16th October 2021
SIN AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT
The good news that the church brings is that all can be saved. God wants all to be saved and to have access to the means of salvation. Salvation is made available to all by the great Love and Mercy of God. But God cannot save us without us; meaning, God is there to save us but he needs our openness to his Salvation. God respect our freedom and choice to accept or not the salvation.
Salvation is Trinitarian. Each Person of the triune God plays his own very important role for our salvation. God the Father has planned salvation since before the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8, Eph. 1:314). In other words, He controls all things He created and had plan to bring them into fulfillment.
Then, we have the incarnate Son of God, Jesus Christ. The Word took on flesh to execute and fulfill the Father’s plan through his death and resurrection.
Then all of this is done through the Power and work of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit’s role in our salvation is to convict us of sin and righteousness, grant us repentance, regenerate our hearts, make us beneficiaries of the spiritual blessings found in Christ, and open up the eyes of our heart to see the worthiness of Jesus (John 16:18, Titus 3:4-5, Eph. 1:3-14, Eph. 1:17-18). The Spirit is the One who helps us in our spiritual deadness and commits to changing us into the image of Jesus.
The Holy Spirit is very important for our salvation and even Jesus Christ Himself did everything for our salvation through the power of the Holy Spirit who dwells in Him. Therefore, we place ourselves in a very dangerous situation if we begin to reject the work and the help of the Holy Spirit and starting blaspheming Him. Jesus is very clear that all sin is forgivable apart from the sin against the Holy Spirit which will never be forgiven (Mk3:28-30)”.
But what is sin against the Holy Spirit? What is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit?
The term blasphemy may be generally defined as defiant irreverence. The term can be applied to such sins as cursing God or willfully degrading things relating to God. Blasphemy is also attributing some evil to God or denying Him some good that we should attribute to Him.
Pope Saint Pius X taught in his Catechism that there are six elements of this sin against the Holy Spirit:
Despairing of salvation. This is when a person loses hope of salvation, judging that there is no possibility of being saved; not believing in God’s justice and power to save all.
Presumption of salvation; which is about the person who exalts his own perfection. He believes that his salvation has already been guaranteed to him by the good things he has done.
Denying the truth who is Jesus Christ Himself as the Son of God. The person refuses the church teaching about Jesus Christ thinking that his personal understanding is greater than the one of the Church.
Envying the grace that God gives to other people; this is about revolting against the Divine Will and against the law of love for neighbor.
Obstinacy in sin is the firm will to continue in sin and separates himself from God’s will that leads to the rejection of salvation.
Final impenitence. This is when a person persists in error until the very end even at the hour of death. He doesn’t open himself to the Holy Spirit’s invitation.
Let us be aware of the Holy Spirit and Honor Him as the Gift and the Power of the glorified Christ given to us.
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