What Is the Unpardonable Sin?

“I tell you the truth, all sin and blasphemy can be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. This is a sin with eternal consequences.” (Mark 3:28-29 NLT)

The context of the above verses is a time early in Jesus’ ministry when He’d been healing people and casting out demons. The teachers of religious law were not happy, so in their brazen disrespect they said in reference to Jesus: “He’s possessed by Satan, the prince of demons. That’s where He gets the power to cast out demons.” (Mark 3:22)

The bottom line in this accusation was that these teachers were saying that Jesus and the Spirit who resided in Him were evil. In short, they were declaring that God was evil. There is no forgiveness for a person who holds that belief. They likely didn’t understand that was what they were saying, but their ignorance was going to result in grave, eternal consequences, unless by God’s grace, they repented and sought forgiveness.

In an article I posted a month or so ago I outlined the effects of habitual sin and their consequences even after coming to the Lord, but this is a whole different issue. We do and say a lot of things out of ignorance. Ignorance is not necessarily a bad thing, it’s just a matter of fact.

I’m ignorant about many things, not the least of which is my computer. Yes, of course, I’ve learned some basic functions that enable me to do a lot, but when something doesn’t work right or acts in ways that I’ve not seen before, I have to seek help.

Admittedly, I’m still ignorant of things pertaining to the Lord and His Word. That’s one of the reasons I’m very careful about being dogmatic about what I believe, except on very basic things. The religious teachers who blasphemed the Holy Spirit and the Lord Jesus were speaking out of their ignorance, but the tragedy is, they didn’t know it.

That’s where we find ourselves in many circumstances. It’s one thing to understand we’re ignorant in some areas, it’s quite another to declare out of the context of our ignorance, what we think we know as fact. Where are those statements derived? From the body of information we think we have, but apply it in ways that are far outside the realm of our knowledge.

It’s in reference to these kinds of circumstances that it’s safe to say a person doesn’t know what they don’t know. Those religious leaders didn’t have a clue who Jesus was, but the tragedy was, they thought they did. And though they were confident in making the blasphemous declaration that they made, they didn’t understand the consequences.

David Starry wrote: “The Devil never shows you the consequences of sin.“ That’s the plight of millions today all across our world, including many who fill the seats of our churches. They’ve placed their faith in their religion or their intellect or their ability to make money or to persuade people or in any number of other things, and in following their own logic they’ve missed the only thing that matters.

If you want to know what matters, look around. Everything you see with your eyes will one day perish. It doesn’t matter! If we can experience it with our senses, it’s going to one day die or be burned up. The only thing that is eternal is invisible to us now. Our souls. Our character. Our love of God. Our investment in eternity through the people we love, serve, and lead to Jesus here and now.

The intangibles of life are eternal, not the things for which we sell our soul. Blasphemy that costs us our soul is failure to see and understand who Jesus is! To declare that He’s anything or anyone other than God in human form, Creator, Sustainer, Ruler, eternal God, Lord of heaven’s armies, will result in our eternal damnation and separation from all that’s holy, righteous, and good.

We MUST be about our Father’s business in declaring with all that is within us that Jesus alone is the Way, the Truth, and the Life! He alone is the Door to heaven. To believe otherwise is blasphemous and renders eternal consequences. Of that much I’m certain!

Blessings, Ed