In last week’s article I mentioned the unforgivable sin or blasphemy against the Holy Spirit as it is called in Scripture. This is another one of those really difficult passages to exegete. This “sin” is mentioned in three of the Gospels: Matthew 12:30-32, Mark 3:28-30, and Luke 12:10. The Matthew version says it this way:

He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters. Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. 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 (NASB).

The Luke version says it almost exactly in the same way. We still do not know exactly how one commits this sin.

It is worth noting that many Christians, especially new Christians, fear that they have committed this sin. Demons know how to torture people using this verse when taken out of context and misapplied. This makes it even more vital to understand it properly.

I am confident that very, very few people have ever committed this sin. It is not something one can do accidentally or in a fit of anger. I personally believe that a true born-again Christian is incapable of committing it. Let me explain why.

In my first article I discussed rules of interpretation (hermeneutics). Two of those rules apply here in order to properly understand these difficult passages.

The first rule says to let Scripture interpret Scripture. In this case we have to read all three versions (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) to get the whole picture and find the true meaning of the unforgivable sin. We will see in a moment that only one of the versions really states what the sin appears to be.

The second rule is to look at these passages in light of the overall context. Context is everything when it comes to proper biblical interpretation.

Of the three accounts recorded in the New Testament, only the Mark passages reveal what this sin actually is. The context is Jesus healing diseases and delivering people from demons. The Pharisees were watching Jesus to see if he would heal on the Sabbath, which he did.

The Scribes who followed him down from Jerusalem were seeking a way to discredit Jesus. They, and the other religious leaders, were threatened by his miracles, his authority, and of course, they were jealous of his power and influence. In response to his delivering the people suffering from demons they said: “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.” (NASB)

After applying our rules of interpretation, I believe that this sin against the Holy Spirit is only committed when a person knows full well that God is doing a work and then consciously and willfully assigns the credit to Satan. It is not a sin committed by mistake.

We should gain true comfort from these same passages concerning forgiveness of sins. In the Matthew version Jesus says: “Therefore I say to you, ANY sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people.” In the Mark version Jesus says: “Truly I say to you, ALL sins shall be forgiven the sons of men.”

So if Jesus forgives ANY sin and ALL sins, that pretty much covers it. There is also John 1:9. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Come back next week and we will look at the biblical concept of predestination. Is God really in control? If you have any suggestions, please email me at [email protected].