# 320 - Today's Living Word comes from Mr 3:28-30. “In solemn truth I tell you that the sons of men shall be forgiven all their sins and all the blasphemies they may utter, but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit is never forgiven. Nay, he is in the grasp of an eternal sin." Because they kept saying, "He has an unclean spirit."
I know of very few people who have read this verse and haven't wondered, “Have I committed the unforgivable sin?” Relax. Without oversimplifying the matter, if you are concerned about committing it, you haven't. But why is every other sin committed by man forgivable and not this one?
I like the way the Lutheran commentator Lenski puts it. He says, “The Spirit alone works repentance and when He is made a demon, His work ceases.”
Without the work of the Holy Spirit, we are cooked! Joh 6:63 says, "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.
Repentance is a gift from God. You cannot conjure up godly sorrow over your sin. And without repentance, there can be no salvation. 2 Cor 7:10 says, “For godly grief produces repentance that leads to salvation.” Repentance is a very necessary step in the process of salvation, and to curse the agent of repentance, the Holy Spirit is to say to God, “I don't need Your gift of repentance, I can come up with my own.
God-granted repentance. So vital to salvation. It's why John preached it. It's why Jesus preached it. It's why the Apostles preached it. It's why we need to get back to preaching it today.
But how do you preach repentance? Well, the first step is to preach the harshness of the Law....as Nathan did when he confronted David with his sins. “You are the man!”
Where is this preaching of the Law in the pulpits of our land today? I'm afraid we have exchanged it for a feel good gospel, that in effect, as Luther has put it.....ultimately demonizes the Holy Spirit. And we wonder why revival tarries.
I'm Duane Matz and that's Today's Living Word.
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