Luke 12:8-12 Confession and Denial
Turn with me in your Bibles to Luke 12:8-12, page 871 in the pew Bibles.
We are going to look at a small passage in the Gospel of Luke that has prompted some big questions.
I want to make sure that we do not miss the forest for the trees in this passage and focus solely on the big question that I’m sure will pop up in your minds as we read the text.
Last week we dealt with the difficulty of the fear of man and the temptation we all face of being forced into silence because we are afraid of what people might think, or say, or do. But we were reminded by Jesus of our great value in the Father’s sight and that He cares deeply for us.
This passage for today follows closely on the heels of those thoughts thematically just as it follows them in Luke’s Gospel.
Let’s look at it together.
8 “And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, 9 but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. 10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. 11 And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”
Let’s pray.
At first glance it may seem that this idea of acknowledging, or confessing Jesus before others is a merely outward exercise, but this is truly heart level stuff.
A courageous confession of Christ is not a mere outward confession of the mouth but a genuine and consistent confession of the whole life.
Jesus warned His disciples back in verse 4 not to fear those who only had power over the body. Fear of those people leads to silence when it comes to confessing Jesus but He tells us here in verse 8 that there is a great reward for confessing Him before mankind, that He will confess us before the angels.
But there is also a warning for those that deny Christ: that he will deny them before the angels of God.
Jesus is clearly speaking of the final judgment.
Matthew 25:31-46 says,
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Acknowledging Jesus before men is not a mere confession of the mouth but a genuine and consistent confession of the whole life. Donald Miller wrote, “What we believe isn’t what we say we believe, what we believe is what we do.”
Saying that Jesus is Lord is one thing, living as if God raised Him from the dead and He is Lord is something else entirely. That’s what it means to acknowledge Jesus before men.
The opposite is also true, saying that Jesus is Lord, yet living as if He isn’t is just as much a denial of the risen Lord as if we were to say that Jesus isn’t real and is not alive. And the result when people deny Jesus with their lives is that He will deny them before the angels in heaven and say, “depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
And with that happy thought we come to the question that popped up into your minds as we read our text for today: what is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, what is the unforgivable sin?
10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
This is a question that has been troubling the minds of believers ever since the day Jesus first said these words. What is this unforgivable sin and have I committed it?
First, Jesus said anyone who speaks a word against Him would be forgiven.
Why is it ok to blaspheme Jesus but not the Holy Spirit?
Well, first of all, it’s not. Blasphemy is a sin in either case.
Blasphemy means to speak against someone in such a way as to harm or injure his or her reputation—‘to revile, to defame, to slander.’
But why is defaming Jesus forgivable and defaming the Holy Spirit not forgivable.
When Jesus was being crucified, the ultimate act of blasphemy, He asked the Father to forgive those who were doing it. Do you remember why? They didn’t know what they were doing.
Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is a conscious denial of the power, presence, and work of the Holy Spirit after experiencing it personally.
John Calvin wrote, “Those only are blasphemers against the Spirit who slander His gifts and power contrary to the conviction of their own mind.”
Meaning, they are convicted by the Holy Spirit that Jesus is Lord but still reject Him.
Jesus asked forgiveness of those who were crucifying Him because they didn’t know what they were doing. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, on the other hand, is an educated act, a willful denial against what a person has known and seen and felt personally.
If the true confession of Christ is our rubric for judgment, it makes sense then that a denial of Christ once enlightened by the Holy Spirit would be unforgivable.
Craig Blomberg wrote, “Professing believers who fear that they have committed the unforgivable sin demonstrate a concern for their spiritual welfare which by definition proves that they have not committed it.”
Kenneth Berding said, “Whatever resides in people’s hearts begins to show up in how people live and speak… What is at issue is not just a word passing over someone’s lips, but a more fundamental posture of despising what God has revealed.”
And finally, verses 11-12.
11 And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”
Jesus knew very well what awaited His disciples. He didn’t say, “if,” but, “when.”
When you are dragged in front of these authorities to answer for your faith in me, don’t worry about what you should say, the Holy Spirit will teach you what to say in that moment.
This is part of the continuing work of the Holy Spirit. He continues to teach us what we should say in defense of our faith. It’s the Holy Spirit that fuels our confession of Christ in the world.
He provides us the opportunities to speak the truth of the gospel. He gives us the words to say. He softens and convicts the hearts of the hearers. He gives us a defense when we are accused. He has given us the Bible and preserved it so that we can learn and grow as disciples of Jesus and know Him better.
Whom have we to fear if the Spirit that hovered over the waters at creation is the very same Spirit that lives in our hearts by faith in Jesus Christ? He is the Giver of good gifts and the Empowerer of genuine, consistent confession of our whole lives.
Let’s agree with the Apostle Paul from Romans 8…
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Amen.
