Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme:But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation…Mark 3:28,29.
In short, if you are worried that you have committed the unforgivable sin, you should stop worrying. You haven’t.
When our Lord said this, he was speaking to certain Pharisees, who, having witnessed a miracle, were crediting Satan with the power of the miracle rather than the Holy Spirit. Further, the words they spoke against the Holy Spirit were not impulsive or flippant, but rather represented a heart that had been forever hardened against accepting the Messiah as the Son of God or His power as being from heaven. They were so prejudiced and resistant to the idea that Christ was indeed God, that they would go to their graves denying that he was the Messiah. It was likely that the very Pharisees to which Jesus spoke would be instrumental in taking him to the cross and would be among those who refused the message given in Acts 2 on the day of Pentecost. Their hearts were simply so hardened that they had made it impossible for their ears to hear.
Jesus gave their specific indictment against the Holy Spirit in verse 30:
Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit.
It is important to notice the tense of the verb elegon (said) in that passage. It is in the imperfect tense, which means they continued to “say”. It was a sustained and continual “speaking against”(1). This verb tense further evidences that their words against the Spirit were not lightly spoken criticisms. Their words were the overflow of a malicious and determined heart—a heart determined to reject the Sonship of my Lord and the power of God by which he wrought great wonders.
But is there a way that we can blaspheme the Spirit today? I believe so. I have a friend with whom I am studying who denies that the Bible is the completed revelation of God for our lives. It seems to be immaterial to him that the Word makes its own claim of self sufficiency and completeness. He continues to insist that the “revelations” given to Him personally in voices he hears or demons he sees are the most motivating events in his life. Now, I do not know if he is beyond reaching with the truth that God’s Word, the Bible, is his final revelation to man. (That’s why I am still studying with him and praying for him.) But it seems to me that, if he is so hardened against the ultimate power and authority of the Word that he continues to place His trust in extra-Biblical “revelations”, then he is, in fact, malicious and hardened against it’s author, the Holy Spirit. The Bible is the product of the Holy Spirit’s eternal purpose and work. When we speak against it, we speak against the Spirit. When we reject it, we reject the Spirit. When we harden our hearts so that we refuse to ever obey the Word, I’m convinced we have blasphemed the Holy Spirit.
I really want to guard my heart. One would not blaspheme the Holy Spirit, by accident. It would take years of resistance to the Word. It would take the building of a fortified wall that cannot be penetrated by the power of the Word. It would be a tragic hardening that could not be softened by the Word of the Holy Spirit.
There remains no more hope if one, with finality, rejects His truth. Thus, that one has committed the “eternal” sin; the “unforgivable” sin.
(Don’t forget the podcast study tonight at 7 CST! More and more about the Holy Spirit (www.new.livestream.com/whcoc/for-women)! Don’t forget Purity Day at West Huntsville this Saturday (purity.westhuntsville.org)! Love this amazing mint green t-shirt that will be available there! Great job WH girls! Love their hearts of service for him. Hope you can be at one of these faith-building events!)
1. Jackson, Wayne, www.christiancourier.com. “Blasphemy—What Is this Great Sin?”
