Volume 18 – 1977 (PDF) - Searching The Scriptures

THE UNPARDONABLE SIN
"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" (Mt. 12:31-32).
Notice the particulars of the text. (1) All manner of
blasphemy shall be forgiven, except the blasphemy
against the Holy Ghost. (2) Whosoever speaketh
against Christ, it shall be forgiven him, but
whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall
not be forgiven him. (3) This blasphemy against the
Spirit shall not be forgiven in this world nor in the
world to come.
Why is blasphemy against the Spirit worse than
other forms of blasphemy? What is the difference in
blaspheming Jesus and blaspheming the Holy Ghost,
since both are deity? These questions, and others, we
will endeavor to answer as we pursue this study, but
before we delve into this, let's consider different
interpretations which have been offered.
Different Views
(1) Attributing the miracles of Jesus to the power of
the Devil. The Pharisees had accused Jesus of
casting out devils by the power of Beelzebub (Mt.
12:24). The parallel account in Mark seems to
identify the charge, "He hath an unclean spirit," as
the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost (Mk. 3:30).
R. C. Foster makes the observation in reference to
Mk. 3:30 that this is a broken sentence. "But those
who insist this is positive proof overlook the fact that
this is a broken sentence. What is the connection in
grammatical structure? To what shall we relate the
words because they said? Does this mean that the
entire discussion arose because they had said Jesus
was in the possession of the devil? or does it affirm
an absolute identification of the sin?" (The Middle
Period, p.67). My persuasion is that the statement
precipitated the discussion, rather than it being an
identification of the sin.
This same charge of Jesus having a devil was made
about a year later. We read, "Then answered the
Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou
art a Samaritan, and hast a devil" (Jn. 8:48)? In
verse 52, the Jews again said, "Now we know that
thou hast a devil." Later, the Jews again said, "He
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hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye him" (Jn.
10:20).
Apparently, these same Jews who had charged
Jesus with having a devil, were the ones who had
him crucified. Yet, Jesus prays, "Father, forgive
them; for they know not what they do" (Lk. 23:34).
This prayer was answered when multitudes of the
Jews obeyed the gospel on Pentecost (Acts 2:22-41).
Attributing the miracles of Jesus to the power of
the devil was not, therefore, the unpardonable sin.
Their sin was blaspheming Jesus rather than
blaspheming the Holy Spirit of which Jesus spoke.
(2) A specific act. If the sin is a particular act,
what is it? Surely God would have told us if there is a
specific sin for which there is no forgiveness once it
has been committed. It is not murder because the
Jews on Pentecost were forgiven for murdering the
Son of God. It is not fornication, idolatry,
homosexuality, etc., as the Corinthians were forgiven
of these things (I Cor. 6:9-11).
Actually, there is no sin too heinous or grave that
God will not forgive if a person wants forgiveness. It
is a matter of meeting God's conditions and then the
blood of Christ will cleanse us from all sins. There is
power in the blood.
(3) Rejection of the invitation. This position fails
to consider the word, "blaspheme," and the ex-
pression, "speaketh against." A person who rejects
the gospel invitation has not spoken against, or railed
or insulted the Holy Ghost. He may be a believer in
God, Christ and the Holy Spirit and esteem the
Scriptures as the word of God, yet reject the in-
vitation for sundry reasons. Has he committed the
sin of blaspheming the Spirit of which Jesus spoke?
Certainly not!
It is granted that his sins are unforgiven, and
should he die, he would be lost, but this is not what
Jesus was talking about. Not coming forward when
the invitation is sung is not the blasphemy against
the Holy Ghost. There are those who are almost but
not altogether persuaded to come to the Lord who
would not say a word against Christ or the Holy
Spirit.
(4) A repudiation of the Spirit's testimony in the
gospel age. This position, in my estimation, is more
tenable to the overall picture of biblical teaching,
both contextually and generally. Let us look at the
evidence to justify this position.
Repudiation of Testimony
We are now living in the Holy Spirit dispensation.
Jesus said, "I will pray the Father, and he will give
you another Comforter. . . . he shall teach you all
things, and bring all things to your remembrance,
whatsoever I have said unto you" (Jn. 14:16, 26).
"And when he is come, he will reprove the world of
sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. . . . he
will guide you into all truth. . . ." (Jn. 16:8, 13).
This Spirit dispensation, the gospel age, is man's
last and only means of salvation. There is not going
to be any more. He who would repudiate the Holy
Spirit (cast off, disown, renounce, speak against,
insult, the testimony of the Spirit) hath no
forgiveness in this world (gospel age) or the world to