I know people who think they have committed
the unpardonable sin or the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.
Is this possible? Is it possible for someone today to commit this sin?
The study of the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is a fascinating one, but also a frightening one.
Many people through the centuries have wondered if sometime
during their lives they may have committed this most grievous sin.
The thought of doing something that would provoke eternal damnation is frightening indeed.
Our study will center around three areas.
First, what does the word blasphemy mean?
Second, what is the context in which the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit occurred?
And third, is it possible to commit this sin today?
Let's begin by asking the question what is the meaning of the word blasphemy?
The word blasphemy usually refers to some form of profaning God's name.
It is thought to come from two Greek words 'blapto'' meaning to 'hurt or injure'
and 'phemi' meaning to 'speak.'
The concept then has to do with speech intended to cause injury to one's character or reputation.
The New Testament frequently mentions the sin of blasphemy.
The word occurs in some form approximately 59 times.
The following is a consideration of those who can be blasphemed.
First, God Himself can be blasphemed. Paul notes in Romans 2:24 that the Gentiles
blasphemed the name of God because of the poor example and character of the Jews.
In 1 Timothy 6:1 Paul cautions Christian slaves to be sure that they honor their masters,
"Lest the name of God and our doctrine be blasphemed."
John says regarding the sea beast: "And there was given to him a mouth speaking
great things and blasphemies, and there was given to him authority to continue forty-two months.
And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God,
to blaspheme His name and tabernacle, even them that dwell in the heaven."
Men today say many hateful and injurious words against God.
They may desire to lead others to atheism or to agnosticism.
Further still, they might convince others through their speech
that the God of the Bible is a cruel taskmaster and that it is impossible to please Him.
No matter how one may attempt to discredit God,
this would serve as an example of blasphemy of the name of God.
Second, the New Testament speaks of blaspheming the doctrine of Christ.
As noted earlier, Paul states that it is possible for one to blaspheme
the doctrine that was being taught by Paul and the apostles, 1 Timothy 6:1.
Third, te New Testament speaks of blaspheming the Holy Spirit.
This particular sin is mentioned in each of the synoptic gospels: Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
We will return to this sin and discuss it in more detail later.
Fourth, John notes that it is possible to blaspheme God's people.
In the passage mentioned above-- Revelation 13:5-6--we note that the sea beasts
and those that worship Him, join in blaspheming God's tabernacle--
that is those who dwell in heaven.
So let's talk about blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.
The Pharisees were always looking for ways to discredit the work of Christ.
His growing popularity throughout the land,
and the fact that large crowds followed Him was disturbing enough.
But now there were those who were wondering if Jesus
might actually be the Messiah that they were all looking for.
Something had to be done and desperate measures had to be taken.
Jesus, of course, had worked miracles in the presence of the Pharisees before.
They searched for different ways to discount what He was doing
like, "He violates the Sabbath," "He claims to be God,"
"Well, He's from a no-count area like Galilee," John 5:16, John 7:41-42.
Apparently, those arguments did not carry much weight with the multitude
because they continually presented other arguments as well.
As a matter of fact, the argument about Jesus doing miracles through the power of Satan
had been mentioned earlier in Matthew 9:34 by the Pharisees.
This seems to be similar to a soldier that puts his helmet on the end of his rifle
and he holds it up to see if anyone is going to shoot at it.
It appears that this argument was offered in Matthew chapter 9 with some success
and with little resistance.
Therefore, the Jews thought that they would offer this argument once again.
It seemed to work before.
This time, however, they aroused the wrath and the ire of Jesus
in a way that they had not previously encountered. The reason for this, as we shall see,
is because what they said is the foundation of a most grievous sin.
The context in Matthew chapter 12 is simply this:
Jesus had healed a man who was blind, dumb, and demon-possessed, Matthew 12:22.
The multitude responded to this amazing miracle asking, "Can this be the son of David?"
These were dangerous words as far as the Pharisees were concerned
and they needed to do something about it. The text says that when the Pharisees heard it--
what the multitude was saying-- that they knew that they needed to do something.
That what the people were saying and thinking
had to be dealt with in a most powerful and decisive way.
Therefore they offered again the argument first given in Matthew 9:34:
That He's casting out demons only by Beelzebul-- the ruler the demons.
There are several important facts that need to be identified here.
First, they did not deny that a miracle had taken place.
Whereas there may have been times that they doubted
the authenticity of some of Jesus's miracles, they could not deny this one.
They saw it. The multitude saw it.
There was no getting around the fact that a genuine miracle had taken place.
Second, they claimed that the miracle had been performed through the power of Beelzebul.
Beelzebul was a God of the Philistines and his name meant Lord of the Flies.
The language here and in Mark 3:22 indicates that Beelzebul was the ruler of the demons.
Hence, it was a reference to Satan himself.
Third, they claim that this miracle was done only through the power of Beelzebul.
They leave no room for an alternative interpretation.
They claim to have a full comprehension of what Jesus was doing
and where the power came for Him to do the miracle that He did.
Fourth, Jesus not only responded to their words, but Matthew says,
"And knowing their thoughts, He said to them..."
Jesus knew the heart condition of these men--
a condition that He will refer to in verses 33-37 of Matthew 12.
These were not simply foolish words spoken impulsively and carelessly.
These were words that came from hearts hardened by evil.
These were words that were carefully calculated
with the specific intent of destroying the work of Christ
and discrediting the power behind His great works, and that was the Holy Spirit.
For the sake of the multitude, Jesus demonstrated the foolishness and illlogic of this argument.
He presents four arguments of His own,
each which completely destroys the contention of the Pharisees.
Basically, Jesus presents these unanswerable arguments.
First is not that Satan could not do this, but that he would not do it, in verses 25 and 26.
If Satan is casting out Satan, he would be working against himself
and contributing to the destruction of his own kingdom. He wouldn't do that.
Second, the Pharisees are showing their own hypocrisy in verse 27.
The sons of the Pharisees also cast out demons.
Do they say the same about them? Do they say that they're doing it by the power of Satan?
Of course not! They did not want to put their own children--
either literal children or more a generic reference to the sons of Israel--
in the same category as Christ.
Third, Jesus demonstrates the implications of His working miracles.
He is challenging them to think of what it means if,
in fact, He is doing this by the Spirit of God.
It means that the kingdom of God has come and they would be
found in the unenviable position of fighting against it.
And then fourth, Jesus argues that Satan would fight if anyone tried to seize his property.
Satan is not going to easily yield a soul who has become his true demon possession.
He'll use all of the power at his disposal to keep from being robbed.
So Jesus is asking them in effect what kind of power would it take to bind the strongman--
that's Satan--and take what is his.
With this fourth point, Jesus is showing how much more powerful He is than Satan.
After showing both the foolishness of the
Pharisees' argument and the implications of what they were saying,
Jesus now turns to deal specifically with the kind of men the Pharisees had become.
The statement that Jesus cast out demons by the power of Satan was not merely words
of desperation from men who saw their power slipping away.
Rather, these words demonstrate the worst kind of men:
Those who stubbornly refuse to be taught,
who are illogically rebellious against clear evidence.
In addition, there are three words that indicate what the Pharisees were doing
and was a sustained and continual rebellion.
The first is the word 'said,' Mark 3:22. This word is in the imperfect tense,
indicating that the Pharisees had been continually, persistently making this argument.
We know they had made it in Matthew 9:34.
Despite evidence to the contrary, they continuously made this argument.
Second is the word 'being' that's found in Matthew 12:34. "Being evil."
This is a present participle indicating that these men
had a prolonged sustained relationship with evil.
And then third is the word 'speaks' found in Matthew 12:34.
This also is a present active infinitive.
These men were continually speaking evil and maliciously refraining from speaking good.
The reason for this is because their hearts had grown so corrupt,
they were so evil, that they attributed a wonderful work of God to Satan himself.
Only the most crooked wicked heart could ever do this and do it sincerely
and that's because they'd become so self deceived.
So now let's ask the question: Is it possible to commit this sin today?
The answer to this is not as simple as some might think,
but it does require a, "No," answer-- that you cannot commit this sin today.
But this requires some further explanation.
This particular sin comes from the fact that these men continually saw what Jesus did
and then said that what He was doing was the work of the devil. Men today can do the second.
They can say the same things but they cannot see what these Pharisees saw.
It is the combination of these two that makes this a special sin.
It is in this sense that one cannot commit this same sin.
We have to remember that this sinful statement was after witnessing a miracle.
Since we are unable to witness miracles-- that is with our own eyes
witness the power of the Holy Spirit-- we are not capable of committing the same sin.
However, it is possible for people to allow their hearts to grow so
rebellious and corrupt that they continually stand in defiance of God's Word.
They can constantly speak against Him and His word and mean it with all their heart.
They have grown into this mentality and they are not going to change.
They care not for evidence. Their minds are made up.
As a result, they are never going to repent
and without repentance, their sin will remain forever.
John would say that we should not even pray for such people, in 1st John 5:16.
The Hebrew writer would say of such that it is impossible
to renew them again to repentance, Hebrews 6:6.
A word of caution needs to be extended.
Matthew said that Jesus condemned them because He knew their hearts.
We do not have this ability today and therefore it is not possible
for us to know whether one has reached the degree of rebellion that the Pharisees had reached.
There is a valuable lesson for us: We always make sure that we are teachable.
We must make sure that we are honest with the truth and are willing to yield to it.
If we close our minds to the truth, we can become hardened against God
and cross the line where we will never come back.