“I tell you, whoever publicly acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God. 9 But whoever disowns me before others will be disowned before the angels of God. 10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. Luke 12.8-10
Jesus is speaking in spiritual terms. He’s talking about another dimension, a spiritual one in which God’s Kingdom runs parallel to ours. But it’s not a kingdom we readily see. We experience this kingdom, feel this kingdom and can choose to believe in this kingdom. But it’s not something we often talk about in our day to day interaction.
Jesus begins with the idea of “acknowledgment.“ He says, “whoever publicly acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God.” And in the same way, anyone who “disowns me before others will be disowned before the angels of God.” Now this is significant. It’s a matter of life and death, heaven and hell, temporal and eternal existence. If you admit or accept the existence of Jesus in front of others, he will recognize you before God and the angels. It sounds like a reasonable trade off! But if we disown Jesus, he will disown us.
And then he moves into a very difficult and controversial passage about blasphemy. It seems to contradict what he’s just be talking about. He says if anyone “speaks a word against the Son of Man” that person “will be forgiven.” (Doesn’t this contradict the prior acknowledgement teaching?) But anyone who blasphemes the Holy Spirit “will not be forgiven.”
A great website, Gotquestions.org has this to say about this topic: ”The unpardonable sin today is the state of continued unbelief. The Spirit currently convicts the unsaved world of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8). To resist that conviction and willfully remain unrepentant is to “blaspheme” the Spirit. There is no pardon, either in this age or in the age to come, for a person who rejects the Spirit’s promptings to trust in Jesus Christ and then dies in unbelief. The love of God is evident: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).“ [https://www.gotquestions.org/blasphemy-Holy-Spirit.html]
The best approach is to make Jesus the Lord of your life, reject sin, turn to the Father and ask the Holy Spirit to fill you. Acknowledge God before people and he will acknowledge you. Those who do not acknowledge him blaspheme against the Holy Spirit. There is, however, an opportunity for all people to come to faith for — “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him” (John 3:36).
When I was just a teenager I made a decision to acknowledge and accept Christ as Savior. Although I battle with my a willful disobedience and temptation to sin every day, I have a greater desire to love God above rebelling against him. I ddesire to be holy, loved, saved and become his light to a dark work. Choosing to follow Jesus is the best decision I have ever made.
Have you made this decision today? It not, will you pray these words so that Christ might live in you?
Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. In Your Name. Amen
“O Lord God, you are good. Thank you for acknowledging me so I might in turn acknowledge you. Thank you for prompting me, calling me, wooing me by your grace. Come now, Holy Spirit, and fill me with your power and love. Help me walk in obedience to you and communicate your love to a world deep in sin. For you are good and your love endures forever.” Amen