People sometimes have questions about sin and forgiveness. Are some sins unforgivable? If so, and they commit those sins, are they forever lost without any hope? These are important questions, and we need to examine the Bible to answer them.
There is one sin in the Bible that many point to as being the unforgivable or unpardonable sin. It was identified by Jesus as blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
“‘Truly I say to you, all sins shall be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin’—because they were saying, ‘He has an unclean spirit’” (Mark 3:28-30).
What is this sin? Why will it not be forgiven? And is it truly unforgivable? In other words, is someone beyond hope if they commit this sin just one time? Let us consider what the Bible teaches about this.
Parallel Passages
Matthew records Jesus’ statement on the same occasion, but the wording is a little different:
“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” (Matthew 12:31-32).
In both of these accounts (Matthew and Mark), an accusation was made against Jesus that He was casting out demons by the power of Beelzebul (Matthew 12:22-29; Mark 3:22-27). In other words, they accused Jesus of doing the work of Satan rather than the work of His Father in heaven. Yet Jesus said this amounted to blasphemy against the Holy Spirit because it attributed the power of God to the forces of evil.
Luke records a similar statement from Jesus, but in a different context:
“And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him” (Luke 12:10).
Here, Jesus spoke of the need for His disciples to be willing to confess Him before men and not deny their faith (Luke 12:8-9). He then promised His disciples on this occasion that when they faced persecution for proclaiming the message of Christ, the Holy Spirit would reveal to them in that moment what they should say (Luke 12:11-12).
Defining Terms
There are a few key words that we need to define in order to understand what Jesus meant when He spoke about this sin.
- Blasphemy – This is to speak evil against or revile God. Other passages use the word slander in describing what is spoken against one’s fellow man (Mark 7:22; Ephesians 4:31; Colossians 3:8). However, in this context, the one being spoken against is a person of God – the Holy Spirit.
- Son of Man – This is Jesus, the second person of the Godhead. The description of Jesus as the Son of Man emphasizes His incarnation, in which He partook of flesh and blood in order to live and die as a man (Hebrews 2:14-15).
- Holy Spirit – This is the third person of the Godhead, and Peter referred to Him as God (Acts 5:3-4). The Holy Spirit’s role was to reveal God’s word (John 15:26; John 16:13; 1 Corinthians 2:10-13).
Understanding Sin
We sin when we transgress God’s law. The apostle John wrote, “Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness” (1 John 3:4). This is a universal problem, as Paul declared that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
However, forgiveness of sins is available through Christ: “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7). The grace of God, which is closely connected to the love of God, is why He was willing to send His Son to the earth to die on the cross for our sins. Jesus said, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
When the gospel was first preached on the day of Pentecost following the death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, Peter explained how those who come to believe in Christ can be forgiven: “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). After obeying the gospel and having our sins washed away, we may fall back into sin. However, John explained, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
But this brings us back to the question about the unforgivable sin. If God appears to be willing and able to forgive us of sin, why would this particular sin be the exception?
Why Will This Sin Not Be Forgiven?
As Peter explained on the day of Pentecost, Jesus came to earth and was rejected by His people (Acts 2:22-23). However, this was part of the “predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23). In other words, He knew it was going to happen. Jesus had to die on the cross to make forgiveness possible (cf. Hebrews 9:22, 26, 14).
Many who rejected Christ did so in ignorance. In his second gospel sermon, Peter condemned the people because they had “disowned the Holy and Righteous One” and “put to death the Prince of life” (Acts 3:14-15). However, he also acknowledged that they did this “in ignorance” (Acts 3:17), not realizing who Jesus was. They could be forgiven (Acts 3:19; 2:38), but they had to accept and follow Jesus as Lord.
Jesus was killed, raised from the dead, and then ascended to heaven. Since He was no longer on the earth, how would people learn to accept Him as Lord? It would be through the testimony of the apostles, the “witnesses” of Christ who were commissioned to “make disciples of all the nations” (Acts 1:8; Matthew 28:19). The apostles would receive their message from the Holy Spirit (John 14:26; 15:26; 16:13; Acts 1:8; 2:1-4), and would perform signs to confirm the message (Mark 16:20) through the power of the Holy Spirit (Hebrews 2:3-4).
So what is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? It is a rejection of the Spirit-inspired message and attributing divine work to the devil. One blasphemes the Holy Spirit by asserting that the gospel He revealed is false and not from God.
Why can this sin not be forgiven? It is because the gospel is “the power of God for salvation” (Romans 1:16). The apostles acted as “ambassadors for Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:20) by serving as His official spokesmen as they carried out the Great Commission. We will be judged by the words of Christ (John 12:48), which the apostles taught throughout the world (Romans 2:16; 1 Corinthians 14:37; 2 Peter 3:2). Therefore, if we reject the gospel, we will be lost.
This is not a sin we accidentally commit. It is a willful rejection of the revealed testimony about Christ. However, it is not wholly “unpardonable.” Notice the example of Paul:
“I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus. It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life” (1 Timothy 1:12-16).
Paul was the “foremost of all” sinners, which included being a “blasphemer.” Yet he “found mercy” when he turned from being an enemy of Christ to following Him. As he explained, this serves “as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.” However, as long as someone rejects the Spirit’s message in the gospel, he cannot be forgiven.
Conclusion
If we blaspheme the Holy Spirit by rejecting the gospel message that He revealed, we cannot be saved. Why? The message of the gospel tells us of Christ’s sacrifice and how to take advantage of it. This sin is not totally unforgivable. We can believe, repent, and obey the gospel to be forgiven. However, it will not be forgiven for those who refuse to repent because the gospel is God’s power for salvation.
