It wasn’t the topic. Patience was the topic. Including the etymology of the word “patient” for folks being treated by medical practitioners. But… here is my epiphany.

There is a verse in the Bible that says that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is an unforgivable sin (Matthew 12:31).

Many people argue what this verse means. They argue that any time you don’t recognize the Holy Spirit, when it is the Holy Spirit, that you have committed an unforgivable sin and so will go to Hell. (I will go to Hell under that description.)

But today the preacher read a verse from Timothy (I Timothy 1:13) in which Paul said that he was once a blasphemer. That word is a very specialized usage and I don’t think Paul would misuse it. And obviously no one I know would say Paul was going to Hell.

So, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit has to mean something other than what I’ve been taught.

And I thought, what is the one thing God doesn’t forgive? What is it God WON’T forgive? That is turning away from Jesus. You can do any other sin, but if you don’t accept Jesus as your savior, you don’t get him as a savior. So…

I think that blaspheming the Holy Spirit, whose job is to point us to Jesus, to teach us about Jesus, to comfort us during Jesus’ absence, is to not accept Jesus. And this is not a “at one point in time I didn’t accept Jesus.” Because if it were we would all be lost.

And God is not willing that any should perish.

So it must be an ultimate, final rejection of Jesus that is blasphemy against the Spirit.

And that makes sense.