The Unforgiveable Sin

1 Samuel 2:12-35, 3:11-13

A common debate among Christians is what the unforgivable sin is. Sometimes it a serious discussion; we really want to know what it is so we can avoid it. Sometimes it’s more of an intellectual exercise; debating for the sake of debate. But, at least among the Christians I know, there’s never any doubt that there is an unforgiveable sin. Jesus said anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. (Mark 3:29).

 

There’s probably a deep theological explanation of what He meant and I won’t ever understand it. But here’s the story of a sin that God refused to forgive. 

Eli’s sons defiled the temple sacrifices. God gave the Israelites a lot of detailed instructions about the sacrifices. There were different kinds – sin offerings, guilt offerings, thanksgiving offerings . . . and they all had specific instructions. But one thing is clear. They were all intended for His worship. The sacrifices belonged to God.

So Eli’s sons took something that belonged to God and defiled it. One of the instructions in Leviticus is that the priest who offers the sin sacrifice should eat the meat in a sacred place. But Eli’s sons sent a tough guy to take the meat from whoever was making the sacrifice and bring it to them to enjoy in what was presumably not a sacred place. They interrupted the ritual to make sure they got what they wanted.

Back in the days of Israel, the nations all around them were also making sacrifices to their gods. They had worship rituals that made sense to them, but they were idolatrous. God’s purpose in the rules about sacrifices was to keep His people’s worship pure. He wanted them to worship Him alone. So the sacrifices had to be made in the temple, not in the fields, to ensure that a priest who had been purified brought the people’s worship before God, not idols.

Worship belongs to God alone.

It matters so much to Him that He made a bunch of rules to protect it.

It matters so much to Him that He won’t forgive men who defile it. 

It matters so much to Him that He will destroy entire generations of families who take what is His.

Because Eli’s sons sinned against God there was no one to mediate for them. God told Eli, “I will honor those who honor me, and I will despise those who think lightly of me.” His sons blasphemed God by defiling the sacrifices, so their sins couldn’t be forgiven by sacrifices and offerings. Their sin was unforgiveable.

God is holy and He requires pure worship. But God is also merciful. And by His mercy and grace, I do have someone to mediate for me. I have dishonored God; I have thought lightly of Him. But my mediator, Jesus, became the sacrifice for my sins. I have been forgiven. 

I never want to commit the sin that can’t be forgiven. But when I understand why it can’t be forgiven, I realize there’s something more important than the state of my soul. I don’t want to blaspheme the holy God who saved me. I pray that He will keep me from dishonoring His sacrifice and the worship that belongs to Him alone.

Painful Discipline

Psalm 39

One afternoon at boarding school, my friends and I were playing in the outbuildings behind the school. Some of the rooms were used for storage and we were allowed in them. But the school maids lived in the others. We were nosy and went into the maids’ rooms to explore. Naturally, just as we were coming out, a teacher caught us. I’m not sure how I managed it, but while the others were receiving a strong reprimand, I managed to hide in one of the storage rooms and avoided punishment.  I’ve always been ashamed of that incident, but I’m sure I’m not alone in wanting to avoid discipline. 

The Psalmist knows he is being disciplined by God, but begs Him to stop. He knows he deserves the discipline and he knows it is good for him, but he doesn’t like it. He wants it to end so he can be happy again.

Sometimes God disciplines me and it’s not fun. I could try to avoid it – although God sees me when I hide from Him – but I know I need it. Instead, I can learn the proper responses from this Psalm.

I should bear the discipline in silence and especially not speak about it to unbelievers. I shouldn’t complain about my suffering. I know God is the One who has done it, and I need to be careful not to malign Him. Of course, that’s not easy. The longer David keeps his mouth shut, the more the words build up in him. But when he finally explodes, it is in prayer. His words are directed toward God, not in complaints about God. 

At this point, David recognizes his mortality. He wants to be reminded of the brevity of his life. I too should respond to discipline with a desire for God to put it into perspective. The things I think are important lose their value in light of eternity. God disciplines me in order to prepare me to live with Him forever. 

David particularly points out the vanity of accumulating wealth. Wealth provides so much for us. We usually get wealth by working, which is where many of us gain confidence and self-esteem. When we have wealth we are able to get all the comforts and pleasures we enjoy. Like David, I need God to remind me that these things are temporary and not trustworthy.

So I should hope in the Lord. He should be the foundation on which I rest and the One I depend on for everything I need and want. 

Not hoping in Him is the reason for my discipline. When I trust anyone or anything other than God I am rebelling against Him. So I need to repent and ask God to rescue me from my rebellion. One of the things I can hope for is that He will eventually remove the scourge. But this isn’t a quick “I’m sorry God” so I can get back to being happy. God’s discipline consumes me and in my desperation I can only cry to God for help. 

When I beg God to leave me alone, what I really want is for Him to stop the discipline by rescueing me from my rebellion. When I’ve responded in repentance and obedience I won’t need His discipline anymore. In that sense He’ll leave me alone and then I’ll be able to smile.

His discipline is painful and I don’t like it. But I have to get through it to reach the smile. He won’t leave me alone until I repent and submit. Ouch.

Me vs. God

Romans 3:5-7; Romans 6:1-2

If a tree falls in the woods and there’s no one there to hear it, does it make a sound?

If you’ve never seen a germ, does that mean it doesn’t exist?

If you can’t touch your soul, does that mean you don’t have one?

I know, these are silly questions. But so are the ones in these Romans passages. 

God doesn’t need our sin to show His righteousness or His grace. He is righteous and gracious apart from us or our sin. My sin doesn’t benefit God. There’s no argument we can make in favor of sin, even if it highlights God’s goodness. God stands alone in who He is.

Sin is bad. God is good. 

Saying that my sin benefits Him is not only nonsense, it’s worthy of condemnation. God does not approve sin. Our faith is founded on God’s righteousness and God’s grace, not on man’s sin. 

When I lie, no one compares me to God and says “Now I can see that He is truthful.” My lies don’t glorify God; they only condemn me. God would be truthful whether I lied or not. 

The same logic applies to God’s grace. Because God is gracious He forgives me when I lie - if I repent. But He would be gracious whether I sinned or not and He would be righteous whether I sinned or not. 

So sin is a spot on me, not a decoration for Him.

The Human Dilemma

Psalm 24:3-6 

In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis describes the dilemma that all people face. “Only a bad person needs to repent: only a good person can repent perfectly. The worse you are the more you need it and the less you can do it.”

This dilemma is apparent in this passage. The only people who can stand in God’s presence and worship Him are those with pure hands and hearts. But no one is pure, so no one can stand in God’s presence. Thankfully, God has offered us a solution to the problem since we have no way to solve it. Lewis goes on to say, “The only person who could do it perfectly would be a perfect person . . .”

Jesus

Before I can worship properly I need my Savior to put me in right relationship with God.

Now that I’ve established that, I can look at the requirements for worship. My hands are about what I do and my heart is about what I love. My actions and attitudes.

What I love (what motivates me) and what I do (how I act) must be pure.

Dictionary.com defines Pure as being “free from anything of a different, inferior, or contaminating kind; free from extraneous matter; free from foreign or inappropriate elements; clear; free from blemishes.”

The greatest commandment is to love God with all my being and to love my neighbor as much as I love myself. If I want my love to be pure I have to put God and my neighbor before myself. Pure love is unselfish love; it’s loving the way God loves.

And pure actions should flow from pure love. As John said in his first letter (v. 18)

     "Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions."

So I must love God first, other people next and myself last. And if I do, it’ll determine how I live. Then I’ll have a right relationship with God my savior and I’ll be able to stand in His presence to worship Him. (I love the way God works in a circular fashion to resolve the human dilemma.)