And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come. Matthew 12:32 NASB
Have you committed the unpardonable sin? Do you feel guilty when you take the Lord’s name in vain? Do you worry about denying Christ under pressure? What is the unpardonable sin anyway?
I have heard many explanations of what the unforgivable sin is; you probably have too. What is the truth?
Come, let us reason together from the scripture. In Matthew 12, Jesus was speaking with the Pharisees, not his disciples. Just before Jesus mentioned the unpardonable sin, He rebuked the Pharisees. They had proclaimed that He cast out demons by beelzebul the ruler of demons. In other words, the Pharisees claimed that Jesus’ acts of healing and deliverance were works of the devil, not the Holy Spirit.
At that point, Jesus warned them that this type of blasphemy would not be forgiven. Jesus continued to correct them saying, “By your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned” (v.37).
Their words had revealed their hearts. They decisively rejected Jesus by attributing His miracles to satan. Then they asked for a sign (v. 38). God had already given them many signs – Jonah, Queen of Sheba, and Solomon (v. 40-42). Still, they were unrepentant; their hearts were hard.
In the parallel passage in Mark 3, Jesus says a house divided against itself cannot stand (v. 25). The house Jesus referred to is the house of Israel. The leaders of the house of Israel chose to live in direct opposition to God’s plan of salvation. That house cannot stand. Jesus Himself chose “whoever does the will of God” over His blood mother and brothers (v. 35). He was giving an example of the household being divided.
Finally, notice that the parable of the Sower follows immediately in both accounts. The varied soils of the parable are the hearts of those who hear the word. Compare the hard-hearted Jews to the “good soil” that bears much fruit.
Their unforgivable sin was their hard hearts. They had cut themselves off from God’s redemption. Jesus is the only way to salvation. There is none other by which we can be saved (Acts 4:12).
Have you committed the unpardonable sin? I can say with confidence, “No!” The fact that you are concerned about pleasing God tells me that you are not living in rebellion. Those who have committed the unforgivable sin don’t care what God thinks or even acknowledge Him as God.
You, Beloved, can trust in the blood of Jesus to cleanse you from all your sins, even blasphemy (1 Jn 1:9). Thanks to the cross of Jesus Christ there is no condemnation for you and me (Rom. 8:1). Repentance really is a gift.
Thank You, Lord!