit.” (Mark 3:22 and 30)

Mark 3:28-30 (King James Version)

28 Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme:

29 But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation:

Mark 3:20-30 (New American Standard Bible)

28 "Truly I say to you, all sins shall be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter;

29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin"

The question of what is the unpardonable sin has perplexed many, and I don’t pretend to have the definitive answer, by any means.

The religious leaders of the day were asserting that Jesus was performing His miracles and casting out demons – acts of kindness, gentleness, and mercy – with the help of Beelzebub (also spelled Beelzebul), the ruler of the demons.

Therefore, it makes sense to me that perhaps attributing to Satan an act based on the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) is the same as blaspheming the Holy Spirit.

Galatians 5:22-23 (King James Version)

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Galatians 5:22-23 (New American Standard Bible)

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

I also wonder if those who accuse animal rights advocates – who have compassion for the billions of tortured factory-farmed animals – of being terrorists are blaspheming the Holy Spirit? After all, it’s right there in the Bible (as quoted above): kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self control are the fruit of the Spirit.

It is obvious that animal advocates, who are led by the Holy Spirit and are doing God’s work, are a prophetic voice at this time in history. And we all know how the prophets of the Bible were treated whenever they exposed the truth!

In a nutshell: People who slander those who are doing God’s work in trying to expose the truth about the pervasive cruelties in this fallen world risk eternal damnation. And if you think that I am being too judgmental, just read the Bible!

Go on to: Progress – 1 October 2006
Return to: Myths and Idols – 29 September 2006
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