The Unpardonable Sin

Matthew 12:22-24 and 31-32, “Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw. And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David? But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. ...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. 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.”

In our text passage above we see that Jesus cast a devil out of an afflicted man. We don't know if the demon possession caused the man's blindness and inability to speak. But we do know that Jesus had mercy and miraculously healed this afflicted man! In response the wicked Pharisees accused Jesus of having a devil Himself. The Lord rebuked the wicked Pharisees for their unbelief, teaching them that God will not forgive anyone who blasphemes the Holy Spirit. What did Jesus mean? I found this helpful quote from Russell McKinney:

Let me close with an illustration that I trust will help. Let’s say that you have a life-threatening disease, but your doctor knows about a cure and tries repeatedly to tell you about it. But, for whatever reason, you refuse to hear his words. When he walks in to see you, you get up and leave. When he calls on the phone, you hang up. When he sends you a letter, you throw it away without opening it. When he sends you an email or a text, you immediately delete it. And so what happens? Well, finally, after his best efforts have been repeatedly rebuffed, the doctor says, “Alright, if you want to die, go ahead because I’m through trying to help you.” And so you die. But what killed you? Was it the disease? Yes, in a sense. But in another sense it was your refusal to heed the doctor who was trying to point you to the cure, to say nothing, of course, of your lack of the cure. Now let’s put it all together. Your fatal disease is sin. The doctor who is trying to help you is God the Holy Spirit, and the cure He is trying to get you to take advantage of is Jesus Christ. Now do you understand? That is how one commits the unpardonable sin today. SOURCE: The Unpardonable Sin

I love that illustration! Dear friend, so many believers needlessly worrying about this matter of The Unpardonable Sin. I assure you on the authority of God's inspired Word that if you are already saved, it is IMPOSSIBLE for you to commit ANY SIN that is unpardonable. That is because all of our sins have ALREADY been pardoned by the sin-cleansing blood of Jesus. What saith the Scripture? ...

1st Corinthians 6:9-11, “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.”

The very moment that we trusted Jesus dear friend, WE WERE WASHED in the blood of Jesus!!! All our sins (past, present and future) were GONE, GONE, GONE, GONE! Yes, my sins are all gone!!! Here again are some excellent quotes from Evangelist Russell McKinney:

Some students of the Bible contend that the sin of which Christ spoke (the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit) cannot be committed today because it specifically involved attributing an obvious miracle of Jesus to the power of Satan. According to this view, since Jesus is no longer personally on the earth working miracles today, the “unpardonable sin” no longer comes into play. As Dr. Harry Ironside wrote,

“The unpardonable sin of Israel at Christ’s first coming was the rejection of the Spirit’s witness to His Messiahship.”

However, with that said, I agree with Dr. J. Vernon McGee who wrote:

“The Holy Spirit came into the world to make real the salvation of Christ to the hearts of men. If you resist the working of the Spirit of God when He speaks to you, my friend, there is no forgiveness, of course.”

Along the same lines, the previously mentioned Dr. Ironside also wrote:

“…if they speak against the Holy Spirit, that is, in the sense, of course, of utterly rejecting His testimony, then there can be no forgiveness, for it is only through the Spirit’s testimony that the Son of Man is made known.”

You see, to rightly understand this whole subject, it is vital that we understand the role that God the Holy Spirit plays in salvation. First, the Spirit convicts the lost sinner concerning the sinner’s sin (John 16:8). Second, He (the Spirit is not an “it”) strives with the sinner over the sinner’s need for forgiveness and salvation (Genesis 6:3). Third, He works to convince the sinner of the sinner’s need to believe in Jesus Christ as Savior (John 15:26, 16:14). Fourth, at the moment the sinner chooses to believe in Christ as Savior, the Spirit comes to indwell the sinner’s body (Romans 8:9-11, 1 Corinthians 6:19, Titus 3:5). It is this indwelling of God the Holy Spirit that creates the “born again” experience in the person (John 3:1-8).

But what if a lost sinner time and time again refuses the Holy Spirit’s convicting, striving, and convincing? Well, that is where the issue of blaspheming the Holy Spirit comes into play, and at some point the Holy Spirit will simply stop working on that lost sinner. And it is then that the lost sinner will have committed the unpardonable sin. I think that Dr. John R. Rice described the potential situation perfectly when he wrote:

“The unpardonable sin is a complete and final rejection of Christ so definite and blasphemous that it insults and drives away the Holy Spirit forever. Then He no longer moves the heart, brings conviction or arouses desire for salvation.”

My friend, only an unsaved person can commit the unpardonable sin, by resisting the conviction of the Holy Spirit that they need to get saved. The Apostle Paul put it this way in Galatians 5:4, “Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.” Whether it be trusting in false religion to get someone to Heaven, or blatant flat out rejection of the Savior, anyone who rejects God's free gift of eternal life by faith alone in Jesus Christ has FALLEN FROM GRACE! That is, they have missed the only bus going to Heaven! 

And may I confidently say, the Christian believers can only fall IN GRACE, but never FROM GRACE. God's grace prevents every born-again child of God from ever losing God's salvation. Acts 13:39, “And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.” The moment you got saved dear saint, you were JUSTIFIED FROM ALL THINGS (just-if-I'd never sinned at all).

In God's divine courtroom, every believer has been declared legally JUSTIFIED. It is a legal matter. We are not merely acquitted (i.e., not convicted, but not declared innocent either). Salvation is not a plea agreement (i.e., pleading guilty to a lesser charge to avoid more severe prosecution). Salvation is being 100% declared innocent! But wait, there's more! Not only does God declare the believer justified from all things, but God also credits all of His righteousness to us. Think about that! What saith the Scripture? ...

Romans 4:3-6, “For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.”

God imputes (credits) Christ's righteousness to us without works. 

Dear friend, I cannot warn you enough about the toxic danger of the Devil's modern Bible revisions. Here for example is Romans 4:6 in the Easy-To-Read Version (ERV), “David said the same thing when he was talking about the blessing people have when God accepts them as good without looking at what they have done:” The inspired King James Bible says something very different! The King James Bible says that God imputes righteousness to the believer without works. But the ERV says God merely accept them as good!

Friend, there is a BIG DIFFERENCE between God accepting someone as being good, versus imputing His righteousness to them! When you got saved, God didn't “accept you as good,” He made you Good, by crediting His goodness to your filthy sinful record. 2nd Corinthians 5:21, “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” GOD MADE YOU AND ME RIGHTEOUS BY FAITH!!! God didn't merely accept us “as good.” Philippians 3:9, “And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:” It is GOD'S RIGHTEOUSNESS dear friend, and not merely God accepting you as good. Do you see the big theological difference between the trustworthy King James Bible, and the Devil's modern Bibles? I sure do.

Once you have been redeemed dear saint, you can NEVER lose God's promise of salvation. If saved, always saved. Once saved, always saved. Eternal life is eternal security!!!