“Because of this, I tell you, people will be forgiven every sin and blasphemy, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Whoever 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 one to come.” (Matthew 12:31–32, HCSB)

People have often called “blaspheming against the Holy Spirit” the “unpardonable sin.” Why does Jesus claim in this passage that those who speak against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven? In this passage, Jesus is speaking to the religious leaders. They have accused Him of working with Satan to cast out demons. Jesus corrects their theological mistake. He states that Satan cannot cast out Satan. He implies therefore that anyone working against Satan is working for God.

Then Jesus turns this logic around. He states that anyone who is speaking against the “Son of Man” (referring to Himself) will not be forgiven. In other words, anyone who denies Christ, or speaks against Christ is not a follower of Christ. He further and says that anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit (or more specifically the work of the Holy Spirit) won’t be forgiven. Why can’t they be forgiven? Because they are not following Christ, and therefore are not listening to the Spirit.

It is like cheering for the team. If you are not cheering for Christ, or for the Holy Spirit, then you are against the Trinity Team. If you are not cheering for Christ or for the Holy Spirit, then you are cheering for the Satan Team. So you can’t boo the Trinity Team and say for you are part of that same time. You have to be cheering for the Trinity Team. Otherwise, you are supporting the other team.

Photo by Matt Alaniz on Unsplash