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42
S.D.A. Bible Commentary Vol. 5
a position where God had no power to reach their souls. No power
in any of God’s provisions to correct the erring can reach them....
To speak against Christ, charging His work to satanic agencies,
and attributing the manifestations of the Spirit to fanaticism, is not
of itself a damning sin, but the spirit that leads men to make these
assertions places them in a position of stubborn resistance, where
they cannot see spiritual light....
They think they are following sound reason, but they are follow-
ing another leader. They have placed themselves under the control of
a power which in their blindness they are wholly ignorant of. They
have resisted the only Spirit that could lead them, enlighten them,
save them. They are following in the path of guilt for which there
can be no forgiveness, in this life or in the life to come. Not that
any degree of guilt would exhaust the mercy of God, but because
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pride and persistent stubbornness leads them to do despite to the
Spirit of God, to occupy a place where no manifestation of the Spirit
can convince them of their error. They will not yield their stubborn
wills.
In this our day men have placed themselves where they are
wholly unable to fulfill the conditions of repentance and confession:
therefore they cannot find mercy and pardon. The sin of blasphemy
against the Holy Spirit does not lie in any sudden word or deed; it is
the firm, determined resistance of truth and evidence (
Manuscript
30, 1890
).
Sin Against the Holy Ghost
—No one need look upon the sin
against the Holy Ghost as something mysterious and indefinable.
The sin against the Holy Ghost is the sin of persistent refusal to
respond to the invitation to repent (
The Review and Herald, June 29,
1897
).
34-37
. See
EGW comment on Psalm 19:14
;
Isaiah 6:5-7
.
37. A Sanctified Tongue Needed
—Cease to dwell upon the
shortcomings of others. Keep the tongue sanctified unto God. Re-
frain from saying anything that might detract from the influence of
another; for by indulging in these words of criticism, you blaspheme
God’s holy name as verily as you would were you to swear....
We need especially to guard against having a tongue that is
sanctified to Satan. The tongue that God has given is to be used to
glorify Him in speech. Unless it is, we shall be standing directly in