Question:
I have seen situations where people who are Christians claim to have committed the unpardonable sin and feel that they cannot be forgiven. Is it possible for a believer to commit that sin.(Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit)?
Answer:
Matthew 12:24-32 says, “But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. Or else how can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house. He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. 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.”
A believer cannot commit the unpardonable sin. Please notice that the people were rejecting Jesus, and attributing His power to Beelzebub, instead of to the Holy Spirit. What is the Holy Spirit’s job in regard to the world? John 16:7-14 says, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, HE WILL REPROVE THE WORLD OF SIN, AND OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND OF JUDGMENT: Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you.”
The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin; and He glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ. If people blaspheme the Holy Spirit, then they are rejecting His conviction in their hearts that they are sinners; and they are also rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom the Holy Spirit is pointing them.
It is not possible for a person to blaspheme the Holy Spirit, and also still have a desire to be saved by the Lord Jesus Christ. To blaspheme the Holy Spirit is to reject His convicting power and attribute it to the work of Satan. If a person does that, that person is not going to long to be saved by the Lord Jesus Christ, but is going to reject Jesus as the only Savior. It is more of the attitude that the Mormons and the Jehovah’s Witnesses have. They do not long to accept that the Lord Jesus Christ is God Almighty in the flesh, the only true and living God. No, they fight that doctrine as being from the devil. That is the exact same thing that the Jews did. That is why they wanted Jesus dead, because they rejected that Jesus is God Almighty. Read closely the following Scriptures, and the Jews reaction to the deity of Christ (that He is God Almighty), and to the convicting power of the Holy Spirit. It never produced repentance in their lives, but more anger and hatred on their part. You never see them longing to be saved, but longing to do away with those who teach that Jesus is God Almighty. Read these passages carefully.
Acts 5:27-33 says, “And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them, Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us. Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up JESUS, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a PRINCE AND A SAVIOUR, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And WE ARE WITNESSES of these things; AND SO ALSO IS THE HOLY GHOST, whom God hath given to them that obey him. WHEN THEY HEARD THAT, THEY WERE CUT TO THE HEART, AND TOOK COUNSEL TO SLAY THEM.”
Did you notice their reaction to the fact that Jesus is the one and only exalted Savior? Did you notice their reaction to the news that the Holy Spirit gives witness to this fact? Their reaction was anger and rebellion, and a desire to kill the apostles. There was no desire to get saved on their part, but only a desire to destroy what they still insisted was false doctrine — the work of the devil.
John 5:15-18 says, “The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole. And THEREFORE DID THE JEWS PERSECUTE JESUS, AND SOUGHT TO SLAY HIM, because he had done these things on the sabbath day. But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. THEREFORE THE JEWS SOUGHT THE MORE TO KILL HIM, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but SAID ALSO THAT GOD WAS HIS FATHER, MAKING HIMSELF EQUAL WITH GOD.”
The Jews were always ready to kill when Jesus was exalted as God Almighty in the flesh, the Savior of the world. They had no desire to be saved, but every desire to destroy Jesus and those who taught that He is God.
It is the work of the Holy Spirit to teach and convict people as to who Jesus really is. When people blaspheme the Holy Spirit, they do not then later sit around saying, “Oh, I sure wish I could get saved and receive the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior. But I blasphemed the Holy Ghost, and now I want to get saved, but I cannot.” If they blasphemed the Holy Spirit, they would still be very angry and firm in their argument that they do not believe that Jesus is God Almighty in the flesh, the Savior of the world.
In I Corinthians 5:1-5, we see that Paul dealt with a man in the Corinthian church that was committing immorality with his father’s wife. “It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife. And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”
The church was instructed to quit ignoring this man’s sin, but to judge it. The church obeyed, and the man repented. But they did not know how to treat the man after he repented. II Corinthians 2:7-12 says, “So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow. Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him. For to this end also did I write, that I might know the proof of you, whether ye be obedient in all things. To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ; Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.”
What is one of Satan’s devices? That when a person repents and asks forgiveness, that there is no forgiveness to be had. That a sin is “too bad” to be forgiven. That is a lie of the devil. When a person sins, that is what the devil wants him to think, that he cannot be forgiven. Paul had to write back to that church and tell them, “Ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow. Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him.”
If a person blasphemes the Holy Spirit, he will have no desire to repent, and receive the Lord Jesus Christ, God Almighty in the flesh, as his Savior. If he confesses that he is a sinner, and also his need to be washed in the blood of Jesus Christ; then he is not blaspheming the Holy Spirit, but is receiving and believing the witness and conviction of the Holy Spirit in his life.
Let us not be ignorant of Satan’s devices, one of which is getting people to believe that they cannot be forgiven, enough though they desire and want to be. Let us tell them the truth. Revelation 22:17 says, “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” If they have the desire to come, it is because they are accepting — not rejecting, the conviction of the Holy Spirit.