Question What is the unpardonable sin?

[Marie]

Can Christians commit it?
Jesus defined it as blasphemy against the Holy Sprit, but what did he mean?

Mathew 12: 31-32
31"Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.
32Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come."

There are apparently 3 well know theories on this I just heard a 4th.

1. Adultery
Because the body is the temple and adultery was a capital offence in the OT

2. Murder
(Since man is created in Gods image and murder is a sin against the sanctity of God.)

** Most scholars don’t agree on 1-2

3. That by denying the Holy Spirit (Unbelief, not getting saved) this is the one that I subscribed to, as do most.

Anyone care to hazard what the 4th was? I follow up in a day or two with this possible answer.

4.

 

[Starman3000m]

Can Christians commit it?
Jesus defined it as blasphemy against the Holy Sprit, but what did he mean?

Mathew 12: 31-32
31"Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.
32Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come."

There are apparently 3 well know theories on this I just heard a 4th.

1. Adultery
Because the body is the temple and adultery was a capital offence in the OT

2. Murder
(Since man is created in Gods image and murder is a sin against the sanctity of God.)

** Most scholars don’t agree on 1-2

3. That by denying the Holy Spirit (Unbelief, not getting saved) this is the one that I subscribed to, as do most.

Anyone care to hazard what the 4th was? I follow up in a day or two with this possible answer.

4.

I also agree with #3 but view the unpardonable sin as a two-fold action:

1.) Rejecting the Holy Spirit when one becomes spiritually and intellectually aware of God's presence and is given the choice to make whether to accept God or reject God, AND

2.) Whenever God performs a visible Miracle in the presence of someone and they wholeheartedly claim that the miracle was not from God but was from Satan.

Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme:
But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation: Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit. (Mark 3:28-30)

Important to note that Jesus even stated that people could ridicule and speak against Him and they would still be able to beforgiven BUT to blaspheme against the Holy Spirit of God would not be forgiven.

"Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God:
But he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of God.
And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven." (Luke 12:8-11)

Jesus has sent the presence of The Holy Spirit of God into this world that personally testifies of His Plan of Salvation. It is The Holy Spirit of God that then Indwells the life of the Believer once one has trusted God and made a confession of faith to accept the Atoning Blood of Christ for their sins.

I believe Everyone is given a chance to decide at one point in his/her life and to knowingly reject the Holy Spirit and choose to deny God's call to be saved is an exercise of Free Will. The individual has made the choice NOT to accept the Free Gift of Salvation and the presence of God into his/her life.

BTW: One cannot be Born-Again unless he/she is indwelt by the Holy Spirit and once a person becomes a Child of God it is highly and VERY doubtful they would want to commit blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

 

[Marie]

I also agree with #3 but view the unpardonable sin as a two-fold action:

1.) Rejecting the Holy Spirit when one becomes spiritually and intellectually aware of God's presence and is given the choice to make whether to accept God or reject God, AND

2.) Whenever God performs a visible Miracle in the presence of someone and they wholeheartedly claim that the miracle was not from God but was from Satan.

Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme:
But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation: Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit. (Mark 3:28-30)

Important to note that Jesus even stated that people could ridicule and speak against Him and they would still be able to beforgiven BUT to blaspheme against the Holy Spirit of God would not be forgiven.

"Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God:
But he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of God.
And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven." (Luke 12:8-11)

Jesus has sent the presence of The Holy Spirit of God into this world that personally testifies of His Plan of Salvation. It is The Holy Spirit of God that then Indwells the life of the Believer once one has trusted God and made a confession of faith to accept the Atoning Blood of Christ for their sins.

I believe Everyone is given a chance to decide at one point in his/her life and to knowingly reject the Holy Spirit and choose to deny God's call to be saved is an exercise of Free Will. The individual has made the choice NOT to accept the Free Gift of Salvation and the presence of God into his/her life.

BTW: One cannot be Born-Again unless he/she is indwelt by the Holy Spirit and once a person becomes a Child of God it is highly and VERY doubtful they would want to commit blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

Well that didn’t take long, way to go dude you got on it in your reply!

RC Sproul suggested that my # 4 based on the context of the verses, is that the unpardonable sin is your # 2
2.) Whenever God performs a visible Miracle in the presence of someone and they wholeheartedly claim that the miracle was not from God but was from Satan.

Based on the following verse.
Matthew 12:24-32
But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "This man casts out demons only by Beelzebub the ruler of the demons."
Ending with
12:31 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.

12:32 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.

I never heard that before as two fold, as # 3 by it's self is so popular.

 

[ItalianScallion]

Can Christians commit it?
Jesus defined it as blasphemy against the Holy Sprit, but what did he mean?
Mathew 12: 31-32
31"Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.
32Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come."
3. That by denying the Holy Spirit (Unbelief, not getting saved) this is the one that I subscribed to, as do most.

Hi Marie. You have to remember who Jesus was speaking to back then. Although we do attribute miracles to God today, we don't see the "physical" Jesus doing them as the Jews (Pharisees, Saducees, etc) did back then. So, in essence, we can't commit the same unpardonable sin that they could back then. By the same reasoning, however, the only sin TODAY that God won't forgive IS unbelief. Murder, adultery, abortion, etc., though serious sins, fall under the cover of Jesus saying: "every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven except for the one of unbelief. I don't believe that a Christian, once truly saved, can be lost or unsaved. I truly believe that if a person "tries on salvation" but doesn't get truly regenerated, they will walk away eventually (Hebrews 6 v4,5,6). There are too many verses showing that when God saves us, we stay that way. Yes we have our bad days and even backslide for a time, but a truly saved Christian always comes back or God may take them home early. These verses convinced me of "once truly saved always saved". Ephesians 1v13 & 14, Hebrews 7v25, 1 Peter 1 v 4, 23 and 1 John 2v19. Welcome to the forum!

 

[Starman3000m]

Well that didn’t take long, way to go dude you got on it in your reply! ... I never heard that before as two fold, as # 3 by it's self is so popular.

Thanks Marie. Yes, "Unbelief" is the action but remember we have to define what the action is; in other words unbelief of what?

Remember also that this action is against the Holy Spirit; not against anyone else, not even a Christian witnessing to an unbeliever about having faith in Christ and then the other person walks away still an unbeliever. This has to be at a moment when the Holy Spirit personally makes the unbeliever completely aware of God's presence and calling to make the decision. Many verses in the New Testament indicate that the Holy Spirit is the spiritual presence of God that comes to testify the Truth of who Jesus is and when one is confronted by The Holy Spirit with that Truth, they have a choice to accept or reject it.

I believe that the other part as discussed, and mentioned by RC Sproul, would be where true miracles would occur today and whereby a skeptical person would come along and refuse to believe it was a miracle from God. There are some religious teachers that claim they no longer believe that God can perform miracles in today's "modern" days. In fact, I know of some professing Christian ministers who tell their congregation that all we need is "The Word" and that miracles no longer happen and the "Gifts of The Holy Spirit" are no longer needed in the church. Their teachings contradict scripture where we are told:

For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.

And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost:

So that ye were ensamples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia.

For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak any thing.

For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God;

And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. (1 Thessalonians 1:5-10)

Recap of blasphemy against The Holy Spirit:
Unbelief and rejecting the testimony of Jesus Christ being The Son of God and Saviour of mankind when revealed by the Holy Spirit; and, Unbelief in the Power of God to still perform miracles through Intervention of The Holy Spirit in this day and age and attributing such miracles to be the work of Satan.