Is blaspheming the Holy Spirit
the unpardonable sin for Christians today?
That is a serious question.
Read the following arguement that says
Blastpheming of the Holy Spirit
is not meant for believers today.
Bible verse: Matthew 12:31-32
31 "Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.
32 Anyone who 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 age to come.When I was a teenager, I got hold of a teaching from a book which said that a Christian can commit the "unpardonable sin". Have you heard this "unpardonable sin" teaching before? This erroneous teaching says that all sins can be forgiven, but if you commit the sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit 1(Matthew 12:31), there is no forgiveness. That's how this sin came to be known as the "unpardonable sin".
As a young Christian, I did not understand why other believers didn't seem to be affected by the thought that they could actually commit the unpardonable sin. For me, I was really frightened. My conscience was very sensitive and the more I thought about the possibility of committing the unpardonable sin, the more I was convinced that I had committed that sin! My thoughts became increasingly negative and I even started to doubt God. This gave me even more reason to believe that I had indeed blasphemed the Holy Spirit.
I went to my church leaders at that time to seek counsel, but instead of leading me to the new covenant of grace, they told me that it was indeed possible for a Christian to commit the unpardonable sin. By then, I was getting more and more depressed. The devil was oppressing me with thoughts of guilt and condemnation. Plagued by such thoughts, I would go to Orchard Road, Sinapore's main shopping belt, and I would witness to the people on the streets about Jesus, all the time believing that I had committed the unpardonable sin. I thought that if I got these people saved, God would see them when they made it to heaven and perhaps remember me who would be in hell. I honestly believed that! The amazing thing was that the evangelistic anointing was already flowing in me then and many did actually receive Jesus, even though I thought that I was not going to make it to heaven.
Discovering The Gospel Of Grace
The more I believed that I still had unforgiven sins, the more I believed that I had used up all of God's grace in my life. No one taught me about the blood of Jesus, or showed me that my behavior was actually dishonoring the blood of Christ and negating Jesus' work on the cross for me. No one preached the good news to me, so at that time, I really thought that my sins were greater than God's grace. I felt like I was losing my mind and on the verge of a nervous breakdown. My mind literally felt like it was about to snap and I became so afraid that I would be committed to a mental institution.
It was through this tumultuous journey that I began to understand the grace of our Lord Jesus. I now know beyond a shadow of a doubt that a Christian cannot commit the unpardonable sin. Be careful when you hear any teaching that gives you the impression that believers can commit the unpardonable sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit. There are times when the devil put negative thoughts about the Holy Spirit in your mind, or when you yourself say something negative about the Holy Spirit. This may lead you to wonder and worry if you have committed the unpardonable sin. Well, let me declare once and for all that there is no sin that a Christian is not forgiven of. When you understand why God sent the Holy Spirit, you will realize that the unpardonable sin is simply to consistently reject Jesus!
The bible tells us that the Holy Spirit came to testify of and witness about Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "The Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me."2 (John 15:26) To blaspheme the Holy Spirit is therefore to continually reject the person of Christ whom the Holy Spirit testifies of. Study the Word of God carefully. Who was Jesus speaking to when He spoke of the unpardonable sin? He was speaking to the Pharisees, who continually rejected Him as their Savior and plotted to kill Him on several occasions. They even accused Him of having an unclean spirit, saying, "He has Beelzebub. By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons."3(Mark 3:22) Jesus' response was, "Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven… but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation."4(Mark 3:28-30) Why did He say that? The next verse tells us that it is "because they said, 'He has an unclean spirit.'''
The Holy Spirit is present even today to witness about Jesus. Therefore, to blaspheme the Holy Spirit is to keep on rejecting the gospel of Jesus and to depend on your own efforts to saved. Jesus was warning the Pharisees not to commit this sin, and to stop rejecting Him. This clearly does not apply to the believer. You see, in reading the Bible, it is important to note who the words were spoken to and to ascertain if the words are relevant for the believer. In this case, Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees who had rejected Him and who even made claims the He had an unclean spirit. Imagine their audacity! As for you, my friend, have full assurance in your heart that it is impossible for a believer to commit the unpardonable sin. A believer has already received the gift of eternal life and will never be "subject to eternal condemnation".
Rightly Dividing The Word
There is a lot of confusion and wrong believing in the church today because many Christians read their Bibles without rightly dividing the old and new covenants. They don't realize that even some of the words which Jesus spoke in the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) are part of the old covenant. They were spoken before the cross as He had not yet died. The new covenant only begins after the cross, when the Holy Spiirit was given on the day of Pentecost.
There is a lot of confusion and wrong believing in the church today because many Christians read their Bibles without rightly dividing the old and new covenants.
I know that our Bibles are divided into the Old Testament and the New Testament, which begin with the four gospels. However, it is important to realize that the cross made a difference! Some of what Jesus said before the cross and what He said after the cross were spoken under completely different covenants. You also need to see who Jesus was speaking to. At times, He was speaking to the Pharisees, who boasted in their perfect law-keeping. With them, Jesus brought the law to its pristine standard, such at it was impossible for any man to keep.
"But Pastor Prince, I believe that we should do everything that Jesus said!"
My friend, Jesus said, "if your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you… And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell."5(Matthew 5:29-30) Have you done that?
Come on, Jesus said all that to bring the law back to its pristine standard, a standard that ensured that no man could keep the law. He said all that so that man would come to the end of depending on himself and begin to see that he desperately needs a savior. So when we read the words of Jesus in the four gospels, it is necessary for us to rightly divide the Word and understand who Jesus was speaking to.
Let me give you another example. You may have heard some preachers yelling at unbelievers and using the term "a brood of vipers". But Jesus never called sinners - not even the prostitutes and corrupt tax collectors - " a brood of vipers". Never! Those harsh words by Jesus were reserved only for the Pharisees6(Matthew 12:34, 23-33) whose fixation on the law blinded them from seeing God in the flesh - Jesus, who gave the law in the first place and who came to fulfill the law on man's behalf. So learn to rightly divide the Word of God whenever you read the Bible. Not everything that Jesus said was spoken to the church.
Feed On The Letters Of Apostle Paul
Paul's letters were written to the church and are thus for our benefit today. God raised him up to write the words of the ascended Jesus, who is seated today at the Father's right hand. That is why, when it comes to reading the Bible, I always encourage new believers in our church to begin with the letters of Paul. (Many new believers like to start with the book of Revelation or Genesis, without first getting a foundation in the gospel of grace through reading the letters of Paul.)
Have you noticed that Paul never mentioned the unpardonable sin? Not one time, in all his letters to the churches, did he warn Christians about the unpardonable sin? If Christians could commit the unpardonable sin, he should have mentioned it in every epistle that he wrote. On the other hand, Paul emphasized that Jesus, by His death on a cross, has made us "alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses"7(Colossians 2:13) I have checked the original Greek word for "all"8(NT: 3956, Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright (c) 1994, Biblesoft and International Bible Translators, Inc.).
