Lesson 10: Confidence in God’s Salvation (4)
Read Matthew 12:12-32 - https://www.bible.com/bible/59/mat.12

Look at one more story in the Bible with me on the question of salvation. We go to Matthew 9 and read the story of the paralytic who was brought to Jesus and let down through the roof so He could heal him. The first thing Jesus did was to forgive his sin. Then He made it possible for him to walk. Jesus asked the unbelievers to tell Him which phrase was more difficult to say, "your sins are forgiven" or "rise up and walk." Jesus did not ask them which action was more difficult to perform, He asked them which phrase was harder to speak. In our salvation, we need to understand salvation the same way – is it harder for Jesus to keep us than it was for Him to save us? Are the sins we commit now more evil than what we committed before we were saved? Of course the answer is no. We need to simply walk in the security of our salvation by faith.


But you may ask, "What about the unpardonable sin?" Let's turn to Matthew 12 and study this episode more closely. Here again we need to understand Jewish culture to catch the full meaning of this story. The Jews had been looking for their Messiah for many years. They understood very well the passages which talked about the miracles He would do. When Jesus arrived on the scene the Pharisees and other religious leaders saw His miracles and chose not to believe. In this particular instance He had healed a man before their very eyes. They KNEW He was the Messiah. They CHOSE not to acknowledge Him as such, and then CHOSE to attribute His miracles to Satan rather than to God. The sin was not committed by a believer; it was committed by an unbeliever. This sin can never be committed by a believer. Many people, including most theologians, do not believe this sin can be committed today because Jesus is not here in person today to perform miracles in front of our eyes. An unbeliever today probably would not recognize a miracle if he saw one. However, there are documented cases of people who have known the truth, have come close to accepting the truth, have acknowledged the truth, and then have turned away to teach untruth – some of these people have died and there are those who believe these deaths were God's judgment for this very sin. In any case we must remember it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:31). We must not take salvation – or any sin against God – lightly.

*Read each of the following verses and write down how or where you see God working in your life or what your responsibility is right now:
2 Timothy 1:12
1 Peter 1:16
Galatians 5:22-23
Matthew 7:16-17
Hebrews 10:31