Blaspheme of the Spirit

Words of Jesus Christ in "Red"

Will Blaspheme of the Spirit Cause My Damnation?

     Long have I heard many preachers, both Protestant and Catholic, preach about the "Last Great Deadline" from God, Blaspheme against the Holy Spirit. Through erroneous division and preaching of the Word they have made blaspheme against the Spirit out to be the greatest sin man can commit. Blaspheme against the Spirit has become "a hammer" in the hand of many holiness preachers, a hammer used to batter the faithful back into line. But the Bible says:

Philippians 2:12 "Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling."

     Which is a clear warning to "every believer" to search the Scriptures and make sure the foundation of his faith is true and sure, not heresy. Yet I was being told that to search the Scriptures, to question the elders, was tantamount to blasphemy of the Spirit.
     Is blaspheme of the Spirit the "greatest sin" that can be committed by man? If it is greater to blaspheme the Spirit than to blaspheme the Father, then wouldn't this, logically, make the Spirit of God "more important" than the Father? Is not the Spirit equal in deity to both Father and Son? Wouldn't a sin against "any member of the Godhead" be equally sinful? So why would blaspheme against the Spirit be the greatest sin man can commit? Do the warnings against this type of sin "even apply" to the Christian? Look at what our Lord Jesus said:

Matthew 12:31-32 "Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come."
Mark 3:28-30 "Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation: Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit."

     Before we can determine "what Jesus is warning against" and to "whom it applies", we need to look at the context of our "blaspheme" verses. The following things can be derived from the context and our past Systematic Theology studies:

In both texts Jesus gives the warning about blaspheme against the Spirit after He, through the power of God, miraculously cast out a demon. The statement is made as a warning to the "unbelieving Scribes and Pharisees" who claimed He used black magic to perform the miracle.
In both texts Jesus makes His warning to "unsaved people", not to Christian disciples. This was not the first time these religious unbelievers persecuted Jesus. They were a thorn in the side of His ministry from the very beginning. In fact, the Greek tenses used in Mark 3:22 show that this was "not the first time" that the Scribes and Pharisees attributed the work of the Spirit to Satan.
In our previous Systematic Theology studies we discovered that the Holy Spirit is God's power on the earth. He is the one who proceeds from the Father to do the physical will of the Godhead on earth.
In order for a person to be saved (forgiven of sin), that person "must repent and believe in Jesus Christ" as Saviour. And finally,
The Holy Spirit is equally God, along with both Father and Son.

     Since Jesus' warnings against blaspheme against the Spirit was only "historically" addressed to "unbelievers", we can safely say that this is a sin that only an unbeliever can commit. Second, since this is a sin that only unbelievers can commit, it is unpardonable because it's very act of commission "precludes repentance", which "precludes forgiveness".
     When an unsaved person sees a direct act of God on the earth result in a miracle and that person claims it to be a work of Satan, the person has become so hardened by the world that he will never repent and accept Jesus as Saviour. If he will never repent, his sin will never be forgiven. The person who reaches a state of spiritual death to where he blasphemes the Spirit has reached a horrible state where he sees "good as evil and evil as good". A good example of this in human history is the twin cities of Sodom and Gormorrah.

Genesis 13:13 "But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly."

     These people had become so depraved from sin, building up so much scar tissue on their souls that they lost all touch with morality. When God sent a delegation of angels into the city to bring Lot out:

Genesis 19:5-8 "And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them. And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him, And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof."

     The city sought to sexually molest the men, and would not be dissuaded even when Lot offered his virgin daughters in their stead. These cities, like the self righteous hypocrites who plagued Jesus, had become so hardened in their hearts that they "would not repent nor see reason". For this very reason their sins were unforgivable.
     Again, blaspheme against the Spirit can only be committed by an unbeliever. Can an unbeliever know if he has committed the act? Well, if the thought of doing such a thing bothers the unbeliever, then this is an indication that his soul has not hardened to the point where he could commit such an act. As Bishop Ryle stated:
     "The very fact that a person should be deeply concerned about it is evidence that his heart has not reached the stage that he has committed unpardonable sin .."

     But can a Christian commit this act? "No, no, a thousand times no"! The Scripture does not bear out such a false doctrine.

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Last modified: Thursday, December 26, 2002