The Unforgivable Sin

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What is the unforgivable/unpardonable sin?  It’s a confusing subject, because there are so many different ideas, and a lot of them leave you wondering if you or someone close to you has committed it.  I just did a search on the internet, and read through the first study on the topic, which had 6 different explanations of the unforgivable sin……so this is a subject wherein confusion reigns.

Worshipping Satan, being born of the devil, refusing the gift of Christ, conscientiously sinning when you know it’s wrong, walking away from Christ,  rejecting the true identity of Christ, not choosing to accept Christ, not believing he’s God, accepting something other than Christ as your means of salvation……these are just some of man’s explanations as to the unforgivable sin.  But none of these is even close.

No man alive today has committed the unforgivable sin.  If you are alive, you can be forgiven for any and every sin you’ve ever committed!

There is no righteousness in the flesh, neither can the flesh produce righteous behavior.     The flesh cannot become more dead than it already is; therefore the flesh cannot commit the unforgivable sin.

In seeking out the truth of the unforgivable sin, here are the points of truth I’ve discovered  in the Word of God.
1)  No man of God, including Jesus, is ever recorded as having judged another person as being guilty of the unforgivable sin.                                                                                                2)  In Jesus’ statements proclaiming the unforgivable sin, the word “man” was erroneously supplied.
3)  The context of all the records of Jesus’ statements regarding the unforgivable sin is the devil and his kingdom.

Every man who is alive has the option of choosing Christ at any time, throughout his entire life.  There is no sin a man commits that God will not forgive…..in Christ.

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 Spirit (literally, “the blasphemy concerning spirit“)  shall not be forgiven (“unto men” is not in most texts).  And whosoever speaks a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.

Notice that in verse 31 the blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven does not indicate that men won’t be forgiven, but that the sin itself won’t be forgiven.
In verse 32, the whosoever does not specify man (kind).  It certainly can mean the devil. In fact, whosoever can be translated whatsoever, and can refer to the evil spiritual influence or spiritual energizing behind the one speaking.

Only spirit can speak against Spirit.  Flesh cannot speak against Spirit, for ……

Romans 8:7    Because the fleshly mind (the mind that deals with the flesh) is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God (the way God works……like “the law of gravity” is the way gravity works), neither indeed can be (it does not even have the ability).

So then how can the mind of the flesh speak against the Spirit?  It does not even have the ability to do so (“can” is dunatai, the root of the word dunamis, translated power or ability….see the study  What is the POWER of God? ).  Rather it is, by its very nature, outside the realm of the Spirit, whether or not it speaks.

Only the devil and devil spirits speak against the Holy Spirit, which is God’s Spirit.

If the verses in Matthew were understood this way, it would be much more accurate.

Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven men; but the blasphemy concerning spirit shall not be forgiven.  And whosoever speaks a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but whatsoever influence sets itself against Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.

The context of Jesus’ entire speech against the sin that won’t be forgiven is Satan and his kingdom.

Matthew 12:24-26  But when the Pharisees heard (that the people were calling Jesus “the son of David” because of all the miracles and healings he performed) it, they said, This fellow does not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.  And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand;  And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?

Matthew 12:27-30  And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out?  Therefore they shall be your judges.  But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.  Or else how can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man?  and then he will spoil his house.  He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathers not with me scatters abroad.

Very clear context….that of the two spiritual kingdoms.  The kingdom of God and the kingdom of the devil.  This unforgivable sin regards judgment against the devil and his kingdom.

Mark also writes of this unforgivable sin.

Mark 3:28, 29   Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies no matter how they shall blaspheme; But he that shall blaspheme against (eis) the Holy Spirit has never forgiveness, but he is in danger of eternal damnation (text reads:  he is guilty of eternal sin);

Jesus says quite plainly that all sins and blasphemies that a man commits can be forgiven.  It’s the one who blasphemes unto (eis) the Holy Spirit that is guilty of that unforgivable sin forever.  The Greek word eis indicates that this is blasphemy that reaches all the way unto the Holy Spirit.  Again, flesh does not have the ability to do such a thing.  Only spirit has that ability.

John 16:7-11  Nevertheless I tell you the truth;  It is expeditious for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you;  but when I depart, I will send him unto you.  And when he is come, he will reprove (reveal the true nature of a thing in the light of truth) the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment;  Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and you see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.

In the glorified Christ these 3 things are true ….. there is righteousness, there is no sin, and the devil is eternally judged as the guilty one for all sin.

Speaking of this judgment of the devil and his kingdom in the context of Christ’s glorification, Jesus said:

John 12:28, 30, 31  Father, glorify Your name.  Then came there a  voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.  Jesus responded and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes.  Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the prince of this world be cast out (into the open, for all to see as the guilty one forever).

The act of the devil having the sinless man, Jesus Christ, killed decided the devil’s fate, for eternity.  As the introduction of light decides the fate of darkness, so the everlasting resurrection and glorification of Jesus rendered the devil’s sin unforgivable…..he became eternally guilty.

Revelation 20:10  And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

This is the consequence for being “guilty of eternal sin.”  And those who do not have the life of God will spend eternity there also.

Revelation 20:15  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

As long as you are alive you have the power to choose Christ.   Believe unto Jesus Christ and your name will be written in the book of life.  Look to him, think on him, dwell on him, until your heart chooses to believe unto him; and his spirit, the Holy Spirit of God, will give you life.  When his life is made your life, you have believed unto Jesus Christ.

John 3:18, 19  He that believes unto (eis) him is not condemned; but he that believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed unto (eis) the name of the only begotten son of God.  And this is the condemnation; that light is come into (eis) the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

In Christ, man is forgiven for every sin that he ever commits, is influenced by or walks in.  In Christ, the light and righteousness of God rules.  Outside of Christ there is no forgiveness, only darkness.  Outside of Christ, the darkness of condemning guilt rules.

In Acts 8 is the record of Simon the Sorcerer, who accepted the praise of the populous that he was the great power of God, and which he had bewitched by means of devil spirits.  Yet he himself was forgiven and became a child of God.

If anyone should have been found guilty of the unforgivable sin in the New Testament, it would have been Paul.  His sole life’s purpose, at one time, was to stop the spread of the Spirit of God and the preaching of Jesus Christ.  To that end he jailed, had tortured and killed many Christians.  But read II Timothy 1;15, 16 to see how he was not only forgiven his every sin, but also was entrusted with the greatest revelation of God ever given to man.

No man in the Bible is recorded as ever having received the judgment of God that he was guilty of sin forever, that he was in an unforgivable state of sin.  This is because every man who is alive has the ability to choose to believe unto Jesus Christ, and receive the eternal forgiveness of God into their life, no matter what sin or blasphemy he/she has committed!  Every man and woman is always completely forgiven when they come to Christ!
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The book, Give Me Christ … Revelations of the Glorified Christ is now available on Amazon.

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Other studies which may be of interest:
The Glorified Christ
Freedom from Sin’s Domination
How God Deals with our Sin
Justified, what it means
The Devil, Our Enemy
Power and Authority