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Blasphemy Against The Holy Spirit
Matthew 12:31
"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?
Context
The context of this passage (Matt. 12:22-37) is essential to understanding
Jesus' statement. Jesus had demonstrated his divinity by healing the
demon-possessed (vv. 22-23). The multitudes marveled at his power, but the
Pharisees (scribes who came from Jerusalem to Galilee, Mark 3:22), unable to
deny that miracles had been performed, attributed them to the power of Beelzebul,
"the ruler of the demons" (v. 24).
Jesus responded that the accusation of the Pharisees that represented Satan as
divided against himself was absurd (vv.25-26). Why would the evil one rob
himself of his greatest achievement, his triumph over the souls of men? By so
arguing, the Pharisees had also entangled themselves in gross inconsistency,
since they claimed that some of their own could cast out demons (v. 27).
Their argument was actually a deliberate attempt to deny the truth. Jesus was
able to cast out demons, not by the powers of evil, but by the "Spirit of God"
("finger of God," Luke 11 :20). By God's power Jesus had entered a "strong
man's" (Satan's) house and plundered him of his goods; far from being in league
with Satan, Jesus had overpowered him (v.29). The mighty works of Christ
indicated the coming of the kingdom of God (v. 28). He had given clear and
irrefutable evidence of the truth of his message; in the light of such evidence
neutrality is impossible (v. 30). Yet the scribes willfully and deliberately
assigned to Satanic origins what the Holy Spirit was actually doing, in spite of
evidence to the contrary.
In Mark 3:22-30 Jesus' saying about blasphemy against the Spirit appears in the
same context as in Matthew. The statement is also found in Luke, but the context
is different. The Pharisees' charge that Jesus cast out demons by Beelzebub is
recorded in Luke 11:14-26, but Jesus' words about blaspheming the Spirit do not
appear until 12:10. Here they come immediately between his warning that "he who
denies Me before men shall be denied before the angels of God" (vv. 8-9), and
his assurances to his disciples that the Spirit would be their helper when they
stood before earthly powers, that they might know what to speak (vv. 11-12). In
reviling the power through which Jesus worked, the scribes were blaspheming the
very Spirit who was promised to be their Comforter in difficult times.
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.
Conclusion
There is such a thing as opposition to divine influence that is so persistent
and deliberate, because of continual preference of darkness to light, that
repentance, and therefore forgiveness become impossible. The Law of Moses made a
distinction between sins committed unintentionally, for which atonement could be
made, and sins committed in open defiance of God. The person who acts "defiantly
. . .. is blaspheming the Lord . . ., has despised the word of the Lord and has
broken his
commandment . . ., shall be completely cut off; his guilt shall be on him" (Num.
15:30-31). The Hebrews writer said it is impossible to renew to repentance those
who crucify the Son of God afresh, placing themselves in a state of open
repudiation of the only way of salvation (Heb. 6:4-6). For them "there no longer
remains a sacrifice for sins" (10:26f). They have sinned the sin "unto death" (1
John 5:16).
The gospel is God's power to salvation. But we must have an honest and good
heart to receive it. "He who has ears, let him hear."
Scanned from
Guardian of Truth,Feb. 1, 1996, P.#78
By Dan Petty
From Expository Files 3.9; September 1996
