Question
Hi Gramps,
If I got a prompting and did not follow these feelings, did I commit the unforgivable sin of denying the Holy Ghost? Or what does it mean exactly to sin against the Holy Ghost?
Julia
Answer
Julia,
It’s been my experience that one of the most important lessons that we need to learn in this life is how to tell the difference between the prompting of the Spirit and other thoughts and desires. If we denied the Holy Ghost by simply ignoring a prompting none of us would ever learn quickly enough to avoid being condemned.
To deny the Holy Ghost and come under this condemnation requires a bit more. It requires pretty much the total rejection of everything the Holy Ghost has taught a person, after they have been taught of Christ and His atonement; when the person can say “I know that Christ is the Savior and Redeemer” and then proceed to reject all of that.
We know Christ is able and willing to forgive, but that we must seek forgiveness for it to be given. I think this is the real key to understanding the “Unforgivable Sin.” If a person is capable of sincerely and truly seeking forgiveness, then they are not too far gone for Christ to save. It’s only those that have become so hardened and set in their ways that they will not turn to the Lord no matter what He might do, that they become ‘unforgivable.’
Gramps
