by keyser soze 24 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
This was always one of the most confusing and troubling doctrines when I was a JW. I heard the phrase many times, but it was never adequately explained what it meant. I often wondered if I had committed such a sin, and if I could really not be forgiven.
How does one know if they have sinned against the holy spirit? And what makes this sin unforgiveable, as opposed to murder, rape, or any other gross sin?
:What does it mean to sin against the spirit?
Mixing Coca Cola with Grey Goose vodka.
Farkel
I reckon you need some of the super-christians on here to answer this Keys,
but my take on it when I was a Witless was that if you had received the Holy Spirit in the sense that it had guided and prompted you to a certain course,and then you turned your back on that way, and went opposite to it,the HS is going to be mighty miffed.
I then thought of Jonah and wondered if I had any idea what it meant at all. He went in the opposite direction,but God still used him,forced him,in fact, to do the right thing. (I know it is only a parable,but it is pertinent)
I think you are being charitable too,the Witnesses never explained this at all in any intelligible way.
Love
Wobble
but my take on it when I was a Witless was that if you had received the Holy Spirit in the sense that it had guided and prompted you to a certain course,and then you turned your back on that way, and went opposite to it,the HS is going to be mighty miffed.
That was my understanding of it as well. But does this mean the person couldn't realize the error in their ways and return? This is the part that confused me, that they couldn't be forgiven.
It means to sin against the Governing Body, silly.
Yes, to a dub that is exactly what it meant. Sin against God's spirit=sin against the GB.
Mixing Coca Cola with Grey Goose vodka.
Then mixing it with Fleischman's means you go straight to Gehenna.
Thanks for asking this Keyser. I just read this Scripture the other day and was reminded that I never understood it:
Matthew 12:31, 32 CHSB: "Because of this, I tell you, people will be forgiven every sin and blaspemy, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the one to come."
Why is blasphemy against Jesus ok, but not the HS? Is abbreviating the HS blasphemy?
If sinning against the spirit is such a big deal, you'd think you'd be given more detail on what not to do.
To me "to sin against the spirit" is to become a Jehovah's Witness.
I suppose it depends on what your vision of the Holy Spirit is. I always felt it was more than just an impersonal force,as the WT teach, I felt that it was a part of God,and that if He put Himself in you in some way, and you fought against that,how could you repent ?
For example, if Paul had eventually ignored what he saw and felt on the road to Damascus,and the subsequent power that the Holy Spirit gave him,evan raising the dead ! could he repent? would he repent? if he went that far there is no way he would turn back.So the lack of a chance of forgiveness comes from the individual who rejects God Himself ,in the form of the Holy Spirit.
Such action is a sin against the Holy Spirit.
Love
Wobble
Insufficient information. You have to make it up.
That's a really interesting POV, Wobble. Thanks for sharing. Do you think a person, such as Paul, knows it's the holy spirit? The miracles that happened to Paul were pretty obvious but how about a modern day person? Would that make a difference?
