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Q. If I Cursed God Can I Never Be Saved?

Answer

Your fear concerning salvation seems to be rooted in the fact that you fear that you may have blasphemed God. Let’s take a closer look at this from the very words of the Lord Jesus:

22 The scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.” 23 And He called them to Himself and began speaking to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 ”If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 ”If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 “If Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but he is finished! 27 ”But no one can enter the strong man’s house and plunder his property unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house. 28 ”Truly I say to you, all sins shall be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter; 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— 30 because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit” (Mark 3:22-30).

Note the parallel text in Luke:

10 "And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him (Luke 12:10).

The Lord Jesus said that every blasphemy but one, even blasphemy against Himself, could be forgiven. The one blasphemy which would not be forgiven was blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. The way the religious authorities who opposed Jesus did this was by attributing the miracles Jesus did to Satan, rather than to God (through the working of the Holy Spirit). It is the Holy Spirit who convicts men of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:7-11). It is the Holy Spirit who is instrumental in drawing men to faith and enlightening their minds and hearts to embrace the gospel (John 3:8; Titus 3:5; see also 2 Corinthians 2:6-16). To blaspheme the Holy Spirit is to blaspheme God’s means of opening men’s hearts to the gospel and drawing them to faith in Jesus. Those who blasphemed the Holy Spirit by attributing the work of Jesus to the devil were prevented from ever understanding or receiving the gospel. This is why Jesus spoke in parables:

10 As soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables. 11 And He was saying to them, "To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables, 12 so that WHILE SEEING, THEY MAY SEE AND NOT PERCEIVE, AND WHILE HEARING, THEY MAY HEAR AND NOT UNDERSTAND, OTHERWISE THEY MIGHT RETURN AND BE FORGIVEN" (Mark 4:10-12).

A person may even curse God, but that is not the same as blaspheming the Holy Spirit as those enemies of Jesus did by claiming His power to perform miracles came from Satan, rather than God.

If you had not acknowledged your sin and your need for a Savior and did not place your trust in Jesus Christ for your salvation, then you would not be worried about blaspheming God, nor would you be fearful about being eternally doomed. The only one who would want you to doubt your salvation and agonize about past sins would be Satan, who is a deceiver, a liar, and a murderer. Saved people don’t worry about being lost, and lost people have no interest in being saved.

Further, I would ask this: “Who, in the final analysis, saved you?” And beyond this, “Who keeps you saved?” If the answer to either question is your efforts, works, and faithfulness, then you are in trouble. Do you sing songs which praise God for your wisdom and insight, which resulted in your faith in Jesus? Or do you praise God for saving you? Remember the song, “Thank you Lord for saving my soul” or “Amazing Grace”? These songs have it right. Salvation is not the result of our intelligence, or insight, or our good works. Salvation is from God, and so is our security, our keeping:

6 “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 ”Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 ”The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:6-8).

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them (Ephesians 2:8-10).

3 For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. 4 But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, 5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life (Titus 3:3-7).

27 ”My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. 29 ”My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 “I and the Father are one” (John 10:27-30).

8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life (Romans 5:8-10).

6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6).

35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 Just as it is written, “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.” 37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:35-39).

12 For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day (2 Timothy 1:12).

I would encourage you to read Exodus chapter 32 through 34, which depicts the Israelites (Aaron) fashioning a golden calf (Idol) and worshipping it. In this entire incident Moses does not appeal to God on Israel’s behalf based upon the Israelites’ faithfulness, and intention to try harder. Moses appeals to God on the basis of His character and reputation, and upon His promises, not on Israel’s faithfulness:

7 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, “Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. 8 ”They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They have made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it and have sacrificed to it and said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!’” 9 The LORD said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people. 10 ”Now then let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them; and I will make of you a great nation.” 11 Then Moses entreated the LORD his God, and said, “O LORD, why does Your anger burn against Your people whom You have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 ”Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, ‘With evil intent He brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your burning anger and change Your mind about doing harm to Your people. 13 ”Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You swore by Yourself, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’” 14 So the LORD changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people (Exodus 32:7-14).

One might wrongly conclude that this was only a one-time intercession on the part of Moses, but the Scriptures tell us a very different story. take note of what happens later on, in the book of Numbers:

1 Then all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. 2 All the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron; and the whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! 3 ”Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder; would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” 4 So they said to one another, “Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.” 5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in the presence of all the assembly of the congregation of the sons of Israel. 6 Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, of those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; 7 and they spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, “The land which we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. 8 “If the LORD is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us—a land which flows with milk and honey. 9 ”Only do not rebel against the LORD; and do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them.” 10 But all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Then the glory of the LORD appeared in the tent of meeting to all the sons of Israel. 11 The LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people spurn Me? And how long will they not believe in Me, despite all the signs which I have performed in their midst? 12 ”I will smite them with pestilence and dispossess them, and I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they.” 13 But Moses said to the LORD, “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your strength You brought up this people from their midst, 14 and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, O LORD, are in the midst of this people, for You, O LORD, are seen eye to eye, while Your cloud stands over them; and You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. 15 ”Now if You slay this people as one man, then the nations who have heard of Your fame will say, 16 ’Because the LORD could not bring this people into the land which He promised them by oath, therefore He slaughtered them in the wilderness.’ 17 ”But now, I pray, let the power of the Lord be great, just as You have declared, 18 ’The LORD is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generations.’ 19 “Pardon, I pray, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of Your lovingkindness, just as You also have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.” 20 So the LORD said, “I have pardoned them according to your word; 21 but indeed, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the LORD. 22 ”Surely all the men who have seen My glory and My signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice, 23 shall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who spurned Me see it (Numbers 14:1-23).

Moses interceded with God on behalf of the Israelites, and this was for the tenth time! Once again, Moses appeals to God on the basis of His reputation and His honor. God is not only a gracious and forgiving God, He is a God who fulfills His promises. True, this generation of Israelites did not enter the Promised Land, and neither did Moses. But God did fulfill His Promise to Abraham and his descendants (those of faith – Romans 4:13-25; Galatians 3:11-16). He does so, not because the Israelites (or we) are so good, but because He is God and God keeps His word.

Our trust must be in His faithfulness, not in our own.

13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself (2 Timothy 2:13; see also Psalm 103:6-14).

Blessings,

Bob Deffinbaugh

Related Topics: Soteriology (Salvation)

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