"I would like to just know if what it says in Matthew is true. It states that every sin is forgivable, except if a person speaks badly about the Holy Spirit. I have attended a private Christian school and one day my Bible teacher was saying that a person is not forgiven if he/she speaks against the Holy Spirit. As he stated that… I thought something against the Holy Spirit. I did not mean to… it just happened. I prayed and asked forgiveness, but does that mean I am forgiven or eternally condemned? SINCERELY WORRIED"
Clearly, this student is confused about the true meaning of this biblical reference. Once understood, this young person can rest assured that the unpardonable sin was most certainly not committed in this case. In fact, this sin cannot be committed by a true Christian.
An unforgivable sin is described in Mark 3 and Matthew 12. These passages involve Jesus Christ's repeated and widespread public defeat of Satan and his demons. Many readers and theologians have been confused about the true nature of this sin. As you read these verses for yourself (below), bear in mind part of the purpose of Jesus Christ's ministry was to directly confront darkness with the light of truth in a public battle of pure good versus pure evil. The only being in the universe that is more powerful than the Evil One, is God. He is the only one with enough power to bind Satan himself and forcibly dispossess him.
Mark 3 22-30 states,
"And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, 'He has Beezlebub,' and, 'By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons.' …'Assuredly, I [Jesus] say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation;' because they said, 'He has an unclean spirit" (NKJV, emphasis added / Note: The Pharisees made the same charge in Mat 9:34 In Mat 12 31-32, Jesus says to the Pharisees,
"Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Anyone 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" (NKJV, emphasis added).
What is the context of these statements, and what is the exact sin described?
Pharisees
The Pharisees had long observed the sinless Jesus Christ. They observed him doing undeniable and powerful miracles that were, at the very least, clear evidence of power supplied by God. These impressive miracles were freely given in pure kindness and love to release people from obvious suffering and the oppression of horrible evil.
However, the Pharisees had so firmly set their hearts against accepting Jesus as the Messiah that they rejected the obvious truth before them and perversely twisted it to influence the crowds. They publicly credited the most ultimately evil being in the universe with these precious, godly miracles. In other words, they called the precious and holy Spirit of God, the unclean spirit of satan. In effect, they charged Jesus Christ with sorcery; one who is in league with satan. These charges are not only appalling and extremely serious, but clearly absurd. As Jesus immediately responded,
"How can satan cast out satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end. No one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house" (Mark 3: 23-27; also see Luke 11: 14-23).
Note that…
"Jesus does not deny the existence of other exorcists here. [See: Mat 7:22-23] …Exorcists often invoked a higher spirit to get rid of a lower one. …But a demon's retreat that meanwhile drew attention to another of Satan's servants would only be a strategic retreat; such possible activity contrasts with the wholesale exorcizing of the masses that Jesus undertakes, which clearly signifies a defeat of satan [Mat 12:29; 4:24; 8:16; Mark 1:34, 39; 5:12, 15; Luke 9:1] …the parable about tying up a protective householder means that Jesus had defeated Satan and could therefore plunder his possessions--free the demon-possessed" [SIZE=-1][Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary, New Testament (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1993), pp. 143, 80.][/SIZE].
Author Dr. Henry Morris insightfully clarifies the true nature of Pharisees' sin:
"The unforgivable sin of speaking against the Holy Spirit has been interpreted in various ways, but the true meaning cannot contradict other Scripture. It is unequivocally clear that the one unforgivable sin is permanently rejecting Christ (John 3:18; 3:36). Thus, speaking against the Holy Spirit is equivalent to rejecting Christ with such finality that no future repentance is possible. 'My spirit shall not always strive with man,' God said long ago (Gen 6:3)
…In the context of this particular passage (Mat 12:22-32), Jesus had performed a great miracle of creation, involving both healing and casting out a demon, but the Pharisees rejected this clear witness of the Holy Spirit. Instead they attributed His powers to Satan, thus demonstrating an attitude permanently resistant to the Spirit, and to the deity and saving Gospel of Christ" [SIZE=-1][Henry M. Morris, The Defender's Study Bible (Iowa Falls, Iowa: World Bible Publishers, 1995), emphasis added.][/SIZE].
ABBA'S FOOL,
