What is the mysterious unpardonable sin?

[JimB]

We are having trouble in another thread getting people who believe there is a sin God will not forgive—the infamous, mysterious Unpardonable Sin—tell us exactly what that sin is. Maybe a separate thread like this will help nail it down.

So, exactly what is the unforgivable sin? Desperate minds want/need to know.

Note: This thread is for discussion; if you want to debate it, look in the debate forum.

~Jim

There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one striking at the root.​

​

 

[Deba]

2 Tim 2:12 If we endure, we will also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He also will deny us;

 

[lismore]

So, exactly what is the unforgivable sin?

Not being forgiven.

 

[JSGuitarist]

Despite all the evidence against you, you would rather blaspheme the work of God than admit yourself as wrong. I don't see how such a person could ever be brought to repentance, after having all the light that the Pharisees have had, yet they'll irreverently shove it back in God's face and call it the work of one whose name means lord of the dunghill before they'll admit that His indictments against them are true.

 

[jpcedotal]

I want to chime in....

An unpardonable sin is one that can not be brought to God by a Christian and be forgiven.The only one I can think of is suicide, not because God can not or will not forgive it, but because the Christian can not ask for forgiveness.

 

[nephilimiyr]

D/p

 

[Chrisv]

The Holy Spirit is the one who convicts us (John 16:8).

The context in which Jesus was describing the unpardonable sin was when people accused Him of driving out demons by the power of Satan (Matt 12). When you claim the work of the Holy Spirit to be the work of Satan, you stand the danger of grieving the Holy Spirit. When you do that, He will remove Himself from you and hence will not convict you of the sin so you will never reach a point of repentance so God cannot forgive you.

It must be understood that this is an intentional sin. If this is committed out of ignorance, the Holy Spirit understands that and will guide you to the truth.

If you are claiming that a person is doing the works of Satan, full knowing that it is actually the Holy Spirit at work, then you are committing the unpardonable sin.

 

[nephilimiyr]

The unpardonable sin is the rejection of Christ. If you reject Christ your sins wont be pardoned.

 

[WileyCoyote]

According to the Bible, there are two ways to keep God from forgiving your sins. One is if you blaspheme the Holy Spirit by attributing the works of the Holy Spirit to the devil. The other are sins you commit while in a state of unforgiveness. Jesus says if you won't forgive others of their trespasses, God won't forgive you of yours.

 

[JimB]

The unpardonable sin is the rejection of Christ. If you reject Christ your sins wont be pardoned.

Sure they will. Every sinner and every backslider has rejected Christ at some time in their life. Are you saying that God will not forgive a backslider (or a sinner)?

~Jim

There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one striking at the root.​

 

[JimB]

I want to chime in....

An unpardonable sin is one that can not be brought to God by a Christian and be forgiven.The only one I can think of is suicide, not because God can not or will not forgive it, but because the Christian can not ask for forgiveness.

Suicide is often the result of mental causes or severe depression often caused by a chemical imbalance and some, like Christ, willingly lay down their lives for others (John 10.18). IMO, not all suicide is damnable.

~Jim

There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one striking at the root.​

​

 

[JimB]

2 Tim 2:12 If we endure, we will also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He also will deny us;

Are you saying that denying Christ is unforgivable? I hope not or I made a big mistake when I was 17.

~Jim

There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one striking at the root.​

​

 

[Deba]

Are you saying that denying Christ is unforgivable? I hope not or I made a big mistake when I was 17.

~Jim

You can teach what the Word says or you can teach your experience. If you cannot reconcile the two, I'd recommend you stick with the Word and thank God for His mercy to you.

 

[JimB]

The Holy Spirit is the one who convicts us (John 16:8).

The context in which Jesus was describing the unpardonable sin was when people accused Him of driving out demons by the power of Satan (Matt 12). When you claim the work of the Holy Spirit to be the work of Satan, you stand the danger of grieving the Holy Spirit. When you do that, He will remove Himself from you and hence will not convict you of the sin so you will never reach a point of repentance so God cannot forgive you.

It must be understood that this is an intentional sin. If this is committed out of ignorance, the Holy Spirit understands that and will guide you to the truth.

If you are claiming that a person is doing the works of Satan, full knowing that it is actually the Holy Spirit at work, then you are committing the unpardonable sin.

When I was younger, in my early 20s, after I had backslidden from a true conversion experience a couple of year earlier, I did that. I deliberately made fun of Pentecostals (my mothers family was AOG): ridiculed Pentecostal preachers who came near hyperventilating when they preached; laughed at people’s claims of being healed or touched by the Spirit; mocked moves of the Holy Spirit; called sincere believers “holy rollers”; would say “boo” to Christians who used the term Holy “Ghost”; told my aunts and uncles that they were just the victims of voodoo superstition and there was no such thing as a “Holy Spirit”; and did a lot of other things that blasphemed the Holy Spirit.

And I was intentional about. I meant to ridicule. And looking back I think I secretly harbored doubts about my unbelief. I think there was a part of me that wanted to believe but intellectually I couldn’t … until god gave me the faith to do so.

Still, I was forgiven.

Go figure.

~Jim

There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one striking at the root.​

 

[JimB]

According to the Bible, there are two ways to keep God from forgiving your sins. One is if you blaspheme the Holy Spirit by attributing the works of the Holy Spirit to the devil. The other are sins you commit while in a state of unforgiveness. Jesus says if you won't forgive others of their trespasses, God won't forgive you of yours.

Before I returned to Christ after a period of backsliding for about four years, I attributed the works of the Holy Spirit first to the devil and later, as I fell deeper into unbelief and no longer believed in a supreme being, to superstition (seem my previous post).

Am I not forgiven?

~Jim

There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one striking at the root.​

 

[Faulty]

I want to chime in....

An unpardonable sin is one that can not be brought to God by a Christian and be forgiven.The only one I can think of is suicide, not because God can not or will not forgive it, but because the Christian can not ask for forgiveness.

That doesn't actually work unless you are willing to say that at any point a believer will go to hell with any sin against their charge. For example, a christian is talking to his wife and she asks him, "does this make me look fat? He lies, and says, "No more than usual.", the walks into the livingroom to watch sports, has a heart attack and dies.

Dies with unrepentent sin, one of the top 10 no less, is he also condemned?

 

[JimB]

Already I think the point is made—no one knows for sure what it means to “blaspheme the Holy Spirit.” There are, so fat, as many definitions of the term as there are posters and I am sure, over time, there will be a few more definitions.

Point in fact: there is no consensus of opinion among evangelicals as to what it means to commit the unpardonable “blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.” In fact, IMO, most of ‘The Forgiven’ in this forum have blasphemed the Spirit at some point in their life but received mercy because they had acted ignorantly in unbelief (1 Tim. 1.13).

Another point in fact: the passage about the unpardonable sin (Matthew 12, below) was address specifically to people (in this case Pharisees, see below) who had yet to have the final atonement made for their sin. Jesus had not yet completed the work of redemption when He spoke those words to/about the Pharisees, and so He was warning them of the danger of their constant resistance to God and His kingdom. After Calvary, redemption was for ALL MEN, even those we deny it to whom we say are “unforgivable.” “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands ALL people everywhere to repent” (Acts 17.30).

22 Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. 23 And all the people were amazed, and said, "Can this be the Son of David?" 24But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, "It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons." 25 Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. 26And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? 27And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 28But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29Or how can someone enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house. 30 Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. 31 Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32And 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.

Please note to/about whom these words are addressed.

~Jim

It isn’t what a man doesn’t know that hurts him as much as what he knows that just ain’t so.​

 

[Norbert L]

Here's another thread on the subject, somewhat short, only 19 comments at this posting. It's in the General Theology forum.

Hebrews 10:26-27

 

[JimB]

What the Epistle to the Hebrews is concerned about is Jewish believers who are under severe persecution and in danger of falling away from fellowship with other believers (which is always spiritually lethal). The epistle serves as an encouragement and a warning of breaking fellowship with the Lord and other believers. That’s what the writer meant when he said in the verse preceding the one you quoted (i.e, v.25, NIV), “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

It was then that he mentioned what the danger is of giving up continuing koinonia—a falling away and fearful looking for judgment. The writer explains that there is no other way except the one the Lord has prepared for us, i.e., “no sacrifice for sins is left.”

This is NOT a passage about unforgivable sin, but a warning of the danger of falling away from the Lord and His church.

25Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
26If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. (Heb. 10)

~Jim

It isn’t what a man doesn’t know that hurts him as much as what he knows that just ain’t so.​

 

[nephilimiyr]

Sure they will. Every sinner and every backslider has rejected Christ at some time in their life. Are you saying that God will not forgive a backslider (or a sinner)?

I realise I didn't say much by explaining what I said but I'd have to say that what you said here is a very shallow way on how to view "rejection" and the present state that we're in. You have to take into account that we who are living here on earth, whether we believe in Christ or not, are already enjoying a certain form of grace. We are free to choose Christ or reject him without penalty.

However, once this life ends that all changes. If a person dies in a state of always having rejected Christ then there is no grace to save them. As for the "backslider", only God knows the heart and it's for him to determine whether that person truely had renounced Christ by the time of death. If that person did in fact renounce Christ, then just like the person who had always rejected Christ, there is no more grace that can be extended to that person.
Hebrews 6:4-6, It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentence, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.

So, the unpardonable sin doesn't start to take effect until at the point of death. In other words, if you reject Christ at age 10 during an alter call, nothing happens. If you again reject Christ at age 30 during a time a christian friend witnessed to you, nothing happens; but if you die still rejecting Christ then your soul is taken to a place in holding until it is time for trail, where you will recieve no pardon.