Many people, including Christians, have wondered what blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is, and many different opinions have been given throughout church history.
It’s not…
Let me tell you what the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit isn’t.
It’s not denying God. Peter, the disciple, denied Jesus and was them later reconciled back to God. It’s not doubting. Thomas, the disciple of Jesus, doubted and he was reconciled. It’s not murder. King David committed murder and was forgiven. Jesus also prayed for forgiveness of the Roman soldiers who crucified him.
It’s not a sexual sin. In 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 Paul lists a whole lot of sexual sins and then reminds the Christians that that is what some of them were (past tense), but now they are forgiven and part of God’s family.
It’s not suicide. The Bible teaches us that Jesus’ death paid the price for all our sins, including sins committed against ourselves.
It’s not an ongoing sin that you struggle to overcome. Ongoing and deliberate sin may grieve the Holy Spirit as Ephesians 4:30 indicates, but its not unforgivable.
We need to remember the great positive Jesus refers to in v28, "I tell you the truth, ALL the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them." If we turn from sin and believe in Jesus we will be forgiven of anything and everything.
Son of Satan…
To understand blasphemy against the Holy Spirit must look at the context of Jesus words. Jesus words where directed to the religious leaders. And Jesus said this because, according to v30, “they were saying, ‘He has an evil spirit.’” The religious leaders were rejecting the truth about Jesus despite of the clear evidence. That’s what blasphemy against the Spirit is. The religious leaders were saying, after seeing Jesus’ miracles and exorcisms, that Jesus was in fact a dark magician, a son of Satan, and casting out demons by using occultic power. Eternal sin
The Holy Spirit is the third member of the Trinity. He is God and he convicts us of sin and shows us where we’re unholy and unrighteous. The Holy Spirit empowered the life of Jesus. The Holy Spirit reveals Jesus to us. The Holy Spirit inspired the writing of the Bible. It’s the Spirit’s role and delight to point people to Jesus. He never draws attention to himself, but always points people to Jesus. When the Spirit seeks to convince you of the truth about Jesus and you reject that truth (like the religious leaders), you blaspheme and that is unforgivable. Why is it unforgivable? Its unforgivable because you are cutting yourself off from the very source of forgiveness. When you are unforgiven it has eternal consequences; that’s why Jesus calls it an eternal sin (v29).Bottomline
If you die rejecting truth about Jesus, you will be seperated from God forever in a place Jesus described as hell. You are rejecting Son of God and relying on your own goodness. That was the commitment of the religious leaders all the way to the point of murdering Jesus. Jesus rose from the dead three days later to prove them wrong.
Is Jesus your God? Do you worship Jesus or something else? If not, you’re already presently guilty of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
Ps The sin is unforgivable only as long as you keep committing it.
PPs By definition, Christians cannot blaspheme the Holy Spirit.
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