Expert: Dr. Robert Ainsworth - 1/23/2012

Question
I'm afraid I commited it although that was the last thing I wanted to do. I was always asking god to help me and I was in search for him. I began to have thoughts against the holy spirit. I almost couldn't help it but I tried not to. So I had some thoughts saying some christtians act sort of weird. Almost as of they are brainwashed by christianity. So I began to think. Are some of them brainwashed? When they became christians were they brainwashed by a evil spirit? So when I had these thoughts I felt weird. So I wanted to ask my friend if he ever had thoughts like this. I made sure I was careful how I asked him so I wouldn't acidently commit this sin. So I asked. Him "have you ever thought some christians are brainwashed?" That's when I feared I blasphemd the holy spirit

i had someone respond to me with this:
You must settle it in your mind. What are you referring to when you say some Christians are brainwashed? It is a theology that they have? Is it the way they act? Is it spiritual manifestations you are referring you? You must answer this question FIRST. What are you referring to? And is it indeed the work of the Holy Spirit? Or is it the work of man? If you are 100% sure it is NOT from the Holy Spirit, then you have nothing to worry about. You must know for yourself. You CANNOT trust other people's opinions.
Do these people claim their words/actions are from the Holy Spirit? If so, you better take the safe side, and take their word for it. But if you are 100% sure, based on your own relationship with the Lord, the Holy Bible, and Church history, that it is NOT the Holy Spirit, then you are free to say whatever you will.
Let me give you an example. I used to be part of a religious group (a long time ago) that claimed to have the Holy Spirit, and hear from the Holy Spirit, and interact with the Holy Spirit. But these people NEVER talked about Jesus. They NEVER glorified Jesus. They didn't even claim to be Christians. These people obviously DON'T have the Holy Spirit.
But if these people who you think are brainwashed actually love Jesus, worship Jesus, glorify Jesus,and say they are Christians, then you better not say anything bad about the Spirit by which they operate. In fact, I would be wanting what they have!
If you have discovered that it might be the work of the Holy Spirit. And you said these people are brainwashed. Then you have another problem. First of all, you don't know the Lord very well. You need to know the Lord well enough to recognize the work of the Spirit. Secondly, you have insulted the Spirit of Grace by asking such a question. It is an insult to the Holy Spirit to insinuate that they are brainwashed when it really is the Holy Spirit. You know this is the truth. Otherwise it wouldn't bother you.
What does the Bible say about insulting the Spirit? If you did not blaspheme the Holy Spirit, you surely did insult the Holy Spirit.
Last, but not least, do not believe every pastor and counselor. Most Christian leaders don't have the backbone to tell it the way it is. They want to please everybody, and not offend anyone. One very wise question you should ask yourself is, Would these people actually tell the truth if someone did blaspheme the Holy Spirit? Would they have the guts to say that someone blasphemed the Spirit to their face?

Answer: probably not

Answer
I've taught on this subject quite a few times over the years and am dismayed that people don't really understand it. There seems to be so much "supposition" rather than "exposition." If people would let the Scriptures interpret their experiences, rather than let their experiences interpret the Scriptures, so many things would become clearer.

Having said that, let's look at what the Word of God itself says about Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit:

Matthew 12:31–32 (NASB95)
31 “Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. 32 “Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.

Let's take a look at what is going on………

Chapter 12 begins with Jesus and His disciples walking through a grain field on a Sabbath. The disciples hadn't had breakfast yet so they picked some grain as they walked. Now, some Pharisees were watching (they seemed to watch Jesus, just looking for an opportunity to criticize) and they challenged Him as to whether this was legal (they were looking for an excuse to accuse Him of being a law-breaker). Jesus shows from Scripture that God values compassion over sacrifice.

From there, Jesus entered a synagogue and encountered a handicapped man. Some  people (probably Pharisees again) tried to show Jesus to either be a law-breaker or force Him to contradict what He had just said out in the grain field. They asked if it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath. He responded by showing that if it were legal to save your animal on the Sabbath and that a man was more valuable to God, then doing good to a man was certainly lawful. He promptly healed the man (healing was a sign of the Messiah).

The Pharisees wanted to find a way to discredit and destroy Jesus so they began to make plans. Jesus, knowing what they were planning, withdrew and went out and continued to heal everyone who followed Him.

Then a demon-possessed, blind and mute man was brought to Jesus and He healed him completely. Now, as I've mentioned, healing is a Messianic sign and so is casting out demons! So, all the people were amazed and even wondered if Jesus could be the Messiah. This really infuriated the Pharisees so they claimed that rather than Jesus being the Messiah, He was really the Antichrist and they attributed His power to that of Satan. Knowing what they were trying to do, He explained that casting out demons couldn’t be done under Satan's power, and that He was actually doing what the Messiah would do. He went on to explain that any sin and blasphemy can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit would not. Then Jesus explains why; He says that a tree bears fruit that is indicative of the kind of tree that it is. Good trees have good fruit and bad trees have bad fruit. But, since people aren't trees, they speak whatever fills their heart. Your heart is where your treasure is; therefore, a good heart has good treasure (or fruit) and an evil heart has evil treasure (or fruit). He goes on to say that you'll be judged by what you say because your words simply reveal what is in your heart.

The Pharisees then began to demand a sign that would prove that He was the Messiah (of course, He had already done that multiple times), and Jesus rebuked them and declared that they would get a sign but not one they were expecting, they would get the resurrection from the dead instead of a healing.

My summary of the whole story reveals that the Pharisees were trying to discredit Jesus as the Messiah and so they were trying to attribute the signs of the Messiah to Satan. They were claiming that Jesus' Messianic signs of healings and deliverances were actually signs of Satan and his dominance.

Jesus told them that their evil hearts were the source of their actions and words and therefore would bring a judgment upon them. In attempting to condemn Jesus, they were actually condemning themselves. And, therefore, their words and deeds would be the evidence against them. He was essentially saying that you cannot be forgiven of a sin when you testify against yourself by your very words and deeds!

Now, in this passage, there are several interesting and even challenging words and phrases. I won't delve into all of them but will focus in on "blasphemy" since that is the subject of our study.

In the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the term "blasphemy" is always in reference to God, i.e., in disputing His power, desecrating His name, violating His glory, etc. In the New Testament it is a violation of God's power and majesty. In a religious sense it is basically a Jewish concept, and so claiming to be God or claiming to do the things of God was considered blasphemy because it demeaned the majesty of God. The term "Blasphemy" in its most basic meaning is simply slander. It is more than criticism, it is to speak evil (meaning lies) with the intent to cause harm.

The difference between an error and a lie is that an error is something you honestly believe is true, while a lie is something you know is false. In Romans 1:28-31, Paul describes those people who perform a whole litany of sinful acts and then in verse 32 he says, "although they know the ordinance of God… they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them." You see, they knew what was right but deliberately chose to do wrong. In the same way, although the Pharisees in Matthew 12 knew the truth, yet they deliberately chose to lie and they did so with the intent to cause harm. I think intending to cause harm is the key. The Pharisees were speaking evil of Jesus in that they were trying to harm Him by stopping or interfering with His works — they were claiming that the works were not of God but of Satan.

What makes this so harmful is not that you "said it" but that you "believe it!" How can you love someone if you are trying to harm them? How can you trust someone if your goal is to damage them in some way? If you cannot trust Jesus or cannot love Him, then how can you come to Him for forgiveness of sins? The Scriptures tell us that no one can come to Christ unless God draws him (John 6:44). The work of the Holy Spirit is important in that He is the One who proves the truth of the works of God and the Gospel itself (1 John 5:6). So, if you believe, I mean "really believe," that the Holy Spirit is actually an evil spirit, then you will not go to Jesus for forgiveness of sins. In which case, you cannot be forgiven. You must repent of your sins and ask for forgiveness, if you don't then you won't be forgiven!

So, our conclusion, after looking at the whole context of the events in Matthew chapter 12, and looking at the definitions of the term "blasphemy," that it is a deliberate action based upon the genuine heartfelt belief that the Holy Spirit isn't really "holy" but rather is evil and is therefore the spirit of Satan and not the Spirit of God. It must therefore also include the total and complete rejection of the whole of Scripture and all that it teaches regarding the atoning work of Jesus Christ, godliness, holiness and redemption.

I believe that someone who has done this has so hardened their heart that they absolutely refuse to believe God just like the Pharisees in that they kept on asking for more signs and kept on rejecting the very signs they were asking for! If you are even the least bit concerned that you may have blasphemed the Holy Spirit, then I believe that "concern" is evidence that you have not done so.

What is really going on? Simply thinking about something isn't sin. Doing or acting upon the thought is. The Apostle Paul tells us, "In addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one." (Ephesians 6:16, NASB95) The flaming arrows, or fiery darts, are thoughts "shot" into our minds that are intended to create doubt, fear and temptation. Doubt concerning the Word of God, fear of everything and anything, and temptation to sin by disobeying God in any way possible. The "shield of faith" is simply trusting Jesus Christ and "… destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and…  taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5, NASB95).