What Is The Unpardonable Sin?
One of the questions I’ve been asked throughout my years of ministry is, “What is the unpardonable sin?” I think what triggers most people to ask that particular question is fear. And I totally understand why it would strike fear in the hearts of people. Jesus is full of grace and mercy. Everything he does is based on love and forgiveness, but suddenly he makes a statement about a sin that cannot be forgiven and we think, “Where did that come from and why did he say it?”
Just to make this absolutely clear, it’s not murder or adultery or being a rapist or pedophile or any other horrible sin we can think of. All sins are forgivable, but according to Jesus there is one sin that will not be forgiven. It’s the sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit.
Let's take a look at Matthew 12:31-32, “And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but 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 the age to come.”
Just before Jesus spoke those words, he was being slandered by the Pharisees and accused of being demon-possessed. The Pharisees were aware of the miracles Jesus was performing and the good works he was doing among the people. Despite all the evidence pointing to his divinity, they refused to believe and instead blasphemed the Holy Spirit by accusing Jesus of being possessed by Satan.
Blaspheming the Holy Spirit is a process for most people. I’ve had people tell me with a quivering voice that they were afraid they might have committed the unpardonable sin. I tell them that the evidence they didn’t commit that sin is in the asking. People who have committed this sin don’t care about the Holy Spirit. They have resisted the Holy Spirit's prompting in their lives for so long their conscience has been seared, and they don’t care about the things of the Spirit anymore.
When I was in college, I did an internship program for my ministry degree. One day a pastor from the church where I was doing my internship asked me if I wanted to go with him to visit a dying man in the hospital. I said, “Sure, let’s go.”
Someone in this man’s family requested that a pastor visit him and pray with him. When we arrived, the man was coherent and quite aware that he had less than a day to live. The pastor presented a beautiful salvation invitation to the man. At the end of the presentation, he asked if he would like to receive Jesus into his life. The man looked straight into the pastor's eyes and said, “No thanks.”
I was stunned. I thought to myself, “What does this man have to lose by asking Jesus to save him? He’s going to be dead before the day is over.” The pastor must have felt the same way because he did his best to once again convince this man that Jesus loved him and wanted to receive him into heaven if he would humble himself and ask Jesus to save him from his sins. Once again the man said, “No, I don’t want that,” or something to that effect.
That man died that evening. I hope he changed his mind, but he seemed kind of dead to the whole thing. That’s when it hit me. This man simply did not care because after a lifetime of rejecting the conviction of the Holy Spirit, his conscience was seared. His heart was hard.
Blaspheming the Holy Spirit is not a one-time act. It’s a lifetime of rejecting the conviction and prompting of the Holy Spirit. On the one hand, this ought to bring relief to anyone who thinks they have offended the Holy Spirit, but on the other hand, it should cause us to consider our relationship with the Holy Spirit.
Jesus promised us the gift of the Holy Spirit to be our counselor, our comforter, and to guide us into all truth. If we get into the habit of resisting the Holy Spirit, we are headed down a dangerous path.
I hope this brings clarity to this all-important question.
Stay close to Jesus,
Steve
P.S. Please consider inviting someone to our Easter service. It could change their life!