PREVENIENT GRACE
John 16:5-15 Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are your going?’
Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment; in regard to sin because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.
This passage is the reason why I believe that the rejection of the Holy Spirit is the unforgivable sin. The unforgivable sin is first mentioned in Matthew 12:32. It says, “Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.” The sacrificed blood of Jesus can bring the forgiveness of any sin no matter how small or great it may be. He will cleanse us of just one if that is all we have ever sinned, or he will cleans the most imaginable. Regarding Jesus forgiveness, Romans 55:20 says, “But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” It is hard for me to comprehend how such great love, mercy and grace could be offered in such a glorious way. We are all so undeserving, yet it is God’s great pleasure and joy to do this for us. All we have to do is ask for it. We don't have to do good works, bring sacrifices to make up for the damage we have done, or to punish ourselves. Our forgiveness and reconciliation with God comes as a gift from Jesus. He wants all to receive this, but he respects our free will and it is up to us to want it.
God does realize that in our inherited carnal state of rebellion called the carnal nature, we stand in need of help just recognizing our need of forgiveness from God. This is why God sends us the Holy Spirit in what is called prevenient grace. It is God showing us unasked for grace, just so we might understand our great need of forgiveness and reconciliations with God. It is this prevenient grace that we see Jesus referring to in John 16:5-15.
The Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin, and the sin of the world. Romans 3:23 say, “for all have sinned and fallen short the glory of God.” Not one person that has ever lived with the exception of Jesus has sinned many times. Sin is disobedience to God. We can sin by doing what God said not to do, or we can sin by not doing what he said to do. The greatest commandment is the one that everyone sins the most, and that is to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. There is not one person on earth today or ever has, with the exception of Jesus, has loved God as he deserves to beloved. After this it is just down hill regarding sin. We all know it. Our conscious pulls at us like Scrooge's long heavy chain. And the terrible thing is is that we can not get rid of it on our own.
Next the Holy Spirit convicts us of the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Jesus lived his entire life on earth and never sinned once. I Peter 2:22 points out, “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” Jesus lived the life that every single person should have lived for God’s glory. No one will be able to stand before God and could say that it was an impossible life to live. Jesus lived a righteous, holy life! And because he lived that righteous holy life and was infinite in his righteousness and holiness I Peter 2:23,24, is true, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.”
The Holy Spirit also convicts us of God’s judgment. Even Satan and the other fallen angels will have to experience God’s judgment. Hebrews 10:31 says, “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” The Almighty God that has created all things and holds the oceans in the palms of his hands, and the earth is but a footstool for him. He will judge in righteousness and holiness. He will not wink at sin or show favoritism. All who stand before him will have no hope of resisting his judgment. No one will be able to escape the torment of hell. The only means to avoid God’s just punishment for all of us is to receive forgiveness and reconciliation through having faith in the grace of Jesus’ atonement. Only by asking Jesus to forgive us of our sins can anyone find eternal life with him in heaven. Jesus even said himself that no one can to the the Father but by him.
If we reject the Holy Spirit’s call for repentance through Jesus, we will have cut ourselves off of any way to be reconciled to God. We will have committed the unforgivable sin. Hebrews 10:29-30 says, “How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, ‘The Lord will judge his people.’”
No one has to go to hell for all eternity. All we have to do is ask Jesus to forgive us of our sins, and to come into our heart. It is so easy that a child can do it. Both of our children did it when they were three, and so did our grandchildren. It is certainly not a difficult thing to do. But the longer we resist the Holy Spirit the more difficult it becomes, because we harden our heart.
A long time ago I cut an article out of a magazine that points this out. It say regarding the diminishing age of salvation to be:
Nineteen out of every twenty who become Christians do so before they reach the age of twenty-five.
After 25 only 1 in 10,000
After 35 only 1 in 50,000
After 45 only 1 in 200,000
After 55 only 1 in 300,000
After 65 only 1 in 500,000
After 75 only 1 in 700,000
Have you received Jesus as your Lord and Savior? If you haven’t today may be your last chance. The Day of Salvation quickly vanishes once we have hardened our heart against the Holy Spirit. All you have to do is ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins and to come into your heart. Won’t you do it right now if you have never do it before.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for providing our forgiveness and reconciliation with the Godhead. Thank you Holy Spirit for being so patient with us,and not giving up on us by helping us to become Christians. We love you Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit and Heavenly Father!
