In Jesus' efforts to reestablish the kingdom of heaven, he realized that the Pharisaic priesthood who controlled the synagogue would never acknowledge their misdeeds, and he increasingly found himself in opposition to them. As a result of the perversion of the Judaic doctrines that had been intentionally misinterpreted by the Pharisees to justify their actions and preserve their autonomy, Jesus openly disputed the law of Moses. The Pharisees, who had transformed the sacred writings into a law library, presided over the people of Israel in much the same way as lawyers do in the modern world.
Since they defined the law, they were in a position to bring charges against anyone they chose and find them guilty. Jesus countered the perversion of Judaic law by introducing a new law. The Pharisees, in an attempt to entrap Jesus in a violation of their legal system questioned him often. In one conversation a Pharisee asked Jesus, "Teacher, what is the greatest commandment in the law? Jesus said to him, Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. And the second is like to it, Love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang the law and the prophets." (Matthew 22:36-40)
These two commandments superseded the intricate legal arguments of the Pharisees and established the affirmative rules of human interaction. In the place of all the previous 'thou shall nots' that the Pharisees used to exert their authority, Jesus had only one. In pitting one legalism against another, Jesus mocked the law of the Pharisees in telling them that "he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven." (Luke 12:10) This law was, of course, one that all the Pharisees had broken. Having arrived at this point, I will summarize what it is that constitutes blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
1) Conspiring against and causing harm to those who have prophetic gifts,
2) Pretending that the human interpretation of sacred writings is equivalent to the knowledge and conversation of the Holy Spirit of Truth,
3) Misleading innocent people with false prophesy,
4) Standing in opposition to those who speak Words of Wisdom,
5) Standing in opposition to those who speak Words of Knowledge,
6) Standing in opposition to those able to Discern the True Spirit,
7) Standing in opposition to those who possess the Gift of Faith,
8) Standing in opposition to those who possess the Gift of Healing,
9) Standing in opposition to those who possess the Gift of the Working of Miracles,
10) Standing in opposition to those who possess the Gift of Prophesy,
11) Standing in opposition to those who possess the Gift of Diversity of Tongues,
12) Standing in opposition to those who possess the Gift of Interpretation of Tongues, and
13) Espousing philosophies that deny or in any way undermine the work of the Holy Spirit.
The great majority of modern Christian theologians teach the doctrine of cessationism. Cessationists teach that the gifts of the Holy Spirit ceased in the 1st century A.D. According to these learned seminarians, the gifts of the Holy Spirit just died out because they were no longer needed. Why would God need the Holy Spirit when he has human beings who possess the 'correct interpretation' of the bible? The history of the Western Church is the history of the opposition to the work of the Holy Spirit. From the time of the Edict of Milan (313 A.D.,) the miraculous work of the Holy Spirit has been ruthlessly suppressed in one wave of terror after the next. If blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is in fact the worst sin one can commit, as Jesus has said, then how are we to characterize Christian Churches that believe in cessationism? I found a wealth of information on cessationism and the history of the opposition of the Church to the work of the Holy Spirit on the Internet under the topic of cessationism. I also found William DeArteaga's book Quenching the Spirit to be a good resource. As for the current debate regarding the 'correct interpretation' of the bible, search the Internet for the topic of millennialism and read House Divided-The Break-Up of Dispensational Theology by Greg L. Bahnsen and Kenneth L. Gentry.
It is well established that the Western Church has stood in opposition to the work of the Holy Spirit since its inception. With that being the case, the Western Christian Churches that espouse cessationism cannot possibly be the true Church referred to in the bible as the Body of Christ. If the orthodox Church is not the Body of Christ, then where is it? In a conversation Jesus had with a Samaritan woman at a well, he said, "Believe me, the time is coming, when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will they worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; but we worship what we do know; for salvation is from the Jews. But the time is coming, and it is here when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father also desires worshipers such as these. For God is Spirit; and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." (John 4:21-24) In these three short verses, Jesus defines the identity of God, foretells a new form of worship, and defines the true worshipers as those who practice the new form of worship. It is reasonable to assume that those who practice the form of worship prophesied by Jesus would constitute the true Body of Christ.
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Copyright 2001 - All Rights Reserved - Revelator Harvey Martin