Unpardonable Sin!

For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23

 We know that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). We also know that God has shown us   mercy by offering all that receive His Son as Lord and Savior forgiveness of those sins. However, Scripture tells us that there is one sin that will never be forgiven, the unpardonable sin.

How would you respond if someone asked you what is the  unpardonable sin? There are some Christians that could not answer the question. Some people say that if someone commits suicide, they have committed the unpardonable sin. However, that sin or any other sin is not unpardonable except the sin mentioned by Jesus in the Gospels.

“Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. 32 And whoever speaks 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, either in this age or in the age to come.” (Matthew 12:31-32)

What does it mean to blaspheme the Holy Spirit? A few verses before the religious leaders had attributed Jesus casting out of demons to Satan himself.

“Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed him, so that the mute man spoke and saw. 23 And all the crowds were astounded, and were saying, “Can this man really be the Son of David?” 24 But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man does not cast out demons except by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons (Matthew 12:22-24).”

A group of Pharisees, had witnessed irrefutable evidence that Jesus was working miracles in the power of the Holy Spirit, yet they claimed that He was possessed by the prince of demons, Beelzebul. The Jewish leaders of Jesus’ day committed the  unpardonable sin by accusing Jesus Christ (in person, on earth) of being demon-possessed. The gotquestions.com gives an excellent explanation.

“They had no excuse for such an action. They were not speaking out of ignorance or misunderstanding. The    Pharisees knew that Jesus was the Messiah sent by God to save Israel. They knew the prophecies were being        fulfilled. They saw Jesus’ wonderful works, and they heard His clear presentation of truth. Yet they deliberately chose to deny the truth and slander the Holy Spirit. Standing before the Light of the World, bathed in His          glory, they defiantly closed their eyes and became willfully blind. Jesus pronounced that sin to be unforgivable. The blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, specific as it was to the Pharisees’ situation, cannot be duplicated today. Jesus Christ is not on earth, and no one can personally see Jesus perform a miracle and then attribute that power to Satan instead of the Spirit. The only unpardonable sin today is that of continued unbelief. There is no pardon for a person who dies in his rejection of Christ. The Holy Spirit is at work in the world, convicting the unsaved of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8). If a person resists that conviction and remains unrepentant, then he is choosing hell over heaven. “Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6), and the object of faith is Jesus (Acts 16:31). There is no forgiveness for someone who dies       without faith in Christ. God has provided for our salvation in His Son (John 3:16). Forgiveness is found exclusively in Jesus (John 14:6). To reject the only Savior is to be left with no means of salvation; to reject the only pardon is, obviously, unpardonable.”

Today is the day of salvation if you don’t know Christ come to     Him, repent of your sins, and make Him Lord and Savior. If you die without Him you will spend eternity in Hell from the only sin now that is unpardonable, the rejection of the Son of God.

Your shepherd,

Pastor Mark