Christian Podcast Central
Call it what you will… The Unpardonable Sin. The Unforgivable Sin.
No matter what the name, the consequences are unimaginable.
In this PODCAST (which I believe for you will find to be enormously encouraging and reassuring), you will learn exactly what this sin is, what this sin isn’t, whether or not it is possible today to commit this sin, and if so, whether or not you have or ever will commit it.
In terms of its eternal ramifications, no conversation is more vitally important than this one.
Find out what Jesus said, to whom He said it, why He said it, and what His dire warning means for us today.
So, let’s begin in Matthew, chapter 12:
31 “So I tell you, every sin and blasphemy can be forgiven—except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which will never be forgiven. 32 Anyone who speaks against the Son of Man can be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come.
Too often today, well meaning pastors convey that to die by suicide is the ultimate, unpardonable, unforgivable sin. It is an extremely grievous and terrible, but I hold that it is definitely forgivable and pardonable. While Psalm 139 speaks of God (therefore the Holy Spirit) weaving us together in the womb, so taking our own life is understood by some be an affront to this act of the Holy Spirit, but Jesus never said that.
Another misconception is that because God (thus the Holy Spirit) wove each of us together as a man or a woman, any transgender person has committed the ultimate, unpardonable sin. But I see this as absolutely reckless.
Another reckless proclamation that I have heard was that anyone who is “overly charismatic” in their Spiritual practice is wrong regarding their doctrine on the Holy Spirit, therefore they have blasphemed the Holy Spirit and have committed the ultimate sin.
Likewise, I’ve heard the exact same argument from the other side: Charismatics saying that if someone is not open to the baptism of the Holy Spirit, they hold the Holy Spirit in bondage and therefore are blasphemers.
Please! Can we just look at what Jesus said and the context within which He said it?
You see, at this point in Jesus’ ministry, He has reached a tipping point. He’s about 15 months into His ministry (after His baptism), and everyone who had heard Him or heard about Him had been amazed by what He said and did. Therefore, the religious leaders of his day no longer thought of him as a mere irritation, but an actual threat to their way of life and even some of their teachings. The weapon they first used to deal with Him was to discredit Him (which didn’t work). Ultimately, they wanted to remove (kill) Him, so they set to work looking for a scandal big enough to call for His execution at the hands of the Romans.
You see, just before this moment that we read about in Matthew 12, Jesus was involved in a pair of scandals in the eyes of the religious leaders of that day: 1) He had claimed to be able to forgive sins; and 2) He had several women as followers and ministry partners. Both of these were absolutely scandalous! Blasphemy, even!
Needless to say, the stage was set for conflict between Jesus and the Sadducees and Pharisees.
But, before we dive any further into the passage and its meaning, let me ask a few questions:
- Is it really true that there is a singular sin for which there is no forgiveness, neither in this life nor in the hereafter? (The answer is: Yes)
- Is it possible to commit this sin today? (The answer is yes… and no. No, in that the specifics of Matthew 12 are not reproducible today; but in the broader sense, yes the sin can be committed today.)
- Is it possible that any of us have already committed this unforgivable sin (The answer is absolutely not)
So, here’s what happened: Jesus performed a bona fide miracle out in the open in front of several people. He performed this miracle on a high-profile man whom everyone knew or was familiar with. He made the lame man walk AND forgave his sin.
Then Jesus followed it up with this scene from Matthew 12:
22 Then a demon-possessed man, who was blind and couldn’t speak, was brought to Jesus. He healed the man so that he could both speak and see. 23 The crowd was amazed and asked, “Could it be that Jesus is the Son of David, the Messiah?”
The people wondered this because of what was written in Isaiah 35:
5Then will the eyes of the blind be opened
and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
6 Then will the lame leap like a deer,
and the mute tongue shout for joy.
The people knew their Bible! And there’s no doubt, so did the religious leaders. They knew Isaiah’s writings and they knew that they were seeing them come to fruition in Jesus.
But, who revealed to Isaiah what to write (as well as every Biblical author)? The Holy Spirit did. When Jesus performed His miracles, it was by the power of the Holy Spirit. It was the Holy Spirit who descended on Jesus at His baptism as a dove, thus beginning His ministry. Everything Jesus taught and did was under the power and inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, to deny Jesus is to deny the Holy Spirit.
Take a look at what Jesus said in Matthew 12:
28 But when I force out demons by the power of God’s Spirit, it proves that God’s kingdom has already come to you.
He made it very clear that anyone who comes against Him, they come against the Holy Spirit and He warned the religious leaders not to do what they were about to do in His words:
31 “So I tell you, every sin and blasphemy can be forgiven—except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which will never be forgiven. 32 Anyone who speaks against the Son of Man can be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come.
You see, this is in response to what the religious leaders had said and done when they saw the people rallying around the Messiah:
24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.”
They accused Jesus of using the power of Satan to do what He was doing. They accused Him of being Satan incarnate!
Can you think of anything worse to say to somebody, especially the Son of God?
So, you see the unforgivable sin is and was this: with the full knowledge of who God is and what He said through His prophets, and to ascribe the miracles and teachings of Jesus to the archenemy of God, and conclude that Jesus is not God in the flesh, but instead spread the word that Jesus is Satan… that’s the point of no return. That’s the line once crossed there’s no coming back.
It has nothing to do with how someone dies, their sexuality, nor if they speak in tongues or not. The blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is this, from the mouth of Jesus, Himself in Matthew 12:
25 Jesus knew their thoughts and replied, “Any kingdom divided by civil war is doomed. A town or family splintered by feuding will fall apart. 26 And if Satan is casting out Satan, he is divided and fighting against himself. His own kingdom will not survive. 27 And if I am empowered by Satan, what about your own exorcists? They cast out demons, too, so they will condemn you for what you have said. 28 But if I am casting out demons by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God has arrived among you. 29 For who is powerful enough to enter the house of a strong man like Satan and plunder his goods? Only someone even stronger—someone who could tie him up and then plunder his house.
30 “Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me.
31 “So I tell you, every sin and blasphemy can be forgiven—except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which will never be forgiven. 32 Anyone who speaks against the Son of Man can be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come.
So, have any of us committed this sin? I can say with pretty good authority, No. It’s really not at all likely that anyone living today has studied the Bible and came to the conclusion that Jesus is not the Son of God, but Satan incarnate.
But, that doesn’t mean that mankind is off the hook.
We see this warning from Jesus on the night before He was betrayed:
8-9 When He (the Holy Spirit) arrives, He will uncover the sins of the world, expose unbelief as sin, and allow all to see their sins in the light of righteousness for the first time.10 This new awareness of righteousness is important because I am going to the Father and will no longer be present with you. 11 The Spirit will also carry My judgment because the one who rules in this world (Satan) has already been defeated.
This means that when a person totally, completely, and irreversibly rejects the Holy Spirit’s work in their hearts – His work of exposing their sins; His work of assuring them that eternal salvation is possible through Jesus Christ; His work of warning that without Jesus there is nothing left but judgment – there’s nothing more that God can do. But the reversibility of this decision maintains a possibility as long as we have breath in us.
But don’t take my word for it, take God’s. We read in Hebrews 6:
4 For it is impossible to bring back to repentance those who were once enlightened—those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come— 6 and who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame.
So, this all begs the question: Is it possible for someone to totally and irreversibly reject Christ? Apparently so.
We read this in Proverbs 29:1
If you keep being stubborn
after many warnings,
you will suddenly discover
you have gone too far.
God’s not going to force Himself upon anyone. Simply put, if anyone is so stiff-necked that they refuse to accept Christ for who He is, then they decide for themselves to cross the line.
Check out Hosea 4, where God says:
17 Ephraim is joined fast to idols, so let him alone to take the consequences.
Then look at Acts 7, when Stephen spoke to the religious leaders:
51 “You stubborn people! You are heathen at heart and deaf to the truth. Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? That’s what your ancestors did, and so do you! 52 Name one prophet your ancestors didn’t persecute! They even killed the ones who predicted the coming of the Righteous One—the Messiah whom you betrayed and murdered. 53 You deliberately disobeyed God’s law, even though you received it from the hands of angels.”
54 The Jewish leaders were infuriated by Stephen’s accusation, and they shook their fists at him in rage…
57 Then they put their hands over their ears and began shouting. They rushed at him 58 and dragged him out of the city and began to stone him.
You see, even today, people can fall prey to the same underlying spirit that caused the Pharisees to reject Jesus and reject the truth that Stephen preached. It’s entirely possible. But, so long as there is a breath left in us, we have the opportunity to give up our stubbornness and accept Him and all of His riches, instead of reject Him.
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