Have you ever thought of what the “Unpardonable Sin” might be? The Lord Jesus mentioned this sin in a few instances in the Gospels, and so is something that is not easily forgotten by Christians. Furthermore, since most believers tend to study the New Testament nearly exclusively, many would be inclined to study the term only within the context of the New Testament.
From a plain reading of its New Testament occurrence, it is a given that Jesus called the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost as unforgivable. This is what we see in the following verses.
This is first seen in 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, neither in the world to come.”
Also, we see this in Mark 3:28-29.
“Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation:”
Luke also mentions this in Luke 12:8-10.
“Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God: But he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of God. 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.”
Years after Luke, the beloved apostle John wrote in 1John 5:16-17.
The beloved apostle John also wrote about this, saying, “If any man sees 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. All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.”
It is noteworthy that the apostle Paul also used the phrase “sin unto death” and the way he used it gives a hint of what its real meaning and application are. Let’s look carefully now.
“Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death or obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:16-23)
You’ll note in Romans 6:16 that Paul is speaking about sin, not the “sin unto death” that is equivalent to blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. But hold on to that for a moment and we’ll get back to that in a while.
Other writers and commentators state the obvious, that the unpardonable sin is the one that is never repented of. Explaining the logic of it, this is how J. Vaughan, M.A. in the “Biblical Illustrator” expresses it.
“We might expect that the best gift of the Holy Ghost would have some corresponding awfulness attaching to it. We have in the Bible four separate sins against the Holy Ghost laid out in a certain order and progression-grieving, resisting, quenching-these have been forgiven. But there is a fourth stage when the mind, through a long course of sin, proceeds to such a violent dislike of the Spirit of God, that infidel thoughts and horrid imaginations come into the mind. They become habitual. This sin against the Holy Ghost does not lie in any particular act or word; it is a general state of mind. It is unpardonable because the mind of such a man cannot make one move towards God.”
Hold on to that, too, as we will merge these into a cohesive block of truth in a while.
But, Who Said It First?
In Bible study, there is a rule called the “Rule of First Mention”. What this means is that to be able to understand a word, idea, or doctrine in Scripture, one needs to find where it first appears. From there, we examine where its simplest meaning and application is established; it is also from there that subsequent usages should be built upon.
So do we have an Old Testament reference to this kind of sin? Because Christ was not physically present on earth at that time, and the Holy Spirit did not yet indwell believers as today, the Jews were dealing with God the Father a great deal of the time. That was how man related to God in the dispensations before the Church age. And so technically the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit did not yet exist then. But its effects, which are of not being forgiven and eternal damnation is synonymous with having one’s name “blotted out”. This terminology of a name blotted out appears only four times in the Bible. Thrice in the Old Testament and once in the New. These are in Deuteronomy 9:14, Deuteronomy 29:20, 2Kings 14:27, and Revelation 3:5.
Let’s remember Deuteronomy 27 to 28. This is where Moses divided the people into two camps and made one to stand upon mount Gerizim to bless the people, and the other group stood upon mount Ebal to declare the curses. Then in Deuteronomy 29, Moses and the people renewed the covenant God made with them. It is also here where God said, “The LORD will not spare him, but then the anger of the LORD and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the LORD shall blot out his name from under heaven.” (Deuteronomy 29:20). To me, those words “blot out his name from under heaven” sounds very much like what happens to an idolater/blasphemer who had committed the New Testament’s “unpardonable sin”! To make this clearer, you’ll notice that the Hebrew word translated as “spare” in this verse is סָלַח pronounced as saw-lakh’ and means “to forgive, pardon, spare”. It does indeed sound like the unpardonable sin! The term “blot out his name from under heaven” would mean making the person irrelevant and useless. If a man was declared irrelevant and useless on earth, what chance has he of being important in eternity?
I propose that the New Testament term “unpardonable sin” is the equivalent of the Old Testament of one’s name “blotted out from under heaven”. Proceeding from this premise, we can now see the unpardonable sin described in the preceding verse (Deuteronomy 29:19). The unpardonable sin is when a person believes he is alright with God even if he harbors wickedness in his heart. Now watch this.
“And it comes to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst: The LORD will not spare him, but then the anger of the LORD and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the LORD shall blot out his name from under heaven.” (Deuteronomy 29:19-20).
If the “Rule of First Mention” holds, then the effect and application of what Jesus called the unpardonable sin is in Deuteronomy 9:14a, where God said, “Let me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under heaven:” John Gill comments on the phrase extrapolating it to our current time”…and the Lord shall blot out his name from under heaven” this way: “He shall have no name in Israel, not in the church, and among the people of God, from whom he is to be excommunicated; shall have no name and place in the earth, being cut off from the land of the living; and shall have no name or fame after his death, his memory shall rot and perish; and he shall appear to have no name in the book of life (see Psalm 69:28)”
“Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.” (Psalm 69:28)
In summary, if we seriously took into account the “Rule of First Mention” we will understand that Deuteronomy 9:14 and 2Kings 14:27 talks about God’s act of blotting out the offenders’ name under heaven, and Deuteronomy 29:19-20 sets the premise and context of this blasphemy. These verses imply that when a man hears a clear warning from the Word of God and still insist that he is righteous despite harboring and refusing to forsake sin, this would be the same as blaspheming the Holy Ghost because he is denying the conviction from God while persisting in his deception and continuing to publicly indulge in his sinfulness.
Now let’s look at Luke 12:10.
“…but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven.” The practical sense of this is because there is no other Person of the Trinity Who is coming after the Holy Ghost. He is the last person of the Godhead Who is now ministering to humanity. When the Son comes back, it will no longer be to minister but to judge all peoples.
May we never quench, deny, and silence the voice of the Holy Spirit Who speaks to us. Because although He speaks in a small still voice amidst all the din and confusion of today’s global issues, we can know it is indisputably Him because his message aligns with His Word.
How Have You Dealt With The Lies?
Friend, have you been deceived and never found that out until someone told you the truth? Or, have you known the Truth and still persisted in that deception? Let me tell you the good news. You don’t have to be live in deception! You can stop living a lie and live for the Truth! YOU CAN BE FORGIVEN! Now seriously consider this – if you died tonight, where do you think you will end up? If you are unsure of your eternal destiny, now is the time to make your life right with God. You see, all human beings (me included) are sinners! If you would honestly assess yourself right now, you probably have lied to someone. Or take something that did not belong to you. You might have looked at someone with lust in your heart. Or hated someone and wished him/her evil. Or, used God’s name as a cuss-word. If so, that makes you a lying thief, an adulterer, a murderer, and a blasphemer! From God’s Ten Commandments, I think you know where such kinds of people end up already. I don’t want you to end up in hell! Neither does God!
So God sent Jesus to earth on a rescue mission! That’s what it says in John 3:16. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
All who turn to God in humble repentance, coming back to The Creator and ask for forgiveness, believing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who gave His life on the cross as payment for sin, Who rose again the third day, ascended to heaven and is coming back to take all His believers with Him to heaven, you can receive forgiveness for your sins and be restored into a relationship with God!
All you need to do is repent, ask Him to forgive you, and entrust your present and future to Jesus Christ. If you are sincere, the Bible says you are SAVED and made as new again! “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “WHOEVER BELIEVES ON HIM WILL NOT BE PUT TO SHAME.” (Romans 10:9-11)
You can stop being ashamed of what you’ve made out of your life. Guilt does not have to haunt you until your dying day. Accept the offer from Jesus and the receipt of His Gift of eternal life today. Hurry! This offer is good only until the Rapture!
If you’ve made a decision to believe in Jesus, let me know! I wish to help you grow in your new faith in the God of the Bible Whose promises never fail.
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Until then, God bless you!
Musings of Anax Jos 