The Unpardonable Sin

Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy [against] the [Holy] Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the [world] to come. (Matthew 12:31-32)

If there were any verses I were afraid of reading each time I touched the Bible it were these two verses. I would dread to even look at them. The implications in these verses are eternal and the fact that forgiveness was not available for this sin made me more fearful. The fear was out of misunderstanding what the Lord was saying. Sure enough, if you blaspheme the Holy Spirit they will be no forgiveness for you in this age and the age to come. There is no doubt about that because the Lord said it. But let us study this statement fully and see what the Lord was teaching us.

Every sin and blasphemy against God will be forgiven except blaspheming the Holy Spirit. From this statement we see the Lord attesting to the Deity of the Holy Spirit. You can only blaspheme God. You can’t speak a word against a president, a king or an angel and call that blasphemy. A word against the Son of Man will be forgiven. The Lord is also attesting to His Deity. We know that Deuteronomy 6:4 says: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God [is] one LORD” Note the verse does not say there is one God. It says God is one. We know that there is one God according to Isaiah 46:9 but what does it mean that God is one? 1 John 5:7 says, “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one” We know that the Father is God, the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1) and the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God thus He is God. We know these three are distinct persons yet They are one. The Father is all God, Jesus is all God and the Holy Spirit is all God. The Father has a thundering voice (John 12:28-29), Jesus’ voice is like the sound of rushing water (Revelation 1:15) and the Holy Spirit has a still small voice (1 Kings 19:12). So we see these are three distinct Persons yet They are One. Now when it comes to the salvation of a soul the Three Persons are involved. Their work is different one from the other yet there is unity in purpose and in this we will see why it is a grievous sin to blaspheme the Holy Spirit.

We desperately needed the Father to send the Son. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16). If the Father had not sent the Son, Jesus would not have died on the cross and no blood would have been shed for the forgiveness of sins. This brings me to the next point.

We desperately needed Jesus to die on the cross. And without shedding of blood is no remission (Hebrews 9:22b). Jesus dying on the cross provided the much needed forgiveness for sins. But for one to be forgiven one has to repent. “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” (Acts 2:38) We see the work of sending a Messiah was of the Father and the selfless death on the cross for the forgiveness of sins was the work of the Son.

Now the work of leading a soul to repentance is the work of the Holy Spirit. “And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth” (John 16:8&13a). The Holy Spirit convicts you of sin by guiding you into the truth that is Jesus. When the Holy Spirit convicts you, you become sorrowful in a Godly way. “For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.” (2 Corinthians 7:10). We see that the conviction of the Holy Spirit makes you repent and thus you are forgiven and are saved. This is where many are falling by resisting the conviction of the Holy Spirit by hardening their hearts. Stephen when speaking to the Sanhedrin before he got stoned said this: “Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers [did,] so [do] ye.”(Acts 7:51). What happened to their fathers when they resisted the Holy Spirit? “Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in [their] heart; and they have not known my ways. So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)’” (Hebrews 3:7 to 11) Bear in mind that this is the Holy Spirit speaking. They heard His voice but hardened their hearts. That is resistance. It was in a rebellion. This is disobedience. Remember they were grumbling against the Lord in the desert and God was not happy with the grumbling. Read Exodus 17:1 to 7. That grumbling was a word against the Holy Spirit. Remember He is the one relating the story in the verses in Hebrews. These people blasphemed the Holy Spirit and thus none of them entered the Promised Land. The Holy Spirit swore on oath in His anger that none of them will enter His rest and none of them did. To blaspheme the Holy Spirit is to disrespect, deride, swear at, curse, mock and profane the Holy Spirit and mean it with all your heart as also it is to resist Him and ignore His conviction with an attitude of rebellion and never have the will to change as He calls you to. The Israelites were being tested in the desert and they decided to do this to Him after all the miracles they had seen. Now for us after hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ some harden their hearts and close their ears and resist the conviction of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is grieved with this reaction but does not leave them alone just yet. He continues to chase after them out of His mercy. Remember God wants everyone to be saved (2 Peter 3:9). So He will patiently chase after them. But another part of the Bibles says this: God is love (1 John 4:8) yet another verse says this talking of love: it is not easily provoked (1 Corinthians 13:5). This means God does get angry but not easily, after all He said He is slow to anger (Read Exodus 34:6). It was in His anger the Holy Spirit said, “They do alway err in [their] heart; and they have not known my ways. So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)” (Hebrews 3:10-11). He had concluded that they will not change their ways and thus there was no need to bother anymore because they were never going to show any will to change.

This, beloved, is the unpardonable sin. Without the Holy Spirit we cannot repent and believe the gospel. When we resist Him long enough and show that we will never desire to change, that power to repent will no longer be available and thus we will not be able to repent to receive the gift of salvation. Because we will not have received the gift of salvation while we are still on earth, there will be no forgiveness for us in this age and in the age to come they will be no forgiveness because we would have died without having received the gift of salvation. This is what the Lord meant when He said “…it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the [world] to come.” SO TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS. PLEASE I EXHORT YOU. GOD BLESS YOU.