There has been much discussion and debate throughout history as to whether there is a sin a person can sin that puts them in a position where they cannot be forgiven, they have no hope in this life or the life to come and they will go to hell when they die. It has been called the ‘sin unto death’ based on 1 John 5:16 and then there is also the ‘blasphemy of the Holy Ghost’ from Matthew 12:31. Hebrews 6:4-6 also is a passage of scripture that some cite as proof that there is a sin you cannot be forgiven of. And if you read just these scriptures and don’t bother to read them in the context of the scriptures and the character of God and the gospel delivered to us one could most definitely surmise from these scriptures that it is possible to commit a sin one cannot be forgiven of. That is why it is so important to read scriptures in context. It is possible to make the scriptures appear to say whatever you want them to say if you single out one scripture or part of a scripture and distort it into what you want it to say. It is my intention to deal with the subject of whether it is possible to sin a sin that you cannot be forgiven of in this study.
I will just tell you straight out what I believe and more importantly believe the scripture teaches. AS LONG AS YOU HAVE BREATH IN YOUR BODY YOU CAN BE FORGIVEN OF ANY SIN if you wish to be forgiven. If you do not wish to be forgiven and choose not to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ you will be lost forever and throughout eternity in this life and the life to come. There is an eternal part of you that lives on after you die in this life and that will spend eternity in heaven or in hell depending on whether you have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, called upon Him to forgive you of your sins and have repented of your sins or not. Peter makes it abundantly clear that Jesus is the only way to be saved, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12). And Jesus declares, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6). There are no other paths or ways to God and eternal life, according to these scriptures.
Can you sin yourself to death? Sure you can. Romans 6:16 says, “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” If you live a sinful life all the way up to the day you die and do not repent (turn from) your wicked ways you have made a choice without saying a word. You have rejected the salvation offered to you. 1 John 5:17 says, “All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.” Also read James 4:17, “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” There is a difference between the stumbling in sin and feeling convicted of it and asking forgiveness vs. knowing you are committing a sin and doing it willfully. A person who is living a sinful lifestyle more than likely has not been saved at all. They may have prayed a so-called ‘sinner’s prayer’ or cried off a little guilt at the altar but if they truly did not repent of their sins and commit their life to Christ they will be lost just as sure as if they had never gone to the altar. There has to be a deep-seated regret for the sin a person has lived. 2 Corinthians 7:9-11 explains: “Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.” This is what is often called ‘conviction’. It is a realization that a person is a sinner and in need of a savior and is followed by God drawing that person to Himself. “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:44). People love to classify sin and say ‘Oh, I’m not as bad as so and so’ but Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” All people are born into sin and need to be saved it isn’t about how good or bad we are.
Can a person be saved and turn away from God and be lost? There are some who believe ‘once-saved-always-saved’ and no matter how bad you live once you get saved you will still be saved. Then when someone turns away from God and back to living un-Godly they like to say they were never really saved to begin with. As far as someone turning back to their evil ways, in most cases, that is probably true that they never really got saved. However, let’s look at Hebrews 6:4-6, it says, “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.” I believe these scriptures are clearly describing a person who has been saved (Verse 4-5) and falls away (verse 6). It is not God’s will that anyone perish (2 Peter 3:9. John 3:16) and God will in no wise cast out ANYONE who comes to Him (John 6:37). But He does not take away our will. He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5) but we can leave and forsake Him. Now, do not misunderstand Hebrews 6:4-6. It does not say that once you turn away from Him you have no hope, no not at all. It is merely logically saying ‘How can a person be saved if they don’t want to?’ Such a person will be lost if they do not turn back to God before they die. Jesus destroyed the POWER of sin but not the PRACTICE of sin. It is up to us to make the right choices and walk in the power over sin that He supplied when He died on the cross and rose again. “He that overcometh shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” (Revelation 21:7-8). Galatians 5:19-21 is addressed to the believers at the church at Galatia and after a whole list of sins (works of the flesh) Paul plainly says, “they who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” God does not take away our power of choice and if we wish to be lost we can be lost but if at any time during this time of turning away, we call upon the Lord and return to Him He is waiting with open arms to receive us. Remember the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32)? Turning away from God is commonly called ‘backsliding’. It is a word used in the Bible many times, more than I can name here (Proverbs 14:14. Jeremiah 2, 3, 5, 8, 14 and more. Hosea 4, 11 and 14…Just to name a few passages.) I love Hosea 14:4 though, “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.”
What about Matthew 12:31-32 though where it speaks of a sin called the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit? “Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.” This is very similar to what I have already discussed when discussing Hebrews 6:4-6. Jesus is telling a bunch of Pharisees and all who will hear that if they do not ask for forgiveness of sins and do not believe, they die in an unforgiven state and cannot be saved in this world or the next because they have chosen not to believe.
My good friend Rev. Robert Gittens IV explains this very well and I quote: “People are fixated on ‘speaking against’ as the definition for blaspheming when they should give more weight to the other Greek definition which is ‘contempt’. It is the same thing that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego showed to the King when he tried to make them ‘bow down’ to his image. Basically they told him his authority did not exist and that they could not and would not obey his commands even unto death. Well, we know that they were right, and the King was wrong, but he was the highest legal authority in the land (yes, God was in fact the highest….).
“God is our Father and Creator…our Provider, Jesus is our Saviour, our Mercy Seat, our Advocate…..if you don’t have Jesus, you can’t even get to the Father. Jesus always points us to the Father, the Father says the Son has the authority, the blood, has paid the price…you must go through Him so I can see you as family….the Holy Spirit is always a witness to the Father and points us to Jesus, the Christ. He is the Spirit of Truth. One that refuses the invitation and is at the point of death and their final will is to show contempt for God’s personal invitation through His Holy Spirit has basically said to God…you have no authority over me, I decide I don’t need you. Blasphemy in my book is ‘to refuse the rescuing of your soul by the only One who is able to do so’. I have not seen that definition anywhere else so you may ‘quote’ me on that.”
You can read the whole story in context basically found in Matthew 12:22-37. The Pharisees were basically telling Jesus they would not believe on Him and even said His works were of the devil after He just cast a devil out of a man. There are many in this generation who curse God and Christianity and will indeed go to their grave unforgiven and will be lost. All that are not saved shall stand before God at the Great White Throne Judgment to be judged. “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:11-15). But, the book of Revelation doesn’t leave you there, it goes on to describe what happens to those who believe in chapter 21. It describes a reward and a city whose builder and maker is God. Also, read Matthew 25:31-46.
There is a glorious day coming. He loves you and does not wish to see you perish. That being said I will also add this warning or advice: The longer you wait the harder your heart can become. The more you resist that tugging at your heart, that small gentle voice of the Holy Spirit calling you to return, the more faint His voice becomes, the more hardened your conscience becomes. Paul warns Timothy and us, “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times, some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron.” (1 Timothy 4:1-2). It is kind of like living near an airport, after a while you don’t even hear the planes coming in because you have shut out your consciousness of the noise. Then there are those who fall into cults and even so-called churches with bad doctrine and you become convinced they are right and soothe your conscience with the lying doctrine they teach. So don’t be deceived and don’t wait. Do not neglect the salvation offered. And don’t let any person or bad doctrine deceive you. If you are reading this there is hope for you. He will write your name in the Book of Life if you call on Him no matter how bad or evil you think you are. God loves you and today is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2).
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