Question
In Matthew 12 it talks about the unforgivable sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Does this mean if in one’s younger years he denounces God and claims he is an atheist, that if he has a change of heart later, he can never be forgiven. It seems this would be limiting God who can forgive anyone that asks.
Answer
I am not sure I completely understand this passage, but I will share what I believe is clear from this passage. First, it would be good to read the passage from Matthew 12:22-37.
MAT 12:22 ¶ Then there was brought to Him a demon-possessed man who was blind and dumb, and He healed him, so that the dumb man spoke and saw.
MAT 12:23 And all the multitudes were amazed, and began to say, “This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?”
MAT 12:24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.”
MAT 12:25 And knowing their thoughts He said to them, “Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself shall not stand.
MAT 12:26 “And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then shall his kingdom stand?
MAT 12:27 “And if I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? Consequently they shall be your judges.
MAT 12:28 “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
MAT 12:29 “Or how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.
MAT 12:30 “He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.
MAT 12:31 “Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven men, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven.
MAT 12:32 “And whoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age, or in the age to come.
MAT 12:33 “Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree bad, and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit.
MAT 12:34 “You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.
MAT 12:35 “The good man out of his good treasure brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings forth what is evil.
MAT 12:36 “And I say to you, that every careless word that men shall speak, they shall render account for it in the day of judgment.
MAT 12:37 “For by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned.”
First, we understand there is a demon-possessed man brought to Jesus and Jesus casts out the demon and the man becomes normal. The multitude is amazed by the power displayed.
However, the Pharisees are not so amazed. They seek to discredit Jesus in front of the multitude and destroy His influence. Therefore, they immediately raise accusations against Him.
The substance of their clam is is, Jesus is casting out demons by the power of Satan. In other words, He is of Satan and not of God and the power He displays is from Satan and not God. We must understand the context of what has happened and the nature of their accusation. They are directly asserting that the power that had been demonstrated before their eyes by Jesus was not from the Holy Spirit, but from Satan. Therefore, whatever evidence Jesus had offered by casting out the demon, was Satanic rather than Divine. This is their blasphemy – by rejecting the Holy Spirit’s evidence, they would no t be able to turn to Jesus.
Jesus responds by asserting that it would be unreasonable to believe that Satan would fight against himself by casting out demons. And, he also challenges them to examine how their own disciples supposedly cast out demons. By what power did they cast out demons.
Then, Jesus says the words that we have the question about, whoever speaks against the Son, it shall be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven. What does this mean?
In context, I believe it means that whoever gets to a point where they reject the observable evidence given by the Holy Spirit and attribute that to Satan will not turn to follow Jesus and therefore will not be forgiven. I believe the real question is not whether God forgives, but whether man can get himself into such a state of mind that he will not ask to be forgiven.
By Gary Hunt
