What sins are unpardonable? Can someone who commits such a sin be saved? What is the real meaning of this sin?
The unpardonable sin is the sin of blaspheming against the Holy Spirit. The devil is never idle; wherever the Holy Spirit is working, the devil is also working. Sometimes he stretches the truth of the Bible just a little in order to torment people. When the Holy Spirit is convicting a person of his sins, the devil will tell him, “You are a sinner, a great sinner, and even a unique sinner; you have committed the sin of blaspheming against the Holy Spirit. Therefore, you can never be forgiven.” Many people are afraid that they have committed the sin of blaspheming against the Holy Spirit. Let us first explain the meaning of this sin and then come to the conclusion that it is not possible for anyone to commit this sin today. We will first read Mark 3:28-30.
Verse 28 says, “Truly I say to you that all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they blaspheme.” This sounds like music! This is a most pleasant word! All the sins of the world and all the words of blasphemy may be forgiven. This is a great proclamation of the gospel! All the sins-including great sins, small sins, refined sins, gross sins, the sins which are humanly considered as pardonable, as well as those sins which are considered unpardonable, yesterday’s sins, today’s sins, even tomorrow’s sins-are included. Hallelujah! All sins are forgiven! Blasphemous words against God can be forgiven; even slander against the Lord can be forgiven. All the sins, that is, all our actions of conduct and all the blasphemous words spoken against God when we were unbelievers can all be forgiven. There is not one sin, not even a word of blasphemy, which cannot be forgiven. This is what the Lord says in this verse.
You should not think that you have committed the unpardonable sin. Saying something that offends God is not a blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Speaking something against Christ is not a blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. The only unpardonable sin is to blaspheme against the Holy Spirit, not against Christ. Quenching the Holy Spirit is not the same as blaspheming against the Holy Spirit; neither can rejecting the Holy Spirit nor resisting the Holy Spirit be considered a blasphemy against Him.
Verse 29 says, “But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit has no forgiveness forever, but is guilty of an everlasting sin.” It is clear that this is a unique and special sin.
What is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? It is to speak with one’s mouth things which blaspheme against the Holy Spirit. How can we know that this sin is a sin that involves words of the mouth? Please read verse 30: “He said this because they said, He has an unclean spirit.” This sin is not as easy to commit as many think today. In order to commit such a sin, a person must have clearly seen the Lord casting out demons and performing miracles and works of wonders by the Spirit of God when He was on earth. In spite of this knowledge, he would still have to insist on saying that the Lord Jesus was demon-possessed.
For a person to commit this sin, he must (1) see the Lord Jesus with his own eyes; (2) personally witness the Lord performing wonders and miracles among the people; (3) know clearly that this was the work of the Holy Spirit; and yet (4) still insist on saying that this is the work of demons. How can we commit the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit if we have not seen the Lord with our own eyes, have not personally seen Him performing wonders and miracles among us, and have not clearly known that those works were done by the Holy Spirit? We have neither the opportunity nor the possibility of committing this sin. If someone or even the devil says to us that we have committed the sin of blaspheming against the Holy Spirit and can never be forgiven, we can immediately answer that there is no such thing because we have not personally seen the Lord, His wonders, or His miracles. Moreover, we have not said that wonders and miracles were done by the devil while assuredly knowing that they were done by the Holy Spirit.
There was a newly saved brother who once asked an elderly brother, “Have I ever committed the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit?” The elderly brother answered it very well. He said, “If you can grieve for your sins, you have not committed the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.” This is really true. But we should add one more word: even if a person does not feel that he has sinned, he still cannot be described as having committed the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
Let us see how the Gospel of Matthew records this matter. “And whoever 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, neither in this age nor in the one to come” (12:32). These are words spoken by the Lord to the Jews who had committed the sin recorded in this chapter. They clearly saw that the Lord cast out demons by the Holy Spirit. However, they insisted on saying that He had cast out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons. How does the Bible describe these people? “And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘In hearing you shall hear and by no means understand, and seeing you shall see and by no means perceive. For the heart of this people has become fat, and with their ears they have heard heavily, and their eyes they have closed, lest they perceive with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart, and they turn around, and I will heal them’” (13:14-15). This shows us that any person who committed the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit by no means sensed or wanted to be saved, because his heart had become fat, his ears heard heavily, and his eyes were closed.
There are two other related passages in the Bible which are quite meaningful. One is found in Luke 8:12: “And those beside the way are those who heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they would not believe and be saved.” The devil knows that man will be saved when he believes; therefore, he is fearful lest any man believes and is saved. The other passage is found in Matthew 13:11-15: “And He answered and said to them, Because to you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens, but to them it has not been given....For this reason I speak to them in parables....lest they perceive with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart, and they turn around, and I will heal them.” Concerning the people who blasphemed against the Holy Spirit, God was also fearful that they might be saved. Therefore, the Lord spoke in parables lest they should repent and be healed. Hallelujah! To believe and be saved is so marvelous!
Whoever blasphemed against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, because he “is guilty of an everlasting sin.” According to the opinion of some Bible scholars, this can also be translated as “He will sin forever.” He will not receive forgiveness in this age nor in the age to come because he will sin forever. But how can he sin in hell? What torments him most in hell will be worms and fire. In hell, there is suffering because of a lack of water to the point that there is not enough water to even wet the tip of the finger. There is also the burning of the fire of lusts. Hell is a place where sin and lusts are never satisfied. It is a most tormenting place. But we can thank and praise God. As long as we are willing to believe, there is not one sin which can prevent us from being saved, because the Lord said, “All sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they blaspheme” (Mark 3:28). Therefore, we can be at peace.
Although we are not able to commit the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, we should be careful when we touch the work of the Holy Spirit. Do not say in a light way that the work of this person is of the Holy Spirit or the work of that person is of the evil spirits.
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