Blasphemous Thoughts - A Testimony - Part 1

[Peace Seeker]

Hi Peace Seeker, it’s been 9 years. Are you completely free now.

Hi Alwynn,

Yes I have been completely free for about 7 years now, praise God!

 

[Alwyn Chetty]

Glory to God! Did you ignore the thoughts when they came?

 

[Mayflower]

I am posting this testimony of the spiritual battle I have been in, because I have noticed that some people are concerned about blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. I don't know if anyone would even be interested in my testimony on this, because for one thing it will probably end up being too long to sit and read all the way through. But in case you are interested, I will be telling of my experiences with the hope that it will help you to cope with and have victory over it, without all the trial and error I went through.

Chad has some excellent posts on the subject and they do a great job of explaining what it is and isn't, but they don't elaborate on the tactics of the devil relating to the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit and how to overcome the attacks.

So what follows here is my personal, real-life account of an 8 week war (and counting?) with the devil and his attempts to :

1) make me believe I have committed blasphemy of the Holy Spirit 2) make me doubt my salvation 3) make me doubt God's love for me 4) make me feel guilty beyond hope 5) make me believe his thoughts WERE MY THOUGHTS 6) make me lose my sanity

Throughout this ordeal God has been revealing scriptures to me, among the many others things that have happened, and the one that stands out is :

2 Corinthians 1:3-7 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort. It is my fervent hope that all who read this and can relate to it, will take comfort in this post, like the God of all comfort has given so abundantly to me!!

So here it is now, my testimony :

For the last 8 weeks I have had continuous attacks from satan, who has been trying to put filthy, blasphemous thoughts about the Holy Spirit into my mind. They are the most vile and horrifying thoughts you could possibly imagine. At the beginning they absolutely horrified me and caused me no end of distress, to put it mildly!

And last but not least, he was trying his absolute best to convince me that all those thoughts WERE MY THOUGHTS, because he knows how much torment that can cause to a believer in Christ.

Here is what I have discovered through 8 weeks of doing spiritual warfare with satan : he is able to plant thoughts in your head that are indistinguishable from your own[/COLOR]! Not only that, he is able to literally finish sentences for you!

I discovered that the enemy’s thoughts blend in with my own. At first I was unable to tell where my thoughts ended and Satan’s began. In a split second he can finish my own thought with a swear word.

These thoughts made me feel for sure that I did the unpardonable sin and was now therefore totally lost, un-redeemable and without hope for salvation..

Now, before I continue, I want everyone to know that what I have been going through is not at all uncommon. We read in

1 Corinthians 10:13 :
New International Version (NIV)

13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

And perhaps some think what is meant here is that we all have temptations about similar mundane things, like our finances, marriage struggles, losing our job, health problems, etc. But unless you have experienced a barrage of blasphemous thoughts from satan, you would not believe the above verse applies to that kind of situation.

After all, you would suppose, what kind of Christian would have thoughts like that? Thoughts so horrible that I wouldn't repeat them if I could. Thoughts that could seemingly only come from the most reprobate and evil mind.

That's what satan was trying desperately to make me believe, that this thing was only happening to ME, that it couldn't POSSIBLY happen to a "real" Christian.

He was working overtime to make me believe that no one was as horrible as me, because anyone thinking such thoughts must be the worst person on the face of the earth. And did I really believe a Christian could be having thoughts such as these? Therefore I mustn't be a Christian.

These are some of the things I had to battle and that initially tormented me so much.

And just to clarify, the evil thoughts weren't conscious decisions I just made out of the blue to purposely insult, grieve, malign or blaspheme God, etc.
I then, as I do now, have no desire whatsoever to say, think or do anything negative towards God, towards anyone in the Godhead. The wicked thoughts that came into my mind were VERY FAST AND RANDOM - unexpected , unplanned, etc. And as fast as I could possibly do so, I would stop the thought and take it into captivity in obedience to
2 Corinthians 10:4-6:
For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.

At the beginning, when the thought attacks first started, I was so frightened, because as a Christian I knew that having a horrible thought against the Holy Spirit would never be forgiven, and is in fact the only one mentioned in the bible as not being forgiven.

In fact I would literally shriek inside with horror and like I said earlier, be extremely grieved, upset, and mortified at such thoughts. Again I say, they were incredibly quick flashes of horrible thoughts, directed at the Holy Spirit. I did not sit there and say to myself anything remotely along the lines of : " I hate God, so I think I'll have some fun and do some blaspheming", if you know what I mean.

I am now going to give you just a little info about how I was attempting to stop the attacks, why that failed miserably, and what I finally figured out after listening to God and doing it His way.

If you ever find yourself , or know of someone else in the situation I was in, you will know what to do and it will save you a lot of ongoing torment.

Because I hated those thoughts I did my very best to stop them in their tracks as soon as I could - casting down imaginations, taking every thought into captivity, etc.
I rebuked satan in Jesus' name many times, I bound satan in Jesus' name many times, I listened to praise music all day long, etc.

But the attacks kept coming at me, over and over. It was hard to sleep, hard to function in the day and very distracting from serving and looking solely upon the Lord, which is what I wanted to do.

THIS IS IMPORTANT : The reason my efforts to stop the attacks didn't work was because I was trying to fight a spiritual battle with my FLESH.

Not only that, but because of the way the human mind works, the act of trying to stop a thought, or not remember it or think of it, GUARANTEES you will do it!! Our natural reaction would be to try and stop and silence the thought. Trust me, no one would want such thoughts in their head about their mother, never mind God in the person of The Holy Spirit!!!

But I repeat, if you are having those thought attacks, you will heap even more misery upon yourself by trying to combat them by simply sheer force of will. The goal must never be the avoidance of blasphemous thoughts. The harder we try to avoid them, the worse they will get.
The only way to combat them is by doing hardcore spiritual battle.

Ephesians 6:11-18 11 Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit...

Taking up the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, is CRUCIAL. You need to fight spirit by Spirit. There are numerous bible verses that tell us who we are in Christ, what we can expect from Him, etc. And we must wield these passages like a sword in order to defeat the enemy.

Jesus stopped satan's attacks against Him in the wilderness by QUOTING SCRIPTURE. We must do the same.

The word of God - the sword of the Spirit - tells us in

Philippians 4:7
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen!

Believing in and using verses like this one is one of the weapons you need. Satan cannot overpower your mind, no matter how convincing he is to the contrary!! And make no mistake, he is very convincing!!
If satan seems to be overpowering your mind, you must pray and believe that God WILL guard it. He cannot lie.

2 Timothy 4:18
18 And the Lord will deliver me from and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!

If being bombarded by a howitzer of blasphemous thoughts is not AN EVIL WORK, I don't know what is!!!

Therefore, this scripture assures us that the Lord will deliver us from EVERY evil work. Trusting in God and His incredible power and love for you is essential to gaining the victory that Christ has given you.

More spiritual battle verses :

Psalms 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.

Proverbs 18:10: The name of the lord is a strong tower, the righteous run into it and the are safe"

Joshua1:9 Be strong of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

Colossians 2:15 New International Version (NIV)

15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.


We must keep our eyes on Jesus at all times, and not let satan's thoughts distract us and distress us. When Peter took his eyes off the Lord and instead looked at the waves for a brief second, he started to lose faith and sink into the sea that he had moments before been walking on.
No matter what scary distractions the devil throws at you, keep your focus on Jesus.

Unwanted thoughts are simply a form of temptation, and all Christians are tempted.

Calmly address the devil, saying something like, “In the name of Jesus I rebuke you. No matter what lies and filth you put into my head, Jesus defeated you and I belong to Jesus, and in Him there is no condemnation in me.”

Romans 8:1 New International Version (NIV)

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

1 Corinthians 15:57
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Psalm 27:1
1The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

Romans 8:37-39
37Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.38For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I will leave it that regarding scriptures. There are so many more, the point of which is, we have nothing to fear from unwanted blasphemous attacks.

We must stubbornly resist the pressure to surrender to the enemy's lies, whether it be false condemnation or believing that we are responsible for thoughts we do not want.

Don’t waste your resources getting sidetracked into self-examination or fighting thoughts or feelings. No matter how real and scary they seem, they are just cardboard cut-outs.

The plan of the devil with these thoughts is to try to sabotage our relationship with God. He wants us so fixated on trying to fight unwanted blasphemous thoughts and so foolishly convinced that they render us repulsive to God[/COLOR], that we misinterpret our Lord’s every expression of love for us.

The devil wants us to push God away through being duped into wrongly supposing that ugly thoughts render us unacceptable to the God who is head over heels in love with us.

Unwanted thoughts, no matter how repulsive, are merely pesky flies that refuse to be shooed away.

So in summary, satan putting blasphemous thoughts into the minds of Christians is not unusual or uncommon.

We must recognize that no negative thought is from God. They are a deception from the father of lies, who is a murderer, thief and destroyer.

We must focus on JESUS, not satan or his attacks. NO MATTER WHAT, focus on Jesus and never forget that He will never forsake you or let the enemy harm you. Jesus is the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for His sheep. No wolf or roaring lion will take you out of His hands!!!

Jesus has defeated satan and overcome the world. All authority is given to Him in heaven and earth. What can satan do to you? What can HIS thoughts do to you? He is a weak and defeated enemy that plays on our insecurities and weaknesses, but ultimately is a paper tiger doing shadow puppets on the wall to try and scare us.

I was in utter turmoil when the thoughts first started, because I had never experienced them before. And as I said, they are SO REAL and so INDISTINGUISHABLE from your own.

But I am telling you this testimony so you don't have to have any turmoil if it happens to YOU. You will know what it is that is happening to you, why it is, and what you can do about it. Just ignore the devil, for it makes his day when he gets to you and causes you grief.
Resist him and he will FLEE.

In part 2 I will talk about some great Christians that have gone through the very thing I have talked about. And if you ever get these attacks, know that you will be in some great company!! :wink:


Thank you to www.net-burst.net for some excerpts and other writings on the subject.

here's their disclaimer :
Not to be sold. © Copyright, 2004, Grantley Morris. Not to be copied in whole or in part without citing this entire paragraph. Many more compassionate, inspiring, sometimes hilarious writings by Grantley Morris available free at the following internet site www.net-burst.net Freely you have received, freely give.

This is an answer to prayer, thank you.... I really don't know what to say. My anxiety is caused a lot by unwanted thoughts. When I was little I'd have a lot of things that would go through my mind, like being buried alive in a coffin, or seeing myself drowning in a tank, being chained up and things... Prolly like from four to fifteen. It was a grace that when I got saved it seemed like the unwanted thoughts stopped. But I opened up a door a couple months ago looking into satanic ritual abuse and mind control ultra, and it started me thinking on the childhood stuff again. I don't think nothing like that remotely happened to me, but it hit close to home and I got really scared. Actually how I found TalkJesus. I was running, because I didn't even want to be near there. I since went back and faced that fear. There is a lot of gems on there too.

I've been having unwanted daydreams again though, off and on, and it is hard to take them captive. I have gone to a new church about a year ago who gives this same remedy of scripture. And I think I need to do a better job weaponizing it, since these other things you mentioned have not been working. It really is hard to take thoughts captive. Psalm 23 really has helped me, personally sometimes. And I'm sure this is not what it means, but I pause at "He makes me" lie down in green pastures. Like Mayflower, time to rest now. Nights are hard.

But your testimony just means so much. That I'm not the only one who loves God with all their heart and has had this battle.

It seems like I've dealt with unwanted thoughts all of my life and as a Christian all I want to do is focus on all things that are good, lovely, just pure, etc. Ive gone back and forth on osas and was thinking today on whether or not if I didn't get my thoughts under control, if my salvation could be lost. I'm thankful for hope in Christ Jesus and will always, ALWAYS live for Him and serve Him, no matter what. It just pains me when my thoughts get out of control. And then there are real survivors of sra and it makes me feel so guilty about that too. But mainly because I know these are things that grieve the Holy Spirit. I hate that.

I had this dream before of like fifty speedometers floating in the air in my room. Definitely how my thoughts seem to be.

So I know I said a lot on your post, it is just a subject that is hard to talk about, because I want to fight it. It just seems very hard too.

Your testimony inspired me to keep fighting and reminded me that it is just a lie. I am not condemned. I can win this battle. I have actually been studying the spiritual armor too. This thread was just a Godsend... I really needed to hear it. Bless you.

 

[Mayflower]

Blasphemous Thoughts - A Testimony - Part 2 of 2

How many of you would be surprised to know that some well-known "lions of the faith", such as C. H. Spurgeon, John Bunyon and others have confessed to horrible blasphemous thoughts?

Here are some excerpts, showing how any Christian, whether of small or large stature, can be attacked by satan in this way.

C. H. Spurgeon Confessed To Blasphemous Thoughts :
Helpful Bible Insights When Our Minds Fill With Blasphemy

Six thousand people used to cram into his Baptist church in London, England to hear Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892) preach. The man regularly acclaimed as “The Prince of Preachers” is even today highly revered and widely read. The following is from Charles Spurgeon’s book, All of Grace.

Here’s what he has to tell the countless thousands of Christians who, like him, find themselves thinking blasphemous thoughts they want nothing to do with (some highlights):

I have heard someone say, “I am tormented with horrible thoughts. Wherever I go, blasphemies steal in upon me. Frequently at my work a dreadful suggestion forces itself upon me, and even on my bed I am startled from my sleep by whispers of the evil one. I cannot get away from this horrible temptation.”

Friend, I know what you mean, for I have myself been hunted by this wolf. A man might as well hope to fight a swarm of flies with a sword as to master his own thoughts when they are set on by the devil.

Remember Martin Luther’s way of cutting the devil’s head off with his own sword. “Oh,” said the devil to Martin Luther, “you are a sinner.” “Yes,” said he, “Christ died to save sinners.” Thus he smote him with his own sword. Hide in this refuge, and remain there: “In due time Christ died for the ungodly.” If you stand to that truth, your blasphemous thoughts which you have no strength to drive away will go away of themselves; for Satan will see that he is answering no purpose by plaguing you with them.

These thoughts, if you hate them, are none of yours, but are injections of the Devil, for which he is responsible, and not you. If you strive against them, they are no more yours than are the cursings and falsehoods of rioters in the street.

Jesus died for those who are guilty of “all manner of sin and blasphemy,” and I am therefore certain He will not refuse those who are unwillingly the captives of evil thoughts. Cast yourself upon Him, thoughts and all, and see if He is not mighty to save. He can still those horrible whisperings of the fiend, or He can enable you to see them in their true light, so that you may not be worried by them. In His own way He can and will save you, and at length give you perfect peace. Only trust Him for this and everything else.

As C. H. Spurgeon brilliantly implied, we might as well try to fight off a swarm of attacking bees with a sword than try to stop blasphemous thoughts from swarming in our minds. So fiercely does Satan hate every friend of God that he will only cease his attack when he is certain that we have seen through his devilish trick so completely that we are no longer tormented by it.

This will happen when we become convinced that although they are in our own head, the thoughts we hate are no more our responsibility than we are responsible for total strangers cursing God. Unwelcome blasphemies can do us no more harm than we would get thrown in jail for the crimes of Saddam Hussein. Yes, fallible human justice systems have sometimes caused the wrong person to be punished for a crime, but the Judge of all the world in perfect.

The Devil is like a tease. The more he sees that something is annoying you, the more he will keep it up. If he sees you unconcerned, however, he will lose interest in that method of attack.

And, as Charles Spurgeon and other devout Christians and Bible scholars affirm, you have every right to be unconcerned.

Moreover, if his every attempt to get us to blaspheme God ends in us praising and exalting God, the Devil is a loser. We cannot stop the Devil from shouting in our minds, but he is equally powerless to stop us from honoring and praising God.

Every time a blasphemous thought comes, use it as a reminder to immediately exalt the Lord by saying such things as:

Lord, you are good and do good. You are pure and holy; perfect in all your ways. You are worthy of all honor and praise. You are wise, generous, patient, kind, loving and forgiving. On the cross the Holy Son of God swapped places with me. You have removed my sin and given me Christ’s sinlessness. I am now “in Christ,” completely covered by his holiness, perfection and spiritual beauty. I praise you for being all-knowing. You know that the lies shouting in my head are not mine. My real thoughts are the opposite. I love you. I praise you. I adore you. I delight in you.

John Bunyan’s Battle with Blasphemous Thoughts,
Feeling Unforgivable, Reprobate and Demon Possessed
Condensed extracts in modern English from John Bunyan’s book, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners

John Bunyan (1628-1688) was an English preacher who is now renowned as the author of the profoundly influential Christian book The Pilgrim’s Progress. The book has been translated into more than a hundred different languages and has sold more copies in more languages than any Christian book besides the Bible and more than any book of any description originally written in English.

Sin and corruption would as naturally bubble out of my heart as water would bubble out of a fountain. I thought that everyone had a better heart than I had. I would have exchanged hearts with anybody.
I thought no one but the devil himself could equal me for inward wickedness and pollution of mind. I concluded that this condition that I was in could not stand with a state of grace. Thought I, “Surely I am forsaken of God. Surely I am given up to the devil and a reprobate mind.”

First, all my comfort was taken from me; then darkness seized me; after which whole floods of blasphemies, both against God, Christ, and the Scriptures, were poured upon my spirit, to my great confusion and astonishment.
They did so overweigh my heart both with their number, continuance and fiery force that I felt as if there were nothing else but these from morning to night within me, and as though indeed there could be room for nothing else. I also concluded that God had, in wrath to my soul, given me up to them, to be carried away with them as with a mighty whirlwind.
Only by the distaste they gave to my spirit did I feel there was something in me that refused to embrace them.

While I was in this torment, I often found in my mind a sudden urge to curse and swear, or to speak some grievous thing against God, Christ His Son, or of the Scriptures. Now I thought, surely I am possessed of the devil. At other times, I thought I would lose my mind; for instead of praising and magnifying the Lord with others, if I but heard Him spoken of, presently some most horrible blasphemous thought or other would bolt out of my heart against Him. I concluded that such things could not possibly be found among those who loved God.

In these days, when I heard others talk of what the sin against the Holy Spirit was, then the tempter would so provoke me to desire to sin that particular sin that it was as if I could not, must not, neither would be quiet until I had committed it. Now no sin would serve but that one. If it were to be committed by the speaking of such a word, then it was if my mouth would have spoken that word, whether I would or not. In so strong a measure was this temptation upon me that often I have been ready to clap my hands under my chin to hold my mouth from opening.

Yes, gladly I would have been in the condition of a dog or horse, for I knew they had no soul to perish under the everlasting weight of hell or sin was mine as likely to do.

I could attend to none of the ordinances of God but with sore and great affliction; then I was most distressed with blasphemies. If I had been hearing the word of God, then uncleanness, blasphemies, and despair would hold me a captive there. If I was reading then sometimes I had sudden thoughts to question all I read.

Oh, the diligence of Satan! Oh, the desperateness of man’s heart! Now was the battle won, and down I fell, as a bird that is shot from the top of a tree, into great guilt and fearful despair. Now I was as one bound; I felt myself shut up into the judgment to come. Nothing for the next two years would abide with me but damnation and an expectation of damnation.

I did ever so know now what it was to be weary of my life and yet afraid to die. Oh, how gladly I would have been anybody but myself, anything but a man, and in any condition but my own. There was nothing that did cross my mind more frequently than that it was impossible for me to be forgiven my transgression and be saved from the wrath to come.

Please remember that the above was written by the man who broke through all this torment to bless multiplied millions of Christians.

So, I, and many other Christians have had to deal with the exact same repulsive thoughts from the devil. Here's some more pointers for dealing with them effectively :

If your car is stuck in mud, the worst thing you can do is give in to panic and rev the engine. To panic and try harder seems the natural thing to do, but the more you spin the wheels, the deeper you sink. You need to stop, calm down, and try a completely different approach, such as getting out of your car and putting rocks and branches under the wheels.

Trying to stop bad thoughts or images or guilt feelings or doubts, or expecting some sort of personal “sign” that Jesus really does forgive every sin, is like spinning the wheels. It feels the right thing to do, but it just makes you sink further. You need to calm down and try a very different approach.

Remind yourself that all Christians have horrid, out-of-character thoughts, but only some of us get so disturbed by them that our very desperation not to think them causes the thoughts to so stand out in our minds that they keep repeating like a spinning car tire.

Unwanted thoughts are like watching a horror movie. If we let ourselves get caught up with what we are viewing, we can imagine that we are so personally involved that we fill with terror. We need to step back and remind ourselves that we are safe and that it is only a movie. Don’t be shocked or depressed by the thoughts that come into your mind. They no more reveal the person you really are than a movie does. Don’t make the devil’s day by beating yourself up over them.

[Say the following out loud, firmly and calmly:]
In the name of Jesus I address any demonic powers that would seek to exploit any physical or psychological weakness I may have. I rebuke you and command you to leave! No matter how clever your attempted bluff, you have no power over me and I am spiritually safe because my faith is in the infinite saving power of the Lord Jesus. I cling to the Savior who promised never to leave me nor forsake me (Hebrews 13:5; John 6:37; 10:28-29). I refuse to be duped out of my Christ-bought rights. My faith is not in the presence or absence of guilt feelings, or some other quirky sign, but exclusively in the saving power of Jesus who died for the sins of the entire world. Evil spirits, you are defeated. The blood of Jesus cleanses me from all sin. And this is true, no matter what feelings or thoughts come upon me.


When you reach the point where you could not care less whether or not you are attacked by doubts, oppressive guilt feelings or spiritually repulsive thoughts, the attacks themselves will lessen. That’s a psychological fact.

Moreover it is a spiritual fact: when evil powers are thoroughly convinced that they can no longer use such things as unwanted thoughts to annoy you, or undermine your faith in Christ’s salvation, they will eventually begin to tire of that approach and only try it now and again, just to check that you have not reverted to being concerned by such attacks.


However, reducing the attacks is not the goal at all. That would be a meaningless victory. Anyone can be victorious when not attacked. The goal is to glorify God by believing in the power of Christ’s forgiveness, regardless of whether the attacks continue every few minutes or every day for the rest of your life.


The fact that you dislike the thoughts or images, proves they are not coming from your heart.


If, for example, it seems it is you who are swearing at God in your mind, it’s a trick. Tell yourself, “The devil is swearing at God and tempting me to think that God, the righteous, loving Judge, would unjustly hold me responsible for the devil’s sin.”

So no matter how despicable the words or images invading your mind are, YOU ARE NOT SINNING !!!

The Evil One’s dirtiest trick is to do something disgusting and then try to blame you and/or God for it. The all-knowing Lord isn’t fooled into blaming you for the devil’s underhanded attack, and neither need you be fooled.

Moreover, Jesus sympathizes with you, having himself suffered such attacks during his earthly life (Hebrews 2:18; 4:15). And because of Jesus, no one can snatch you out of God’s hand (John 10:29).


Here's some more really good news **** :


Just as we can’t stop the devil from being the devil, we can’t stop temptation from coming; we can only stop ourselves from being deceived by it.
So don’t bother trying to stop the unpleasant thoughts. Let them rage. Just try to stay relaxed and assured that Jesus understands. **** He responds to Christians having filth pumped into their minds as to Christians being tortured for their faith. Upon you is the blessing that Jesus pronounced on those who are persecuted. He sees you as a hero in the making. He is especially close and compassionate as you suffer this vile assault; this demonic persecution.

Profane and godless thoughts are whirling through your head not because you are sinful but for the very opposite.
You are under attack because hell’s hordes are panicking over the fact that the blood of Jesus declares you righteous.

All of Satan’s hordes hate and fear your status with God and some are trying their hardest to fool you into no longer believing in who Christ has exalted you to be in God’s eyes.

In their desperation, they are trying to dupe you into falling for the false logic that unwanted thoughts – or any genuine sin you repent of – could negate the power of the cross.

We have noted that when assaulted by unwanted thoughts or feelings, our instinctive reaction is to panic and try hard to fight the thoughts, but doing so only sends the thoughts spinning more furiously around and around in our minds. Yes, fighting and/or fearing thoughts actually make them recur more often.

Life will grow more pleasant when you eventually manage to replace the old reaction of panicking and trying harder, with the much more effective habit of remaining UNCONCERNED by spiritual attacks.

Herein ends my post. It was probably way too long, rambling and disjointed, but I did my best. Hopefully anyone who has read even just a little bit of this 2 part post will be able to take comfort if the same spiritual attack happens to them.

I have had TOTAL VICTORY in Christ Jesus, just as He has promised to all of us that trust in Him. Satan put me through THE RINGER....... and HE LOST BIG TIME!!!!

All that loser succeeded in doing was cause me to draw ever closer to the Lord, to drink ever more from His living waters and cling to His AMAZING grace, peace, love and mercy.

When I, through the prompting of the Holy Spirit (praise Him exceedingly!!), learned to stop fighting the thoughts, to stop giving attention to satan the attention seeker, and instead look on Christ, it was then that the fiery darts of the enemy were extinguished! Oh yes, he still fires them from time to time, but they are few and far between.

My armor of God is on 24/7 and I have the victory. His attacks are not much more than a minor nuisance now. He likes to test me to see if I am going to look at the roaring waves for a second as I walk on the water towards Jesus, or if I am going to keep my gaze on Jesus only. And satan knows the answer to that one!

Jesus said MY GRACE IS SUFFICIENT UNTO YOU.....please never forget that, whenever you are attacked by the enemy. NO MATTER WHAT, Jesus will NEVER FAIL US !!!


God bless you, in the mighty name of Jesus Christ!

Thank you to www.net-burst.net for some excerpts and other writings on the subject.

here's their disclaimer :
Not to be sold. © Copyright, 2004, Grantley Morris. Not to be copied in whole or in part without citing this entire paragraph. Many more compassionate, inspiring, sometimes hilarious writings by Grantley Morris available free at the following internet site www.net-burst.net Freely you have received, freely give.

How dare you make me cry. Lol...

Today I've battled the image of being beaten. The tormenters were trying to make me renounce Christ. Blaspheme Christ. It is just really weird and disturbing... But I've had blasphemous thoughts too. It seriously is a horrible spirit. I hate it. But my feelings are this way. Even though I more then likely opened a door, it really is an assault on my mind. Because they have never been welcoming. Christ is my hope. He is my strength. This is so encouraging to me. Things lose power when you speak it for sure. It is one of those shameful things I've never wanted anyone to know. Because God is my life. And I work at a Christian preschool of all places and have two young kids. I am not what these daydreams are nor was I as a child. A child wouldn't just think those things. It was an assault on my mind. I'm going to have to read this through some more and digest it, because there are a lot of gems here.

 

[Peace Seeker]

Glory to God! Did you ignore the thoughts when they came?

I mostly ignored them and other times just rebuked them and clung to Jesus' promises. Eventually there came a time when there were no more attacks to rebuke or ignore.

 

[Peace Seeker]

How dare you make me cry. Lol...

Today I've battled the image of being beaten. The tormenters were trying to make me renounce Christ. Blaspheme Christ. It is just really weird and disturbing... But I've had blasphemous thoughts too. It seriously is a horrible spirit. I hate it. But my feelings are this way. Even though I more then likely opened a door, it really is an assault on my mind. Because they have never been welcoming. Christ is my hope. He is my strength. This is so encouraging to me. Things lose power when you speak it for sure. It is one of those shameful things I've never wanted anyone to know. Because God is my life. And I work at a Christian preschool of all places and have two young kids. I am not what these daydreams are nor was I as a child. A child wouldn't just think those things. It was an assault on my mind. I'm going to have to read this through some more and digest it, because there are a lot of gems here.

Hi Mayflower. Psalm 94:18 says, "In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul". It doesn't say in the multitude of my good thoughts, rather I believe it means whatever thoughts you are going through, there is comfort and delight available from God. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, therefore God is not judging you, He is loving you and delivering you from your trials in His good timing. God sees that you hate the thoughts, and as His child He will not leave you alone or defenseless.

One thing that helped me after the attacks were getting heavier, was when I would reply, "is that all you got?". I got tired of being so afraid of the thoughts (and they were scary!), that I just went on the attack, and by God's grace put away the fear. Fear can be a spirit killer and rob us of our joy. Don't let that happen to you! Jesus has overcome the world, and all things are His, including your ups and downs and everything in between. Take heart, and know that God will never leave or forsake you, and that those thoughts will never push God away from you - which is the devil's desired outcome - but will only cause Him to draw nearer to you. That's what the Good Shepherd does when He sees the wolf attacking the sheep. It's a win for you and a defeat for the adversary. Praise God!

 

[Mayflower]

Hi Mayflower. Psalm 94:18 says, "In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul". It doesn't say in the multitude of my good thoughts, rather I believe it means whatever thoughts you are going through, there is comfort and delight available from God. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, therefore God is not judging you, He is loving you and delivering you from your trials in His good timing. God sees that you hate the thoughts, and as His child He will not leave you alone or defenseless.

One thing that helped me after the attacks were getting heavier, was when I would reply, "is that all you got?". I got tired of being so afraid of the thoughts (and they were scary!), that I just went on the attack, and by God's grace put away the fear. Fear can be a spirit killer and rob us of our joy. Don't let that happen to you! Jesus has overcome the world, and all things are His, including your ups and downs and everything in between. Take heart, and know that God will never leave or forsake you, and that those thoughts will never push God away from you - which is the devil's desired outcome - but will only cause Him to draw nearer to you. That's what the Good Shepherd does when He sees the wolf attacking the sheep. It's a win for you and a defeat for the adversary. Praise God!

Amen!!!! I do not want to fear alone times, and I am grateful nothing can ever separate us from God's love. I just feel so guilty when they come on and it has been a struggle to just rest my mind for awhile lately. I looked and saw I joined here in March. So that is a lot longer I've dealt with this again then I thought. Most are not blasphemous thoughts, just very much things a Christian shouldn't think that make me feel very guilty. Mainly things directed at me... A few have been blasphemous to God... It tortures me the most.

It is helpful to just say it. It is scarey speaking it. I never told anyone about the childhood thoughts till learning about sra, because when I got saved and they went away, I figured it was a demon. But it came out in other ways... Writing stories and things. When the blasphemous images came, it was the first time I ever thought of my salvation being able to be lost. This isn't the majority, but it is still horrible. It has been a nightmare sometimes.

But done with the negative now... This provided great encouragement to me... It is so true that the more I fight it, the more they come. And think that is part of the problem. Watch the movie. Speak the scriptures in the season and out of season. Just trust I'm forgiven even when I may not feel like it some of these times. Feelings do not determine Truth. Nothing changes the Truth of what God says I am and His promises, and I'm thankful for that.

Now I got to get off of here before I start getting all teary eyed again this morning. I just haven't heard of anyone's testimony concerning these things, and it has just been a continual question on my mind as to why it is so hard to take these things captive.

 

[Mayflower]

My mind has been absolutely still since posting here. I do believe in the power of prayer, so thanks for any who has prayed for me. It is these times that it is good to prepare for attack. I'm so grateful for the grace and power of God. And grateful to read of a similar experience... Not for the struggle, just nothing new under the sun... Vulnerability is hard, but I think Truth sets you free. Beings things into the light and the fear of it lessens.

 

[Waggles]

Calmly address the devil, saying something like, “In the name of Jesus I rebuke you. No matter what lies and filth you put into my head, Jesus defeated you and I belong to Jesus, and in Him there is no condemnation in me.”

I suffered similar for a year - a dreadful overwhelming power of the enemy to ruin and violate my life and faith: not even being able to attend church meetings for a year or being with my brothers and sisters.
The only way to overcome this was my resolve to be an overcomer in the power of God by his Holy Spirit and so I continued to pray in tongues constantly.
Also I read psalms and proverbs to be strengthened, and when I reread the epistles I could see my many errors. I had much that needed to be corrected.
Thank God he is ever faithful and true and has given me a wonderful victory over the enemy and the flesh.

 

[Mayflower]

@JessicaF this thread may help you. I know you had some questions.

 

[JessicaF]

@JessicaF this thread may help you. I know you had some questions.

Thank youuu

 

[JessicaF]

@Mayflower can I ask. I feel empty right now. Is it possible that i might blasphemed the Holy Spirit?

 

[Mayflower]

@Mayflower can I ask. I feel empty right now. Is it possible that i might blasphemed the Holy Spirit?

I don't know you to say that, but if you want to be forgiven of something, then it is likely not. 1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Also the beatitudes are comforting. The part I like says, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled." Matthew 5:6.

Hunger after God and His righteousness... He will not leave you void if you seek Him.

 

[freighttrain10]

I am posting this testimony of the spiritual battle I have been in, because I have noticed that some people are concerned about blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. I don't know if anyone would even be interested in my testimony on this, because for one thing it will probably end up being too long to sit and read all the way through. But in case you are interested, I will be telling of my experiences with the hope that it will help you to cope with and have victory over it, without all the trial and error I went through.

Chad has some excellent posts on the subject and they do a great job of explaining what it is and isn't, but they don't elaborate on the tactics of the devil relating to the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit and how to overcome the attacks.

So what follows here is my personal, real-life account of an 8 week war (and counting?) with the devil and his attempts to :

1) make me believe I have committed blasphemy of the Holy Spirit 2) make me doubt my salvation 3) make me doubt God's love for me 4) make me feel guilty beyond hope 5) make me believe his thoughts WERE MY THOUGHTS 6) make me lose my sanity

Throughout this ordeal God has been revealing scriptures to me, among the many others things that have happened, and the one that stands out is :

2 Corinthians 1:3-7 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort. It is my fervent hope that all who read this and can relate to it, will take comfort in this post, like the God of all comfort has given so abundantly to me!!

So here it is now, my testimony :

For the last 8 weeks I have had continuous attacks from satan, who has been trying to put filthy, blasphemous thoughts about the Holy Spirit into my mind. They are the most vile and horrifying thoughts you could possibly imagine. At the beginning they absolutely horrified me and caused me no end of distress, to put it mildly!

And last but not least, he was trying his absolute best to convince me that all those thoughts WERE MY THOUGHTS, because he knows how much torment that can cause to a believer in Christ.

Here is what I have discovered through 8 weeks of doing spiritual warfare with satan : he is able to plant thoughts in your head that are indistinguishable from your own[/COLOR]! Not only that, he is able to literally finish sentences for you!

I discovered that the enemy’s thoughts blend in with my own. At first I was unable to tell where my thoughts ended and Satan’s began. In a split second he can finish my own thought with a swear word.

These thoughts made me feel for sure that I did the unpardonable sin and was now therefore totally lost, un-redeemable and without hope for salvation..

Now, before I continue, I want everyone to know that what I have been going through is not at all uncommon. We read in

1 Corinthians 10:13 :
New International Version (NIV)

13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

And perhaps some think what is meant here is that we all have temptations about similar mundane things, like our finances, marriage struggles, losing our job, health problems, etc. But unless you have experienced a barrage of blasphemous thoughts from satan, you would not believe the above verse applies to that kind of situation.

After all, you would suppose, what kind of Christian would have thoughts like that? Thoughts so horrible that I wouldn't repeat them if I could. Thoughts that could seemingly only come from the most reprobate and evil mind.

That's what satan was trying desperately to make me believe, that this thing was only happening to ME, that it couldn't POSSIBLY happen to a "real" Christian.

He was working overtime to make me believe that no one was as horrible as me, because anyone thinking such thoughts must be the worst person on the face of the earth. And did I really believe a Christian could be having thoughts such as these? Therefore I mustn't be a Christian.

These are some of the things I had to battle and that initially tormented me so much.

And just to clarify, the evil thoughts weren't conscious decisions I just made out of the blue to purposely insult, grieve, malign or blaspheme God, etc.
I then, as I do now, have no desire whatsoever to say, think or do anything negative towards God, towards anyone in the Godhead. The wicked thoughts that came into my mind were VERY FAST AND RANDOM - unexpected , unplanned, etc. And as fast as I could possibly do so, I would stop the thought and take it into captivity in obedience to
2 Corinthians 10:4-6:
For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.

At the beginning, when the thought attacks first started, I was so frightened, because as a Christian I knew that having a horrible thought against the Holy Spirit would never be forgiven, and is in fact the only one mentioned in the bible as not being forgiven.

In fact I would literally shriek inside with horror and like I said earlier, be extremely grieved, upset, and mortified at such thoughts. Again I say, they were incredibly quick flashes of horrible thoughts, directed at the Holy Spirit. I did not sit there and say to myself anything remotely along the lines of : " I hate God, so I think I'll have some fun and do some blaspheming", if you know what I mean.

I am now going to give you just a little info about how I was attempting to stop the attacks, why that failed miserably, and what I finally figured out after listening to God and doing it His way.

If you ever find yourself , or know of someone else in the situation I was in, you will know what to do and it will save you a lot of ongoing torment.

Because I hated those thoughts I did my very best to stop them in their tracks as soon as I could - casting down imaginations, taking every thought into captivity, etc.
I rebuked satan in Jesus' name many times, I bound satan in Jesus' name many times, I listened to praise music all day long, etc.

But the attacks kept coming at me, over and over. It was hard to sleep, hard to function in the day and very distracting from serving and looking solely upon the Lord, which is what I wanted to do.

THIS IS IMPORTANT : The reason my efforts to stop the attacks didn't work was because I was trying to fight a spiritual battle with my FLESH.

Not only that, but because of the way the human mind works, the act of trying to stop a thought, or not remember it or think of it, GUARANTEES you will do it!! Our natural reaction would be to try and stop and silence the thought. Trust me, no one would want such thoughts in their head about their mother, never mind God in the person of The Holy Spirit!!!

But I repeat, if you are having those thought attacks, you will heap even more misery upon yourself by trying to combat them by simply sheer force of will. The goal must never be the avoidance of blasphemous thoughts. The harder we try to avoid them, the worse they will get.
The only way to combat them is by doing hardcore spiritual battle.

Ephesians 6:11-18 11 Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit...

Taking up the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, is CRUCIAL. You need to fight spirit by Spirit. There are numerous bible verses that tell us who we are in Christ, what we can expect from Him, etc. And we must wield these passages like a sword in order to defeat the enemy.

Jesus stopped satan's attacks against Him in the wilderness by QUOTING SCRIPTURE. We must do the same.

The word of God - the sword of the Spirit - tells us in

Philippians 4:7
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen!

Believing in and using verses like this one is one of the weapons you need. Satan cannot overpower your mind, no matter how convincing he is to the contrary!! And make no mistake, he is very convincing!!
If satan seems to be overpowering your mind, you must pray and believe that God WILL guard it. He cannot lie.

2 Timothy 4:18
18 And the Lord will deliver me from and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!

If being bombarded by a howitzer of blasphemous thoughts is not AN EVIL WORK, I don't know what is!!!

Therefore, this scripture assures us that the Lord will deliver us from EVERY evil work. Trusting in God and His incredible power and love for you is essential to gaining the victory that Christ has given you.

More spiritual battle verses :

Psalms 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.

Proverbs 18:10: The name of the lord is a strong tower, the righteous run into it and the are safe"

Joshua1:9 Be strong of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

Colossians 2:15 New International Version (NIV)

15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.


We must keep our eyes on Jesus at all times, and not let satan's thoughts distract us and distress us. When Peter took his eyes off the Lord and instead looked at the waves for a brief second, he started to lose faith and sink into the sea that he had moments before been walking on.
No matter what scary distractions the devil throws at you, keep your focus on Jesus.

Unwanted thoughts are simply a form of temptation, and all Christians are tempted.

Calmly address the devil, saying something like, “In the name of Jesus I rebuke you. No matter what lies and filth you put into my head, Jesus defeated you and I belong to Jesus, and in Him there is no condemnation in me.”

Romans 8:1 New International Version (NIV)

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

1 Corinthians 15:57
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Psalm 27:1
1The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

Romans 8:37-39
37Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.38For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I will leave it that regarding scriptures. There are so many more, the point of which is, we have nothing to fear from unwanted blasphemous attacks.

We must stubbornly resist the pressure to surrender to the enemy's lies, whether it be false condemnation or believing that we are responsible for thoughts we do not want.

Don’t waste your resources getting sidetracked into self-examination or fighting thoughts or feelings. No matter how real and scary they seem, they are just cardboard cut-outs.

The plan of the devil with these thoughts is to try to sabotage our relationship with God. He wants us so fixated on trying to fight unwanted blasphemous thoughts and so foolishly convinced that they render us repulsive to God[/COLOR], that we misinterpret our Lord’s every expression of love for us.

The devil wants us to push God away through being duped into wrongly supposing that ugly thoughts render us unacceptable to the God who is head over heels in love with us.

Unwanted thoughts, no matter how repulsive, are merely pesky flies that refuse to be shooed away.

So in summary, satan putting blasphemous thoughts into the minds of Christians is not unusual or uncommon.

We must recognize that no negative thought is from God. They are a deception from the father of lies, who is a murderer, thief and destroyer.

We must focus on JESUS, not satan or his attacks. NO MATTER WHAT, focus on Jesus and never forget that He will never forsake you or let the enemy harm you. Jesus is the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for His sheep. No wolf or roaring lion will take you out of His hands!!!

Jesus has defeated satan and overcome the world. All authority is given to Him in heaven and earth. What can satan do to you? What can HIS thoughts do to you? He is a weak and defeated enemy that plays on our insecurities and weaknesses, but ultimately is a paper tiger doing shadow puppets on the wall to try and scare us.

I was in utter turmoil when the thoughts first started, because I had never experienced them before. And as I said, they are SO REAL and so INDISTINGUISHABLE from your own.

But I am telling you this testimony so you don't have to have any turmoil if it happens to YOU. You will know what it is that is happening to you, why it is, and what you can do about it. Just ignore the devil, for it makes his day when he gets to you and causes you grief.
Resist him and he will FLEE.

In part 2 I will talk about some great Christians that have gone through the very thing I have talked about. And if you ever get these attacks, know that you will be in some great company!! :wink:


Thank you to www.net-burst.net for some excerpts and other writings on the subject.

here's their disclaimer :
Not to be sold. © Copyright, 2004, Grantley Morris. Not to be copied in whole or in part without citing this entire paragraph. Many more compassionate, inspiring, sometimes hilarious writings by Grantley Morris available free at the following internet site www.net-burst.net Freely you have received, freely give.

 

[freighttrain10]

please pray for me

I've been undergoing having unwanted blasphemous thoughts against the Holy Spirit for 6 months now. And yesterday I mistakenly said something that could be blasphemous against the Holy Spirit. I don't have any peace and I need as much prayer as possible. My name is Chantell.

Long reply warning....



I'm a 38 year old pastor who grew up in the church. I don't remember how old I was when I heard about it, but it was probably around the age of 10. It was at a Bible Study at the church I grew up in, which was very small, and someone had mentioned the unforgivable sin, and the way that Jesus described it, and instantly, awful and vicious blasphemous thoughts flooded my brain, and fear flooded my heart.


For years I struggled with feeling terrified, and had no reason to believe that anyone felt like I did. I feared that if I verbalized what had gone through my head, that I would be committing the sin itself, and so therefore, I was alone. But I would have pockets of time - sometimes years - where it would go away for the most part, but it was still in the back of my mind.

I went to a Christian College, and two friends were discussing it, and seemingly concluded that it was essentially calling something that was good - bad. This stuck in my head for quite some time, and not long after, I found myself in a position where a thought popped into my head "if you do this, you will not enter the Kingdom".

For years this was like a plague, as I wrestled with the question of where that thought came from, and guilt because I had followed through with the action after hearing the thought go through my head.

Then I remembered my friends' conclusion that it was calling something that was good - bad, as I had considered the possible sources of the thought. I spent many sleepless nights trembling and when doing some research online, I came across a website that described this sin, and a somewhat comforting statement that "if you're afraid that you may have done it, you haven't." While that helped a little bit, it wasn't quite enough to conquer the fear.

This went on for years, and I would again, have pockets of time where it would go away slightly, and what I noticed (and still do today), is that when my fear that I have committed it in the past is overcome, the intrusive thoughts come through repeatedly. It tends to happen in cycles. I'll get to my conclusion on that matter momentarily.

I suffered with a certain kind of addiction that many people (mostly guys) have, and in the middle of acting out this addiction, the fear of this sin would haunt me, especially after I didn't stop when it went through my head. A few years ago, I had a nearly full-blown panic attack, which I probably should have been hospitalized for. And this was right after one of those pockets of peace. It came out of nowhere, a sucker punch. A past sin had come to mind and instantly I was seized with fear that, I couldn't be forgiven for it.

The twisting of the scriptures where this sin is mentioned are so easy to do. Many (myself included of course), misunderstand the context, or ignore it altogether. We assume that it is possible for a Christian to commit this sin, when it isn't. A good friend of mine reminded me that "if you're worried about it, you're fine". Again, this helped a little, but because I didn't understand why that was true, I had a hard time believing it.

Before we get there, let's remember the context. Jesus was talking to people who had just witnessed Him casting out a demon, and they hated Him so much, that they said the most preposterous thing they could think of. And He used plain logic to dispel that myth, that Satan couldn't drive himself out. Their hearts were so hardened toward Him, that they refused to believe that He was who He said He was, and nothing would change their minds. Furthermore, they had an audience. They weren't just thinking it to themselves, they were verbalizing it and trying to get people to believe it.



Key point, and this is incredibly important: it is extremely doubtful that when Jesus made this statement, they felt any fear at all. Why? Because they didn't believe in Him.

If you're afraid that you have committed the unforgivable sin, you haven't. Because I understand the meaning of certain verses now, I understand how and why this statement is true.

John 6:37 - All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.

John 6:44 - No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.

Romans 2:4 - Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

Titus 2:11-12 - For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.

1 Corinthians 12:3 - 3 Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

Every one of these verses tells us that we are 100% powerless to come to Jesus without God leading us to Him. And how does He do that? Through the Holy Spirit.

Now, what sense would it make for the Holy Spirit to guide us to Jesus if we were unforgivable? He wouldn't. It's illogical. Instead, let's look at the mindset of those who (probably) HAVE committed this sin, or at least what their life becomes.



Romans 1:24 - Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.

Romans 1:26-32 - Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. 28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.



Now - obviously these verses are speaking of homosexual relationships, but ultimately, I have come to believe that this is what happens when someone commits the unforgivable sin. They lose all reason, and they have no desire to return to God. They essentially lose all moral reasoning, and have a seared conscience. The person is shutting the door - not God. He simply grants their wish.


2 Peter 3:9 - The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.


He doesn't want ANYONE to be excluded from the Kingdom, but His commitment to allowing our free will gives us the opportunity to say no to Him. This leads to the idea that Hell is locked – but from the inside.

And at the end of the day, the unforgivable sin is either 1. a verbal curse (which ultimately comes from contempt for them) that essentially rejects the Holy Spirit, which really rejects all three, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 2. walking so far away from God that we can't hear His voice any longer.

Picture yourself standing still, and you are talking to someone who is walking away from you. The person keeps moving, but you stand still. Eventually, that person is going to get out of range, where they can't hear you anymore. If you have fear of God in any way, shape, or form, you can still hear Him. And I believe that God can USE this fear of being unforgivable to get your attention, but once you return to Him, those fears should prove to be illogical.

Jesus refers to Satan with the nickname "The Accuser". Satan will do everything in his power to convince you that you are too far gone. So, this fear is irrational, but God can still use it for good.

Genesis 50:20 - As for you, what you intended against me for evil, God intended for good.

There is a bit more that I could share, but I can tell you that logically, I now know that it is literally impossible for me, or any other genuine Christian who wants to please God, to commit this unpardonable sin. The way that I overcame this a few years ago, was by writing the verses above and different events to prove that the Holy Spirit was active in my life, over and over again. It was like writing sentences in school when we got in trouble. It begins to sink in.

Think about it this way. The verses above (and there are many others), tell us the promises of God, and we tend to read one sentence out of context and assume that it applies to us, when it doesn't but the many do.

So back to this cycle. For me - it starts with a fear or a doubt of my salvation. My mind will repeatedly go back to a particular sin, or even several, to convince me that I'm lost, and can't be saved. When I use the verses above or this one:

1 John 1:19 - If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

All. Not some. Not a little bit. Not most. All.

So when I use these verses, I start to feel at peace, and then the other part of the cycle begins again. My mind is flooded, yet again, with blasphemous thoughts. I have coping mechanisms, by shaking my head, or just using Jesus' name, and sometimes they help, but at other times it feels like it just perpetuates them and makes them worse.

So why does this happen? Because your enemy, your accuser, and the deceiver is desperate. As humans, there is a healthy pride that we have that keeps us from kicking people when they are down. Your enemy doesn't share this healthy pride. No. He is a coward, and believe it or not, he is afraid of you. Why? Because you are a threat to him. And if he can get you to doubt your salvation, you may fall into despair, give up, or at the very least, not be the light that God has called you to be.

Now, as I finish this forever long post, I can tell you that again, like a sucker punch, the enemy came and hit me from behind with this fear - yet again a few weeks ago. In the last 2 years, I have taught lessons on this, and felt that I had overcome it, and it returned. However, I can say that because of the practices that I learned to defeat it the last time, it is far less anxiety inducing, because I have trained my heart and my mind to reject the lies.

We can either believe the truth of the Bible, or the lies that Satan tells to twist them into meaning something they don't mean.

I would apologize for the length of the post, but one of the most comforting things that I have come across, are the details in the stories of others that match my own. YOU. ARE. NOT ALONE. Do not believe the enemy when he tells you that you are. He is the accuser. He is the deceiver.

I truly hope from the bottom of my heart that this helps. I want to use my testimony to help others who have been in the dark places that I have, as I feel that's what God is calling me to do.

So spend time in John 6, and write the key verses down over and over again until you believe them.

Your creator loves you dearly.

I am posting this testimony of the spiritual battle I have been in, because I have noticed that some people are concerned about blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. I don't know if anyone would even be interested in my testimony on this, because for one thing it will probably end up being too long to sit and read all the way through. But in case you are interested, I will be telling of my experiences with the hope that it will help you to cope with and have victory over it, without all the trial and error I went through.

Chad has some excellent posts on the subject and they do a great job of explaining what it is and isn't, but they don't elaborate on the tactics of the devil relating to the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit and how to overcome the attacks.

So what follows here is my personal, real-life account of an 8 week war (and counting?) with the devil and his attempts to :

1) make me believe I have committed blasphemy of the Holy Spirit 2) make me doubt my salvation 3) make me doubt God's love for me 4) make me feel guilty beyond hope 5) make me believe his thoughts WERE MY THOUGHTS 6) make me lose my sanity

Throughout this ordeal God has been revealing scriptures to me, among the many others things that have happened, and the one that stands out is :

2 Corinthians 1:3-7 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort. It is my fervent hope that all who read this and can relate to it, will take comfort in this post, like the God of all comfort has given so abundantly to me!!

So here it is now, my testimony :

For the last 8 weeks I have had continuous attacks from satan, who has been trying to put filthy, blasphemous thoughts about the Holy Spirit into my mind. They are the most vile and horrifying thoughts you could possibly imagine. At the beginning they absolutely horrified me and caused me no end of distress, to put it mildly!

And last but not least, he was trying his absolute best to convince me that all those thoughts WERE MY THOUGHTS, because he knows how much torment that can cause to a believer in Christ.

Here is what I have discovered through 8 weeks of doing spiritual warfare with satan : he is able to plant thoughts in your head that are indistinguishable from your own[/COLOR]! Not only that, he is able to literally finish sentences for you!

I discovered that the enemy’s thoughts blend in with my own. At first I was unable to tell where my thoughts ended and Satan’s began. In a split second he can finish my own thought with a swear word.

These thoughts made me feel for sure that I did the unpardonable sin and was now therefore totally lost, un-redeemable and without hope for salvation..

Now, before I continue, I want everyone to know that what I have been going through is not at all uncommon. We read in

1 Corinthians 10:13 :
New International Version (NIV)

13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

And perhaps some think what is meant here is that we all have temptations about similar mundane things, like our finances, marriage struggles, losing our job, health problems, etc. But unless you have experienced a barrage of blasphemous thoughts from satan, you would not believe the above verse applies to that kind of situation.

After all, you would suppose, what kind of Christian would have thoughts like that? Thoughts so horrible that I wouldn't repeat them if I could. Thoughts that could seemingly only come from the most reprobate and evil mind.

That's what satan was trying desperately to make me believe, that this thing was only happening to ME, that it couldn't POSSIBLY happen to a "real" Christian.

He was working overtime to make me believe that no one was as horrible as me, because anyone thinking such thoughts must be the worst person on the face of the earth. And did I really believe a Christian could be having thoughts such as these? Therefore I mustn't be a Christian.

These are some of the things I had to battle and that initially tormented me so much.

And just to clarify, the evil thoughts weren't conscious decisions I just made out of the blue to purposely insult, grieve, malign or blaspheme God, etc.
I then, as I do now, have no desire whatsoever to say, think or do anything negative towards God, towards anyone in the Godhead. The wicked thoughts that came into my mind were VERY FAST AND RANDOM - unexpected , unplanned, etc. And as fast as I could possibly do so, I would stop the thought and take it into captivity in obedience to
2 Corinthians 10:4-6:
For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.

At the beginning, when the thought attacks first started, I was so frightened, because as a Christian I knew that having a horrible thought against the Holy Spirit would never be forgiven, and is in fact the only one mentioned in the bible as not being forgiven.

In fact I would literally shriek inside with horror and like I said earlier, be extremely grieved, upset, and mortified at such thoughts. Again I say, they were incredibly quick flashes of horrible thoughts, directed at the Holy Spirit. I did not sit there and say to myself anything remotely along the lines of : " I hate God, so I think I'll have some fun and do some blaspheming", if you know what I mean.

I am now going to give you just a little info about how I was attempting to stop the attacks, why that failed miserably, and what I finally figured out after listening to God and doing it His way.

If you ever find yourself , or know of someone else in the situation I was in, you will know what to do and it will save you a lot of ongoing torment.

Because I hated those thoughts I did my very best to stop them in their tracks as soon as I could - casting down imaginations, taking every thought into captivity, etc.
I rebuked satan in Jesus' name many times, I bound satan in Jesus' name many times, I listened to praise music all day long, etc.

But the attacks kept coming at me, over and over. It was hard to sleep, hard to function in the day and very distracting from serving and looking solely upon the Lord, which is what I wanted to do.

THIS IS IMPORTANT : The reason my efforts to stop the attacks didn't work was because I was trying to fight a spiritual battle with my FLESH.

Not only that, but because of the way the human mind works, the act of trying to stop a thought, or not remember it or think of it, GUARANTEES you will do it!! Our natural reaction would be to try and stop and silence the thought. Trust me, no one would want such thoughts in their head about their mother, never mind God in the person of The Holy Spirit!!!

But I repeat, if you are having those thought attacks, you will heap even more misery upon yourself by trying to combat them by simply sheer force of will. The goal must never be the avoidance of blasphemous thoughts. The harder we try to avoid them, the worse they will get.
The only way to combat them is by doing hardcore spiritual battle.

Ephesians 6:11-18 11 Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit...

Taking up the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, is CRUCIAL. You need to fight spirit by Spirit. There are numerous bible verses that tell us who we are in Christ, what we can expect from Him, etc. And we must wield these passages like a sword in order to defeat the enemy.

Jesus stopped satan's attacks against Him in the wilderness by QUOTING SCRIPTURE. We must do the same.

The word of God - the sword of the Spirit - tells us in

Philippians 4:7
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen!

Believing in and using verses like this one is one of the weapons you need. Satan cannot overpower your mind, no matter how convincing he is to the contrary!! And make no mistake, he is very convincing!!
If satan seems to be overpowering your mind, you must pray and believe that God WILL guard it. He cannot lie.

2 Timothy 4:18
18 And the Lord will deliver me from and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!

If being bombarded by a howitzer of blasphemous thoughts is not AN EVIL WORK, I don't know what is!!!

Therefore, this scripture assures us that the Lord will deliver us from EVERY evil work. Trusting in God and His incredible power and love for you is essential to gaining the victory that Christ has given you.

More spiritual battle verses :

Psalms 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.

Proverbs 18:10: The name of the lord is a strong tower, the righteous run into it and the are safe"

Joshua1:9 Be strong of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

Colossians 2:15 New International Version (NIV)

15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.


We must keep our eyes on Jesus at all times, and not let satan's thoughts distract us and distress us. When Peter took his eyes off the Lord and instead looked at the waves for a brief second, he started to lose faith and sink into the sea that he had moments before been walking on.
No matter what scary distractions the devil throws at you, keep your focus on Jesus.

Unwanted thoughts are simply a form of temptation, and all Christians are tempted.

Calmly address the devil, saying something like, “In the name of Jesus I rebuke you. No matter what lies and filth you put into my head, Jesus defeated you and I belong to Jesus, and in Him there is no condemnation in me.”

Romans 8:1 New International Version (NIV)

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

1 Corinthians 15:57
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Psalm 27:1
1The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

Romans 8:37-39
37Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.38For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I will leave it that regarding scriptures. There are so many more, the point of which is, we have nothing to fear from unwanted blasphemous attacks.

We must stubbornly resist the pressure to surrender to the enemy's lies, whether it be false condemnation or believing that we are responsible for thoughts we do not want.

Don’t waste your resources getting sidetracked into self-examination or fighting thoughts or feelings. No matter how real and scary they seem, they are just cardboard cut-outs.

The plan of the devil with these thoughts is to try to sabotage our relationship with God. He wants us so fixated on trying to fight unwanted blasphemous thoughts and so foolishly convinced that they render us repulsive to God[/COLOR], that we misinterpret our Lord’s every expression of love for us.

The devil wants us to push God away through being duped into wrongly supposing that ugly thoughts render us unacceptable to the God who is head over heels in love with us.

Unwanted thoughts, no matter how repulsive, are merely pesky flies that refuse to be shooed away.

So in summary, satan putting blasphemous thoughts into the minds of Christians is not unusual or uncommon.

We must recognize that no negative thought is from God. They are a deception from the father of lies, who is a murderer, thief and destroyer.

We must focus on JESUS, not satan or his attacks. NO MATTER WHAT, focus on Jesus and never forget that He will never forsake you or let the enemy harm you. Jesus is the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for His sheep. No wolf or roaring lion will take you out of His hands!!!

Jesus has defeated satan and overcome the world. All authority is given to Him in heaven and earth. What can satan do to you? What can HIS thoughts do to you? He is a weak and defeated enemy that plays on our insecurities and weaknesses, but ultimately is a paper tiger doing shadow puppets on the wall to try and scare us.

I was in utter turmoil when the thoughts first started, because I had never experienced them before. And as I said, they are SO REAL and so INDISTINGUISHABLE from your own.

But I am telling you this testimony so you don't have to have any turmoil if it happens to YOU. You will know what it is that is happening to you, why it is, and what you can do about it. Just ignore the devil, for it makes his day when he gets to you and causes you grief.
Resist him and he will FLEE.

In part 2 I will talk about some great Christians that have gone through the very thing I have talked about. And if you ever get these attacks, know that you will be in some great company!! :wink:


Thank you to www.net-burst.net for some excerpts and other writings on the subject.

here's their disclaimer :
Not to be sold. © Copyright, 2004, Grantley Morris. Not to be copied in whole or in part without citing this entire paragraph. Many more compassionate, inspiring, sometimes hilarious writings by Grantley Morris available free at the following internet site www.net-burst.net Freely you have received, freely give.

Long reply warning....

I'm a 38 year old pastor who grew up in the church. I don't remember how old I was when I heard about it, but it was probably around the age of 10. It was at a Bible Study at the church I grew up in, which was very small, and someone had mentioned the unforgivable sin, and the way that Jesus described it, and instantly, awful and vicious blasphemous thoughts flooded my brain, and fear flooded my heart.

For years I struggled with feeling terrified, and had no reason to believe that anyone felt like I did. I feared that if I verbalized what had gone through my head, that I would be committing the sin itself, and so therefore, I was alone. But I would have pockets of time - sometimes years - where it would go away for the most part, but it was still in the back of my mind.

I went to a Christian College, and two friends were discussing it, and seemingly concluded that it was essentially calling something that was good - bad. This stuck in my head for quite some time, and not long after, I found myself in a position where a thought popped into my head "if you do this, you will not enter the Kingdom".

For years this was like a plague, as I wrestled with the question of where that thought came from, and guilt because I had followed through with the action after hearing the thought go through my head.

Then I remembered my friends' conclusion that it was calling something that was good - bad, as I had considered the possible sources of the thought. I spent many sleepless nights trembling and when doing some research online, I came across a website that described this sin, and a somewhat comforting statement that "if you're afraid that you may have done it, you haven't." While that helped a little bit, it wasn't quite enough to conquer the fear.

This went on for years, and I would again, have pockets of time where it would go away slightly, and what I noticed (and still do today), is that when my fear that I have committed it in the past is overcome, the intrusive thoughts come through repeatedly. It tends to happen in cycles. I'll get to my conclusion on that matter momentarily.

I suffered with a certain kind of addiction that many people (mostly guys) have, and in the middle of acting out this addiction, the fear of this sin would haunt me, especially after I didn't stop when it went through my head. A few years ago, I had a nearly full-blown panic attack, which I probably should have been hospitalized for. And this was right after one of those pockets of peace. It came out of nowhere, a sucker punch. A past sin had come to mind and instantly I was seized with fear that, I couldn't be forgiven for it.

The twisting of the scriptures where this sin is mentioned are so easy to do. Many (myself included of course), misunderstand the context, or ignore it altogether. We assume that it is possible for a Christian to commit this sin, when it isn't. A good friend of mine reminded me that "if you're worried about it, you're fine". Again, this helped a little, but because I didn't understand why that was true, I had a hard time believing it.

Before we get there, let's remember the context. Jesus was talking to people who had just witnessed Him casting out a demon, and they hated Him so much, that they said the most preposterous thing they could think of. And He used plain logic to dispel that myth, that Satan couldn't drive himself out. Their hearts were so hardened toward Him, that they refused to believe that He was who He said He was, and nothing would change their minds. Furthermore, they had an audience. They weren't just thinking it to themselves, they were verbalizing it and trying to get people to believe it.

Key point, and this is incredibly important: it is extremely doubtful that when Jesus made this statement, they felt any fear at all. Why? Because they didn't believe in Him.

If you're afraid that you have committed the unforgivable sin, you haven't. Because I understand the meaning of certain verses now, I understand how and why this statement is true.

John 6:37 - All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.

John 6:44 - No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.

Romans 2:4 - Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

Titus 2:11-12 - For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.

1 Corinthians 12:3 - 3 Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

Every one of these verses tells us that we are 100% powerless to come to Jesus without God leading us to Him. And how does He do that? Through the Holy Spirit.

Now, what sense would it make for the Holy Spirit to guide us to Jesus if we were unforgivable? He wouldn't. It's illogical. Instead, let's look at the mindset of those who (probably) HAVE committed this sin, or at least what their life becomes.

Romans 1:24 - Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.

Romans 1:26-32 - Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. 28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

Now - obviously these verses are speaking of homosexual relationships, but ultimately, I have come to believe that this is what happens when someone commits the unforgivable sin. They lose all reason, and they have no desire to return to God. They essentially lose all moral reasoning, and have a seared conscience. The person is shutting the door - not God. He simply grants their wish.

2 Peter 3:9 - The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

He doesn't want ANYONE to be excluded from the Kingdom, but His commitment to allowing our free will gives us the opportunity to say no to Him. This leads to the idea that Hell is locked – but from the inside.

And at the end of the day, the unforgivable sin is either 1. a verbal curse (which ultimately comes from contempt for them) that essentially rejects the Holy Spirit, which really rejects all three, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 2. walking so far away from God that we can't hear His voice any longer.

Picture yourself standing still, and you are talking to someone who is walking away from you. The person keeps moving, but you stand still. Eventually, that person is going to get out of range, where they can't hear you anymore. If you have fear of God in any way, shape, or form, you can still hear Him. And I believe that God can USE this fear of being unforgivable to get your attention, but once you return to Him, those fears should prove to be illogical.

Jesus refers to Satan with the nickname "The Accuser". Satan will do everything in his power to convince you that you are too far gone. So, this fear is irrational, but God can still use it for good.

Genesis 50:20 - As for you, what you intended against me for evil, God intended for good.

There is a bit more that I could share, but I can tell you that logically, I now know that it is literally impossible for me, or any other genuine Christian who wants to please God, to commit this unpardonable sin. The way that I overcame this a few years ago, was by writing the verses above and different events to prove that the Holy Spirit was active in my life, over and over again. It was like writing sentences in school when we got in trouble. It begins to sink in.

Think about it this way. The verses above (and there are many others), tell us the promises of God, and we tend to read one sentence out of context and assume that it applies to us, when it doesn't but the many do.

So back to this cycle. For me - it starts with a fear or a doubt of my salvation. My mind will repeatedly go back to a particular sin, or even several, to convince me that I'm lost, and can't be saved. When I use the verses above or this one:

1 John 1:19 - If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

All. Not some. Not a little bit. Not most. All.

So when I use these verses, I start to feel at peace, and then the other part of the cycle begins again. My mind is flooded, yet again, with blasphemous thoughts. I have coping mechanisms, by shaking my head, or just using Jesus' name, and sometimes they help, but at other times it feels like it just perpetuates them and makes them worse.

So why does this happen? Because your enemy, your accuser, and the deceiver is desperate. As humans, there is a healthy pride that we have that keeps us from kicking people when they are down. Your enemy doesn't share this healthy pride. No. He is a coward, and believe it or not, he is afraid of you. Why? Because you are a threat to him. And if he can get you to doubt your salvation, you may fall into despair, give up, or at the very least, not be the light that God has called you to be.

Now, as I finish this forever long post, I can tell you that, like a sucker punch, the enemy came and hit me from behind with this fear - yet again a few weeks ago. In the last 2 years, I have taught lessons on this, and felt that I had overcome it, and it returned. However, I can say that because of the practices that I learned to defeat it the last time, it is far less anxiety inducing, because I have trained my heart and my mind to reject the lies.

We can either believe the truth of the Bible, or the lies that Satan tells to twist them into meaning something they don't mean.

I would apologize for the length of the post, but one of the most comforting things that I have come across, are the details in the stories of others that match my own. YOU. ARE. NOT ALONE. Do not believe the enemy when he tells you that you are. He is the accuser. He is the deceiver.

I truly hope from the bottom of my heart that this helps. I want to use my testimony to help others who have been in the dark places that I have, as I feel that's what God is calling me to do.

So spend time in John 6, and write the key verses down over and over again until you believe them.

Your creator loves you dearly.

 

[Andyindauk]

Blasphemous Thoughts - A Testimony - Part 2 of 2

How many of you would be surprised to know that some well-known "lions of the faith", such as C. H. Spurgeon, John Bunyon and others have confessed to horrible blasphemous thoughts?

Here are some excerpts, showing how any Christian, whether of small or large stature, can be attacked by satan in this way.

C. H. Spurgeon Confessed To Blasphemous Thoughts :
Helpful Bible Insights When Our Minds Fill With Blasphemy

Six thousand people used to cram into his Baptist church in London, England to hear Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892) preach. The man regularly acclaimed as “The Prince of Preachers” is even today highly revered and widely read. The following is from Charles Spurgeon’s book, All of Grace.

Here’s what he has to tell the countless thousands of Christians who, like him, find themselves thinking blasphemous thoughts they want nothing to do with (some highlights):

I have heard someone say, “I am tormented with horrible thoughts. Wherever I go, blasphemies steal in upon me. Frequently at my work a dreadful suggestion forces itself upon me, and even on my bed I am startled from my sleep by whispers of the evil one. I cannot get away from this horrible temptation.”

Friend, I know what you mean, for I have myself been hunted by this wolf. A man might as well hope to fight a swarm of flies with a sword as to master his own thoughts when they are set on by the devil.

Remember Martin Luther’s way of cutting the devil’s head off with his own sword. “Oh,” said the devil to Martin Luther, “you are a sinner.” “Yes,” said he, “Christ died to save sinners.” Thus he smote him with his own sword. Hide in this refuge, and remain there: “In due time Christ died for the ungodly.” If you stand to that truth, your blasphemous thoughts which you have no strength to drive away will go away of themselves; for Satan will see that he is answering no purpose by plaguing you with them.

These thoughts, if you hate them, are none of yours, but are injections of the Devil, for which he is responsible, and not you. If you strive against them, they are no more yours than are the cursings and falsehoods of rioters in the street.

Jesus died for those who are guilty of “all manner of sin and blasphemy,” and I am therefore certain He will not refuse those who are unwillingly the captives of evil thoughts. Cast yourself upon Him, thoughts and all, and see if He is not mighty to save. He can still those horrible whisperings of the fiend, or He can enable you to see them in their true light, so that you may not be worried by them. In His own way He can and will save you, and at length give you perfect peace. Only trust Him for this and everything else.

As C. H. Spurgeon brilliantly implied, we might as well try to fight off a swarm of attacking bees with a sword than try to stop blasphemous thoughts from swarming in our minds. So fiercely does Satan hate every friend of God that he will only cease his attack when he is certain that we have seen through his devilish trick so completely that we are no longer tormented by it.

This will happen when we become convinced that although they are in our own head, the thoughts we hate are no more our responsibility than we are responsible for total strangers cursing God. Unwelcome blasphemies can do us no more harm than we would get thrown in jail for the crimes of Saddam Hussein. Yes, fallible human justice systems have sometimes caused the wrong person to be punished for a crime, but the Judge of all the world in perfect.

The Devil is like a tease. The more he sees that something is annoying you, the more he will keep it up. If he sees you unconcerned, however, he will lose interest in that method of attack.

And, as Charles Spurgeon and other devout Christians and Bible scholars affirm, you have every right to be unconcerned.

Moreover, if his every attempt to get us to blaspheme God ends in us praising and exalting God, the Devil is a loser. We cannot stop the Devil from shouting in our minds, but he is equally powerless to stop us from honoring and praising God.

Every time a blasphemous thought comes, use it as a reminder to immediately exalt the Lord by saying such things as:

Lord, you are good and do good. You are pure and holy; perfect in all your ways. You are worthy of all honor and praise. You are wise, generous, patient, kind, loving and forgiving. On the cross the Holy Son of God swapped places with me. You have removed my sin and given me Christ’s sinlessness. I am now “in Christ,” completely covered by his holiness, perfection and spiritual beauty. I praise you for being all-knowing. You know that the lies shouting in my head are not mine. My real thoughts are the opposite. I love you. I praise you. I adore you. I delight in you.

John Bunyan’s Battle with Blasphemous Thoughts,
Feeling Unforgivable, Reprobate and Demon Possessed
Condensed extracts in modern English from John Bunyan’s book, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners

John Bunyan (1628-1688) was an English preacher who is now renowned as the author of the profoundly influential Christian book The Pilgrim’s Progress. The book has been translated into more than a hundred different languages and has sold more copies in more languages than any Christian book besides the Bible and more than any book of any description originally written in English.

Sin and corruption would as naturally bubble out of my heart as water would bubble out of a fountain. I thought that everyone had a better heart than I had. I would have exchanged hearts with anybody.
I thought no one but the devil himself could equal me for inward wickedness and pollution of mind. I concluded that this condition that I was in could not stand with a state of grace. Thought I, “Surely I am forsaken of God. Surely I am given up to the devil and a reprobate mind.”

First, all my comfort was taken from me; then darkness seized me; after which whole floods of blasphemies, both against God, Christ, and the Scriptures, were poured upon my spirit, to my great confusion and astonishment.
They did so overweigh my heart both with their number, continuance and fiery force that I felt as if there were nothing else but these from morning to night within me, and as though indeed there could be room for nothing else. I also concluded that God had, in wrath to my soul, given me up to them, to be carried away with them as with a mighty whirlwind.
Only by the distaste they gave to my spirit did I feel there was something in me that refused to embrace them.

While I was in this torment, I often found in my mind a sudden urge to curse and swear, or to speak some grievous thing against God, Christ His Son, or of the Scriptures. Now I thought, surely I am possessed of the devil. At other times, I thought I would lose my mind; for instead of praising and magnifying the Lord with others, if I but heard Him spoken of, presently some most horrible blasphemous thought or other would bolt out of my heart against Him. I concluded that such things could not possibly be found among those who loved God.

In these days, when I heard others talk of what the sin against the Holy Spirit was, then the tempter would so provoke me to desire to sin that particular sin that it was as if I could not, must not, neither would be quiet until I had committed it. Now no sin would serve but that one. If it were to be committed by the speaking of such a word, then it was if my mouth would have spoken that word, whether I would or not. In so strong a measure was this temptation upon me that often I have been ready to clap my hands under my chin to hold my mouth from opening.

Yes, gladly I would have been in the condition of a dog or horse, for I knew they had no soul to perish under the everlasting weight of hell or sin was mine as likely to do.

I could attend to none of the ordinances of God but with sore and great affliction; then I was most distressed with blasphemies. If I had been hearing the word of God, then uncleanness, blasphemies, and despair would hold me a captive there. If I was reading then sometimes I had sudden thoughts to question all I read.

Oh, the diligence of Satan! Oh, the desperateness of man’s heart! Now was the battle won, and down I fell, as a bird that is shot from the top of a tree, into great guilt and fearful despair. Now I was as one bound; I felt myself shut up into the judgment to come. Nothing for the next two years would abide with me but damnation and an expectation of damnation.

I did ever so know now what it was to be weary of my life and yet afraid to die. Oh, how gladly I would have been anybody but myself, anything but a man, and in any condition but my own. There was nothing that did cross my mind more frequently than that it was impossible for me to be forgiven my transgression and be saved from the wrath to come.

Please remember that the above was written by the man who broke through all this torment to bless multiplied millions of Christians.

So, I, and many other Christians have had to deal with the exact same repulsive thoughts from the devil. Here's some more pointers for dealing with them effectively :

If your car is stuck in mud, the worst thing you can do is give in to panic and rev the engine. To panic and try harder seems the natural thing to do, but the more you spin the wheels, the deeper you sink. You need to stop, calm down, and try a completely different approach, such as getting out of your car and putting rocks and branches under the wheels.

Trying to stop bad thoughts or images or guilt feelings or doubts, or expecting some sort of personal “sign” that Jesus really does forgive every sin, is like spinning the wheels. It feels the right thing to do, but it just makes you sink further. You need to calm down and try a very different approach.

Remind yourself that all Christians have horrid, out-of-character thoughts, but only some of us get so disturbed by them that our very desperation not to think them causes the thoughts to so stand out in our minds that they keep repeating like a spinning car tire.

Unwanted thoughts are like watching a horror movie. If we let ourselves get caught up with what we are viewing, we can imagine that we are so personally involved that we fill with terror. We need to step back and remind ourselves that we are safe and that it is only a movie. Don’t be shocked or depressed by the thoughts that come into your mind. They no more reveal the person you really are than a movie does. Don’t make the devil’s day by beating yourself up over them.

[Say the following out loud, firmly and calmly:]
In the name of Jesus I address any demonic powers that would seek to exploit any physical or psychological weakness I may have. I rebuke you and command you to leave! No matter how clever your attempted bluff, you have no power over me and I am spiritually safe because my faith is in the infinite saving power of the Lord Jesus. I cling to the Savior who promised never to leave me nor forsake me (Hebrews 13:5; John 6:37; 10:28-29). I refuse to be duped out of my Christ-bought rights. My faith is not in the presence or absence of guilt feelings, or some other quirky sign, but exclusively in the saving power of Jesus who died for the sins of the entire world. Evil spirits, you are defeated. The blood of Jesus cleanses me from all sin. And this is true, no matter what feelings or thoughts come upon me.


When you reach the point where you could not care less whether or not you are attacked by doubts, oppressive guilt feelings or spiritually repulsive thoughts, the attacks themselves will lessen. That’s a psychological fact.

Moreover it is a spiritual fact: when evil powers are thoroughly convinced that they can no longer use such things as unwanted thoughts to annoy you, or undermine your faith in Christ’s salvation, they will eventually begin to tire of that approach and only try it now and again, just to check that you have not reverted to being concerned by such attacks.


However, reducing the attacks is not the goal at all. That would be a meaningless victory. Anyone can be victorious when not attacked. The goal is to glorify God by believing in the power of Christ’s forgiveness, regardless of whether the attacks continue every few minutes or every day for the rest of your life.


The fact that you dislike the thoughts or images, proves they are not coming from your heart.


If, for example, it seems it is you who are swearing at God in your mind, it’s a trick. Tell yourself, “The devil is swearing at God and tempting me to think that God, the righteous, loving Judge, would unjustly hold me responsible for the devil’s sin.”

So no matter how despicable the words or images invading your mind are, YOU ARE NOT SINNING !!!

The Evil One’s dirtiest trick is to do something disgusting and then try to blame you and/or God for it. The all-knowing Lord isn’t fooled into blaming you for the devil’s underhanded attack, and neither need you be fooled.

Moreover, Jesus sympathizes with you, having himself suffered such attacks during his earthly life (Hebrews 2:18; 4:15). And because of Jesus, no one can snatch you out of God’s hand (John 10:29).


Here's some more really good news **** :


Just as we can’t stop the devil from being the devil, we can’t stop temptation from coming; we can only stop ourselves from being deceived by it.
So don’t bother trying to stop the unpleasant thoughts. Let them rage. Just try to stay relaxed and assured that Jesus understands. **** He responds to Christians having filth pumped into their minds as to Christians being tortured for their faith. Upon you is the blessing that Jesus pronounced on those who are persecuted. He sees you as a hero in the making. He is especially close and compassionate as you suffer this vile assault; this demonic persecution.

Profane and godless thoughts are whirling through your head not because you are sinful but for the very opposite.
You are under attack because hell’s hordes are panicking over the fact that the blood of Jesus declares you righteous.

All of Satan’s hordes hate and fear your status with God and some are trying their hardest to fool you into no longer believing in who Christ has exalted you to be in God’s eyes.

In their desperation, they are trying to dupe you into falling for the false logic that unwanted thoughts – or any genuine sin you repent of – could negate the power of the cross.

We have noted that when assaulted by unwanted thoughts or feelings, our instinctive reaction is to panic and try hard to fight the thoughts, but doing so only sends the thoughts spinning more furiously around and around in our minds. Yes, fighting and/or fearing thoughts actually make them recur more often.

Life will grow more pleasant when you eventually manage to replace the old reaction of panicking and trying harder, with the much more effective habit of remaining UNCONCERNED by spiritual attacks.

Herein ends my post. It was probably way too long, rambling and disjointed, but I did my best. Hopefully anyone who has read even just a little bit of this 2 part post will be able to take comfort if the same spiritual attack happens to them.

I have had TOTAL VICTORY in Christ Jesus, just as He has promised to all of us that trust in Him. Satan put me through THE RINGER....... and HE LOST BIG TIME!!!!

All that loser succeeded in doing was cause me to draw ever closer to the Lord, to drink ever more from His living waters and cling to His AMAZING grace, peace, love and mercy.

When I, through the prompting of the Holy Spirit (praise Him exceedingly!!), learned to stop fighting the thoughts, to stop giving attention to satan the attention seeker, and instead look on Christ, it was then that the fiery darts of the enemy were extinguished! Oh yes, he still fires them from time to time, but they are few and far between.

My armor of God is on 24/7 and I have the victory. His attacks are not much more than a minor nuisance now. He likes to test me to see if I am going to look at the roaring waves for a second as I walk on the water towards Jesus, or if I am going to keep my gaze on Jesus only. And satan knows the answer to that one!

Jesus said MY GRACE IS SUFFICIENT UNTO YOU.....please never forget that, whenever you are attacked by the enemy. NO MATTER WHAT, Jesus will NEVER FAIL US !!!


God bless you, in the mighty name of Jesus Christ!

Thank you to www.net-burst.net for some excerpts and other writings on the subject.

here's their disclaimer :
Not to be sold. © Copyright, 2004, Grantley Morris. Not to be copied in whole or in part without citing this entire paragraph. Many more compassionate, inspiring, sometimes hilarious writings by Grantley Morris available free at the following internet site www.net-burst.net Freely you have received, freely give.

More than a few words of wisdom here, another book which is more of an autobiography, is John Bunyan's, Grace Abounding To The Chief Of Sinners by John Bunyan. It's very inciteful as to his state of mind and his thinking. I found it really interesting.

 

[Mayflower]

Long reply warning....



I'm a 38 year old pastor who grew up in the church. I don't remember how old I was when I heard about it, but it was probably around the age of 10. It was at a Bible Study at the church I grew up in, which was very small, and someone had mentioned the unforgivable sin, and the way that Jesus described it, and instantly, awful and vicious blasphemous thoughts flooded my brain, and fear flooded my heart.


For years I struggled with feeling terrified, and had no reason to believe that anyone felt like I did. I feared that if I verbalized what had gone through my head, that I would be committing the sin itself, and so therefore, I was alone. But I would have pockets of time - sometimes years - where it would go away for the most part, but it was still in the back of my mind.

I went to a Christian College, and two friends were discussing it, and seemingly concluded that it was essentially calling something that was good - bad. This stuck in my head for quite some time, and not long after, I found myself in a position where a thought popped into my head "if you do this, you will not enter the Kingdom".

For years this was like a plague, as I wrestled with the question of where that thought came from, and guilt because I had followed through with the action after hearing the thought go through my head.

Then I remembered my friends' conclusion that it was calling something that was good - bad, as I had considered the possible sources of the thought. I spent many sleepless nights trembling and when doing some research online, I came across a website that described this sin, and a somewhat comforting statement that "if you're afraid that you may have done it, you haven't." While that helped a little bit, it wasn't quite enough to conquer the fear.

This went on for years, and I would again, have pockets of time where it would go away slightly, and what I noticed (and still do today), is that when my fear that I have committed it in the past is overcome, the intrusive thoughts come through repeatedly. It tends to happen in cycles. I'll get to my conclusion on that matter momentarily.

I suffered with a certain kind of addiction that many people (mostly guys) have, and in the middle of acting out this addiction, the fear of this sin would haunt me, especially after I didn't stop when it went through my head. A few years ago, I had a nearly full-blown panic attack, which I probably should have been hospitalized for. And this was right after one of those pockets of peace. It came out of nowhere, a sucker punch. A past sin had come to mind and instantly I was seized with fear that, I couldn't be forgiven for it.

The twisting of the scriptures where this sin is mentioned are so easy to do. Many (myself included of course), misunderstand the context, or ignore it altogether. We assume that it is possible for a Christian to commit this sin, when it isn't. A good friend of mine reminded me that "if you're worried about it, you're fine". Again, this helped a little, but because I didn't understand why that was true, I had a hard time believing it.

Before we get there, let's remember the context. Jesus was talking to people who had just witnessed Him casting out a demon, and they hated Him so much, that they said the most preposterous thing they could think of. And He used plain logic to dispel that myth, that Satan couldn't drive himself out. Their hearts were so hardened toward Him, that they refused to believe that He was who He said He was, and nothing would change their minds. Furthermore, they had an audience. They weren't just thinking it to themselves, they were verbalizing it and trying to get people to believe it.



Key point, and this is incredibly important: it is extremely doubtful that when Jesus made this statement, they felt any fear at all. Why? Because they didn't believe in Him.

If you're afraid that you have committed the unforgivable sin, you haven't. Because I understand the meaning of certain verses now, I understand how and why this statement is true.

John 6:37 - All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.

John 6:44 - No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.

Romans 2:4 - Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

Titus 2:11-12 - For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.

1 Corinthians 12:3 - 3 Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

Every one of these verses tells us that we are 100% powerless to come to Jesus without God leading us to Him. And how does He do that? Through the Holy Spirit.

Now, what sense would it make for the Holy Spirit to guide us to Jesus if we were unforgivable? He wouldn't. It's illogical. Instead, let's look at the mindset of those who (probably) HAVE committed this sin, or at least what their life becomes.



Romans 1:24 - Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.

Romans 1:26-32 - Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. 28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.



Now - obviously these verses are speaking of homosexual relationships, but ultimately, I have come to believe that this is what happens when someone commits the unforgivable sin. They lose all reason, and they have no desire to return to God. They essentially lose all moral reasoning, and have a seared conscience. The person is shutting the door - not God. He simply grants their wish.


2 Peter 3:9 - The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.


He doesn't want ANYONE to be excluded from the Kingdom, but His commitment to allowing our free will gives us the opportunity to say no to Him. This leads to the idea that Hell is locked – but from the inside.

And at the end of the day, the unforgivable sin is either 1. a verbal curse (which ultimately comes from contempt for them) that essentially rejects the Holy Spirit, which really rejects all three, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 2. walking so far away from God that we can't hear His voice any longer.

Picture yourself standing still, and you are talking to someone who is walking away from you. The person keeps moving, but you stand still. Eventually, that person is going to get out of range, where they can't hear you anymore. If you have fear of God in any way, shape, or form, you can still hear Him. And I believe that God can USE this fear of being unforgivable to get your attention, but once you return to Him, those fears should prove to be illogical.

Jesus refers to Satan with the nickname "The Accuser". Satan will do everything in his power to convince you that you are too far gone. So, this fear is irrational, but God can still use it for good.

Genesis 50:20 - As for you, what you intended against me for evil, God intended for good.

There is a bit more that I could share, but I can tell you that logically, I now know that it is literally impossible for me, or any other genuine Christian who wants to please God, to commit this unpardonable sin. The way that I overcame this a few years ago, was by writing the verses above and different events to prove that the Holy Spirit was active in my life, over and over again. It was like writing sentences in school when we got in trouble. It begins to sink in.

Think about it this way. The verses above (and there are many others), tell us the promises of God, and we tend to read one sentence out of context and assume that it applies to us, when it doesn't but the many do.

So back to this cycle. For me - it starts with a fear or a doubt of my salvation. My mind will repeatedly go back to a particular sin, or even several, to convince me that I'm lost, and can't be saved. When I use the verses above or this one:

1 John 1:19 - If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

All. Not some. Not a little bit. Not most. All.

So when I use these verses, I start to feel at peace, and then the other part of the cycle begins again. My mind is flooded, yet again, with blasphemous thoughts. I have coping mechanisms, by shaking my head, or just using Jesus' name, and sometimes they help, but at other times it feels like it just perpetuates them and makes them worse.

So why does this happen? Because your enemy, your accuser, and the deceiver is desperate. As humans, there is a healthy pride that we have that keeps us from kicking people when they are down. Your enemy doesn't share this healthy pride. No. He is a coward, and believe it or not, he is afraid of you. Why? Because you are a threat to him. And if he can get you to doubt your salvation, you may fall into despair, give up, or at the very least, not be the light that God has called you to be.

Now, as I finish this forever long post, I can tell you that again, like a sucker punch, the enemy came and hit me from behind with this fear - yet again a few weeks ago. In the last 2 years, I have taught lessons on this, and felt that I had overcome it, and it returned. However, I can say that because of the practices that I learned to defeat it the last time, it is far less anxiety inducing, because I have trained my heart and my mind to reject the lies.

We can either believe the truth of the Bible, or the lies that Satan tells to twist them into meaning something they don't mean.

I would apologize for the length of the post, but one of the most comforting things that I have come across, are the details in the stories of others that match my own. YOU. ARE. NOT ALONE. Do not believe the enemy when he tells you that you are. He is the accuser. He is the deceiver.

I truly hope from the bottom of my heart that this helps. I want to use my testimony to help others who have been in the dark places that I have, as I feel that's what God is calling me to do.

So spend time in John 6, and write the key verses down over and over again until you believe them.

Your creator loves you dearly.




Long reply warning....

I'm a 38 year old pastor who grew up in the church. I don't remember how old I was when I heard about it, but it was probably around the age of 10. It was at a Bible Study at the church I grew up in, which was very small, and someone had mentioned the unforgivable sin, and the way that Jesus described it, and instantly, awful and vicious blasphemous thoughts flooded my brain, and fear flooded my heart.

For years I struggled with feeling terrified, and had no reason to believe that anyone felt like I did. I feared that if I verbalized what had gone through my head, that I would be committing the sin itself, and so therefore, I was alone. But I would have pockets of time - sometimes years - where it would go away for the most part, but it was still in the back of my mind.

I went to a Christian College, and two friends were discussing it, and seemingly concluded that it was essentially calling something that was good - bad. This stuck in my head for quite some time, and not long after, I found myself in a position where a thought popped into my head "if you do this, you will not enter the Kingdom".

For years this was like a plague, as I wrestled with the question of where that thought came from, and guilt because I had followed through with the action after hearing the thought go through my head.

Then I remembered my friends' conclusion that it was calling something that was good - bad, as I had considered the possible sources of the thought. I spent many sleepless nights trembling and when doing some research online, I came across a website that described this sin, and a somewhat comforting statement that "if you're afraid that you may have done it, you haven't." While that helped a little bit, it wasn't quite enough to conquer the fear.

This went on for years, and I would again, have pockets of time where it would go away slightly, and what I noticed (and still do today), is that when my fear that I have committed it in the past is overcome, the intrusive thoughts come through repeatedly. It tends to happen in cycles. I'll get to my conclusion on that matter momentarily.

I suffered with a certain kind of addiction that many people (mostly guys) have, and in the middle of acting out this addiction, the fear of this sin would haunt me, especially after I didn't stop when it went through my head. A few years ago, I had a nearly full-blown panic attack, which I probably should have been hospitalized for. And this was right after one of those pockets of peace. It came out of nowhere, a sucker punch. A past sin had come to mind and instantly I was seized with fear that, I couldn't be forgiven for it.

The twisting of the scriptures where this sin is mentioned are so easy to do. Many (myself included of course), misunderstand the context, or ignore it altogether. We assume that it is possible for a Christian to commit this sin, when it isn't. A good friend of mine reminded me that "if you're worried about it, you're fine". Again, this helped a little, but because I didn't understand why that was true, I had a hard time believing it.

Before we get there, let's remember the context. Jesus was talking to people who had just witnessed Him casting out a demon, and they hated Him so much, that they said the most preposterous thing they could think of. And He used plain logic to dispel that myth, that Satan couldn't drive himself out. Their hearts were so hardened toward Him, that they refused to believe that He was who He said He was, and nothing would change their minds. Furthermore, they had an audience. They weren't just thinking it to themselves, they were verbalizing it and trying to get people to believe it.

Key point, and this is incredibly important: it is extremely doubtful that when Jesus made this statement, they felt any fear at all. Why? Because they didn't believe in Him.

If you're afraid that you have committed the unforgivable sin, you haven't. Because I understand the meaning of certain verses now, I understand how and why this statement is true.

John 6:37 - All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.

John 6:44 - No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.

Romans 2:4 - Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

Titus 2:11-12 - For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.

1 Corinthians 12:3 - 3 Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

Every one of these verses tells us that we are 100% powerless to come to Jesus without God leading us to Him. And how does He do that? Through the Holy Spirit.

Now, what sense would it make for the Holy Spirit to guide us to Jesus if we were unforgivable? He wouldn't. It's illogical. Instead, let's look at the mindset of those who (probably) HAVE committed this sin, or at least what their life becomes.

Romans 1:24 - Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.

Romans 1:26-32 - Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. 28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

Now - obviously these verses are speaking of homosexual relationships, but ultimately, I have come to believe that this is what happens when someone commits the unforgivable sin. They lose all reason, and they have no desire to return to God. They essentially lose all moral reasoning, and have a seared conscience. The person is shutting the door - not God. He simply grants their wish.

2 Peter 3:9 - The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

He doesn't want ANYONE to be excluded from the Kingdom, but His commitment to allowing our free will gives us the opportunity to say no to Him. This leads to the idea that Hell is locked – but from the inside.

And at the end of the day, the unforgivable sin is either 1. a verbal curse (which ultimately comes from contempt for them) that essentially rejects the Holy Spirit, which really rejects all three, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 2. walking so far away from God that we can't hear His voice any longer.

Picture yourself standing still, and you are talking to someone who is walking away from you. The person keeps moving, but you stand still. Eventually, that person is going to get out of range, where they can't hear you anymore. If you have fear of God in any way, shape, or form, you can still hear Him. And I believe that God can USE this fear of being unforgivable to get your attention, but once you return to Him, those fears should prove to be illogical.

Jesus refers to Satan with the nickname "The Accuser". Satan will do everything in his power to convince you that you are too far gone. So, this fear is irrational, but God can still use it for good.

Genesis 50:20 - As for you, what you intended against me for evil, God intended for good.

There is a bit more that I could share, but I can tell you that logically, I now know that it is literally impossible for me, or any other genuine Christian who wants to please God, to commit this unpardonable sin. The way that I overcame this a few years ago, was by writing the verses above and different events to prove that the Holy Spirit was active in my life, over and over again. It was like writing sentences in school when we got in trouble. It begins to sink in.

Think about it this way. The verses above (and there are many others), tell us the promises of God, and we tend to read one sentence out of context and assume that it applies to us, when it doesn't but the many do.

So back to this cycle. For me - it starts with a fear or a doubt of my salvation. My mind will repeatedly go back to a particular sin, or even several, to convince me that I'm lost, and can't be saved. When I use the verses above or this one:

1 John 1:19 - If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

All. Not some. Not a little bit. Not most. All.

So when I use these verses, I start to feel at peace, and then the other part of the cycle begins again. My mind is flooded, yet again, with blasphemous thoughts. I have coping mechanisms, by shaking my head, or just using Jesus' name, and sometimes they help, but at other times it feels like it just perpetuates them and makes them worse.

So why does this happen? Because your enemy, your accuser, and the deceiver is desperate. As humans, there is a healthy pride that we have that keeps us from kicking people when they are down. Your enemy doesn't share this healthy pride. No. He is a coward, and believe it or not, he is afraid of you. Why? Because you are a threat to him. And if he can get you to doubt your salvation, you may fall into despair, give up, or at the very least, not be the light that God has called you to be.

Now, as I finish this forever long post, I can tell you that, like a sucker punch, the enemy came and hit me from behind with this fear - yet again a few weeks ago. In the last 2 years, I have taught lessons on this, and felt that I had overcome it, and it returned. However, I can say that because of the practices that I learned to defeat it the last time, it is far less anxiety inducing, because I have trained my heart and my mind to reject the lies.

We can either believe the truth of the Bible, or the lies that Satan tells to twist them into meaning something they don't mean.

I would apologize for the length of the post, but one of the most comforting things that I have come across, are the details in the stories of others that match my own. YOU. ARE. NOT ALONE. Do not believe the enemy when he tells you that you are. He is the accuser. He is the deceiver.

I truly hope from the bottom of my heart that this helps. I want to use my testimony to help others who have been in the dark places that I have, as I feel that's what God is calling me to do.

So spend time in John 6, and write the key verses down over and over again until you believe them.

Your creator loves you dearly.

Thank you for sharing. You have a lot of helpful spiritual wisdom here.

 

[freighttrain10]

Thank you for sharing. You have a lot of helpful spiritual wisdom here.

I appreciate that. It took a lot of years, and I have had to read this a few times this week because I needed my own advice.

I know it is true, but the enemy is constantly trying to get us to believe that its true for everyone else....just not us.

 

[Mayflower]

I appreciate that. It took a lot of years, and I have had to read this a few times this week because I needed my own advice.

I know it is true, but the enemy is constantly trying to get us to believe that its true for everyone else....just not us.

Since sharing here, some of that fear has left for me. I think part of it is I suffer from anxiety. I read testimonies/stories from survivors of satanic ritual abuse on a different forum. It sounded so much of some childhood things in my mind I had imagined I was beginning to think I had been a victim and it terrified me.
These images went away when I came to know Christ at fifteen. Like a faucet being turned off. It was an answer to prayer. But for awhile my thoughts were all over again with this. Just an onslaught of wicked things in my mind. Victim type stuff towards me.

I shared some embarrassing things from the things I had imagined back then too... I just ended up deleting them all and leaving over there. Not the only reason, but being triggered like that was a big reason. And I was embarrassed by it and hope I didn't cause any of them to be triggered. It scared me a lot. Then of course some things I think I have to assure myself God still loves me and He is always willing to forgive. He has forgiven. I just have to forgive myself over some things. I always wondered about those past thinking things as a child, but it was very weird and surreal honestly to have really happened. I had real childhood abuse in my past. And kids sometime have things for coping skills. Or even demonic influence because of parents' mistakes. I want my thinking to be pure. I love God with all my heart. Particularly at night is when the struggle comes in sometimes. But it has not been so bad.

What helped me is go to YouTube and just run scripture. Healing scriptures, whatever. look up scripture images. Just renew the mind and fill it with the Word. It pushes the junk and the mess out. I'm having much more peace at night since doing this... Less forum time where my thoughts are everywhere.

I read this thread and was just shocked, because I was so embarrassed by this and yet it is so hard to share when you don't think anyone understands or looks down on you for it. Reading of these great Christians of faith with struggles like this is really comforting that I'm not the scum of the earth. Still a child of God.

 

[IzzyyyyB]

Long reply warning....



I'm a 38 year old pastor who grew up in the church. I don't remember how old I was when I heard about it, but it was probably around the age of 10. It was at a Bible Study at the church I grew up in, which was very small, and someone had mentioned the unforgivable sin, and the way that Jesus described it, and instantly, awful and vicious blasphemous thoughts flooded my brain, and fear flooded my heart.


For years I struggled with feeling terrified, and had no reason to believe that anyone felt like I did. I feared that if I verbalized what had gone through my head, that I would be committing the sin itself, and so therefore, I was alone. But I would have pockets of time - sometimes years - where it would go away for the most part, but it was still in the back of my mind.

I went to a Christian College, and two friends were discussing it, and seemingly concluded that it was essentially calling something that was good - bad. This stuck in my head for quite some time, and not long after, I found myself in a position where a thought popped into my head "if you do this, you will not enter the Kingdom".

For years this was like a plague, as I wrestled with the question of where that thought came from, and guilt because I had followed through with the action after hearing the thought go through my head.

Then I remembered my friends' conclusion that it was calling something that was good - bad, as I had considered the possible sources of the thought. I spent many sleepless nights trembling and when doing some research online, I came across a website that described this sin, and a somewhat comforting statement that "if you're afraid that you may have done it, you haven't." While that helped a little bit, it wasn't quite enough to conquer the fear.

This went on for years, and I would again, have pockets of time where it would go away slightly, and what I noticed (and still do today), is that when my fear that I have committed it in the past is overcome, the intrusive thoughts come through repeatedly. It tends to happen in cycles. I'll get to my conclusion on that matter momentarily.

I suffered with a certain kind of addiction that many people (mostly guys) have, and in the middle of acting out this addiction, the fear of this sin would haunt me, especially after I didn't stop when it went through my head. A few years ago, I had a nearly full-blown panic attack, which I probably should have been hospitalized for. And this was right after one of those pockets of peace. It came out of nowhere, a sucker punch. A past sin had come to mind and instantly I was seized with fear that, I couldn't be forgiven for it.

The twisting of the scriptures where this sin is mentioned are so easy to do. Many (myself included of course), misunderstand the context, or ignore it altogether. We assume that it is possible for a Christian to commit this sin, when it isn't. A good friend of mine reminded me that "if you're worried about it, you're fine". Again, this helped a little, but because I didn't understand why that was true, I had a hard time believing it.

Before we get there, let's remember the context. Jesus was talking to people who had just witnessed Him casting out a demon, and they hated Him so much, that they said the most preposterous thing they could think of. And He used plain logic to dispel that myth, that Satan couldn't drive himself out. Their hearts were so hardened toward Him, that they refused to believe that He was who He said He was, and nothing would change their minds. Furthermore, they had an audience. They weren't just thinking it to themselves, they were verbalizing it and trying to get people to believe it.



Key point, and this is incredibly important: it is extremely doubtful that when Jesus made this statement, they felt any fear at all. Why? Because they didn't believe in Him.

If you're afraid that you have committed the unforgivable sin, you haven't. Because I understand the meaning of certain verses now, I understand how and why this statement is true.

John 6:37 - All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.

John 6:44 - No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.

Romans 2:4 - Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

Titus 2:11-12 - For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.

1 Corinthians 12:3 - 3 Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

Every one of these verses tells us that we are 100% powerless to come to Jesus without God leading us to Him. And how does He do that? Through the Holy Spirit.

Now, what sense would it make for the Holy Spirit to guide us to Jesus if we were unforgivable? He wouldn't. It's illogical. Instead, let's look at the mindset of those who (probably) HAVE committed this sin, or at least what their life becomes.



Romans 1:24 - Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.

Romans 1:26-32 - Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. 28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.



Now - obviously these verses are speaking of homosexual relationships, but ultimately, I have come to believe that this is what happens when someone commits the unforgivable sin. They lose all reason, and they have no desire to return to God. They essentially lose all moral reasoning, and have a seared conscience. The person is shutting the door - not God. He simply grants their wish.


2 Peter 3:9 - The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.


He doesn't want ANYONE to be excluded from the Kingdom, but His commitment to allowing our free will gives us the opportunity to say no to Him. This leads to the idea that Hell is locked – but from the inside.

And at the end of the day, the unforgivable sin is either 1. a verbal curse (which ultimately comes from contempt for them) that essentially rejects the Holy Spirit, which really rejects all three, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 2. walking so far away from God that we can't hear His voice any longer.

Picture yourself standing still, and you are talking to someone who is walking away from you. The person keeps moving, but you stand still. Eventually, that person is going to get out of range, where they can't hear you anymore. If you have fear of God in any way, shape, or form, you can still hear Him. And I believe that God can USE this fear of being unforgivable to get your attention, but once you return to Him, those fears should prove to be illogical.

Jesus refers to Satan with the nickname "The Accuser". Satan will do everything in his power to convince you that you are too far gone. So, this fear is irrational, but God can still use it for good.

Genesis 50:20 - As for you, what you intended against me for evil, God intended for good.

There is a bit more that I could share, but I can tell you that logically, I now know that it is literally impossible for me, or any other genuine Christian who wants to please God, to commit this unpardonable sin. The way that I overcame this a few years ago, was by writing the verses above and different events to prove that the Holy Spirit was active in my life, over and over again. It was like writing sentences in school when we got in trouble. It begins to sink in.

Think about it this way. The verses above (and there are many others), tell us the promises of God, and we tend to read one sentence out of context and assume that it applies to us, when it doesn't but the many do.

So back to this cycle. For me - it starts with a fear or a doubt of my salvation. My mind will repeatedly go back to a particular sin, or even several, to convince me that I'm lost, and can't be saved. When I use the verses above or this one:

1 John 1:19 - If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

All. Not some. Not a little bit. Not most. All.

So when I use these verses, I start to feel at peace, and then the other part of the cycle begins again. My mind is flooded, yet again, with blasphemous thoughts. I have coping mechanisms, by shaking my head, or just using Jesus' name, and sometimes they help, but at other times it feels like it just perpetuates them and makes them worse.

So why does this happen? Because your enemy, your accuser, and the deceiver is desperate. As humans, there is a healthy pride that we have that keeps us from kicking people when they are down. Your enemy doesn't share this healthy pride. No. He is a coward, and believe it or not, he is afraid of you. Why? Because you are a threat to him. And if he can get you to doubt your salvation, you may fall into despair, give up, or at the very least, not be the light that God has called you to be.

Now, as I finish this forever long post, I can tell you that again, like a sucker punch, the enemy came and hit me from behind with this fear - yet again a few weeks ago. In the last 2 years, I have taught lessons on this, and felt that I had overcome it, and it returned. However, I can say that because of the practices that I learned to defeat it the last time, it is far less anxiety inducing, because I have trained my heart and my mind to reject the lies.

We can either believe the truth of the Bible, or the lies that Satan tells to twist them into meaning something they don't mean.

I would apologize for the length of the post, but one of the most comforting things that I have come across, are the details in the stories of others that match my own. YOU. ARE. NOT ALONE. Do not believe the enemy when he tells you that you are. He is the accuser. He is the deceiver.

I truly hope from the bottom of my heart that this helps. I want to use my testimony to help others who have been in the dark places that I have, as I feel that's what God is calling me to do.

So spend time in John 6, and write the key verses down over and over again until you believe them.

Your creator loves you dearly.




Long reply warning....

I'm a 38 year old pastor who grew up in the church. I don't remember how old I was when I heard about it, but it was probably around the age of 10. It was at a Bible Study at the church I grew up in, which was very small, and someone had mentioned the unforgivable sin, and the way that Jesus described it, and instantly, awful and vicious blasphemous thoughts flooded my brain, and fear flooded my heart.

For years I struggled with feeling terrified, and had no reason to believe that anyone felt like I did. I feared that if I verbalized what had gone through my head, that I would be committing the sin itself, and so therefore, I was alone. But I would have pockets of time - sometimes years - where it would go away for the most part, but it was still in the back of my mind.

I went to a Christian College, and two friends were discussing it, and seemingly concluded that it was essentially calling something that was good - bad. This stuck in my head for quite some time, and not long after, I found myself in a position where a thought popped into my head "if you do this, you will not enter the Kingdom".

For years this was like a plague, as I wrestled with the question of where that thought came from, and guilt because I had followed through with the action after hearing the thought go through my head.

Then I remembered my friends' conclusion that it was calling something that was good - bad, as I had considered the possible sources of the thought. I spent many sleepless nights trembling and when doing some research online, I came across a website that described this sin, and a somewhat comforting statement that "if you're afraid that you may have done it, you haven't." While that helped a little bit, it wasn't quite enough to conquer the fear.

This went on for years, and I would again, have pockets of time where it would go away slightly, and what I noticed (and still do today), is that when my fear that I have committed it in the past is overcome, the intrusive thoughts come through repeatedly. It tends to happen in cycles. I'll get to my conclusion on that matter momentarily.

I suffered with a certain kind of addiction that many people (mostly guys) have, and in the middle of acting out this addiction, the fear of this sin would haunt me, especially after I didn't stop when it went through my head. A few years ago, I had a nearly full-blown panic attack, which I probably should have been hospitalized for. And this was right after one of those pockets of peace. It came out of nowhere, a sucker punch. A past sin had come to mind and instantly I was seized with fear that, I couldn't be forgiven for it.

The twisting of the scriptures where this sin is mentioned are so easy to do. Many (myself included of course), misunderstand the context, or ignore it altogether. We assume that it is possible for a Christian to commit this sin, when it isn't. A good friend of mine reminded me that "if you're worried about it, you're fine". Again, this helped a little, but because I didn't understand why that was true, I had a hard time believing it.

Before we get there, let's remember the context. Jesus was talking to people who had just witnessed Him casting out a demon, and they hated Him so much, that they said the most preposterous thing they could think of. And He used plain logic to dispel that myth, that Satan couldn't drive himself out. Their hearts were so hardened toward Him, that they refused to believe that He was who He said He was, and nothing would change their minds. Furthermore, they had an audience. They weren't just thinking it to themselves, they were verbalizing it and trying to get people to believe it.

Key point, and this is incredibly important: it is extremely doubtful that when Jesus made this statement, they felt any fear at all. Why? Because they didn't believe in Him.

If you're afraid that you have committed the unforgivable sin, you haven't. Because I understand the meaning of certain verses now, I understand how and why this statement is true.

John 6:37 - All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.

John 6:44 - No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.

Romans 2:4 - Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

Titus 2:11-12 - For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.

1 Corinthians 12:3 - 3 Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

Every one of these verses tells us that we are 100% powerless to come to Jesus without God leading us to Him. And how does He do that? Through the Holy Spirit.

Now, what sense would it make for the Holy Spirit to guide us to Jesus if we were unforgivable? He wouldn't. It's illogical. Instead, let's look at the mindset of those who (probably) HAVE committed this sin, or at least what their life becomes.

Romans 1:24 - Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.

Romans 1:26-32 - Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. 28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

Now - obviously these verses are speaking of homosexual relationships, but ultimately, I have come to believe that this is what happens when someone commits the unforgivable sin. They lose all reason, and they have no desire to return to God. They essentially lose all moral reasoning, and have a seared conscience. The person is shutting the door - not God. He simply grants their wish.

2 Peter 3:9 - The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

He doesn't want ANYONE to be excluded from the Kingdom, but His commitment to allowing our free will gives us the opportunity to say no to Him. This leads to the idea that Hell is locked – but from the inside.

And at the end of the day, the unforgivable sin is either 1. a verbal curse (which ultimately comes from contempt for them) that essentially rejects the Holy Spirit, which really rejects all three, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 2. walking so far away from God that we can't hear His voice any longer.

Picture yourself standing still, and you are talking to someone who is walking away from you. The person keeps moving, but you stand still. Eventually, that person is going to get out of range, where they can't hear you anymore. If you have fear of God in any way, shape, or form, you can still hear Him. And I believe that God can USE this fear of being unforgivable to get your attention, but once you return to Him, those fears should prove to be illogical.

Jesus refers to Satan with the nickname "The Accuser". Satan will do everything in his power to convince you that you are too far gone. So, this fear is irrational, but God can still use it for good.

Genesis 50:20 - As for you, what you intended against me for evil, God intended for good.

There is a bit more that I could share, but I can tell you that logically, I now know that it is literally impossible for me, or any other genuine Christian who wants to please God, to commit this unpardonable sin. The way that I overcame this a few years ago, was by writing the verses above and different events to prove that the Holy Spirit was active in my life, over and over again. It was like writing sentences in school when we got in trouble. It begins to sink in.

Think about it this way. The verses above (and there are many others), tell us the promises of God, and we tend to read one sentence out of context and assume that it applies to us, when it doesn't but the many do.

So back to this cycle. For me - it starts with a fear or a doubt of my salvation. My mind will repeatedly go back to a particular sin, or even several, to convince me that I'm lost, and can't be saved. When I use the verses above or this one:

1 John 1:19 - If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

All. Not some. Not a little bit. Not most. All.

So when I use these verses, I start to feel at peace, and then the other part of the cycle begins again. My mind is flooded, yet again, with blasphemous thoughts. I have coping mechanisms, by shaking my head, or just using Jesus' name, and sometimes they help, but at other times it feels like it just perpetuates them and makes them worse.

So why does this happen? Because your enemy, your accuser, and the deceiver is desperate. As humans, there is a healthy pride that we have that keeps us from kicking people when they are down. Your enemy doesn't share this healthy pride. No. He is a coward, and believe it or not, he is afraid of you. Why? Because you are a threat to him. And if he can get you to doubt your salvation, you may fall into despair, give up, or at the very least, not be the light that God has called you to be.

Now, as I finish this forever long post, I can tell you that, like a sucker punch, the enemy came and hit me from behind with this fear - yet again a few weeks ago. In the last 2 years, I have taught lessons on this, and felt that I had overcome it, and it returned. However, I can say that because of the practices that I learned to defeat it the last time, it is far less anxiety inducing, because I have trained my heart and my mind to reject the lies.

We can either believe the truth of the Bible, or the lies that Satan tells to twist them into meaning something they don't mean.

I would apologize for the length of the post, but one of the most comforting things that I have come across, are the details in the stories of others that match my own. YOU. ARE. NOT ALONE. Do not believe the enemy when he tells you that you are. He is the accuser. He is the deceiver.

I truly hope from the bottom of my heart that this helps. I want to use my testimony to help others who have been in the dark places that I have, as I feel that's what God is calling me to do.

So spend time in John 6, and write the key verses down over and over again until you believe them.

Your creator loves you dearly.

So do you still struggle with it? Even after many years? I struggle with the same thing and I just want it to be over. I don't want to worry about this anymore. It's tormenting me and I can't get it to stop. I want to believe that what you said is true, but in my mind I can't help but think "what if that's not true?" "What if he's wrong?"