The Unforgivable Sin
Jesus stated as recorded in the Gospel of Mark that whoever blasphemes against the Holy Ghost it shall NOT be forgiven of him.
Mark 3- 29 But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation:
This is after Jesus had just stated that ALL sins and blasphemies will be forgiven
Mark 3- 28 Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme:
This is also recorded in the Gospel of Matthew where Jesus again states that all sin and blasphemy will be forgiven apart from speaking against the holy ghost it will not be forgiven.
Matthew 12-31 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. 32 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.
And also in the gospel of Luke
Luke 12-10 And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven.
It would therefore seem to be rather important that we do not blaspheme or speak against the Holy Ghost.
What is blasphemy against the Holy Ghost?
Many people (far more than I had even imaged) seem to be struggling with this question. They spend their life worried that they are committing the unforgivable sin, is it saying a bad word? is it drinking alcohol? What about getting a divorce? Is it attributing the works of Jesus to the devil? The list of “sins” that have been put forward as the unforgivable sin, which actually isn’t even called a sin but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost is basically as long as there are sins to name.
But if it’s that important, as in we will not be forgiven for doing so, it must be important to work out the correct answer to how does a person Blaspheme or to speak against the Holy Ghost?
The answer is actually really rather simple, many preachers and teachers over complicate the answer, possibly to create a better preach I can only speculate. Many preachers and teachers are so wildly off target with the answer it’s actually pretty scary that they are let loose on the general public teaching the word of God and do nothing more than put fear into people by telling them the sin is all manner of incorrect answers.
So come on LJ what is the answer? You are dragging it out like the preacher’s you just criticized. OK ..here goes..
The Unforgivable sin, the Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost is………Rejecting Jesus.
There it is, it’s THAT simple. The Rejection of Jesus IS the unforgivable sin or rather the Blasphemy against the holy Ghost.
So how is rejecting Jesus a blasphemy against or to speak against the Holy Ghost?
Allow me to explain
The word Blasphemy is translated from the Greek βλασφημία, blasphémia which means to slander or to SPEAK FALSELY AGAINST
So the blasphemyh of the Holy Ghost is to speak against, to speak falsely against the Holy Ghost.
And exactly how does a person speak falsely against the Holy Ghost?
Well the Spirit is called the spirit of TRUTH and it is stated that it dwells inside believers
John 14-17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
We receive the spirit when we believe in Jesus
What is the Holy Ghost?
Spoiler Alert……….(If you haven’t read my writing who is the comforter you might want to stop here and go and do so) ……
Ok so now that’s done I shall resume.
The Holy Ghost as you should now be aware is the comforter, the Spirit of Jesus that the father gave him.
We now know what the spirit is and we know that we receive that spirit when we believe on Jesus.
Now Jesus said that the Holy spirit when it would come would reprove (convict) the world of SIN
The Greek word for translated as reprove is ἐλέγχω elegchó , to show, to expose, convict
John 16-8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
So when the Holy spirit came into the world it exposed the sins of the world
Just like the law did in the Old Testament
Romans 3-20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
To convict the world of sin, simply meaning the Holy Ghost exposes the worlds sin. So a person’s sins are exposed.The Holy Ghost shows the sin of a person but it is through faith in the blood of Jesus that those sins are forgiven.
Ephesians 1- 6To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. 7In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
If a person accepts that conviction of their sins through the Holy Ghost and confesses those sins then God forgives that person of those sins
1 John 1-9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
However someone who does not accept the conviction of those sins, a non believer, their sins are NOT forgiven and the reason explained in the very next verse.
John 16-9 Of sin, because they believe not on me;
Because they have not believed on HIM (Jesus)
Jesus said he is the TRUTH and that NO man comes to the father but through him
John 14-6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
The ONLY way to the father is through Jesus Christ
We are told that whoever DENIES the son does not have the father but whoever acknowledges the son has the father.
1 John 2-23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.
Rejecting Jesus is also the rejection of the father.
Jesus also said whoever believes on me shall be saved but whoever does not believe shall not see life
John 3-16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
John 3-36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
In the Gospel of Luke just before Jesus makes the statement regarding the Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost Jesus states that whoever confesses him before men then Jesus will confess that person before the angels of God
Luke 12- 8 Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God:
However he also says that he shall deny anyone that denies him
Luke 12- 9 But he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of God.
The Bible is VERY clear that eternal life comes ONLY through faith in Jesus.
The spirit of truth exposes our sin, a person who is convicted of those sins and accepts Jesus accepts the truth that the Holy Spirit has exposed. By rejecting the covering of those sins, which is faith in Jesus, a person makes the truth a lie and so rejects the truth of their sin the spirit has exposed and so talks falsely against the truth or blasphemes the Holy Ghost.
A non believer does not receive the Holy Spirit, the spirit of the truth inside them and so their sins are not covered by the blood of Jesus through faith.
As a person’s sins are forgiven through their faith a person who has rejected the truth stands in and will be judged by the sin of non belief.
When we understand the Bible is about FAITH it becomes clear that non belief is the ONLY unforgivable sin.
I will do a follow up writing explaining exactly What does it mean to believe in Jesus?