Unpardonable Sin

Unpardonable Sin

Matt 12:22-32 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.

I have heard for years about the “unpardonable sin” and what it was. It depends on who you talk to and what their denomination teaches and I suppose we are not different.

As Nazarenes/Wesleyans, as well as many other denominations, we try to interpret the scripture as close as possible.

One of the first things I want to say is if you are concerned about committing the unpardonable sin . . . you have not!

Whew, some of us might lose a little sleep over that thought, because some of us have lived a pretty sinful life. Wait, isn’t sin, sin?

Well, maybe not, the sin of ignorance, venial and mortal sins, sin in relation to mistakes and sins, sin as the opposite of righteousness, sinless perfection and the all important unpardonable sin.

With all that sin, are we in trouble or what? Does God have His hands full with each one of us dealing with all this sin?

Now you know why He sent His Son, this was not the job for the prize bull.

God’s word says He will graciously forgive us if we repent of our sins, so where does the unpardonable sin come in?

Hosea 14:4 (NIV) "I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them.

Ephesians 4:32 (NIV) Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Romans 4:8 (NIV) Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him."

The scripture in Isaiah 63 is sometimes used to say that God will refuse to forgive some people.

Isaiah 63:10-11 (NIV) Yet they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. So he turned and became their enemy and he himself fought against them. 11 Then his people recalled the days of old, the days of Moses and his people-- where is he who brought them through the sea, with the shepherd of his flock?

Adam Clark translates this as in the last days, after probation has past.

Mark 3:28-30

He said this because they insisted that he was using an evil spirit . . . they were saying that the Holy Spirit was from the devil. They had locked their minds on this thought and would not turn loose of it.

I want to go back to verse 29 of Matthew 12: "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.

If the house is secured, if the doors and windows are barred, there is no way in, right?

If we don’t ask God in, if we don’t open the doors, pull back the blinds and raise the windows, how can God come and forgive us of our evil spirit.

Attributing the Holy Spirit’s work to an evil spirit is blasphemy. The blaspheming of the Holy Spirit is unpardonable because the person has set themselves into this place will not let God transform their heart and mind to forgive them.

The way I understand this scripture is that if we say that the Holy Spirit is of the devil and we lock our minds against God and His Spirit, we are locking out the only one who can forgive us or our sins.