In Agreement

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

IN AGREEMENT

Luke 12:8-10

8 "I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God. 9 But he who disowns me before men will be disowned before the angels of God. 10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

NIV

Two great truths here which we need to explore. There is no question about this idea of whoever acknowledges Jesus before men that he will acknowledge us before the angels of God. There is also no question about the fact that those who do not acknowledge Jesus before men, or disown him will be disowned before the angels of God. But there is a consensus among some religious people and even some unreligious people that if God is a God of love then all people get to go to heaven, expect of course the most vial of evil men, like Hitler or John Wayne Gacy or the like. But the truth is a person has to acknowledge they have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior that he died on the cross for them, for their sin. They have to confess with their mouth and believe in their heart that God raised him from the grave. The fact is all people do not get to go to heaven, even some who claim they did righteous acts in his name. This word acknowledge is translated from the Greek word Homologeo which simply means, man word, or say the same thing, agree with, concede. This then comes down to much more than being religious or saying we are Christians.  It is saying we agree with everything Jesus said. It is saying we believe every word of the scripture, that each word is God-breathed and true. Therefore we agree that in order to get into heaven we must be born again. This is agreeing with, acknowledging Jesus before men, telling them we agree with Jesus. The second truth here is a little less cut and dried. There has been so much said about forgiveness and even the fact that if we say something nasty about Jesus before we come to repentance we will be forgiven, but we can never be forgiven if we say something nasty about the Holy Spirit. What is the difference between Jesus and the Holy Spirit that makes this speaking reproachfully, this railing at, this revile against the Holy Spirit unforgivable? It might seem right to consider what function both of them perform. Jesus is the truth, the light and the way. No one comes to the Father except through him. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. But the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ. Anyone who comes to repentance and acknowledges, or agrees with Jesus will be forgiven. The Holy Spirit has two functions. The first is to convict men of their sin and need for Jesus. Here is the truth of it. If we refuse, or speak against him, rail at his conviction, revile his attempts to convince us of our need to repent, we will not repent, nor acknowledge Jesus, agreeing with him and therefore will not be forgiven and see the kingdom of Heaven. There is also another truth in that once we have accepted Jesus, listening to the voice of the Spirit, he then leads us into all truth. If again we refuse the truth, revile against the truth, thus speaking against what the Holy Spirit is revealing to us, we might be in danger of becoming like those who Jesus said he never knew. This may be the reason for so many different interpretations of the scripture. Many are using the scripture for their own benefit, making the words say what they want them to say, rather than hearing the voice of the Spirit. It would seem imperative to be continually open to seeing the one truth for there is but one. As the truth is, there are not many paths to God, but only one, Jesus. It is also true there is only one truth, which is revealed by the Holy Spirit. It would seem that each denomination would claim they have the one truth, but they have differing opinions of what that truth is and therefore some have to be without the whole truth and that reason is because they have reviled, disagreed with, spoken against the Holy Spirit for he speaks only one truth. Harsh words yet when it comes down to us personally we have to see this  truth and not be in agreement  with men but with God, hearing the voice of the Spirit, repenting, acknowledging Jesus before men, and hearing the one truth as revealed by the Spirit. This one truth he speaks brings understanding as well as he brings fruit and gifts which we need to accept as well. By refusing to accept the gifts he brings is just another way of reviling against him. By refusing the fruit, we refuse the work he does in our lives and again that is reviling him, speaking against him. Our lives need to be available to all the Spirit reveals to us and does within us. We need to be in agreement with the Jesus and with the Holy Spirit.