"Therefore I say to
you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy
against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. 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," (Matthew 12:31-32).
In Luke 12:10, the
parallel account of Jesus words are as follows: "And anyone who speaks a
word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but to him who
blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven." The term
blaspheme (blasphemeo) literally means to: "…defame, rail on, revile,
speak evil." Also, in Mark 3:28-29, we read: "Assuredly, I say to you,
all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they
may utter…but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has
forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation."
The "unpardonable sin"
is really a misnomer. God is never incapable of forgiving or pardoning.
In Isaiah 59:1-2, the Bible reminds us: "Behold, the Lord's hand is not
shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear.
But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have
hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear." Our sin does not
render God impotent to forgive. Our sins, however, make it so that as
long as we persist in them, God chooses not to forgive.
The Bible occasionally
makes distinctions regarding sin. One such is found in 1 John 5:16-17,
"If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death,
he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not
leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he
should pray about that. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not
leading to death." The other major distinction is the one in question.
Many debates exist as
to what exactly the sin against the Holy Spirit or "unpardonable sin"
is. Some say that this is more a condition of the heart than a one time
act. Others say that if you are worried about whether or not you had
ever actually blasphemed the Holy Spirit, then you probably have not
been guilty of it. Still, others contend that this sin nor the potential
of committing it no longer exists.
Brother Wayne Jackson,
in his outstanding paper and website, the Christian Courier, has this to
say:
"Since both Christ and
the Spirit are deity (Jn. 1:1; Acts 5:3, 4), why should it, within this
setting, appear to be more serious to dishonor the Spirit than the
Savior? We believe the emphasis here has to be on the chronological
aspects of their respective functions. Though the Jews would presently
crucify their Messiah, nevertheless, with the great outpouring of the
Spirit on the day of Pentecost, and the proclamation of his message of
grace, thousands of them would receive pardon (Acts 2). If, though, that
kingdom of redemption, whose introduction was divinely verified by the
workings of the Spirit (cf. Mt. 12:28), was repudiated, what else was
there through which men could be saved? Absolutely nothing!"
Brother Jackson goes on
to point out that though Paul was by his own admission a blasphemer, he
was confident of his having been forgiven (1 Timothy 1:13).
Blasphemy in any form
regarding God or the things associated with Him is a serious matter. In
Romans 2 Paul rebuked those wicked Jews who had been given a written
revelation from God and who taught against certain vile practices, yet
who nonetheless were guilty of the very sins they condemned. The apostle
thus says: "For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles,
because of you, even as it is written" (2:24). When the people of the
world observe those who profess to be saints living immorally, they
frequently speak injuriously against the Lord himself: "Some God he must
be – if his children live like that!"
Similarly, Paul
admonished Christian servants to honor their masters in order that "the
name of God and the doctrine be not blasphemed" (1 Timothy. 6:1). So
sacred is the authority of God and his doctrine, those early saints were
obliged to be good slaves that such truths be not injured. Likewise, in
Titus 2:4-5, Paul wrote to Titus the following: "that they (older women)
admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children,
to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own
husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed."
The things that are
associated with God, especially where God Himself is concerned, deserve
our reverence and holy regard. We must take great care that our hearts
do not become so poisoned and hardened that we attribute to God or the
things of God as being the works of evil or the wicked one.