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On the unpardonable sin

September 29th, 2014

Hello everyone,
I have a question regarding the unpardonable/unforgivable sin. The answer to “What is the unpardonable sin / unforgivable sin?” on the GQ site indicates that “This specific unpardonable sin against the Holy Spirit cannot be duplicated today.” However, scripture seems to indicate otherwise:
“Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin” (Mark 3:28-29). Matthew’s account adds that they will not be forgiven, “either in this age or in the age to come” (Matthew 12:32). I completely understand about the unpardonable sin and that it is impossible for a true Christian to commit this, but I don’t understand why it cannot be duplicated today as stated In the GQ answer. Wouldn’t this be possible if an unbeliever blasphemed the Holy Spirit by rejecting the obvious work of God and calling it the work of Satan? Or am I misunderstanding something? Any clarification would be appreciated.

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  • Jed Kramer Jun Cotto, I also believe that blasphemy of the Holy Spirit can still be committed today. At least, I don’t believe that Scripture clearly excludes that possibility. However, based on God’s grace through Christ, it is important to realize that it cannot be committed in a trivial way. It is important that we do not promote the idea that God will reject a person the opportunity to come into relationship with Him based on a temporal word or action. Only God knows whether a person has become so closed to Him that their thoughts, words, or actions attest to their blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. Likewise, I don’t believe that you or I could say with any certainty that a person had committed such a sin.
    September 28 at 9:51pm · Like · 1
  • Joe Maxey Jun, many scholars think that the unpardonable sin is the rejection of Jesus as Lord and Savior. This can be and is, done today and will be until the day when ALL will know Him for who He is. I tend to agree with this view.
    September 29 at 5:56am · Like
  • Justin Tilghman I think what the website is meaning by saying this sin cannot be committed today is that the Pharisees were actively attributing miracles they say Jesus do to Satan’s power. Jesus is not physically here on the earth performing miracles anymore so this particular sin, in this exact manner, cannot be committed today. I agree with Joe Maxey in that the most commonly held view is that the unpardonable sin is ultimate, final rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Pharisees were ultimately guilty of completely and finally rejecting the Holy Spirit’s witness to Jesus as the Christ. If we completely discredit the Holy Spirit’s witness that Jesus is the Christ then there is no further illuminating work the Spirit can do to save the individual. If they come that close and ultimately turn away, there is nothing else that can be done for them (Hebrews 6:4).
    September 29 at 6:24am · Like
  • Lori DeGrazia Jun, the best interpretation I’ve found is by Dr. Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum in “The Footsteps of the Messiah”. I highly reccommend this book. He explains that the unpardonable sin was not an individual sin but a national sin, committed by the Pharisees who refused to accept Jesus as Messiah, thereby leading the Jews away, as well. Their conclusion that Jesus’ miracles were performed not of God but by “Beelzebub” was the unpardonable sin. Fructhenbaum states, “The content of the unpardonable sin was the national rejection of the Messiahship of Jesus while He was physcially present on the grounds that He was demon possessed. This sin was unpardonable, and judgment was set…It is not a sin that can be committed by indivuiuals today”.
    I encourage you to get a copy of his book for the full explanation. Hope this helps. God bless you.
    September 29 at 7:18am · Like · 4
  • Tim White There is obviously some disagreement as to what the blaspheme of the Holy Spirit includes. National rejection of Jesus by those who claim to follow God, rejection of the call of the Holy Spirit for a lifetime, attributing the miracles of Jesus to Satan…..
    September 29 at 7:45am · Like · 1
  • Tim White (hit enter too quickly). If the questioner states a specific concern about this, I would address that. Are they a Christian who walks in fear of one sin blowing it? Are they lost and doubting that they could ever be saved? Are they praying for someone and wonder if it is going to do any good? I would perhaps focus on what the unforgivable sin is not, maybe.
    September 29 at 7:47am · Like · 2
  • Robert Pristoop Wise words Tim White. I believe that both Dr. Fructenbaum (who taught us Daniel through Revelation in Seminary) and Tim White are correct. Before I was a believer I questioned the miracles of Jesus and his power source. Since becoming a believer I now know it is because he is God. Footnote on the book, “The Footsteps of the Messiah.” The Talmud teaches that when you see nations rising up against nation and kingdom against kingdom, wars and rumors of wars (Matthew 24 basically) you should seek the footsteps of the Messiah. Jesus was teaching what the Jewish people already knew-when the world goes completely crazy in weather, wars, and good being seen as evil–the Messiah will come and Elijah will make all things right. That is why Dr. Fructenbaum chose the title he did for the book. Fun facts from seminary with Dr. Fructenbaum!
    September 29 at 10:00am · Like · 2
  • Timothy Craig Munger It cannot be duplicated as recorded in the Gospels because it was a national sin in Jesus’ day. If someone feels concern or guilt over it, it’s a good indicator they haven’t committed it. I dealt with a young Australian law school student over this topic. He later thanked me for helping him.
    September 29 at 8:03pm · Edited · Like
  • Jun Cotto Thank you all for your input. The questioner misunderstood what the unpardonable sin is. They thought the Holy Spirit leaves a person if the unpardonable sin is commited and asked if it is a contradiction of other verses which indicate that the Holy Spirit will never leave us. The question regarding the unpardonable sin not being able to be duplicated today was my own. I think I understand now that this specific unpardonable sin mentioned in Matthew 12 and Mark 3 cannot be duplicated because Jesus is not on the earth in person performing miracles, therefore He cannot be accused of being demon possessed and the Holy Spirit cannot be blasphemed in this way since there are no irrefutable miracles being performed by the Holy Spirit through Christ in the flesh. However, this leads me to ask, if a disciple of Christ performed genuine miracles by the power of the Holy Spirit and was met with accusations of performing the miracles by demons, would the accusers be forgiven?
    September 30 at 11:40am · Like
  • Tim White Jun, now that we have the completed Word, I have a tendency to believe that the use of miracles (inferior to living by faith in the completed word) switches to the other side (Mark 13:22, 2 Thes. 2:8-10). I believe that God still does miracles, but not for public demonstration and faith-building. So, if one can lose what Christ has guaranteed by that work, I would certainly be in danger.
    September 30 at 12:36pm · Like
  • Jun Cotto I agree Tim, but I was also speaking of Christ’s Apostles in the Bible, e.g. Paul, Peter, etc. who did perform miracles by the power of the Holy Spirit to attract more believers and build faith.
    September 30 at 1:01pm · Like
  • Tim White As I dig more into it, I have to turn away from the unpardonable sin being an individual attributing the miracles of Jesus to Satan. Based on a fact and an assumption (which is risky, at best). Fact, Saul of Tarsus opposed Jesus and undoubtedly attributed His miracles to Satan, and was forgiven. Also, Acts 6:7 probably allows an assumption about the priests in Jesus’ day. “And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.” Can it not be assumed that these same priests opposed Jesus and spoke against him often before they turned to faith in Christ?
    September 30 at 1:26pm · Like
  • Geoff Eachus Hi Jun, the unpardonable sin is disregarding/blaspheming the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that draws us to Christ. If you ignore, and thus blaspheme the Holy Spirit. you can’t be saved and forgiven of your sin.
    October 1 at 11:08am · Like
  • Marc Weiss I read the article over (I am assuming it is this one) and while GQ does say it cannot be duplicated – they (and I agree) state that continued disbelief is still the unforgivable sin. I think the word ‘duplicated’ in the sense of this article simply means that since Jesus is not walking the earth in His flesh, thus we cannot duplicate the Pharisees. If I am wrong though, forgive me

    http://www.gotquestions.org/unpardonable-sin.html

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