The Unpardonable Sin
Matthew 12:31-32
31 “Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. 32 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.[1]
We have all, at some time or another, wondered if we have committed this unpardonable sin. Most of our wonder and concern comes from not truly knowing what it means to blaspheme the Holy Spirit. So, let’s do our best to define it now. The word blasphemy, according to the Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary is partly defined; “ In the biblical context blasphemy is an attitude of disrespect that finds expression in an act directed against the character of God.”[2] There are several ideas of what blaspheming the Holy Spirit truly means. One of the most common misconceptions is that it means if we cuss or use the Lord’s name in vain. This definition should debunk this idea.
Another thought is that this sin can only take place during the time it was spoken. This means that the actual act of blaspheming the Holy Spirit could have only taken place during the time of Christ. This actual account is a time of Jesus speaking to the Pharisees and the Sadducees and they have attributed His abilities to Satan. This idea is explained in the Bible Knowledge Commentary. This is what it has to say concerning this sin; “The nation, because of its leaders, was on the brink of making a decision that would bring irreversible consequences. They were about to attribute incorrectly to Satan the power of the Holy Spirit exercised through Jesus and thus to commit the blasphemy against the Spirit. This specific sin cannot be reproduced today, for it required Jesus’ presence on earth with His performing miracles through the Spirit’s power.”[3] This idea is true, but Scripture usually has a practical application for its readers. This is my reason for thinking that we can still commit this sin.
The New American Commentary has this to say about this sin; “ Even if all the details are unclear, we should observe that in this text only Jesus’ enemies are in any danger—those who have never professed any allegiance to him and, at least in the pages of Scripture, never do. Instead, they intensify their opposition to the point of crucifying him. Probably blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is nothing more or less than the unrelenting rejection of his advances.”[4] This seems like the logical application for us today. If we continually reject the work of the Holy Spirit, we will never reach a point where we profess Jesus Christ as Lord. That is what makes this sin unpardonable. If we do not profess Jesus as Lord, we cannot be saved. John 14:6 says; “6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”[5]
So, if we continue to ignore the Holy Spirit we cannot be pardoned. I am glad to tell everyone reading this blog; I have indeed been pardoned. Jesus Christ is the Son of Christ and He shed His blood to pardon me. You too can be saved if you profess Jesus as Lord. If this is something you would like to talk about leave a comment. If there are questions you have about this post, please leave a comment and we will address these concerns.
In Christ,
James
[1] The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Mt 12:31–32.
[2] Jerry M. Henry, “Blasphemy,” ed. Chad Brand et al., Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2003), 222.
[3] Louis A. Barbieri, Jr., “Matthew,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 47.
[4] Craig Blomberg, Matthew, vol. 22, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992), 204.
[5] The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Jn 14:6.