others will be denied before the angels of God.
There will be pardon for the one who criticizes the Son of Man, but there will be no pardon
for the one who slanders the Holy Spirit.
When you are brought before the synagogues, governors and rulers, don’t worry about how
you will defend yourself or what to say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you
have to say.”
Reflect
Sometimes we behave as though we can earn our way to heaven by doing the right things.
It lets us act as though our eternal destiny is in our control. But where is the space for God’s
grace in that kind of thinking? Sometimes it seems as though we believe that God just patiently
waits in heaven for us to figure out how to get there to be with him. Instead of placing our trust
in God, we place too much confidence in our own abilities.
It’s a hard truth to hear, but we can do nothing without God. On our own, we are powerless
against the forces of sin and death. We don’t like to admit that we are powerless. But our
faith in Christ allows us to rely fully on God’s grace to remove the sin in our hearts that
keeps us from him and from heaven. God reaches out to us with mercy and with grace.
We need only accept his gifts.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2023