THE PERPLEXING PUZZLE

OF THE

UNPARDONABLE SIN

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Matthew 12:31-32 … “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, nor in the world to come.”

It is probably one of the most puzzling statements to come from the lips of the Lord Jesus. Christian expositors differ as to its explanation. Some say it could only be committed during our Lord’s earthly lifetime, others that is just as prevalent today … if not more so that ever before!

And why should a sin against the Son of Man be forgivable … but not against the Holy Spirit? (v. 32).

1. WHAT IT IS NOT

· It is not mere Verbal Blasphemy. No Christian should indulge in foul language (Ephesians 4:29), let alone taking the Lord’s Name in vain. But such can be forgiven.

· It is not Theft. The thief on the cross beside the Lord Jesus found that his sins could be forgiven.

· It is not Drunkenness. “No drunkard can inherit the Kingdom of God”

(I Corinthians 6:10), but such a sin (not a ‘disease’ as some call it!) can be forgiven. Plenty of converted drunks can testify to that.

· It is not Pride … “the sin by which the angels fell” … Everyone who has found forgiveness at the foot of the Cross has done so because they confessed that their own righteousness was “as filthy rags in the sight of God” (Isaiah 64:6). Pride can be … must be … forgiven.

· It is not Adultery. John 8 records the story of a woman caught in the very act, and yet who heard the Saviour’s word of forgiveness.

· It is not Murder. The hands of King David were red with the blood of Uriah. But he found forgiveness. Saul of Tarsus likewise was responsible for the death of many an early believer (Acts 26:10-11). But he was forgiven … and became Paul the Apostle! Murder is not the unpardonable sin!

“The blood of Jesus”, says John, “cleanseth us from ALL sin” (I John 1:7).

Even sins “as scarlet” can be washed as “white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18).

The vilest offender who truly believes –

That moment from Jesus a pardon receives! (Fanny Crosby)

Such is the old-time gospel preached by men of God down through the history of the Christian Church. And it’s true!

So what is this “blasphemy against the Holy Ghost” of which the Saviour speaks?

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2. WHAT IT IS

Examine the context in which this warning is spoken.

(a) The Act of the Lord Jesus

Matthew 12:22 … “Then was brought unto Him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and He healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw.”

(b) The Attitude of the Galileans

Matthew 12:23 … “And all the people were amazed, and said, ‘Is not this the son of David?’”

They recognised by what He has done that this is the promised Messiah … the Son of David foretold by the Old Testament prophets. Nicodemus had done the same … “no one can do what You are doing unless God be with him” (John 3:1-2).

The Lord claimed that He was fulfilling the Old Testament signs of the Messiah.

Luke 4:17-18 … And there was delivered unto Him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written, ‘the Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised…”

And “Today,” He said, “it is being fulfilled.” This prophecy concerning the coming Messiah had come to pass. The Lord was claiming to be the Messiah and the works He was doing proved it. The crowd accepted it. Nicodemus believed it. But the Pharisees who witnessed this healing of the demon-possessed dumb mute denied it!

Matthew 12:24 … “But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, ‘This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.”

They went so far as to accuse the Lord Jesus as being in league with Satan! So the Lord Jesus warns them that they are in danger of committing the unpardonable sin.

Why? Because they were deliberately closing their eyes and ears to the evidence given by the Holy Spirit. He … the Holy Spirit … was the One Who convicts of sin. He speaks to the heart and reveals the truth (John 16:8-11). And despite this the Pharisees refused to believe.

Let’s draw a contrast, to make it clearer…

The Roman soldier who drove the nails into the Lord’s hands and feet “who knew not what he was doing” (Luke 23:34) – there was forgiveness for that man if he repented. And it was still possible for him to do so. It was a sin against the Son of Man. But these Pharisees were in danger of silencing the testimony of the Holy Spirit. They knew they should acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah, but had continually refused to do so. Even now they may repent … but if they persist in their rebellious attitude the Holy Spirit will stop striving with them. Their day of salvation will be past. And when the Holy Spirit convicts no more … that’s the unpardonable sin. It can be any sin … persisted in against the wooing and warning of the Spirit of God … until the Holy Spirit leaves that person … forever.

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3. WHO HAS COMMITTED IT

(a) To the evil world prior to the Flood God said … “My Spirit will not always strive with man” (Genesis 6:3). And He didn’t!!

(b) After repeated warnings and displays of His power, Pharaoh “hardened his heart” (Exodus 8:15; 8:32; etc.) Finally we read that “God hardened Pharaoh’s heart!” (Exodus 9:12; 11:10). Now Pharaoh cannot repent … even if he wanted to do so! He had his chance up to the fifth plague…

(c) Jeremiah is told to stop praying for the sinful House of Judah! (Jeremiah 11:4-14). They have rejected the voice of the Holy Spirit once too often…

(d) Likewise the prophet Hosea … “leave them alone” God says, concerning the sinful people (Hosea 4:17).

(e) Yes! In the New Testament also we find this truth. Notice the record concerning the heathen in Romans 1.

“Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God game them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient…” (Romans 1:21-28).

And when God gives a person up in this lifetime they are as surely lost as if they were already in Hell. Their Day of Grace has become a Day of Judgement.

(f) Even these Pharisees to whom the Lord spoke and warned them of the danger they faced, seem to be the same ones mentioned in John 8:21 …

“Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins: whither I go, ye cannot come.”

“Cannot” now, because “would not” earlier!

(g) Notice, also, Jesus standing before Herod…

“And when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad: for he was desirous to see Him of a long season, because he had heard many things of Him; and he hoped to have seen some miracle done by Him. Then he questioned with Him in many words; but He answered him nothing” (Luke 23:8-9).

Why the silence on the part of the Lord Jesus? Here He confronts a Hell-bound sinner and speaks not a word to save him. Why? Because Herod has silenced the voice of the Holy Spirit once too often. And it is of no use witnessing to a person with whom the Holy Spirit has ceased striving.

“If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and He shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it” (I John 5:16).

For that one has silenced the Spirit’s pleading to heart and mind.

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CONCLUSION

It can be said that anyone who is concerned that they may have come to this place of committing the Unpardonable Sin has not done so! If you had, there would be no concern!! Such is proof that the Holy Spirit is still speaking to one’s heart. But He will not always strive with man.

“O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God; and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand. Today if ye will hear His voice, harden not your heart…” (Psalm 95:6-8).

As so many have done (and still do) until the voice of the Holy Spirit is heard no more.

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