ANYONE WHO COMMITS BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL NOT BE FORGIVEN.
Sakkie Parsons
Translated from the Afrikaans Version: Die lastering teen die Heilige Gees sal die mense nie vergewe word nie.
Translator: Lynda Botha
Someone wrote to me:
"What is a sin against the Holy Spirit? In the Bible it says that no sin will be forgiven which are done against the Holy Spirit, but I'm not sure what is; sin against the Holy Spirit. "
The Scripture that are referred to here, is MATTHEW 12:22-32 and MARK 3:22-30. I quote the Scripture for you in MATTHEW 12:22-32:
22 “Then a demon-possessed man, who was blind and couldn’t speak, was brought to Jesus. He healed the man so that he could both speak and see.”
23 “The crowd was amazed and asked, “Could it be that Jesus is the Son of David, the Messiah?”
24 “But when the Pharisees heard about the miracle, they said, “No wonder He can cast out demons. He gets His power from Satan, the prince of demons.”
25 “Jesus knew their thoughts and replied, “Any kingdom divided by civil war is doomed. A town or family splintered by feuding will fall apart.”
26 “And if Satan is casting out Satan, he is divided and fighting against himself. His own kingdom will not survive.”
27 “And if I am empowered by Satan, what about your own exorcists? They cast out demons, too, so they will condemn you for what you have said.
28 “But if I am casting out demons by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God has arrived among you.”
29 “For who is powerful enough to enter the house of a strong man and plunder his goods? Only someone even stronger – someone who could tie him up and then plunder his house.”
30 “Anyone who isn’t with Me opposes Me, and anyone who isn’t working with Me is actually working against Me.”
31 “So I tell you, every sin and blasphemy can be forgiven – except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which will never be forgiven.”
32 “Anyone who speaks against the Son of Man can be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come.”
In this part of the Scripture there are two events happening that are important which I want to share with you:
The first is that Jesus healed someone who had been possessed by a demon.
MAT 12:22 “Then a demon-possessed man, who was blind and couldn’t speak, was brought to Jesus. He healed the man so that he could both speak and see.”
The second is that the Pharisees called the Holy Spirit of our Lord, a co-conspirator with the prince of demons, Satan.
MAT 12:24 “But when the Pharisees heard about the miracle, they said, “No wonder He can cast out demons. He gets His power from Satan, the prince of demons.”
Jesus then said that this kind of blasphemy will never be forgiven.
MAT 12:31 “So I tell you, every sin and blasphemy can be forgiven – except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which will never be forgiven.”
MAT 12:32 “Anyone who speaks against the Son of Man can be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come.”
The word "blasphemy" used in this Scripture, is in my opinion a better and stronger word than sin. Maybe it's only appropriate that we include the dictionary’s explanation of the word “blasphemy”:
Desecration, profanity, defamation of someone's character, amongst other synonyms.
Here the word “blasphemy” is used to make a stronger description of the word “sin”.
These people were not ignorant people. They were religious people who knew exactly what they were doing. Yet they still did it and they were not bothered about it.
Just like these people, someone who does this does not mind blaspheming against the Holy Spirit and they never receive forgiveness because they do not want it.
I believe, someone who is worried about blaspheming against the Holy Spirit, have not done so, because if they did, they would have been like these people who were not bothered by it.
I want to conclude with another thought:
There is a sin against our Lord's Holy Spirit that can eliminate our opportunity to eternal life. That would be the sin of disobedience by neglecting to respond to the Holy Spirit’s calling to open your heart to our Lord.
We read:
JOHN 3:16-18
16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.”
17 “God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through Him.”
18 “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in Him. But anyone who does not believe in Him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.”
If you have disobeyed the voice of the Holy Spirit in your heart up until today, I want to ask you:
Realize today – that you are being foolish with your life, your eternal life. As you have read above, it was written:
JOHN 3:18 “…But anyone who does not believe in Him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.”
Our Lord extends His invitation to you again today, as He said:
JOHN 1:12 “But to all who believed Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God.”
Greetings,
Sakkie