The Unforgivable Sin

The Unforgivable Sin

Matthew 12:22-37

Sermon by Rick Crandall

McClendon Baptist Church - July 6, 2008

*Have you ever worried about committing the unpardonable or unforgivable sin? What is the unforgivable sin? A lot of people think it’s suicide, but that’s not what the Bible says.

*When James McCullen was a pastor in St. Louis, Missouri, a young man came Sunday after Sunday. He was not a Christian, and even though he showed signs of interest, he would never talk about accepting Jesus as his Savior. Finally, he told the men in the church that he could never be a Christian because he had committed the unpardonable sin. Now the sin he had committed and served time for was the sin of taking another life. He had murdered his own father. One night he got in a terrible fight with his drunken father, and killed him. (1)

*Murder is a terrible sin, -- but it is not the unforgivable sin. Moses was a murderer, and he is one of the heroes of Heaven.

*Many people think that rejecting Jesus as your Savior is the unforgivable sin, but that can’t be true. Yes, you are as lost as can be until you receive Jesus. But Paul surely rejected the Lord before he got saved. -- So did I and a lot of other people who now trust in the cross of Jesus Christ.

*There are many other sins people think are unforgivable, but the Bible mentions only one, and Jesus tells us about it here in Matthew 12:31-32. The unforgivable sin is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit: evil, abusive speaking against the Holy Spirit of God, speaking against the Holy Spirit in a way to slander and injure Him.

1. You see, the Lord wants us to know the great honor we should give to His Spirit. We must honor the Holy Spirit as God. We must recognize that the Holy Spirit is God, so in vs. 30&31, Jesus said:

30. “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.

31. Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.”

*We must honor the Holy Spirit as God. The Christian Life Study Notes tell us that the Holy Spirit is God, and is equal to the Father and the Son. He is God the Holy Spirit, and is distinct from the Father and the Son. In the Genesis account of creation, He is seen actively engaged in the work of creation, along with the Father and the Son. In the New Testament, we see the Holy Spirit living in the believer, never leaving, filling and empowering him.

*We clearly see the deity of the Holy Spirit in Acts 5:3-4, where Ananias and his wife tried to deceive the Lord and His church in their giving.

3. Peter said, “Ananias, why has the Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself?

4. While it remained was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.”

*In vs. 3 Peter said, “You lied to the Holy Spirit.” In vs. 4 Peter said, “You lied to God.” -- So the Holy Spirit is God. He is co-equal, co-eternal, and co-existent with the Father and Son. The Holy Spirit’s deity is also seen in the fact that He has divine qualities.

-He is everywhere present in the universe (Psa 139:7-10)

-He has all power (Luke 1:35)

-He has all knowledge (I Cor 2:10-11)

-He is eternal (Heb 9:14) (2)

2. We must honor the Holy Spirit as God. The Lord wants us to know the great honor we should give to His Spirit, and the great hurt for those who speak against His Spirit.

*Blaspheming God’s Spirit is a horrendous sin that brings absolute condemnation from God. Blaspheming the Holy Spirit is unforgivable. As Jesus said in vs. 31-32:

31. “Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.

32. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.”

*Jesus said this because of something the unbelieving Pharisees had said up in vs. 24. Jesus had healed that blind and mute man by casting out the demons that possessed him. Then, because of that miraculous healing, the multitudes began to wonder if Jesus was the Messiah. And in vs. 24, “When the Pharisees heard it they said, ‘This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.’” By saying these words those unbelieving Pharisees were blaspheming the Holy Spirit with no hope of forgiveness.