The worst and only “Unpardonable Sin” that a person could ever commit is not to BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. I mean, God has made getting saved so easy, simple and free, that no one has any excuse not to get saved. I love and thank God so much that He made His plan of redemption for mankind very simple. In a true sense, eternal life was not “free.” Oh, it is free for you and me and anybody else who wants to have it, but our redemption came at a GREAT PRICE. That price was the precious blood of Jesus. ...
1st Peter 1:18-21, “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.”
Jesus paid a debt that He did not owe, because we owed a debt we could not pay. What a wonderful Savior!!!
Dear reader, please do not commit the Unpardonable Sin of refusing to put your childlike trust (faith, confidence) in what Jesus has already DONE for you through Calvary' cross. I say “through” Calvary's cross because contrary to popular opinion, Christ's work of redemption WASN'T finished on the cross, when Jesus uttered the word: “It is finished” (John 19:30b). Think about it, when Jesus uttered these three words, He hadn't died yet, nor had He been buried or resurrected from the dead. Those three things comprise “the gospel.” So, Jesus' work of redemption were NOT finished on the cross.
According to Hebrews 9:11-12, “But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.” The liquid blood that Jesus shed on the cross had to be sprinkled upon the Mercy Seat in Heaven, in the Holy Place in the presence of the Father (Hebrews 9:22-24; 12:24). So, what was finished on the cross? Look at John 19:28, “After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.” Also, for cross-reference, please read Psalms 22:15, “My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.”
When Jesus said, “I thirst,” it was the last prophetic thing that needed to be fulfilled. It had been prophesied in Psalms 22:15 that Jesus would greatly thirst upon the cross. Jesus, better than anyone, knew what Old Testament prophesies said concerning Him. Our dear Lord was meticulous about making sure that all Messianic prophecies concerning Him were fulfilled. So, now you know what “It is finished” really means. Christ's time on earth was up. He ran a good course. He fought the good fight of faith; and then because as a sinless man He could not die, Jesus yielded up His Spirit into God the Father's hands, exiting His life on earth.
I hope friend that you have been born-again by faith in the 'GOOD NEWS' (GOSPEL) of Jesus Christ crucified on a cross for your sins, buried and then physically risen from the dead the third day. This is “the gospel” (1st Corinthians 15:1-6) by which all who BELIEVE IT are immediately, irrevocably and eternally saved. You have God's promise of it (Romans 1:16; 1st Corinthians 1:21; Galatians 3:24-26; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 1:2).
Regarding John 16:8-11, Dr. John R. Rice (1895-1980) writes in his Bible commentary titled, “John: The Son Of God”...
The word “of” in verses 8 to 11 might be translated “concerning.” The Holy Spirit convicts the world concerning sin because people do not believe in Christ. That is the greatest sin, and the heart of all sin, and back of all sin (vs. 9). The Holy Spirit reproves the world concerning righteousness, because Jesus will be gone, and His righteous example and teaching before the world will be taken away—so that the Holy Spirit must take His place in this respect. Concerning judgment, since that wicked generation had judged and crucified Jesus, Jesus promises that even the Devil himself will be brought to judgment. How little hope any lost man has to escape it!
“Of sin, because they believe not on me,” Jesus said (vs. 9). The Holy Spirit takes the place of Jesus as Comforter and Teacher and Guide, and so He takes the part of Jesus against this wicked world which rejected Him and crucified Him. He will reprove the world “of sin, because they believe not on me.” All sin—but particularly deliberate sin—because they believe not on Jesus. The Jews and all of mankind have sin coming from our fallen, deceitful hearts. That may be the secret sin referred to in Psalm 19:12, the sins that people did not intend and perhaps are not even conscious of. But rejection of Christ is “presumptuous sin” as that Psalm puts it, a certain willful sin.
All the sin against Christ is the greatest of all sins because it is against God most manifest, that is, in Jesus Christ. It is a sin against such mercy, such compassion, such righteousness. To reject Christ and refuse to trust in Him is the summing up of all sin.
The Jews who rejected Christ sinned so greatly “that the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias. which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation” (Luke 11:50, 51).
That rejection of Christ by the people of Chorazin and Capernaum was worse than the sin of Tyre and Sidon and Sodom, Jesus said. And after being exalted by seeing the mighty works of Jesus, they would be cast down to Hell. And where the disciples went and preached Christ, if people would not hear, the disciples were to shake the dust off their feet as they departed, and God would hold the city accountable at the judgment.
...The Holy Spirit will come to judge “of righteousness” (vs. 10). That is, Christ had been so plain in His preaching about righteousness; now the sweet Holy Spirit comes to rebuke sin and reprove it He comes to reprove all the self-righteousness, all the Pharisaical righteousness, all the ceremonial righteousness, all the religion without Christ. For we remember that the Jews to whom Jesus talked did as they did with Paul: “For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God” (Rom. 10:3). And we remember how Jesus, when He was here, cried out, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites.”
That kind of human righteousness is an abomination. Any so-called righteousness that leaves out Christ and the blood is a human, manufactured righteousness that will not stand up before the all-seeing eye of a holy God.
And so the Holy Spirit is to carry on in His condemnation of any righteousness without God, any morality without the fundamentals of the Faith and trusting Christ as God's atoning Saviour.
And the Holy Spirit is to convict the world “of judgment.” Why? “ . . . because the prince of this world is judged” (vs. 11). The world that crucified Jesus has to come to judgment. The world that made that pure and Holy One like a criminal must come to the bar of judgment and its wickedness must be revealed. All who takes sides against Christ, all who helped in His shame and trouble, have a sad and terrible judgment coming. To takes sides against Christ means that this Holy Spirit of God takes sides against you and passes judgment on wicked men who turn down Christ.
SOURCE: Dr. John R. Rice, “John: The Son Of God,” pp. 315-318, ©1976, Sword Of The Lord Publishers; Murfreesboro, Tennessee
I love and admire Dr. John R. Rice. I never had the privilege of meeting him. I was only 13 years old when he graduated to Heaven in 1980. Brother Rice is so right in his commentary on John 16:8-11. The greatest sin of all sins is to turn down Jesus Christ as one's Savior.
God has intentionally made the new birth very simple. You simply need to realize that you're a guilty sinner for breaking God's commandments. You need to know what you are being saved from, the penalty of sin which is to suffer and burn in Hell forever. This is the 'Second Death' (Revelation 20:11-15, 21:8). There is none righteous, no not one, the Bible says (Romans 3:10). We are all horrible dirty sinners.
The biggest sinners of all are the hypocritical religious crowd (like at Pensacola Christian College in Pensacola, Florida) who condemn other sinners, overlooking their own horrible sins. Pensacola Christian College's (PCC) ungodly pastors have banned me from attending their so-called 'Campus Church' since August 2, 2022, because I criticized their mistreatment of people. It didn't matter that I sincerely apologized to Campus Church and PCC, they refuse to forgive me. What hateful hypocrites!
A sign of a baby Christian is that they look down on other sinners, now that they (like PCC) have chosen to clean up their life of bad habits. That is spiritual kindergarten. But a sign of a mature Christian is that they count them self among the fallen and guilty, having the humble attitude: “There but for the grace of God, go I” (Galatians 6:1-3; Philippians 2:3).
Make sure dear reader that you have been born-again. Believing that Jesus once existed is not enough to get to Heaven. Living the Christian life is a sure road to Hell, fire and damnation. Satan's greatest weapon is to con people into living the Christian life without ever being born again. The hellbound infidels in Matthew 7:21-23 boasted what THEY HAD DONE for Christ, but they failed to trust Christ alone for their salvation, which is the Father's will (John 6:40).
It is the worst sin imaginable not to trust Jesus Christ. All other sins, no matter how heinous and evil, will be forgiven to any sinner who places their childlike trust in the sinless Lamb of God. John 1:29, “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” John 6:47, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”
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