The Unforgivable Sin: what is it and who is in danger of committing it?

In the gospels, Jesus makes a statement that many believers talk about but few truly understand. In Matthew 12:31-32, Jesus says, “And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the 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” The statement also appears in Mark 3:28-29 and Luke 12:10. The blasphemy against the Holy Spirit aka The Unforgivable Sin can be worrisome to those who fear they have committed this act. What is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? Why is this sin so egregious to be unforgivable? Should believers worry about it? 

To understand why Jesus made this statement in Matthew 12:32, we need to back up to Matthew 12:22 as the religious leaders accused Jesus of being under Satan’s power. Jesus heals a demon possessed man who was blind and mute (verse 22) as the people were wondered if Jesus was the Son of David (verse 23), the Pharisees said that “only Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons” (verse 24). Beelzebub (or Beelzebul) is a Philistine deity known as the Lord of the flies or the Lord of filth, a term often used to refer to Satan (Winger, 2019). By attributing Jesus’s work to Satan, they were actively campaigning against Jesus to slander him and ruin his reputation (Winger, 2019). Jesus confronts the Pharisees and states that Satan cannot be divided against himself as a kingdom, a city, a household cannot be divided against itself (verses 25-26). Jesus is trying to warn the Pharisees that they were on shaky ground, on the brink of eternal ruin. 

The blasphemy against the Holy Spirit means to attribute the work of the Holy Spirit to Satan. It is a deliberate and ongoing rejection of the Holy Spirit’s work and even of God Himself. It is a conscious, persistent, deliberate and malicious rejection of the Holy Spirit’s testament to the deity and saving power of Jesus Christ. A person who has committed this sin has shut himself off from God so thoroughly that he is unaware of the sin at all. The Pharisees were deliberating refusing to acknowledge God’s power in Christ. The Holy Spirit testifies to God’s power in two ways: first, external through miracles and second, internal through the conviction of sin (Mike Winger, 2019). I understand skepticism and a desire to be absolutely sure before making a bold statement either way, even John the Baptist had a season of doubt (Matthew 11:2-6 and Luke 7:18-35). However, a deliberate refusal shows a deliberate and irreversible hardness of heart and therefore the inability to seek repentance. It is a profound hardness of one’s heart. An attack against Jesus, the Holy Spirit can overcome. However, to see what God is clearly doing and attack His Spirit is an insult, a dishonor and makes an enemy with His Spirit. Who can help bring someone back from that? 

A person who fears having committed this sin shows by his concerns that he hasn’t committed it at all. A true believer in Jesus Christ cannot commit this sin. Why? Because it is a refusal to accept the witness of the Holy Spirit to who Jesus is and what He came to do and fully submit their lives to Him. Repentance requires a simple, invaluable and a softhearted condition. Christians are warned to not be like Esau who “found no place of repentance” (Hebrews 12:17). His heart was so callous and hard that he was not able to genuinely repent. To harden one’s heart doesn’t really allow for that type of submission. Whoever does rejects the prompting of the Holy Spirit and has fully turned their back to God and all faith do need to worry. They have removed themselves from the force that could lead them to repentance and restoration to God. As Jesus says in Mark 3:29, it is an eternal sin. Hebrews 3:7-8 warns that someone hears the voice of God, “do not harden your heart.” 

In conclusion, the unforgivable sin is not unforgivable because forgiveness isn’t granted, it is not sought in the first place. Someone who blasphemies against the Holy Spirit, denying the work of God, usually isn’t going to see the errors of his ways and seek forgiveness. It is a hardening of the heart to the point of no return. A true follower of Christ, who has believed the witness of the Holy Spirit, cannot blasphemy against the Holy Spirit as he or she does not deny or would not His work. It is okay to have doubt. It is normal, common and a part of growing in your faith. However, do not let your doubt harden your heart and let your eyes become clouded to the testimony of the Holy Spirit.

References

Winger, Mike (2019). What EXACTLY is the Unforgivable sin? The Mark Series Part 12. https://youtu.be/KmCHX8-2Smo?si=30FO9J77QvqMk02M. Retrieved November 17, 2024. 

Mark: more lessons from the life of Jesus

Mark is the second book of the Gospels. Mark tells the stories of Jesus in a different from Matthew, he’s very cut to the chase kind of writer as this book is one of the shortest of the four books. He jumps straight into Jesus’s baptism, his ministry and his death and resurrection. I want to discuss three things that stood out to be as Mark recounted many of the many stories and lessons that Matthew did. Why does Jesus tell those he healed “not to tell” others about their healing? What exactly is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? What is the meaning behind the Parable of the Wicked Tenants?

First, Jesus gives strict orders for those he healed not to reveal who had healed them. In Mark 3:12, evil spirits saw him and proclaimed him the Son of God and he gave “strict orders not to tell who he was.” In Mark 8:30, he warned his disciples not to reveal who he was. These two verses are just a couple examples of Jesus telling someone to stay quiet about their healing. Why did Jesus tell them not to say anything? For the instance in Mark 3:12, Jesus did not want a false image of why he was here on earth to travel around. As many were looking for a military or religious leader to fight against Rome. This was not Jesus’s mission yet. He was here to offer salvation not come as a warrior, that role would come later. In Mark 8:30, he says not to reveal who he was because the disciples did not know the whole picture yet and still needed instructions about his death and resurrection to come before they can truly know who he is. What does this mean for us? It is an example of why we need more instructions, more knowledge of who Christ is before we can proclaim him to the world.

Second, Jesus speaks of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit in Mark 3:29 as the eternal sin. Many Christians have come to call this the unforgivable sin as Jesus says it “will never be forgiven.” What is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Blasphemy is defined as the act or offense of speaking sacrilegiously about God or sacred things and the Holy Spirit is the aspect of God which actively interacts with believers. To blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is reveals a heart-attitude of unbelief and unrepentance. It is the deliberate, ongoing rejection of the work of the Holy Spirit and rejecting God himself. It is to deny the active work of God in one’s life or in the world. While all other sins and blasphemes are forgivable, ones against the Holy Spirit are not (verses 28-29). When Christ was speaking about this unforgivable sin, he was not directing it to his disciples or those who believed. He directed it to the religious leaders, teachers of the law who accused him of being possessed by Beelzebub (Satan). They had denied the reality of his miracles. They refused to believe that Jesus’s power came from God. It is people who will continue to deny Christ and God despite what they see before them.

Third, the Parable of the Wicked Tenants in Mark 12:1-12 is a lesson about people. The parable goes that a man plants a vineyard and he rents the vineyard to some farmers and takes a journey (verse 1). At harvest, he sends a servant to collect from of the fruit of the vineyard, the tenants beat the servant and send him away empty handed (verse 2-3). The man sends another servant and he too is treated shamefully (verses 4). He sends other servants, some are killed, and others beaten (verse 5). Finally, the man sends his son thinking he would be respected by the tenants (verse 6). The tenants decide to kill the son and take his inheritance for themselves (verses 7-8). What does the man do? He will come to kill the tenants and give the vineyard to others (verse 9). The man is God and the vineyard is Israel. The tenants are the religious leaders of Israel who rejected the prophets sent by God and who rejected Jesus. Jesus is the son who has been sent and he tells this parable to expose the religious leaders’ plot to kill him. He let them know he knew what they were plotting and warned them it would not go unpunished.

In conclusion, the book of Mark is a short and concise book of Jesus’ life, ministry and his death and resurrection. Jesus’s instruction to “not to tell other about him” is an illustration that we need further instruction. I know when I read God’s word and I have a moment of inspiration, I want to go and shout it to everyone: Look what I discovered! But often I found that I first need to ponder this revelation. What does it mean to me? What will it mean to others? Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit isn’t usually something a believer needs to worry about as it is the rejection of God. And Christians are taught to be weary of false teachers; however, those who are true believers will (or should I say “should”?) recognize the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in the lives of others. Lastly, the Parable of the Wicked Tenants is a look into the type of people in the world: those who reject Christ and those who will inherit the vineyard when he returns.