BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT
CAN IT BE FORGIVEN?
MATTHEW 12:22-32
22 Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw.
23 And all the multitudes were amazed and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”
24 Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.”
25 But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.
26 If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?
27 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore
they shall be your judges.
28 But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.
29 Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.
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.
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.”
The Pharisees, ever jealous of Jesus' popularity with the people who considered Him to be the
promised Messiah and no doubt stinging from His continued revealing of their hypocrisy, tried to
attribute the power He possessed to the disgusting demon god of the long destroyed Philistine
city of Ekron, a demonic entity known as Beelzebub, the Lord of the Flies, or the dung god.
Definitely an "unclean spirit"!
Jesus brought up an important series of points in his response. First, he pointed out that the
Pharisees' accusations were not good military strategy. Why would Satan cast out his own
demons thereby weakening his force of human slaves? (There have been cases where Satanists
have appeared to cast demons out of people, but the demon merely withdraws deep into the
person and returns later. This is done to deceive Christians, making them think the Satanist is a
righteous Christian). But Satan does not cast out his own demons.
Secondly, in verse 27 Jesus pointed out another fallacy in the Pharisees' accusation, namely that
Satan's power is limited and he can only be in one place at a time. If Satan was working through
Jesus, he could not work through their children too. Only God has the power to be everywhere,
nor is His power limited.
Thirdly, He explained in verse 29 that only One greater than Satan can cast a demon out of a
man, and since He proved that only the Spirit of God can do so, therefore it was the Holy Spirit
within Him that did the work.
Now comes the issue of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
There are three ways of blaspheming the Holy Spirit.
1. Calling the Holy Spirit a demon or Satan.
2. Calling the power and work of the Holy Spirit, the power of Satan.
3. Calling the works of Satan, the power of the Holy Spirit.
The Pharisees performed the first two, speaking out of ignorance, therefore Jesus warned them concerning their actions. And once they had been warned, they were responsible for their actions from then on. Just as God held Adam and Eve responsible for the knowledge of good and evil they received in the Garden of Eden, if the Pharisees continued to accuse Jesus of working miracles through the power of Satan, they would with full knowledge of their actions commit a sin that would never be forgiven.
And here is the key to the whole issue.
If you have previously blasphemed the Holy Spirit without understanding what you were doing, if you repent you will be forgiven. Just as the Pharisees, if they had repented would also have been forgiven.
However, if you continue to do so willingly or fail to repent after receiving the knowledge of the truth, you also will commit a sin that will never be forgiven.
Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit must be a willful act with full knowledge of what you are doing for it to become the unpardonable sin.
Satan will put curses against the Holy Spirit in the minds of Christians to try to get them to sin or
to try to convince them that they have blasphemed the Holy Spirit, but Christians will recognize
this immediately and will reject such thoughts. Such thoughts will only count in God’s eyes
when the heart and mind are in full agreement, after one has acquired the knowledge of the sin of
Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.
I have had several people write to me who while they had accepted Jesus, were terrified because they had blasphemed the Holy Spirit before they were saved, either out of hatred of God, or because they were into Satanism and the demonic spirit(s) controlling them had caused them do so.
But the fact that they had accepted Jesus into their hearts, and had found out the truth about blaspheming the Holy Spirit says much.
First, Jesus had come into their hearts and had saved them, showing that He had accepted them and had forgiven them of their sins. One person, a former Satanist, after accepting Jesus told me in wonder, "I never knew....... could never have known...... that there could be such peace." Jesus had forgiven him and had cleansed him of his sins.
Secondly, they had sinned out of ignorance, and God had understood that fact. And when
they found out the truth, they had repented of what they had done unlike the Pharisees. Therefore
God had forgiven them of their sinning in ignorance. But they also understood that they were
now responsible before God for any future actions of this sort.
The sum of the issue is explained vividly and clearly in Hebrews;
HEBREWS 10:26-31
26 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.
28 Anyone who has rejected Moses law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
29 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?
30 For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. And again, “The Lord will judge His people.”
31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
This is an important issue for new Christians, especially those who may have formerly been in the Occult or Satanism. It is also important for people considering becoming Christians. They may have previously blasphemed the Holy Spirit, and feel they cannot make it to Heaven because they have done so in the past, and feel they have no hope.
God is abundant in mercy and forgiveness, and he will forgive blasphemy against the Holy Spirit done in ignorance, provided the person repents once they have received the knowledge of the truth.
But they also need to know that once they receive this knowledge, they are responsible before God for that knowledge, and if they willfully blaspheme again they will not be forgiven even if they repent.
Questions? Comments? E-mail: watchmen_777@yahoo.com