Have I Committed The Unforgivable Sin?

Have I Committed the Unforgivable Sin?

Matthew 12:22-37

April 30, 2006

Introduction

As we continue our walk through the gospel according to Matthew, we come to an episode in which Jesus offers some of his strongest words yet in this book of the Bible.

But before we get into that, I just want to ask you a question: have you ever committed a sin that you thought you could never be forgiven of, either by God or by the person you hurt?

I have. I won’t go into details, but when I was a young teen I hurt someone horribly. And I wondered for years if this person had ever forgiven me.

Well, thank the Lord, he did forgive me, though few would blame him if he never did.

There are times when people wonder if they can ever be forgiven by God for whatever they’ve done. They live in guilt and fear, just hoping that God will see it in his heart to offer forgiveness.

Today, I want to offer you some hope. The Bible says there is only one unforgivable sin, and we’re going to look at it today.

And let me just say that I think I can offer you some hope.

I would invite you to turn in your Bibles to Matthew 12:22-37. If you are using the Bibles in the seats, this is on page 690.

This is a bit long, but we need to read the whole passage if we want to get the gist of the verses I want to focus on.

I’m of the opinion that it’s very dangerous to just grab a verse out of its context, because without knowing that context it’s easy to make a verse “say” something that it really doesn’t say.

So please bear with me as I read this passage out loud, while you follow along.

Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. 23 All the people were astonished and said, "Could this be the Son of David?"

24 But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons."

25 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. 26 If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? 27 And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. 28 But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

29 "Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can rob his house.

30 "He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. 31 And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

33 "Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. 36 But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. 37 For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."

Let’s pray.

Three questions that I want us to consider as we go through this passage:

What is the unforgivable sin?

The unforgivable sin is this: “Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit”

What does that mean? Well, let me start by saying what it is not. It is not refusing to believe in Christ, as many would say.

Many believe and teach that if a person continues to resist the Spirit’s urging to put their faith in Christ, then there comes a point where the Spirit quits trying. That’s blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, according to them.

But there’s a difference between “resisting” and “blaspheming.”