I think probably Bob is right. At least I hope to God he is right (literally that’s where my hope lies) because I’ve blasphemed the Holy Spirit before in my life. I’ve since sought forgiveness for that blasphemy and I believe I’ve received that forgiveness. But if what you, nonsporting, are saying is right then I’m damned already. And so are probably millions of others. We’ll see at Judgement Day I guess.
But for now let’s return to the passage in question.
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. (Matthew 12:31-32)
To me this is recording how Jesus said, basically, you can insult me all you want and you may be forgiven but if you insult the Holy Spirit you won’t be forgiven. I think that’s undoubtedly what that passage is saying.
So the question is, what does it mean to insult the Holy Spirit? Well, surely cursing Him (as I have in my past) is an example of that. But is that all it is? Is God divided? Is there no recourse to forgiveness for those who insult God the Holy Spirit?
Perhaps not and so perhaps I am damned now. But I’d like to believe there’s more to the “unforgivable sin” than just insulting Him verbally. It also must mean that if you insult Him in some way *and* never seek His forgiveness, then you are damned.
And really what “insults” the Holy Spirit? Well really any sin, not just denying His actions in the world. To say that the only “blasphemy” against the Holy Spirit is denying His works is to deny how offensive all sin is really to God.
So the unforgivable blasphemy is not only sinning against the Holy Spirit, but also not seeking His forgiveness after sinning.
That must be the case or else we’re all already damned really.
It wasn’t about insulting the Holy Spirit.
The pharisees accused Jesus of doing His works by the power of the devil.
They were confronted with God Incarnate, not a situation any of us find ourselves in. They witnessed miracles that clearly only God could do and accused Jesus of working by the power of Satan, thus calling the Holy Spirit demonic.
Our questioning the source of many so called miracles is NOT the same thing. People like to use that verse to shut up those who rightly question them, but anyone who would resort to such intimidation tactics is not operating under the power of the Holy Spirit.
We are commanded to test those who claim to be leaders and see if their lives match up with what they are preaching. So the questioning alone is not the blasphemy.
The blasphemy was saying that the works that Jesus did were by the power of Satan, thus saying that the Holy Spirit is Satan.
In one way that does shut someone off from redemption because if they attribute the work of the Holy Spirit to Satan, then they will never accept teaching or revelation from Him as they will think it’s from the devil and reject it.
I read a site that stated that Jesus was warning the men that they were nearing the point where the Holy Spirit would stop trying to convict them of sin because they were close to final rejection of God- they were in danger of a final turning away of the ‘inner conviction’
“Note very carefully: Jesus does not say that these scribes have committed the unforgivable sin. He hears them attribute his power over demons to Satan instead of to the Holy Spirit and he says, “Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness” (verse 29). It is a warning to the scribes. Maybe they have committed the unforgivable sin, maybe they haven’t. But when they see the work of the Holy Spirit and call it the work of Satan, they are at least on the brink of never-ending guilt. Perhaps they have even fallen over the edge.
“Whatever Blasphemies They Utter”?
Why do I hesitate to equate what the scribes said with unforgivable blasphemy? I hesitate because Jesus invites me to with verse 28. “Truly I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter.” Literally: “All things will be forgiven to the sons of men, the sins and the blasphemies whatever they blaspheme.” No exceptions are mentioned. The key to understanding the unforgivable sin is how verse 28 can be stated so absolutely (“all sins and blasphemies will be forgiven”) and yet verse 29 can say that there is a blasphemy and a sin beyond forgiveness.
What does verse 28 mean? Mark makes it plain that sins are forgiven only if a person repents. Mark 1:4, “John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” Mark 1:14–15, “Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom is at hand, repent and believe in the gospel.’” (See also 4:12; 6:12, and Acts 2:38 and 5:31.) In order for anyone to receive forgiveness of sins, they have to repent — that is, to turn from sin to God and trust his grace and follow him. So when Jesus says in Mark 3:28, “All sins will be forgiven the sons of men and whatever blasphemies they utter,” he means, all sins and blasphemies from which you genuinely repent.”
https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/beyond-forgiveness-blasphemy-against-the-spirit
I don’t agree with some of what piper believes- but I think He’s onto something in the above-
[[then I’m damned already. ]]
No 47- you are not- the final blapshemy is a total rejection of God- You have not committed that as evidenced by your worry and consequent asking forgiveness- The blasphemy spoken of by Christ was much more than just attributing works of God/Christ to Satan- it was a final heart condition of the person where they rejected God outright- forever- basically- THEY made the decision never to turn to Christ- They flat out rejected, once for all, the inner conviction of the Holy Spirit
[[So the unforgivable blasphemy is not only sinning against the Holy Spirit, but also not seeking His forgiveness after sinning.]]
Only the unsaved can commit blasphemy against the Holy Spirit- only the unsaved can so harden their heart that they will never accept Christ no matter what- They totally reject the inner working of the Holy Spirit- and therefore there is no more sacrifice left for them to accept-
Rest easy- If you’ve accepted Christ as Savior, you’re fine