"The Unforgivable Sin" What is it and what does it mean?
OPENING: Mark 3:28-30 (NIV)
SCENE-SETTER: This is a sensitive and soul-wrenching subject I chose to write on because for many years--even being saved--I took it literally. In my hundreds of church services I attended since circa 1997, I've never heard a message focused on this one (and I've heard the same one twice from the same pastor, in several services). Sure, I could have made an appointment with a pastor to discuss it or research it deeper online and offline, but I didn't. And if I didn't, others likely haven't, and that is why I present it as this month's message, as my soul is now convinced and at peace that the context of "blasphemy against the Holy Spirit," in the above opening verse, is about non-belief and rejection of Jesus Christ and His saving power.
Three verses in the Bible record Jesus saying that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is an eternal sin:
Matthew 12:31-32: "And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 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."
Mark 3:28-29: "Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.”
Luke 12:10: "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."
Fitting these definitions, the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade shows Dr. Jones Sr. slapped his son for "blasphemy" in a moment Indy disrespected the name of Jesus
Therefore, at face value, the above concludes that one can get mad at and curse Jesus and be forgiven, but to do the same against the Holy Spirit (the third member of the Godhead Trinity) means that person's eternity in hell is assured, beginning right at that moment, with no possibility of ever changing that fate
Mark 3:22,30: HOWEVER, notice that in the book of Mark, Jesus said this because the scribes said He has the unclean ("Beelzebub") spirit within Him to be able to cast out demons
The scribes weren't talking about or to the Holy Spirit, but to Jesus, so "blasphemy against the Holy Spirit" has a meaning other than cursing Him, in a moment in time
(John 14:25-26: Aside, during Jesus' earthly life, there was not yet a full understanding of the Holy Spirit, until Jesus told only His disciples that after His resurrection and ascension into Heaven, God the Father will send the Holy Spirit into the world as the "Helper")
To learn more about the distinct roles of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, visit my message --> "Is Jesus God?"
Throughout Jesus' public life, the religious leaders (scribes, Pharisees) had been hardening their hearts, to the point of no return (final, permanent disbelief):
They had seen His miracles
They had heard His teachings
They had witnessed His compassion
Acts 7:51: And Stephen, just before becoming the first martyr for Christ, testified of this pattern by Israel's people and their forefathers to constantly resist the Holy Sprit
So it stands to reason that the unforgivable sin occurs through a pattern--not a moment ... a direction--not a singular step -- of resisting the Holy Spirit
Proverbs 29:1: "He who is often rebuked, and hardens his neck, Will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy" echoes the similarity that this pattern, over time, will have no fix or redemption
Therefore, the unforgivable sin--"blasphemy against the Holy Spirit"--means "the sin of rejecting God and refusing His offer of forgiveness and new life in Jesus Christ. This alone is the unforgivable sin, because it means we are saying that the Holy Spirit’s witness about Jesus is a lie," per the Reverend Billy Graham1
John 3:17-18: When Jesus spoke to the Pharisee Nicodemus, he echoed to him the same words He said above in Matthew 12 about "...in this age or in the age to come": "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
"This age" is today (where the unbeliever is condemned already) and "the age to come" is where you will spend eternity -- either Heaven or Hell
The only way to break away from the unforgivable sin is to stop resisting the Holy Spirit and become saved (aka, "born again")
Once saved, then the Bible verses that state all sins can be forgiven applies: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)
CLOSER
The unforgivable sin, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, means continuously resisting the Holy Spirit until a person's mind is resolved to deny and reject God and His gift of salvation through Jesus Christ
If you "know of God" (which even Satan does) but do not know God (i.e., have a personal relationship with Him), you are lost and currently live the unforgiveable sin -- today (right now) is the day of salvation! (2 Corinthians 6:2)
To be condemned today and in the age to come means you will not find forgiveness on Judgment Day -- once you die, it is too late!
It is logical that preachers who offer the invitation to accept Christ and, through Him, all sins can be forgiven, is accurate because once you accept Him, you welcome the Holy Spirit within you, where the unforgivable sin no longer applies
