Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit
“Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.” —Jesus (Matthew 12:31-32 ESV)
“Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.” —Jesus (Mark 3:28-29 NIV)
It’s scary
When I first heard about blaspheme of the Holy Spirit a chill ran down my spine and twinge of pain also ran through my heart as I asked myself in angst, “What if I blasphemed the Holy Spirt already? Is there any hope for me? Am I lost forever?”
If you feel same way now or have in the past then know and understand that your pain is a good thing. It’s not because of blaspheme that your being cut, but rather the pain reveals that you believe the Word of God and take it seriously. The living and active Word of God is cutting into your heart like a surgeon’s scalpel.1 You’re also getting a good dose of fear that is the beginning of wisdom.2 So take courage. All will be well.
But, what does it mean?
Jesus says all sin will be forgiven except one. If all sin will be forgiven except one logic dictates that only one sin condemns a person.
That seems pretty logical and easy to understand. Don’t you agree?
If only one sin condemns all persons and all other sins are forgiven, then that one sin condemns the lost too. Therefore that one sin must be blaspheme of the Holy Spirit.
Does that make sense? I think it does.
Just when and how, therefore, did a lost person speak against the Holy Spirit?
To answer that question it’s important to know precisely what Jesus spoke about regarding the Holy Spirit.
Shortly before Jesus was crucified; he taught his disciples about the mission and purpose of the Holy Spirit.
“But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin, righteousness and judgment: In regard to sin because men do not believe in me…” (John 16:7-9 NIV)
Jesus comforts his disciples by telling them that they won’t be left alone when he departs. He also says the Counselor when he comes will convict the world of guilt, in regard to sin, righteousness and judgment
That is the job of the Holy Spirit. He is counseling Jesus’ disciples and he is constantly convicting, everyone, including, you and me, of guilt; in regard to sin, righteousness and judgment.
When we sin the Holy Spirit is right there convicting us. He is speaking to our hearts and telling us that we fell short of God’s righteousness and that we will be judged for our wrong doing.
Why would he do such a thing?
So that we will repent and turn to God. After all, isn’t that God’s desire? He wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.3 Therefore, the Holy Spirit is encouraging us to repent.
Let me illustrate.
If my wife asks me to perform some task, it’s a situation that demands a response. I have four choices. I can ignore her, I can tell her to shut up, or I can listen attentively and do as she asks or not.
Three of those choices are one in the same. If I ignore my wife I am telling her that she isn’t important and irrelevant. If I tell her to shut up I am still telling her the same thing, and if I listen to her and say no, I am still telling her that she’s not important and irrelevant.
In all three situations I am speaking against my wife. If I ignore her I am really speaking to her in a derogatory manner. The same goes for the two other choices.
The same dynamic applies to the Holy Spirit. He is telling us about our sin, unrighteous and how we are facing judgment.
If we ignore the Holy Spirit we are speaking against the him. We’re telling him, “No, I will not repent!”
Un-repentance is blaspheme of the Holy Spirit. He’s telling us to repent and we’re saying no. Un-repentance is intuitive in that we know that those who are lost will perish for refusing to accept the Gospel. That in a nutshell is also called un-repentance.
If we die in a state of un-repentance then we die in a state of permanent blaspheme. However, at whatever point we repent we are no longer blaspheming, because we repented.
Un-repentance is blaspheme of the Holy Spirit. Repent then and turn to God.
We are here to help. If you want to repent and discover how to have a true relationship with God send us an email at: seekjesusdaily.com@gmail.com.
1 Hebrews 4:12-13
2 Proverbs 9:10
3 I Timothy 2:4
This is really helpful, thanks.