WHAT IS THE UNPARDONABLE SIN?

MATTHEW 12:22–37

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 in the age to come

(Matthew 12:32).

Sometimes Christians become fearful and wonder if perhaps they have committed the “unpardonable sin.” They read in Hebrews 10:26–27, “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.”

Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit

To understand these verses and other similar passages in the New Testament, we have to keep in mind their redemptive and historical context. During His earthly ministry, our Lord acted frequently to conceal who He was. Often, after doing a miracle, He would say, “Tell no one.” This was because the time of His full manifestation had not yet come.

It was only after the Resurrection, and especially after the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, that the “messianic secret” was openly published abroad. For this reason. Jesus says, those who rejected Him during His earthly ministry were guilty of a lesser degree of sin (though still a sin) than those who would reject the post-Pentecostal testimony of the Holy Spirit. As Hebrews 10:26 puts it, it is after we have received the full knowledge of the truth that it becomes possible to commit this unpardonable sin.

Rejecting Christ as Savior

After Pentecost, rejecting the full testimony of the Spirit is the same as rejecting the Son of Man. Thus, in one sense, perseverance in unbelief is an unpardonable sin. Jesus, however, was speaking of some kind of particular sin. From the context, it appears that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is with malice aforethought, with deliberate hostility, and is intended to equate Jesus with the powers of darkness when in fact the individual knows that He is the Son of God.

CORAM DEO

Even hardened unbelievers almost always admit that Jesus was a “nice man.” We rarely hear of anyone doing what is described here. But the warning stands. Ask God today to send you afresh His Spirit and to cultivate such a love for Him that you will never even be bothered with a nagging doubt regarding the unpardonable sin.

For further study: 2 Corinthians 13:5–10; 2 Peter 3:3–18

friday

april