The Blasphemy Of The Holy Spirit - Mark 3:20-30 (Matthew 12:22-37) Series

It can’t be forgiven because it’s the sin that never ends. It never ends because you cut yourself off from the one and only thing that can bring any sin to an end, namely, repentance. When you commit any sin, you’re really continuing in that sin until you repent. But when you cut yourself off from the Holy Spirit altogether, then you will never repent, and your sin will be eternal.

Hebrews

We are warned about this repeatedly in the book of Hebrews. There was a group of people in ch.6 who had been enlightened by the Holy Spirit and still turned away. And he says it is impossible for them to ever come to repentance.

Hebrews 6:4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the miracles of the coming age, 6 and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance.

Hebrews 10 warns about the same thing and uses a word right out of the Numbers 15 passage that first taught about the unforgivable sin. Now look at Heb.10:26.

Hebrews 10:26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.

That word deliberately is the opposite of the word used in Numbers 15:29 that describes the sins that can be forgiven. Sins that are non-defiant against the Spirit can be forgiven, but once you lift your upraised fist and harden your heart to the enlightening work of the Spirit in your heart, if that continues long enough, you get to the point where no sacrifice remains for your sin which means you can never be forgiven because you will never repent. You are now a permanent enemy of God and will receive nothing but judgment and raging fire.

I heard one preacher after another this week say that this sin is exceedingly rare. But the Bible doesn’t say it’s rare. In fact, I think there are signs of it in numerous places.

It sure does seem to me like Judas committed this sin. Years with Jesus and nothing could penetrate his heart. Pharaoh hardened his heart to the point where God finally hardened it. If God is hardening your heart, you’re not going to repent. We’ll see later in Mark that Herod’s heart was impenetrable. It says he liked to listen to John the Baptist preach, but he wouldn’t accept the message. And so when Jesus finally appears before him, Jesus has nothing to say to Herod. His opportunity was over. I see it also in Acts 7, where Stephen preaches a whole, long sermon to the Sanhedrin, but doesn’t make a call to repentance.

Acts 7:51 "You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit!

They had gotten to the point of always resisting him. That actually seems to me to be quite common.

Conclusion: Don’t Resist the Spirit

In fact, I would go so far as to say that this sin exists in embryonic form in all of us. We all resist the Holy Spirit to some degree. You’re reading the Bible or listening to a sermon, and God’s light begins to shine in your mind, and the Spirit touches your heart with that tug of conviction. The Holy Spirit is testifying to your heart and saying, “Yes, that is the truth. And it’s for you. You need to respond to that.” But if it’s a truth I don’t want to accept, or it calls for a response I don’t want to make, then I resist. Usually by just ignoring it. The Spirit tugs on my heart with conviction, and instead of doing the hard work, I just say, “Yeah, whatever” and turn on the TV, or go check Facebook. That’s the embryonic form of the unforgivable sin. That’s where it starts.