INTRO
This topic is indeed an interesting one that leaves us with many questions.
• What exactly is this sin?
• Can this sin be committed today?
• Is there really no hope of forgiveness for the one who commits this sin?
• Why can blaspheming Jesus be forgiven but not blaspheming the Spirit?
We will attempt to answer most of these questions in this lesson
THE TEXT
The account of the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is in 3 of the 4 gospels
• Matthew 12:22-37
• Mark 3:20-30
• Luke 11; 12:10
We will spend the majority of our time in Matthew's account, and will go to the other 2 accounts if we need any additional information.
MATTHEW 12
From the very beginning of the chapter, we see how the Jewish religious leaders wanted to do anything they could to discredit Jesus. They put everything He and His disciples did under a microscope. In verses 1-8, the Pharisees just happened to see Jesus and His disciples walking through the grain fields plucking grain to eat. Even though Jesus was not breaking the law, but their traditions, they condemn Jesus and His disciples for breaking the Sabbath. In verses 9-14, Jesus comes into the synagogue, a place of worship, and at this time the Jewish leaders wanted to find a reason to accuse Him of sin, and they do so when Jesus heals a man with a withered hand. In Mark’s account of this, we are told that Jesus was angered because of the hardness of their hearts. They end up leaving after He does the miracle to conspire with one another how they might kill Him. Then after this in verse 22 of Matthew 12, we come to our account of Pharisees blaspheming the Holy Spirit:
“Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed him, so that the mute man spoke and saw. 23 All the crowds were amazed, and were saying, "This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?" 24 But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "This man casts out demons only by Beelzebub the ruler of the demons." (Matthew 12:22-24)
Obviously in this passage we have to very different responses from those who witness this miracle which was done by the power of the Holy Spirit. The crowds asked whether or not Jesus was indeed the Messiah while the Pharisees, who probably were not to happy about what the crowds were saying, stop at nothing to try to discredit Jesus by saying that He is doing His miracles by the power of Satan. Wow!
After showing them how ridiculous it was to say such a thing, Jesus makes this statement in verses 31-32:
"Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. 32 "Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come. (Matthew 12:31-32)
QUESTIONS?
What is this sin?
Is it just that they said these things specific things against the Spirit that was the sin?
Just according to the definition of the word "blasphemy," it can be defined as to slander or to revile; To say or to do something that is false or malicious that damages someone's reputation. Obviously the Pharisees are guilty of speaking evil of the Spirit. Their attempt was to discredit Jesus, but they were unaware of who they were truly reviling. They just plain insult the Spirit by saying that He IS Satan.
Also within the context, I believe we do see that these words came from hearts that were totally corrupt. I made this point earlier. They were putting Jesus and His disciples under a microscope and trying to condemn them of sins that they did not commit. Their hearts were already hardened against Jesus before they committed this sin against the Spirit. They had already been resisting the Spirit by their rejection of Jesus and His miracles and words. They had already by now heard of or have seen numerous miracles that Jesus had done. They were suppressing the truth that was clearly before them.
In verses 34-37, Jesus continues talking about the hearts of the Pharisees.
"You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. 35 "The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. 36 "But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. 37 "For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." (Matthew 12:34-37)
This is a sobering text that shows that the words that come out of our mouths show the true content of our hearts. He here is rebuking the Pharisees, but this is something that we need to take to heart also. Jesus tells them that they would be judged for every idle word because God knows the hearts that brought forth such wicked words. They are showing just how perverse and unloving of God that they are. They were not going to allow anything to persuade them that Jesus was the Messiah. They were not going to allow anyone to continue to take their followers.
It takes a hardened heart to call the amazing things they were seeing the “work of Satan.” They were at a point of no return for their rejection and blaspheming of the Spirit of God. There would be no unhardening of their hearts or any repentance.
Can this sin be committed today?
I believe the answer to this question is YES. Some argue that this sin cannot be committed today because they say the sin is ONLY the act of attributing miracles done by the Spirit to Satan. Since miracles are no longer done today like they were then, then this sin cannot be committed today. I believe this belief narrows this sin down too much. There is more to it than that. There are many who slander the Holy Spirit, not only then, but today. There are many who have wicked and hardened hearts against God who are willing to say things like the Pharisees did about God’s Spirit, the works that He did in scripture, and the scriptures He gave. When someone hardens their heart against the Spirit of God and insults him, they are guilty of this sin. Those who are unwilling to listen to the Spirit’s word today can be JUST as guilty as the Pharisees. I will give three quick examples of people who I believe do indeed blaspheme the Holy Spirit today:
• Atheists
• "Religious" people who won't be swayed by anything we offer them from the scriptures.
• Those who "claim" their words and works are from the Holy Spirit when they are not. There are people today who attribute to the Holy Spirit words that He didn’t say, deeds that He didn’t do, and experiences that He didn’t produce. They attribute to the Spirit endless human experiences, emotional experiences, and at times some very bizarre and demonic experiences. Some claim that they receive visions, dreams, revelations, voices from Heaven. Some claim to speak in tongues and to prophecy, claiming it is from the Spirit even when it contradicts scripture.
I believe the modern Pentecostal movement in many ways is guilty of such blasphemy against the Spirit. Pretty much everything that happens in their assemblies they attribute to the Holy Spirit, no matter how wild and chaotic the action is. They do something similar to the Pharisees. The Pharisees attributed the works of the Spirit to Satan. These churches are attributing the works of Satan to the Spirit. They are calling Satan the Spirit. Satan is alive and at work in deception, false miracles, bad theology, lying visions, lying dreams, lying revelations, deceptive teachers who are in it for the money and power and influence. Satan is alive and well and the work of Satan is being attributed to the Holy Spirit, that is a serious blasphemy just as attributing to Satan the work of the Holy Spirit is a serious blasphemy.
Why can blasphemy against Jesus be forgiven but not blasphemy against the Spirit?
I think the reason is a matter of chronology. The Spirit is the final hope for us all. The Jews could have rejected God’s word in the Old Testament and still have hope in the coming Messiah. After Jesus would come, men would still have hope through the ministry of the Holy Spirit who gave us the Gospel and confirmed it. If one rejects the Spirit's gospel and all of the evidence which points to its being true, there is no other way of salvation! To reject the Spirit is to forfeit any hope of being forgiven of your sins.
Can Christians commit this sin?
First, I would say that if you commit this sin, you have probably already fallen away from God. If you are sitting here, and are wondering or are fearful that you have committed this sin, you probably haven't. From Matthew 12, I believe we see that it takes a hardened heart to commit this sin and to slander the Spirit of God. We need to be careful that it never reaches that point. We need to take heed lest we fall (Hebrews 6:4-6). I believe it can get to a point in which you and I could be guilty of this sin:
• We can be hardened against the truth (Hebrews 3:12-13). We need to remember how dangerous sin is and what it can do to our hearts. “Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called "Today," so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. (Hebrews 3:12-13)
• We can resist the Spirit’s words (Acts 7:51). Just as those who were rejecting the Gospel that Stephen was preaching were told that they were resisting the Holy Spirit, when we reject and argue against the teachings of scripture, we are resisting the Holy Spirit. This is so dangerous for us because it can get to the point where God will allow us to be deceived. “…they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. 11 For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, 12 in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.” (2 Thessalonians 2:10-12). We must have a love for the truth and not allow ourselves to resist God’s word no matter how difficult its teachings may be to us (Divorce and remarriage). We need to be open to everything that the scriptures teach and warn us against, and if there is something that we don't agree with or like in God's word, we need to examine our hearts.
• We can grieve Him (Ephesians 4:29-32). “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. 30 Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.” (Ephesians 4:29-31)
• We can defile His temple by our sin (1 Cor. 6:13-20).
• We can insult and anger Him (Hebrews 10:26-31). “How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know Him who said, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY." And again, "THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE." (Hebrews 10:29-30)
• We can quench the Spirit by rejecting His revelation (1 Thess. 5.19-22). “Do not quench the Spirit; 20 do not despise prophetic utterances. 21 But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; 22 abstain from every form of evil.” (1 Thessalonians 5:19-22). We can extinguish/stamp out the Spirit’s influence in our lives if we reject His word. We trample under foot not only the work of Jesus on the cross, but also the work of the Holy Spirit!
If we stamp out of our lives the only hope that we have been given by the Spirit of God, there is indeed no hope of us being forgiven. We can allow our hearts to be hardened against the Spirit to the point in which we do just as the Pharisees did in saying things about the Spirit that put us under the judgment of God.
