Sins

Matthew 12:31-32; Matt 21:14-15; Mark 3:29;Mark 9:39; Luke 12:10

The verses relating to ‘blaspheming against the Holy Spirit’ are found in all four gospels. It relates to an incident when a group of scribes (senior government officials or the equivalent of ‘smart people’), despite seeing that Jesus had just healed a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, accused him of being the ‘Beelzebul, the prince of demons’. Jesus then voiced that ‘blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven’ (Matt 12:22-32).

These Pharisees knew their Jewish Bible; they were religious experts. They would have known Isaiah 35:5 that says, ‘the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped.’

To accuse Jesus and call him Beelzebul despite the obvious sign would be tantamount to a conscious choice of belittling and despising God. In the words of a Bible commentator, Henry Alford,

‘it is a state of willful, determined opposition to the present power of the Holy Spirit.’

In our current days, it could be likened to a Christian minister of a denomination who turns to another Christian minister from another church and denounces the latter’s supernatural acts of healing and casting out of demons in Jesus’ name. That would be bordering on ‘blaspheming against the Holy Spirit.’

In Mark 9:39, Jesus said,

‘Do not stop him (who is casting out demons in the name of Jesus), for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me.’

Matt 11:23; Heb 10:26-29, Heb 6:4-6; 2 Peter 2:21-22; 1 John 3:6-9

Hebrews 10:26-29 says,

‘For if we go on sinning deliberately (willfully) after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?’

It explains why continuous and deliberate sinning for a Christian can lead to a stage of unpardonable sin. Who is the one with ‘knowledge of the truth’? A Christian no doubt and possibly a ‘seasoned Christian’.

Heb 6:4-6 perhaps gives us the best summary of who this someone is who has ‘crucified again’ the Son of God (Heb 6:6). He is –

1. Enlightened (spiritually) – Heb 6:4,
2. Have tasted (and experienced) the heavenly gift (Baptism in the Holy Spirit?) – Heb 6:4,
3. A partaker (or shared in) of the Holy Spirit (A Christian who knows the works of the Holy Spirit?) – Heb 6:4,
4. And have tasted the good word of God (Someone who have tasted and consciously experienced the good word of God? (Amplified Bible)) – Heb 6:5,
5. And the powers of the age to come – Heb 6:5

It is a reminder to Christians that the call of Christ is not to carry on our sinful ways going forward. However, some Christians declare themselves as ‘antinomians’ – people who believe that they have a ‘license to sin’ as their future sins do not require repentance.

Heb 3:12b-13 (NLT), nonetheless, declares: –

‘Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God.’

In the Old Testament, a similar concept, ‘persistent unfaithfulness’, is found in Ezekiel 14:13.

Meanwhile, Jesus’ word to all of us, after we have repented, has always been the same –

‘Go and sin no more’ (John 8:11).

Jesus’ words were very strong to those cities that witnessed his mighty miraculous words but ‘did not repent’. He called out Chorazin, Capernaum, and Bethsaida and said,

‘You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day’ (Matthew 11:23).

It is important to note that the verses in Hebrews are directed at Christians who sin willfully, deliberately and continuously, by turning towards evil, and without regard to the precious blood which Jesus had shed for us. It DOES NOT  relate to someone who repents, even if it is done repeatedly, because Jesus said that every time we repent, God will forgive, up to seventy times seven (Matt 18:21-22).

1 John 1:6 says,

‘If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.’ Believers cannot walk and live in darkness once we know the truth. And the ‘darkness’ is described as ‘continuing in sin.’

1 John 3:6-9 is quite clear,

‘No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him …. Whoever makes a practice of sinning (NB: ‘practice’ = ‘continuous’ or ‘unrepentant’) is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning.’

Such ‘Christians’ end up hardening their hearts and consciences.

Jude 1:5 is a good reminder to us as it links back to the quoted verses from Hebrews –

‘I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.’

Hebrews 12:16-17; 2 Peter 2:20-22; Rev 12:11; Luke 9:26; Luke 12:8-9; Matt 10:32-33; Matt 26:74-75

In Luke 9:26, it talks about a believer who is ‘ashamed of (Jesus) and of his words’ and that ‘the Son of Man (will be) ashamed when he comes in his glory’.

Luke 12:8-9 says,

“And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God.”

Hebrews 12:16b-17 talks about the story of Esau who sold his birthright and

‘after, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected for he found no chance of repent, though he sought it with tears.’

They have ‘crucified him (Jesus) again’ and ‘put him to an open shame’ (Heb 6:6). NB: The Apostle Peter, despite disavowing his friendship with Christ, nonetheless repented.

Who are those who sell off their birthrights? Are these not  believers who are prepared to forgo their association with Jesus Christ for some form of worldly benefits like a job, a job promotion, a business opportunity, or even a spouse?

We know for example, that certain Islamic nations offer economic benefits to people to convert to Islam. A Christian who chooses to do so by rejecting Jesus permanently will be likened to someone who sells off his/ her birthright. (PS: Even if the person returns to Christ, just imagine the consequences of such a decision on subsequent generation(s)?)

The Apostle Peter compared them to a dog that returns to his own vomit or a ‘sow having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.’ (2 Peter 2:22)

In 1 John 2:19, the Apostle John explained these people as those who ‘went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out that it might become plain that they all are not of us.’

Or the advice given by the Apostle Paul to Timothy regarding a ‘trustworthy saying’ – ‘If we deny Him, He will also deny us’ (2 Tim 2:12b).

Now, contrast this against those Christians in Rev 12:11, who refused to disavow Jesus but instead chose to give up their lives because

‘they love not their lives even unto death.’

Rev 13:18; Rev 20:4

Rev 13:16-18 reads,

‘It causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave (that is, everyone), to be marked on the right hand or the forehead so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. This calls for wisdom; let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beat, for it is the number of man and his number is 666.’

What exactly is the mark of the beast?

If we were living two millennium years’ ago, you would be wondering what the Apostle John was thinking about. We now know that the technology is available to have a ‘mark’ and it is done through a microchip. The implantation of microchips began with that of animals since 1996. Lately, human beings have began accepting microchips into the bodies. Sweden is probably one of those in the forefront, with an implanted microchip expected to replace the credit cards. A USA Today 2017 article, Gene Munster, an investor and analyst at Loup Ventures, predicted that by 2067, we will have been desensitized by the social stigma’ and the ‘negative connotation’ of being chipped. It will indeed be the case.

The temptation to adopt an implant will be tremendous and intense since the microchip can do quite a number of amazing things. It can even monitor basic health status of our body by, for example, tracking temperature, sugar-level, as well as the performance of our heart. We suspect that the number of people subscribing voluntarily to this ‘trendy’ phenomenon will grow exponentially over time and quickly too. Both Hollywood and the mainstream media (MSM) will promote a message of ‘progressiveness’ and ‘technological advancement’. When the Antichrist arrives on the world stage, it will become mandatory for everyone to have this implant.

Is the chip the ‘image of the number 666’?

Accompanying the microchip is a need to give each person a universal unique identifier (UUI). That UUI is generated by a numbering technology. It can get quite complicated to explain that technology within this project and hence, we will not be answering these questions.

What about ID2020?
ID2020 is one of Bill Gates’ supported initiatives after he stepped down from the board of Microsoft in March 2020.

The purpose of ID2020 is to provide a digital identity to every person on this earth. According to its manifesto, the ability to prove one’s identity is a fundamental and universal human right as individuals need a way to prove who they are, both in the physical world and online. It is the UUI described above. ID2020 can be seen as yet another progression toward meeting the objective of fulfilling the mark of the beast.

Conclusion
The project team emphasizes that believers should never have anything implanted into either their right hand or forehead that is for the purpose of ‘buying and selling’ (as in Rev 13:17) since Rev 14:9 says,

‘If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.’

Can Christians accept vaccination?

If it is not for the purpose of buying and selling, the Project Team thinks it is fine. Some of us already have implants in our bodies – for example, knee replacement implants, metal cylinder implants in spinal surgery, dental implants. We do not think vaccination is any different. The crutch time comes whether the implant is for the purpose of buying and selling.

Can we accept a computer chip into our body if it is not for the purpose of ‘buying and selling’?

This is debatable. In future, implanted chips (a mark?) maybe useful for monitoring our health remotely and giving health professionals advance notice if our body is unwell; all these can be carried out quite oblivious to us. But if it is for the combined purpose of buying and selling (that is, for trade and commercial reasons), it will be VITAL for believers not to take on the mark (or chip) as we will pay a heavy and eternal price for doing so.

Read also S142, Worship the beast.

Rev 13:8; Rev 14:9; Rev 20:4

Rev 14:9 says,

‘If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.’

In addition to taking on the mark, there is the issue of worshiping the beast. Who is the beast? He is described as the antichrist in Revelation. But what about his image? With computer technological advancement, can we imagine what the image might look like?

In the days of King Nebuchadnezzar, he made himself an image that was about thirty meters tall. Daniel 3:5-6 reads,

‘When you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. And whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace.’

And for that, Daniel’s friends – Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego – were consigned to be burned in a furnace heated seven times more than the usual (Daniel 3:19-23). Again, for the same reason of choosing not to worship the king, many early Christians were killed during the rule of the Roman emperors.

King Nebuchadnezzar had also provided the antichrist a blueprint of how a synchronized worship can be done. In fact, the project team suggests that the blueprint might be similar to, for example, the call to prayer carried out at the Islamic minarets.

Again, it is amazingly accurate that the Apostle and Prophet John foresaw these happenings. Everyone, and it includes believers, who choose to worship the beast and take on the mark will effectively have entered into an unpardonable stage.

Rev 20:4 says,

‘I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.’

Questions –

1. Who are those who have been beheaded? Christians or Non-Christians?
2. Who are those who did not choose the mark on their foreheads or their hands?
3. Who are those who ‘came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years’?

The promise from God to Christians who have been beheaded (not just killed) in the Tribulation is that they will be the ones that will participate in the first resurrection and to rule and reign with Christ during the millennium years.

2 Cor 11:4; Luke 21:8; John 5:43; 2 Thes 2:9-11; Rev 13:13-14

2 Cor 11:4 highlights a situation when people starts accepting ‘another Jesus than the one (we/ Paul) proclaimed’. It is not the Jesus that we know as in the Bible.

Many great religions have Jesus in their ‘special’ books but not in the way that the Bible has portrayed Jesus to be.

The Catholic Church, for example, although often considered ‘Christian’, is really another religion. It elevates Mary, the mother of Jesus, above Jesus arguing that since Mary gave birth to Jesus, she is therefore the ‘Mother of God’ and, with it, a special place. For instance, Catholics pray for the intercession of Mary as they believe since she is in heaven, she will have a ‘better connection’ to Christ. Some equated it to the role of Bathsheba in the Old Testament as the Queen Mother to Solomon who interceded on behalf of the people. Hence, the Queen Mother of heaven (Mary, the mother of Jesus) can intercede for us, effectively making her a powerful influencing factor on Jesus.

Meanwhile, in Islam, Muslims also respect and revere Jesus and considered him as one of the greatest of God’s messengers to mankind. The Quran concurs with his virgin birth as well as the many miracles he performed but it does not affirm that Jesus is the Son of God and a co-equal with God. When a person converts to Islam, the new convert only needs to recite the phrase, ‘There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his Messenger (Prophet)’ thus tellingly removing Jesus from the equation.

Both of these religions showcase Jesus differently from what we find in the Bible. The acceptance of ‘another Jesus’ is the same as ‘Rejection of Jesus’ found in S144 – Continue in non-repentance through the rejection of Jesus.

It only becomes ‘unpardonable’ if a person continues to accept ‘another Jesus’ rather than to repent of his/ her sins and put his/ her faith in Jesus.

NB: Believers might note that in the last of the last days, this ‘another Jesus’ will show up performing great ‘power and signs and miracles’. Believers are reminded not to be deceived by this display of awesomeness and ‘believe (in) these lies’ – 2 Thes 2:9-11, Rev 13:13-14.

John 11:47-48; Rev 9:20; Matt 11:20-24; Heb 3:7-11

John 11:47-48, ‘So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.’

S144 relates to non-Christians who keep rejecting God despite being given opportunities to repent. In the verses above, the Pharisees saw the workings of miracles but yet choose to deliberately reject Jesus. Hence, it naturally reaches a point of no return.

Continuous non-repentance may be likened to the Pharaoh’s recalcitrant effort in despising the God of Israel during the time of Moses despite seeing all the miracles. There are ten places where the term ‘hardening’ was used for the Pharaoh’s heart.

Up until Plaque Five, it was ‘the heart of the Pharaoh’ that was hardened; that is, the Pharaoh was ‘hardening’ his own heart. From Plague Six onward, the Bible reports that ‘the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh’ (Ex 9:12). Plague Six onward represents the point of no return.

There were fourteen men imprisoned in their cells at Nuremberg, Germany. These were no ordinary prisoners; they were high ranking Nazis going on trial for war crimes committed during World War 2. Some of them would literally be fighting for their lives.

All prisoners were visited by Henry Gerecke, who served as spiritual adviser and chaplain to these top Nazi war criminals. Among the prisoners was Alfred Rosenberg, a fifty-two year old Nazi philosopher who served as the Minister of Occupied Eastern Territories. He rejected everything that Gerecke suggested on his first visit and never attended any chapel service on Sunday evenings nor did he accept a Bible. Rosenberg was eventually sentenced to death by the International Military Tribunal on 1 Oct 1946, with execution scheduled a little after a fortnight on 16 Oct.

On that fateful night, even as he was escorted to the gallows, Rosenberg remained unwavering. When asked by Gerecke whether he would say a prayer, he smiled and replied, ‘No, thank you.’ Gerecke noted in his diary, ‘He lived without a Savior and that is the way he died.’

Rosenburg rejected Jesus completely even when he was given a chance to repent. Rosenburg fulfilled the criterion of S144 – Continuous non-repentance through the rejection of Jesus as Savior.

Thankfully, out of those six who were executed, Gerecke reckoned that four came to the Lord, some at the very last moment.

John 3:18; Matt 28:17

John 3:18 –

‘And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.’

This is about a choice – a choice taken by those who prefer ‘darkness to light’ (John 3:19). Because God created us as beings and not robots, all of us have choices.

There will always be people who decide to follow a path of evil and there will be doubters (Matt 28:17). These people choose to satisfy their own appetite and think only about life on earth. Paul called them the ‘enemies of the cross of Christ’ (Phil 3:19).

We will never know why but a rejection of Jesus by the time we leave the earth for good, especially for those who have been given the chance to hear the message, is an ‘unpardonable sin’ with eternal implications.