2006-06-30 03:30:55 · 22 answers · asked by lil 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
"Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven men, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven" (Matt. 12:31). What is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? Why is this an unpardonable sin?
What is Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit?
The word blasphemy (blasphemia), "impious and reproachful speech injurious to the divine majesty" (Thayer), in this context denotes an attitude of "defiant irreverence." The scribes who accused Jesus were guilty of blaspheming the Holy Spirit because they defied the truth. They treated his miracles with something worse than indifference; they blasphemously attributed them to Satan. They were like those condemned by Isaiah the prophet (5:20): "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; who substitute bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" Philo thus commented that those who blaspheme against the divine and ascribe the origin of evil to God and not man can expect no forgiveness. By accusing Jesus of being in league with Satan when he was really acting through the power of the Holy Spirit, they had blasphemed the Spirit, hardening their hearts against the Spirit's influence.
Why is This an Unpardonable Sin?
Jesus said that every other sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven. "And whoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him . . ." (Matt. 12:32). Christ referred to himself as the "Son of Man" to emphasize his humanity. To speak evil words against Jesus as a man working among men, though deplorable, was an evil that could be forgiven. The Son of Man in his earthly ministry was as liable to misunderstanding and ill treatment by others as any new messenger. When the source of evil speaking against Christ is ignorance, misconception, or ill-informed prejudice, then that blasphemy is as pardonable as any sin. Men could repent of their careless neglect of his work or their mistaken opposition to it, and when they did repent, they were forgiven. There are many examples in the New Testament of people who first opposed Jesus but later turned to accept him. Peter, perhaps through fear, denied Jesus in his hour of trial (Mark 14:71-72), but he found forgiveness, and when he was restored he was able to strengthen others (Luke 22:31-32). Paul marveled at the mercy extended to him even though he had been "a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor" (1 Tim.1: 12-16, emphasis mine, dwp). The apostle described himself as the "chief of sinners" to show, in fact, the perfect patience of Christ as the Savior of all.
The person who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, how ever, places himself beyond the reach of forgiveness. This is true because the Holy Spirit is the agent in the revelation of divine truth (2 Sam. 23:2; John 15:26; 16:13; Eph. 6:17; 2 Pet. 1:21). It is only through the work of the Spirit that we come to know of God, our sins, the atonement provided through Christ, and our need for repentance and obedience. Blasphemy against the Spirit is unforgivable because its source is a heart of malice, selfish preference of wrong over right and evil over good, and a willful refusal to believe. The Pharisees had revealed that their hearts were evil, and Jesus called them a "brood of vipers" (Matt. 12:34). Such a perverse spirit consciously and deliberately rejects the truth and thus the salvation it brings. "Either in this age, or in the age to come" (Matt.12:32) simply means "never." In Mark's account, Jesus called it an "eternal sin" (3:29). As long as a person persists in this state, genuine repentance is impossible. There is no room in this person's heart for penitence, which is a prerequisite for forgiveness. His sin is unpardonable simply because he is unwilling to travel the road that leads to pardon. The only sin that God is unable to forgive is the unwillingness to accept forgiveness.
Mark's use of the imperfect tense in 3:30, "because they were saying," implies a continued rejection of the truth on the part of the scribes: they "kept on saying" that he had an unclean spirit. The continuous refusal to respond to the guidance of the Spirit of God as revealed in his word may eventually lead to a state of moral insensitivity. Grieving (Eph. 4:30), resisting (Acts 7:51), and quenching (1 Thess. 5:19) the Holy Spirit may lead one to become so calloused that he will not even hear the truth.
2006-06-30 03:39:44 · answer #1 · answered by Evy 4 · 2⤊ 1⤋
No that is a misconception. No where in the Bible does it say that there is an unforgivable sin. All sin can be forgiven. If there were an unforgivable sin, then whatever that sin is, would be more powerful than Jesus Christ (and therefore more powerful than God) however nothing is more power than Jesus/God and so there can be no unforgivable/unpardonable sin.
Jesus died once and for all to pay the price for every sin that ever was committed, is being committed, or ever will be committed by any person who ever lived, is living, or ever will live. Unfortunately most people never accept His gift his dying for them (this is what Christianity calls salvation) and so many never receive the gift of salvation.
2006-06-30 03:39:06 · answer #2 · answered by David H 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Luke 12:10 (NIV)
"And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven."
One explanation that I've heard what that when those who were once filled with the Holy Ghost, then turn away from the truth, and deny and completely disavow His existence that it is blasphemy against the Holy Ghost and that is an unforgivable sin.
2006-06-30 04:59:27 · answer #3 · answered by lulu 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mark 3:28-29
"I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin."
Jesus said this to the "teachers of the law" who were ascribing His powers to a false god. I believe the sense Jesus is conveying is that if you deny the Spirit of the Lord, how can the you then ask that same Lord for forgiveness? In other words, you can't accept forgiveness from an entitiy you don't believe in!
2006-06-30 03:36:31 · answer #4 · answered by Cool Dad 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The unforgiveable sin is called blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. That happens when let me say a pastor who has powers from the Holy Spirit drives out demons (and you will know that that the pastor believes in Jesus Christ) and you don't believe that it's the Holy Spirit instead then you say the devil is the one who did it then you have blasphemed agaisnt the Holy Spirit.
2006-06-30 04:44:56 · answer #5 · answered by sweetdivine 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The unpardonable sin is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, this is calling the works of God, the works of satan as the Pharisees did many times. Making fun of someone that is trying to do the will of God is very dangerous. This sin can only be done by someone that is unsaved. God tells us in Matthew 12:31 Al manner of sin and blasphemy shall be be forgiven unto men, but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven into men.
2006-06-30 03:43:21 · answer #6 · answered by PREACHER'S WIFE 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
OK, they are capitol sins, and one of them are Murder. Kill someone is a unforgivable sin, but don't misunderstood, you can kill defending your self and God know that but if you kill just for revenge or abortion etc. you won be forgivable. Blaspheme against the holy spirit is another one, and believe it or not all this situation with the Code Davinci is a blaspheme against the holy spirit, because God, Jesus and the holy Spirit are just one together, and probably the last one will be Suicide.
2006-06-30 03:35:23 · answer #7 · answered by nemodelmar 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
2006-06-30 03:34:59 · answer #8 · answered by *** 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's blasphemey of the Holy Spirit, which is attributing the miracles of Jesus to demonic power.
It's pretty silly that something like THAT would be the one unforgivable sin. Jesus just said it in a tirade.
2006-06-30 03:34:50 · answer #9 · answered by lenny 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can also find it in Mark 3.
But there is one sin that is unpardonable and inevitably results in eternal death. When someone refuses to respond to the goodness of God, which is designed to lead unto repentance (Rom. 2:4), this continued refusal to accept God's overtures of grace will finally result in the commission of the unpardonable sin.
The unpardonable sin, or the sin against the Holy Spirit, is persistent rejection of light, the persistent rejection of what Christ has done for us. This rejection inevitably blinds the spiritual eyes and hardens the rejecter's heart to the wooings of the Spirit, as the example of those leaders in Israel. Finally, there is utter darkness in the soul, and the person is eternally lost because he or she has ruined his or her soul's perceptivity to the promptings of the Spirit.
Placing one's self beyond the power of the Holy Spirit is "unpardonable" because we cannot even repent without the aid of the Spirit of God. God can't do anything for us unless He forces us, which He won't do. We have, through our own choices, cut ourselves off from salvation.
2006-06-30 03:36:42 · answer #10 · answered by Damian 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Blasphemy-to to blasphemed against the Holy Spirit. Examples: To say that The holy spirit is not real
2006-06-30 03:39:50 · answer #11 · answered by Pashur 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋