LIBERTY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
What is the unpardonable sin / unforgivable sin?
Submitted to Dr. James Sulfridge
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of
DSMN 500
Discipleship Ministries
By
Anthony Bean
The Spirit’s Role
The Holy Spirit is the one who causes spiritual growth to happen. Without him, you can’t
make someone grow any more than a farmer can make a crop grow. Spiritual maturity is a
divine work of God and a miracle to watch. What does the Spirit do in the lives of people that
affects their growth? First, the Spirit gives new life in Jesus. He is the one who opens our minds
and hearts to hear and respond to the gospel (1 Corinthians 2:12-13). As he brings God’s Word
to the heart of a wayward person, he also brings conviction of sin, righteous, and judgment
(John 16:8-11). He is the one that draws us to Christ, causes us to be born again, makes us new
on the inside, and places us into God’s family (John 6:44; 3:5-8; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 1
Corinthians 12:13). From beginning to end, the Spirit draws us and brings us into a relationship
with Christ.
Once a person is a believer, the Spirit’s job is not over; in fact, he’s just getting started.
The Spirit lives in every follower of Jesus (Romans 8:9-11). He actually takes us residence in our
lives (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). He leads us, teaches us, comforts us, and grows us to look more
and more like Christ (Romans 8:4; John 14:26; John 14:16; Titus 3:5-7). He helps us in our
weaknesses, guides us into truth, empowers us to serve God, gives us courage to tell others
about Christ, and produces lasting change in our lives (Micah 3:8; Romans 8:26; John 16:13;
Acts 1:8; Galatians 5:22-23). As we abide in Christ and keep in step with the Spirit, he works
through us to produce lasting spiritual fruit that will remain forever (John 15:4-5; Galatians
5:25; John 15:8). In reality, it is the Spirit who does the work of growing every believer toward
maturity and fruitful living. You may ask, “If that’s the case, then why don’t we see more people
fully mature and following Jesus?” The answer to that question lies in our part of the spiritual
growth process.
Our Role
While the Spirit does the work of growth on the inside of us, we must participate with
him. Paul told the believers in Philippi, “Work hard to show the results of your salvation,
obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and
the power to do what pleases him” (Philippians 2:12-13, NLT) The Spirit is the one who gives us
the power and the desire to please God; it is our job to work hard to obey God and revere him
in everything we do. The Spirit does his work, but we have work to do, too. So what’s our role?
First, we must live under the control of the Holy Spirit day-by-day and moment-by-
moment. Paul called this “walking in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16). We need to keep in step with
him and walk at his pace along the path he has for us. Imagine walking with a good friend along
a well-worn path. As you walk together there is fellowship, you talk about what’s on each
other’s heart, you share openly and freely, and you are both headed in the same direction. That
is what God wants with us. He wants to walk with us step-by-step through each day in constant
fellowship, leading us and directing our lives through his Spirit. Unfortunately, many people
don’t walk in fellowship with the Spirit like this, but everyone who has the Spirit living in them
has the choice to live in step with the Spirit.
Why? Some resist the Spirit’s direction. When the Spirit prompts them to speak, they stay
silent. When the Spirit prompts them to forgive, they hold on to the offense. When the Spirit
prompts them to act, they stay still. Disobeying the Spirit’s leading is called “quenching” the
Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19). Just as you quench a fire by pouring water on it, many people
quench the Spirit’s influence in their lives simply by disobeying him.
Another reason some fail to walk in the Spirit is by doing the things the Spirit warns them
not to do. If you begin to veer off road from God’s will, the Spirit will warn you, convict you, and
challenge you. But if you ignore the Spirit’s warnings and persist, you “grieve” the Spirit
(Ephesians 4:29-30).
Now imagine you have a friend who loves you and only wants God’s best for your life.
What would happen to that friendship if you constantly offended them and ignored their loving
direction in your life? That friendship would become distant. You wouldn’t know the personal
fellowship you had at first. That is what you are doing when you willfully refuse to disobey God.
Repeatedly quenching and grieving the Spirit virtually brings all spiritual growth to a screeching
halt. This is why so may never grow and never produce spiritual fruit in their life.
So our job is to keep in step with the Spirit and follow his lead and obey his promptings
(Galatians 5:25). In order to be used by him, we have to abide in Christ through prayer and
God’s Word, seek to obey all that Jesus has taught us in every part of our lives, and be busy
making disciples that make disciples (John 15:4; John 8:31; Matthew 28:18-20). It’s a beautiful
thing to watch the Spirit of God work with the people of God. That’s what I’ve tried to describe
here. When we do our part, we know that God always does his part, so what are we waiting
for?
Discipleship and the Holy Spirit
In recent issues of Knowing & Doing we have looked at Christ’s call to discipleship and at
the cost of discipleship. Understanding and embracing these truths is essential to becoming
true disciples of Jesus Christ. But knowing what we must do and even committing ourselves to
doing it, though necessary, is not sufficient.
We need power to live out our commitment. And if we lack it we will become
discouraged, then disillusioned, then settle into a life of spiritual mediocrity. This has happened
to many would-be followers of Jesus over the centuries.
Jesus tells us very clearly that the power to live as his disciple comes from the Holy Spirit.
With this assertion, no one who takes the Bible seriously, whether Protestant, Roman Catholic,
or Eastern Orthodox, would disagree.
But, for a variety of reasons, in many churches today there is a lack of clear, in-depth,
practical teaching about the person and work of the Holy Spirit in relation to discipleship. As a
result, many people struggle in their spiritual lives, and their discipleship is weak and anemic.
In a brief article it is impossible to give a full account of the work of the Spirit in
discipleship (the Christian life). What we can do, however, is look at some important truths
about the Spirit that will help us faithfully follow Jesus Christ.
Who or What Is the Holy Spirit?
We live in a culture that is significantly influenced by eastern religion, New Age thinking,
and other worldviews, all of which can confuse our understanding of the Holy Spirit and his
work. As these nonbiblical systems of thought have gained strength over the past fifty years,
there has been a corresponding decline in biblical literacy in the culture and the church.
As a result, many in the church today have very little understanding of the Bible and what
it teaches about the Holy Spirit. For example, it is not uncommon to hear professing believers
refer to the Holy Spirit as “it.” From this and other anecdotal evidence, it appears that many
people think of the Spirit as an impersonal force or power like “the Force” in Star Wars.
Because of the vague and erroneous ideas that many have about the Spirit, we need to begin
by briefly clarifying who the Holy Spirit is.
Although the Holy Spirit is quite prominent in the New Testament, that is not the case in
the Old Testament. He was present and active at creation, was active in inspiring the prophets
and anointed and empowered various leaders of Israel, including judges and kings.
However, he is not described as empowering the ordinary Israelite living under the Old
Covenant. And his Personhood is very much in the background, with his work often (but not
always) described in ways that suggest impersonal divine power or agency. This “low profile”
and involvement chiefly with the leadership in Israel is a major difference between the Holy
Spirit’s work in the Old Testament and New Testament.
The Holy Spirit begins to come out of the shadows so to speak in the New Testament. He
first causes the conception of the Messiah, then later anoints and empowers his ministry (Matt.
1:20–21; Luke 1:34–35, 3:21–22). Then at Pentecost he breaks forth in full intensity, launching,
empowering, and guiding the church and its mission.
This inaugurates the Age to Come, sometimes called the Age of the Spirit, which was
prophesied in Joel 2:28–32 and was announced by Peter at Pentecost. From this time forward,
all of God’s people—masters and servants, male and female, old and young—will receive the
Spirit, and “everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:21).1
In the fuller light of Jesus and the church, the Holy Spirit’s personhood and his crucial role
in the work of the kingdom and discipleship becomes evident. Jesus speaks most fully about the
Holy Spirit in John 14–16. In these chapters, we see that far from being an impersonal force, the
Spirit is a person, “another counselor” who takes Jesus’ place when he returns to the Father;
the Greek word for another means one of the same kind. The Spirit is a divine person just like
Jesus but, unlike Jesus, he has not become incarnate, taking on human nature and a physical
body.
Yet the Spirit carries on the work of Christ and makes him personally present to us in this
world. (Note the way the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of Christ in Romans 8:9–11.) In John,
Jesus goes on to say that he teaches, brings to remembrance (14:26), bears witness (15:26),
convicts (16:8), guides, hears, speaks, and declares the future (16:13).
This picture is further developed in Acts, where we read that the Spirit can be lied to (Acts
5:3–11), speaks (10:19; 11:12; 13:2; 21:11), and confers (“it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and
to us” [Acts 15:28]), and forbids (Acts 16:6). And in Paul’s epistles we read, “the Spirit
intercedes for us’ (Rom. 8:26), wills/decides (1 Cor. 12:11), can be experienced in fellowship (2
Cor. 13:14), can be grieved (Eph. 4:30), speaks (1 Tim. 4:1), and can be quenched (1 Thess.
5:19). In each instance, these are the actions of a personal being, not an impersonal force.
Clearly, the Holy Spirit is a divine person. And this divine person is the third person of the
Trinity, as is evident in a number of other places in the Scriptures, including the baptismal
formula of Matthew 28:19, “baptizing them in the name of the father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit,” and Paul’s benediction, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the
fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (2 Cor. 13:14). By including the Holy Spirit with God
the Father and Jesus the Son, the authors are making it very clear that the Spirit is also God.
Discovering that the Holy Spirit is not just an impersonal force but a divine person
dwelling within them has revolutionized the lives of many believers. If your understanding of
the Spirit has been a bit vague, ask God to give you clarity and study the passages above.
