{"id":600,"date":"2022-02-22T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-02-22T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/?p=600&2022"},"modified":"2022-02-17T17:01:50","modified_gmt":"2022-02-18T00:01:50","slug":"one-sin-stands-apart-matthew-12-22-37","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/one-sin-stands-apart-matthew-12-22-37\/","title":{"rendered":"One Sin Stands Apart: Matthew 12:22-37"},"content":{"rendered":"
Focus Passage: Matthew 12:22-37 (CEV)<\/div>
\r\n

22\u00a0<\/sup>Some people brought to Jesus a man who was blind and could not talk because he had a demon in him. Jesus healed the man, and then he was able to talk and see. 23\u00a0<\/sup>The crowds were so amazed that they asked, \u201cCould Jesus be the Son of David?\u201d<\/p>

24\u00a0<\/sup>When the Pharisees heard this, they said, \u201cHe forces out demons by the power of Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons!\u201d<\/p>

25\u00a0<\/sup>Jesus knew what they were thinking, and he said to them:<\/p>

Any kingdom where people fight each other will end up ruined. And a town or family that fights will soon destroy itself. 26\u00a0<\/sup>So if Satan fights against himself, how can his kingdom last? 27\u00a0<\/sup>If I use the power of Beelzebul to force out demons, whose power do your own followers use to force them out? Your followers are the ones who will judge you. 28\u00a0<\/sup>But when I force out demons by the power of God\u2019s Spirit, it proves that God\u2019s kingdom has already come to you. 29\u00a0<\/sup>How can anyone break into a strong man\u2019s house and steal his things, unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can take everything.<\/p>

30\u00a0<\/sup>If you are not on my side, you are against me. If you don\u2019t gather in the harvest with me, you scatter it. 31-32\u00a0<\/sup>I tell you that any sinful thing you do or say can be forgiven. Even if you speak against the Son of Man, you can be forgiven. But if you speak against the Holy Spirit, you can never be forgiven, either in this life or in the life to come.<\/p>

33\u00a0<\/sup>A good tree produces only good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. You can tell what a tree is like by the fruit it produces. 34\u00a0<\/sup>You are a bunch of evil snakes, so how can you say anything good? Your words show what is in your hearts. 35\u00a0<\/sup>Good people bring good things out of their hearts, but evil people bring evil things out of their hearts. 36\u00a0<\/sup>I promise you that on the day of judgment, everyone will have to account for every careless word they have spoken. 37\u00a0<\/sup>On that day they will be told that they are either innocent or guilty because of the things they have said.<\/p>\r\n

Read Matthew 12:22-37<\/a> in context and\/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!<\/p><\/div><\/div>\r\n

Of all the challenging concepts we can look at in Jesus\u2019 teaching, one concept stands out in my mind as probably the most challenging of all. Of all the warnings Jesus ever gave, one seems to top the list of being the most significant. And this concept and warning are included in this passage.<\/p>\r\n

In this passage, Jesus shares something we can never be forgiven for, and this seems very odd or backwards for a God who loves each of us so much that He would come and die for us while we were actively sinning against Him.<\/p>\r\n

But in three verses of our passage, Jesus shares a startling truth about something that we cannot be forgiven for. Jesus says, \u201cIf you are not on my side, you are against me. If you don\u2019t gather in the harvest with me, you scatter it. I tell you that any sinful thing you do or say can be forgiven. Even if you speak against the Son of Man, you can be forgiven. But if you speak against the Holy Spirit, you can never be forgiven, either in this life or in the life to come.<\/strong>\u201d (v. 30-32)<\/p>\r\n

Like I opened by saying, the extreme nature of this warning makes it one that we all should pay attention to. If there is something we can do that we will never be forgiven for, it would be worth us discovering what it is so that we can avoid even coming close to it.<\/em><\/p>\r\n

In this passage, we see two clear sides: Those who are on Jesus\u2019 side, gathering in the harvest; and those who are against Him, who are not gathering the harvest \u2013 making them part of a group that scatters it.<\/p>\r\n

And immediately after setting the stage Jesus says, \u201cany sinful thing you do or say can be forgiven. Even if you speak against the Son of Man, you can be forgiven.<\/strong>\u201d The side we are on is not set in stone. We are free to choose to move away from Jesus like we are free to move towards Him. Jesus starts by saying that there is nothing we can do or say that cannot be forgiven. Even the Pilate, the crowd demanding crucifixion, the chief priests, and everyone else involved in Jesus\u2019 death is eligible to be forgiven.<\/p>\r\n

But Mark\u2019s gospel shares with us why Jesus said this: \u201cJesus said this because the people were saying that he had an evil spirit in him.<\/strong>\u201d (Mark 3:30) <\/p>\r\n

Mark helps us frame Jesus\u2019 statement, and it gives a clear direction for us to understand what Jesus is warning here. Jesus is pointing us to be careful about discounting what God is doing in people\u2019s lives. <\/strong>Sure we can discount Jesus, and many people do, but if we are skeptical of the Holy Spirit and how He is moving in people\u2019s lives, we are unlikely to accept Him moving in our own life. Without the Holy Spirit to draw us to Jesus, we can never be saved.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Any word we say or action we do can be forgiven, but if we place ourselves on the opposite side of the Holy Spirit, we can never be forgiven because we will have ultimately rejected God and His Spirit drawing us to repent. By rejecting the Holy Spirit, we are rejecting the only thing that can draw us to realize our need for God.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus<\/strong> \u201cReflective Bible Study\u201d package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here<\/a> and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!<\/em><\/p>

Subscribe<\/a> to this blog and never miss an insight.<\/em><\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Of all the challenging concepts we can look at in Jesus\u2019 teaching, one concept stands out in my mind as probably the most challenging of all. Of all the warnings Jesus ever gave, one seems to top the list of being the most significant. And this concept and warning are included in this passage. In […]","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-text"],"nelio_content":{"autoShareEndMode":"never","automationSources":{"useCustomSentences":false,"customSentences":[]},"efiAlt":"","efiUrl":"","followers":[],"highlights":[],"isAutoShareEnabled":false,"networkImageIds":[],"permalinkQueryArgs":[],"series":[],"suggestedReferences":[]},"yoast_head":"\nOne Sin Stands Apart: Matthew 12:22-37 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/one-sin-stands-apart-matthew-12-22-37\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"One Sin Stands Apart: Matthew 12:22-37 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Of all the challenging concepts we can look at in Jesus\u2019 teaching, one concept stands out in my mind as probably the most challenging of all. Of all the warnings Jesus ever gave, one seems to top the list of being the most significant. And this concept and warning are included in this passage. In […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/one-sin-stands-apart-matthew-12-22-37\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/reflectivebiblestudy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-02-22T10:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cam\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@godstruthhisway\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@godstruthhisway\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/one-sin-stands-apart-matthew-12-22-37\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/one-sin-stands-apart-matthew-12-22-37\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Cam\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3\"},\"headline\":\"One Sin Stands Apart: Matthew 12:22-37\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-22T10:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/one-sin-stands-apart-matthew-12-22-37\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1001,\"articleSection\":[\"Written Journal Entries\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/one-sin-stands-apart-matthew-12-22-37\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/one-sin-stands-apart-matthew-12-22-37\\\/\",\"name\":\"One Sin Stands Apart: Matthew 12:22-37 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-22T10:00:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/one-sin-stands-apart-matthew-12-22-37\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/one-sin-stands-apart-matthew-12-22-37\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/one-sin-stands-apart-matthew-12-22-37\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"One Sin Stands Apart: Matthew 12:22-37\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/\",\"name\":\"Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\",\"description\":\"Your Life. God's Truth. His Way.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3\",\"name\":\"Cam\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/avatars\\\/2\\\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/avatars\\\/2\\\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/avatars\\\/2\\\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Cam\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"One Sin Stands Apart: Matthew 12:22-37 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/one-sin-stands-apart-matthew-12-22-37\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"One Sin Stands Apart: Matthew 12:22-37 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","og_description":"Of all the challenging concepts we can look at in Jesus\u2019 teaching, one concept stands out in my mind as probably the most challenging of all. Of all the warnings Jesus ever gave, one seems to top the list of being the most significant. And this concept and warning are included in this passage. In […]","og_url":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/one-sin-stands-apart-matthew-12-22-37\/","og_site_name":"Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/reflectivebiblestudy\/","article_published_time":"2022-02-22T10:00:00+00:00","author":"Cam","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@godstruthhisway","twitter_site":"@godstruthhisway","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/one-sin-stands-apart-matthew-12-22-37\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/one-sin-stands-apart-matthew-12-22-37\/"},"author":{"name":"Cam","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#\/schema\/person\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3"},"headline":"One Sin Stands Apart: Matthew 12:22-37","datePublished":"2022-02-22T10:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/one-sin-stands-apart-matthew-12-22-37\/"},"wordCount":1001,"articleSection":["Written Journal Entries"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/one-sin-stands-apart-matthew-12-22-37\/","url":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/one-sin-stands-apart-matthew-12-22-37\/","name":"One Sin Stands Apart: Matthew 12:22-37 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-02-22T10:00:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#\/schema\/person\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/one-sin-stands-apart-matthew-12-22-37\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/one-sin-stands-apart-matthew-12-22-37\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/one-sin-stands-apart-matthew-12-22-37\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"One Sin Stands Apart: Matthew 12:22-37"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#website","url":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/","name":"Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","description":"Your Life. God's Truth. His Way.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#\/schema\/person\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3","name":"Cam","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-content\/uploads\/avatars\/2\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg","url":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-content\/uploads\/avatars\/2\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-content\/uploads\/avatars\/2\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg","caption":"Cam"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=600"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}