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. (Matthew 12:31-32)
There have been times in my life—even after I was born again, but long before I was walking closely with the Lord, when I sometimes wondered: “Have I committed the unpardonable sin?” I feared I had sealed myself outside of God’s fellowship. You see, even born again believers who stray from close fellowship with God WILL be clouded by sin’s darkness so heavily that the truth of God’s Word becomes confusing.
My friend, if you have ever asked yourself this question, I want to walk through this passage with you carefully, because I believe the very fact that you are asking it is itself part of the answer. So, to understand what Jesus meant, we cannot start at verse thirty-one. We have to look at what had just happened. Jesus had just healed a man who was blind, mute, and possessed by a devil, and the crowds marveled, wondering aloud if this could be the Messiah. The Pharisees looked at the same miracle and reached the opposite conclusion.
But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. (Matthew 12:24)
That is not confusion; it’s a deliberate, settled decision to call the work of God’s Spirit the work of Satan, and it was made while staring directly at the evidence the Spirit was revealing about their own Messiah. This is the sin Jesus is describing—the fixed, knowing rejection of the Holy Spirit’s testimony. The Spirit’s entire ministry is to point sinners to Christ and to draw them toward repentance. When a person looks at that truth, understands it, and hardens their heart against it—calling light darkness and truth a lie—there is nothing left to draw them, because they have rejected the very Spirit whose work is REQUIRED to produce repentance. My friend, repentance is not something we manufacture ourselves—it is a gift of God:
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. (Acts 5:31)
When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life. (Acts 11:18)
If repentance itself is a gift from God, and forgiveness is impossible without repentance, then a person who has permanently and knowingly rejected the Spirit who alone grants that gift has shut the one door through which forgiveness could ever come. It is not that God’s mercy runs dry; it is that the lost person has rejected the Spirit, and thus, they will never be born again.
And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life. (Revelation 21:27)
But keep in mind, if you have been born again, the Holy Spirit already resides in your soul and spirit. Your soul is incapable of ANY sin because you are “in Christ.” The Spirit is continually drawing your soul into closer fellowship with the Father. The tipping point of final rejection described in Matthew 12 only applies to those who are lost.
So how do you know if you have committed the unpardonable sin?
Look at the Pharisees again. They were not grieved. They were not lying awake wondering if they had offended God. They were comfortable calling the Spirit’s work satanic.
This is the opposite of a heart that is searching, weeping, or afraid of having sinned too greatly to be forgiven. If you are asking whether you have committed the unpardonable sin, that question itself is likely evidence that you have not. A grieved conscience and a hunger to know Christ are proof that the Spirit is still working. If you have not yet received salvation, the gift of God, it is not too late! God is drawing you today!
“The Lord…is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that ALL should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)
My friend, if you are already born again, ask God for opportunities to share with others how to be saved. Salvation is the greatest gift we can give or receive.
Prayer:
Lord, thank You that You are not willing that any should perish, and that Your Spirit is still drawing the people I love who do not yet know You. Soften their hearts and keep them teachable, so they never harden themselves and call Your truth a lie. When Your Spirit convicts them, open their eyes to see You for who You really are. Help them to surrender before their hearts grows cold. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
