ANNOUNCER: Can believers today commit the unpardonable sin? And how can I be sure that my faith in Christ is the right kind of faith? Honest questions sent into our staff here at the Grace Evangelical Society.  And this program is called Grace In Focus. Thank you for joining us today. Our website is www.faithalone.org And there you can see information about a great event coming up in Kamaiah, Idaho, if you live in that area, or if you want to travel to that area. It is at the Grace Bible Church there in Kamaiah. Oh and the dates are July 19th through the 23rd. And it is a regional conference. So there will be a lot of teaching and a lot of recreation, a beautiful area of the country. So you should consider attending and that’s July 19th through the 23rd. To get more information about it at our website, www.faithalone.org/events. 

Now with today’s question and answer discussion here are Bob Wilkin and Sam Marr. 

SAM: All right Bob, we’ve got a question from one of our UK listeners. His name is David. He’s got two questions. For context, he says that he has listened to you and Zane Hodges and other GES YouTube videos. So he’s very familiar with your speaking and writing and stuff. His first question is, he said he’s worried that he might have committed the unforgivable sin earlier in his life and that now he can’t be forgiven for it. And so he’s worried that he is going to have lifelong rejection by Christ. So he wants us to give him some encouragement on that and clarify that Scripture for him. His second question, somewhat related. He wants to know how can I be sure that my faith is the biblical type of faith that will guarantee my eternal destiny with Jesus. So he’s having some struggle with assurance and this idea of genuine faith versus some other inferior kind of faith. 

BOB: Okay, so let me hit a couple of things. In the first one, let me assure you, David, that you have not committed the unforgivable sin. It’s interesting that you said something like you’re afraid you have now experienced lifelong rejection by Christ. What the unforgivable sin is, in my opinion, is lifelong rejection of Christ. It’s not Him rejecting you. It’s you rejecting Him. So we’ve got some articles at faithalone.org plus we’ve done other YouTube videos discussing this and audio discussing this, take a look at it. 

But I would say that nobody in the first century committed the unforgivable sin. Jesus didn’t say the people He was talking to had committed it. He just said they needed to beware lest they did commit it. They were attributing His works to the works of Satan. And yet even that wasn’t enough to say they’d already committed the unpardonable sin. I would say people can’t commit that today because Jesus isn’t here. But even if they could, it would mean lifelong rejection of Christ. Because remember John 3:16, whoever believes in Him? Okay, David, if you believe in Him, you have an everlasting life. You don’t need to have any doubts about whether you’ve committed some unforgiven sin in the past. 

Just the very fact that he’s asking that question and the fact that he has not yet found solace and assurance in the gospel of John makes me think that David may be one of those people who’s either obsessive compulsive or all the way to obsessive compulsive disorder. We get lots of calls and emails from people who have OCD. And these people will have assurance for a time and then they keep overthinking things and they go through doubts because their brain chemistry gets fouled up and then they go through doubts. A lot of people with OCD, if they’re not on medication, they’re not going to think clearly. Maybe David doesn’t have OCD. But if he does, I hope he’ll make sure he’s taking medicine and it takes it properly. 

But then the second part of it is he’s asking, how can I know? How does he put it? That my faith is the right kind of faith? 

SAM: That my faith is the biblical type of faith. 

BOB: Biblical type of faith. See, there’s a problem there, David. There is no biblical kind of faith. But you’re asking about is the object of faith, not the faith. For example, let’s say David believes that—who’s currently the prime minister of Great Britain? I think it’s Starmer, isn’t it? So if he believes that Starmer is the prime minister, does he have the right kind of biblical faith that Starmer is prime minister? No, nobody asked that question. How about this, David? Do you believe that Jesus was born in Bethlehem? Well, maybe you don’t have biblical faith, He was born in Bethlehem. There’s no such thing. Do you believe He died in the cross? Okay, if you do, then there’s no such thing about some special kind of faith. Do you believe He died in the cross for your sins? Again, there’s no kind of special faith. Faith is just that. It’s being convinced or persuaded. 

Part of the problem is, it sounds like David has been influenced by those preachers and teachers who say there’s two kinds of faith, saving faith and non-saving faith. 

SAM: Or genuine faith and fleeting.

BOB: Or spurious faith. And they say that the genuine kind is going to produce a lifetime of good works. But they will say that the spurious faith and the genuine faith both believe the same set of facts. Well, if that’s David’s concern, then what you need to do is just study the Scriptures. One passage I’d urge you to look at, David, is John 11:25-27. The word “believe” occurs a hundred times in John’s Gospel in the majority text, 99 times in the critical text. In John 11:25-27, those three verses, the word believe occurs four times, three times by the Lord Jesus and once by Martha. It’s real clear what is meant by faith in these verses and it’s not a kind of a special faith. So first read 11:25-26, Sam. 

SAM: “Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live, and whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” 

BOB: So what we would call verse 25 and the first half of verse 26 are propositions. 

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BOB: So what’s the first proposition, the one in verse 25? 

SAM: That whoever believes in Him, though he may die, he yet shall live. 

BOB: Okay. Now there’s two ways to understand that. That the one who believes in Him, though he may die physically, yet he will live physically. The other way to understand it is, the one who believes in Him, though he may die physically, yet he will live spiritually. Well, since Jesus has just said, I am the resurrection and the life, it makes sense that the last half of verse 25 explains what He means by “I am the resurrection.” He resurrects the believer who dies in Him. Now He’s also going to resurrect unbelievers, but He’s not talking here about a general resurrection. He’s talking about the glorification the believer experiences, like 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, or 1 Corinthians 15, “will be changed in the twinkling of an eye.” And so that’s the first proposition that the one who believes in him, though he may die, he’s going to live. We’re either convinced that is true or not. Now what’s the second proposition? 

SAM: That whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. 

BOB: Okay. Now this is a statement. If this is an explanation of “I am the life,” He’s saying, any living human being that believes in Jesus is never going to die spiritually. We know believers die physically, but they can’t die spiritually. So once they have everlasting life, they’ve always got it. Then what’s this question to Martha? 

SAM: Do you believe this? 

BOB: And what’s the “this?” 

SAM: What He said.

BOB: Those two propositions, right? Now her answer is it yes, no, or I don’t know? 

SAM: Yes, Lord. 

BOB: Okay. Yes, Lord. That’s a sufficient answer. In fact, yes, would have been a sufficient answer. Yes, Lord is a respectful, sufficient answer. But then she goes on and she doesn’t restate what Jesus said in her own words. Instead, what she does is explain why she believes it, read verse 27. 

SAM: “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who has come into the world.” 

BOB: Now notice, all scholars of the Gospel of John notice that to believe “that “Jesus is the Christ in Greek, that’s pisteuo hoti, is the same as believing “in” Jesus. In verse 25, Jesus spoke of the one who believes in Him, pisteuo eis. In verse 26, he talked about the one who lives and believes in Him, that’s pisteuo eis. But that’s the same as believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. And by the way, that’s found in the purpose statement of John’s Gospel in John 20:31, “These signs have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.” 

There’s no magic way, David, to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Either you believe that or you don’t. Now, “the Christ, the Son of God” doesn’t mean that he’s divine or that he’s simply the anointed one. It means what John 11:25 and 26 points out, that He’s the one that guarantees resurrection, glorification, and He guarantees everlasting life that can never be lost. That’s what it means. 

So there’s no way to believe wrongly. The only way to believe wrongly is to believe the wrong message. What most people teach today is that biblical faith is not faith at all. Instead, it’s turning from sins, committing your life to Christ, determining to obey Him and then following him the rest of your life. 

SAM: Belief is simple. His promise is simple. There’s not layers to kinds of faith. There’s not steps to salvation. It’s John 3:16, a child can understand what His promise was and what it means. It means you’re going to live with Him forever. So if you’re convinced that what He said is true in John 3:16 or John 11:25-27, the life is already yours. 

BOB: For some people, it may take one reading of the gospel of John and they’re going to get it. In fact, they may come to faith before they get to John 3. But other people may have to read through it multiple times. It doesn’t really matter how long it takes you. Just stay at it. Keep reading the Gospel of John prayerfully and it’ll click for you if you’re open. Because what’ll happen is God will open your eyes to see the truth and you’re going to get it. 

Great question, David. So glad to know that there are people in the United Kingdom that are paying attention to it. And in the meantime, let’s all keep grace in focus. 

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Now friend, we’re delighted that you joined us all this week Monday through Friday. Now it’s time for the weekend. We hope you have a great one and we are enthusiastic that you would join us again next week Monday through Friday for more Grace in Focus.