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What is
Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit?
Can A Christian Commit it?
Jesus
mentions a sin that is unforgivable in Matt. 12:31-32 and calls it
blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. But what exactly is this unforgivable sin?
For that, we need to look at the context.
Matt. 12:22-32 says, "Then there
was brought to Him a demon-possessed man who was blind and dumb, and He
healed him, so that the dumb man spoke and saw. 23And all the
multitudes were amazed, and began to say, "This man cannot be the
Son of David, can he?" 24But when the Pharisees heard
it, they said, "This man casts out demons only by Beelzebub the
ruler of the demons." 25And knowing their thoughts He
said to them, "Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste;
and any city or house divided against itself shall not stand. 26"And
if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then shall
his kingdom stand? 27"And if I by Beelzebub cast out
demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? Consequently they shall be
your judges. 28"But if I cast out demons by the Spirit
of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29"Or
how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his
property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder
his house. 30"He who is not with Me is against Me; and
he who does not gather with Me scatters. 31"Therefore I
say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven men, but blasphemy
against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. 32"And whoever
shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but
whoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven
him, either in this age, or in the age to come," (All Scripture
quotes are from the NASB).
Let me review
this section briefly. In verse 22, Jesus healed a blind and dumb man. The
Pharisees accuse Jesus of casting out demons by the power of "Beelzebub,
the ruler of the demons" (v. 24). Jesus responds by saying that a
kingdom divided will fall (vv. 25-28) and how the devil must first be
bound before you can plunder his house (v. 29). In verses
31-32, He states
that blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven in this age or the
age to come.
By simply looking at the context it becomes
apparent that blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is saying that Jesus did His
miracles by the power of the devil. This is unforgivable. But why? We can
find a clue by looking at when Jesus began His ministry.
Jesus stated that His baptism was to "fulfill
all righteousness," (Matt. 3:15). The word "fulfill"
should cause us to think of the Old Testament. Basically, Jesus was
baptized because He had to fulfill the Old Testament requirements for
entering into the priesthood. He was a priest after the order of
Melchizedek (Psalm 110:4; Heb. 5:8-10;
6:20). Priests offered sacrifice to
God on behalf of the people. Jesus became a sacrifice for our sin (1 Pet. 2:21; 2 Cor. 5:21) in His role as priest. According to the Old Testament,
in order for a priest to be consecrated as a priest, He had to be washed
with water (Lev. 8:6;
Exodus 29:4, Matt. 3:15) and anointed with oil (Lev. 8:12;
Exodus 29:7; Matt. 3:16). Both of these were bestowed upon Jesus at
His baptism. Additionally, He may have needed to be 30 years old - (Num. 4:3).
The oil is representative of the Holy Spirit who
descended upon Jesus at His baptism (Matt. 3:16). It was after His
baptism that He began His ministry and started performing miracles. He did
His miracles by the power of the Holy Spirit who had come upon Him at His
baptism. The Pharisees - who knew that Jesus' miracles validated His words
and ministry (see John 11:45-48) - were attempting to discredit Jesus' Messiahship by saying that His works were by the devil and not by the Holy
Spirit. Therefore, when the Pharisees accused Jesus of casting out
demons by the power of Satan, they were blaspheming the Holy Spirit by
whom Jesus performed His miracles. This is unforgivable because it
struck at the very heart of the redemptive work of God in Christ. It
struck at the very nature of Jesus’ ministry of redemption, testimony,
and teaching. Jesus was ministering in the power of the Holy Spirit
Himself, fulfilling the divine plan of God to provide a sacrifice for our
sins (John 3:16; 1 John 4:10). The Pharisees were attributing this to
demonic activity. This is a great blasphemy.
Can a Believer Commit the
Unforgivable Sin?
No. A
believer cannot commit the unforgivable sin. How can someone who has
been born again (John 3:7), made a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17), and received eternal
life (John 10:27-28) actually commit the unforgivable sin? He cannot.
Jesus Himself said that we have eternal life, not conditional life: "My
sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give
eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch
them out of My hand." Besides, it says in 2 Cor. 5:17 that the
Christian is a new creation in Christ. We are different, no longer slaves
to the old nature (Rom. 6:14). We are regenerated by the Holy Spirit.
There is no biblical support for a believer
committing this sin. It just hasn’t happened. Also, if you are worried
that you may have committed the sin and can’t be forgiven, then don’t
be concerned. If you are worrying about it, then you haven’t committed
it. If you are worried about it, then that is a sign that you have not
committed it. If you had, you wouldn’t be concerned.
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