Expert: Rev. Robert Woods - 4/22/2010

Question
QUESTION: Hi,

I completely fear that I have committed this sin: blasphemy against the Holy Spirit and I would like your opinion on the matter.

Please let me re-assure you that what I said is a massive regret, so great that even you probably couldn’t comprehend it.  Also let me also say that I am so, so sorry for what I said and I would do anything to turn back time in order to change the future and not say it.

When I was 17, ( I am now 22) I was at my youth group and I was talking to a few people casually and during the conversation, up popped a comment about the only unforgivable sin.  Anyway that night and for some stupid reason I sat up in my bed on my own and said the following which I will regret until the day I die:  “I commit blasphemy of the Holy Spirit in Jesus name, Amen.”

Please let me assure you that I had no intention on leaving Christ (I’m not sure if I was saved back then anyway because I forgotten the status of my relationship with Christ back then. I did grow up in a Christian family though.)  To this day, I take back that statement, I do not mean it at all and I really wish I never said it.  When I did say it, I don’t think I meant it (can’t confirm this).  I think if the Lord looked into my heart when I said it, I think he would see that I probably didn’t mean it.  I was so upset about it after I said it.  Not too sure if it was immediately after, but I think it was in the next couple of days I spoke to my youth leader about it and told him how upset I was as I feared I did the sin.

I don’t think I’ve been saved for about 5 years or so, but yester day (20th April) I decided to give my life to the Lord and to repent from all my sins and follow him (which includes going into missionary work).  I

If you can let me know if you think (and please be extremely truthful) that I’m either eternally lost or saved that would be great, because it scares and torments me when the Bible states that anyone who speaks a word against the Holy Sprit will never be forgiven and I believe I have spoken against it by saying that dreadful sentence regardless of whether or not it is in context with what the Pharisees did.

Many thanks,

Simon

ANSWER: Blessings and thank you for your question.

Short Answer:  If you are truly repentive and have given your life to Christ, then God will forgive you.

Long Answer: Mark 3:29 says
29 But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin."

So what is this sin that will never be forgiven??  The religious leaders of Jesus’ day had come out to hear Him teach and perform miracles.  But they came with a heart of deceit and wanted to trap Him in what He was doing.  They wanted to disprove that He was the Christ.  As He was doing miracles and casting out devils, they said, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of Demons.”  They were so spiritually blind that they were attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to Satan.  Not only were they doing this, but they were also rejecting the Holy Spirit’s work in their own lives.  The Holy Spirit was saying, “This is the Son of God.  This is God.”
Obviously, the unpardonable sin is not merely saying an unkind thing about the Holy Spirit.  The religious leaders involved had turned totally against the revelation of God.  They were so far into their own wickedness that they rejected not only Jesus, but the Holy Spirit as well.  They were saying that good was evil and evil was good.  They called the Spirit of God, Satan!! They had rejected spiritual understanding and so could never come to Jesus, the one source of forgiveness.  If a person does not accept Jesus, he cannot have forgiveness.  If he rejects the Holy Spirit and turns away from Jesus Christ, he can receive no forgiveness.  That is what these so called “religious leaders” had done. If you want to obey God but are concerned that you may have committed the unpardonable sin, you have not committed it.  If anyone today has committed this sin, it would be one who is hard-hearted, who has turned against Jesus, reviled Him , and become so depraved that he would claim that God’s Spirit is Satan.

If Jesus' blood on Calvary can save us from all sin, then how can there be an unpardonable sin? Also, if someone committed it but wanted to be right with God, couldn't he be?

First, we need to note Jesus Himself spoke of the unpardonable sin: "All sins shall be forgiven the sons of men, whatever blasphemies they utter; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin" (Mark 3:28-29). The unpardonable sin is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. In another Gospel, the Scripture reads: "Whoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age, or in the age to come" (Matthew 12:32, cf. Luke 12:10). The unpardonable sin is not some extremely vile sin of gross immorality, for all such may be forgiven. Nor is it the terrible sin of denying, even repudiating, Christ. Even this may be forgiven. What then is the unpardonable blasphemy or speech against the Holy Spirit? The Scripture clearly states it in the following words: "For they were saying He has an unclean [or 'evil, NIV] spirit." "They" were the scribes and Pharisees who had just been saying about Jesus, "He is possessed by Beelzebub" and "He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons" (Mark 3:22). The unpardonable sin was to maliciously attribute to Christ the work of the devil, to declaim as evil what is of the Lord, to viciously label an act or work of the Holy Spirit as a demonic spirit. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit shows a conscience so perverse and hardened as never to be able to receive forgiveness.
Those who commit this sin are not the murderers, the thieves, the liars, the worldly corrupt, not even the atheists who deny Christ, but religious leaders (like the scribes and Pharisees) who fight against the Holy Spirit.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi,

Many thanks for your answer.  I do however still have a few more questions as unfortunately the answer you have given still hasn't cleared any doubt in my mind about whether or not I have actually committed this sin.

You said in your answer: "Obviously, the unpardonable sin is not merely saying an unkind thing about the Holy Spirit."  However what I said:  “I commit blasphemy of the Holy Spirit in Jesus name, Amen.” is extreamly vulgar and personally I would have related it to the issue of attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to Satan. The reason as to why I make this connection is because (even though I probably didn't actually mean it whilst saying it and I certainly don't mean it now) of the fact that I might as well of said that I don't want anything to do with Christ any more.  If we take it deeper, what I said may have been similar in certain respects to saying "I accept the mark of the beast" even though I haven't actually got it on my body; but I've said it etc. Please note that is just an example. I've never said that and I never will - I'm too tormented about the other thing I said about the Holy Spirit.

Also you said that if you are worried about whether or not you have committed it, you haven't.  What biblical evidence is there for this?  Also it states clearly in the Bible that once that sin has been committed it cant be forgiven.  It states that anyone who has said a word against the Holy Spirit cant be forgiven.  By saying that awful sentence in my bed that night I think I have said a word against the Holy Spirit.  That's it - I cant change it, I cant turn back time, the deed has been done so therefore the sin has been committed has it not?  A lot of people keep saying that you have to keep it in context with what the religious leaders have said, but actually I don't think you do, because it clearly states that ANYONE who speaks a word against the Holy Spirit cant be forgiven.

If you could pray about this and seek an answer from God that would be great, because even though the bible is accurate, my heart would be so much more settled if God himself said "don't worry Simon hasn't committed this sin".

Also, sorry if I come across aggressive and rude, in these conversations, but when my eternal destiny is sitting on the line here, it becomes extreamly frightening to the point where I cry myself to sleep.

Many thanks and I really do appreciate you time and support.

Simon

Answer
Blessings.  I spent a few days praying about this and re-reading the verses in their context. THis is what God lead me to:
When you make the statement, that you now regret, you were rebelling against God.  Like the prodical son, you cursed your family and went off in rebellion on your own.  But just like the son, you have returned to the father.  If you have repented of your sin, then the Father has forgiven you.  

I still go back to the context of Jesus' warning.  You weren't calling the Holy Spirit or Jesus - Satan.  So I don't believe you have committed the unpardonable sin.