IN OR OUT?

“‘But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin’— because they were saying, ‘He has an unclean spirit.’” (Mark 3:28 HCSB)

As kids we would sometimes run in and out of the house—chasing each other, yelling, and slamming doors. Inevitably Mom would scream, “In or out! You’ve got to get in or out!” She had enough.

So, it is concerning receiving or rejecting Christ. We are either in or out and there is no neutral ground. We can see both perspectives in this passage of Scripture. We begin by looking at those that are outside—those without Christ.

Consider that there is A REJECTION THAT IS UNPARDONABLE.

“Then He went home, and the crowd gathered again so that they were not even able to eat. When His family heard this, they set out to restrain Him, because they said, ‘He’s out of His mind.’ The scribes who had come down from Jerusalem said, ‘He has Beelzebul in Him!’ and, ‘He drives out demons by the ruler of the demons!’

So He summoned them and spoke to them in parables: ‘How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan rebels against himself and is divided, he cannot stand but is finished!

On the other hand, no one can enter a strong man’s house and rob his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he will rob his house. I assure you: people will be forgiven for all sins and whatever blasphemies they may blaspheme. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin’ — because they were saying, ‘He has an unclean spirit.’” (Mark 3:20-30)

Jesus was not accepted by His own family. According to these verses, they thought He was out of His mind. That was a sinful rejection, but not unpardonable. Later, they would come to trust in Him after His resurrection. Their later reception of Him showed they had not finally, fully rejected Him. But, there was another crowd that committed a sin that was unpardonable.

Notice THE HISTORICAL INCIDENT.

A text without the context is a pretext. We cannot know what this sin means today, if we don’t understand what it meant then. These religious leaders accuse Jesus of being in league with the devil—or as he is called here “Beelzebul.” That literally means, “the Lord of the flies.” The designation speaks of Satan’s corrupting influence. This would have been a horrible thing to say about anyone, but to say that about Jesus was unforgiveable!

Notice, the logical answer Christ gives. If he were in league with the devil, then He would be fighting against his own purposes in casting out demons. Such a house divided could not stand.

He goes on to explain how He was dealing with demonic powers. The strong man, He speaks of represents Satan. Jesus was binding the devil and spoiling his goods by releasing those in bondage to demons.

We should know that the church today has been given authority to drive away the demonic as well. We are the Body of Christ in this world, indwelt by His Spirit and are to do His deeds as He would if He were here. He is! He is in His church. We would make hell tremble, if we would but exercise this authority.

Then Jesus turns to the seriousness of the accusation. He tells them that their accusation is a pronouncement of their own doom. To hold to such a view of Christ is to forsake all hope.

What does this mean? From the historical incident, we draw out THE DOCTRINAL INTERPRETATION.

Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is a rejection of the Spirit’s testimony concerning Jesus Christ. That is a frightful thing to contemplate.

Many worry needlessly whether they have committed the unpardonable sin. They want to be saved and think they have gone too far. If you are concerned about it, you haven’t committed it!

It is quite possible that this sin cannot even be committed in the strictest sense today—as it dealt with a specific sin by a specific people during a specific era. Yet, even if we understand the teaching that way, there is still a warning.

Think about THE PRACTICAL IMPLICATION.

The Father sent His prophets to declare His message and call for repentance right through the time of John the Baptist—and they rejected that appeal. So, He sent His Son and they nailed Him to a cross. Then, Christ sent His Spirit and to reject His witness is to leave one without hope of forgiveness. The Father, Son and Spirit have spoken. There is no one else to come! It is the Holy Spirit who convinces and converts and if we refuse Him, we cannot be saved.

What sins will God forgive? Adultery, murder, blasphemy? Of course! Jesus died on the cross so we could be forgiven. But, to reject the Spirit’s witness to Him is to reject the cure.

Suppose you go to the doctor and he or she tells you that you have a terminal disease—if left untreated. But, the physician quickly goes on to say that there is a medicine to cure it. Now, suppose you won’t believe the doctor and you refuse that drug, was it the disease that killed you? No, it was rejecting the cure!

We all have a spiritually terminal disease called sin. But, there is a cure—Jesus Christ!

There is only one God, and we cannot know Him apart from a relationship with the Son, and we will not receive the Son unless we heed the call of the Holy Spirit. Today, if the Spirit is drawing you to confess your sins and receive Christ, then you have the opportunity. One day, the last opportunity comes—we do not know when. Hear and heed His voice while you have time. When you draw your last breath, if you haven’t prepared to meet God, it will then be too late.

In our out? There are those who are “out.” They have practiced A REJECTION THAT IS UNPARDONABLE. But, there are also those who are “in.” They have A RELATIONSHIP THAT IS UNPARALLELED.

“Then His mother and His brothers came, and standing outside, they sent word to Him and called Him. A crowd was sitting around Him and told Him, ‘Look, Your mother, Your brothers, and Your sisters are outside asking for You.’

He replied to them, ‘Who are My mother and My brothers?’ And looking about at those who were sitting in a circle around Him, He said, ‘Here are My mother and My brothers! Whoever does the will of God is My brother and sister and mother.’” (Mark 3:31-35)

His family is still seeking to take Him away. People call for Jesus to go with His kin. Look at His answer: He says that His family is made up of those who do the will of God.

Think about THE NATURE OF THIS RELATIONSHIP.

It is spiritual and not physical. We are not Christians because we are born into a Christian nation. We are not Christians because we are born into a Christian home. We are not Christians because we belong to a Christian church. It is by submission to the will of God that we enter the family of God.

So, that raises another question, “What does it mean to do the will of God?” Here is the simple answer Jesus gave:

“For this is the will of My Father: that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:40)

See how this is the opposite of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? The one who is “in” has had the Spirit open their eyes to see who Jesus is and they have then believed in Him and bowed to Him as Savior and Lord.

Peter tells us that God, “is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.” (2 Pet.3:9b). This is God’s will for you, but will you do that?

The Spirit will call you, but He will not coerce you. Jesus spoke of those who would not come to Him despite the Spirit’s testimony in the Word of God. Jesus said, “You pore over the Scriptures because you think you have eternal life in them, yet they testify about Me. And you are not willing to come to Me so that you may have life.” (John 5:39-40). It isn’t that they can’t come to Christ, but that they won’t come to Christ. If we come, He will not refuse us, and cast us out (John 6:37).

The reason for rejecting Christ rests solely on those who make that choice. It isn’t that God isn’t willing to save us, but that we are not willing to be saved. Listen to the broken heart of Jesus over those who spurn Him:

"Jerusalem, Jerusalem! She who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, yet you were not willing!" (Matthew 23:37)

He was willing to receive them, but they were not willing to believe in Him.

To receive Christ is to be born again. It is becoming a new person. We are born of the Spirit into the family of God.

Beyond the nature of this saving relationship, let me speak to THE NECESSITY OF THIS RELATIONSHIP.

Jesus warned that apart from this we cannot see the Kingdom of heaven. Flesh and blood cannot inherit that spiritual Kingdom. Only through a personal relationship with Jesus can we call God our Father, otherwise, Jesus said, we are of our father, the Devil!

So are you in or out? Are you headed for heaven or hell? It all hinges on how we respond to Jesus.