From the moment that this current series of sermons, “Getting to Know the Holy Spirit,” began to take shape in my mind several weeks ago, the sermon I’m about to preach today has made me uncomfortable. This is a tough text. This is a text about which there are a wide variety of interpretations. It’s a text that does not get preached on very often. In fact, I’m guessing that many of you will be hearing the first sermon you can remember on this particular passage.
So, why go there at all? Because it’s in the Book and that means that God wants us to go there even if the message is hard to figure out and difficult to hear.
And why go there now? Because we are currently in the process of searching the scriptures to see what God’s word teaches us about the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit is at the very heart of this difficult passage. So, within the context of that broader study we need to hear Jesus’ stark words of warning in Mark 3:29, where He says, “But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.”
So, the big issue that we’re dealing with here is generally referred to as, “The unpardonable sin.” Even if you’ve never heard a sermon about this subject, you’ve probably heard about, “The unpardonable sin.” What I’d like to do, this morning, is to see if we unpack the meaning of this verse by asking and then answering some key questions. Beginning with this one: Is there really a sin that God will not forgive? Is the idea of an unpardonable sin a religious tradition that’s been passed down from generation to generation without any solid biblical foundation or is it real? Is there really a sin that God will not forgive?
I think this is a massively significant question…I know it is for me…because I am totally convinced of the truth of the Gospel. And what is the Gospel? It’s the Good News that, in Christ, God has provided a way for all of us to have all of our sins completely forgiven so that we can be brought into a right relationship with God now and continue in that right relationship with God throughout eternity. The Gospel is the Good News that God has accepted the death of Jesus on the cross as payment in full for all of our sin with this result—that through our faith in Jesus, we can be saved from eternal death in Hell and saved to eternal life with God. That’s the Gospel. That’s the Good News. And it’s all possible because as, we read in John 1:29, Jesus is, “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” And I believe that. And I think most of you do, too.
And because I believe that Jesus’ death on the cross was sufficient to cover the sin of the entire world, I cringe at the suggestion of a sin that God will not forgive because it seems to suggest that Jesus’ death was in some way deficient. That somehow Jesus’ provision on the cross came up one sin short of being completely sufficient. So, as one who believes in the complete sufficiency of what Jesus accomplished on the cross, this is not an academic question for me. There’s a lot a stake here. So, I want to know if there really is such a thing as a sin that God will not forgive?
So, let’s go back to our text and take a really close look at exactly what it says. Mark 3:29 says, “But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.”
I want you to circle four key words in that verse beginning with the word, “sin.” By definition, “sin,” is always an offense against God. So, we’re not talking merely about a conflict betweens peers or equals. We’re talking about an offense against a holy, sovereign, just, righteous, all-powerful God. And that means that once God has rendered His judgment on our sin there is no appealing His verdict. And it doesn’t matter if we agree with, understand or like His verdict. His verdict about our sin is the final word.
So, what is God’s verdict on the sin of blasphemy “against the Holy Spirit?” In verse 29 Jesus says, quite clearly, it “will never be forgiven.” Circle that word, “never” and then remember that this is not your friend, your spouse or a colleague saying, “I’ll never forgive you for this.” This is God saying, “I’ll never forgive you for this.” As a general principle, it’s always wise to take God at His word.
And to make God’s judgment clearer still, circle the word, “eternal.” This is, “an eternal sin.” When we put those two ideas together we end up with something like this, “This is a sin the consequences of which you will bear for all eternity because it will never be forgiven.”
Finally, circle the word, “guilty,” because it reminds us that God pronounces one of two verdicts on every sin. “Forgiven” or “Guilty.” Those are the only two verdicts.
When God says, “Forgiven,” you stand forgiven for all eternity and you enjoy the blessing of God’s presence forever. When God says, “Guilty,” you stand guilty for all eternity and suffer His wrath for all eternity.
So, the question is: Is there really a sin that God will not forgive? Though I’m very uncomfortable with the answer, the text, I believe is clear. Yes, there is such a sin.
Next question: What is the sin that God will never forgive? Well, this is where things get challenging because, while this unforgivable sin is clearly identified, it not so clearly defined. Mark 3:29 clearly says, “But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven…” So, there’s the unforgivable sin. The question now is— what does that mean? What is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit?
Let’s go back to the text and see if it will help us answer that question. And let’s start by reading the very next verse, Mark 3:30, where we find out why Jesus introduced this matter in the first place. Verse 30 says, “He said this because they were saying, ‘He has an evil spirit.’”
So, Jesus’ remarks about blaspheming the Holy Spirit came in response to someone accusing Him of having an evil spirit. And to find out who would make such an accusation, and why they would do so, we need to look at some of the verses preceding Jesus’ remarks here. And as we do so, here’s what we discover.
Jesus has now begun his ministry and the Gospels repeatedly tell us that He was empowered for ministry by the Holy Spirit. For instance, as Jesus completed his time of temptation in the wilderness at the beginning of his ministry, Luke 4:14 says, “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit…” So, Jesus ministered in the power of the Holy Spirit…and his ministry included the working of miracles… and those miracles included casting out demons from the demon-possessed. And these miracles were witnessed by many people including important Jewish teachers and officials and in Mark 3:22 we see how some of them responded. Mark 3:22 says, “And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, ‘He is possessed by Beelzebub! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.’”
So, these Jewish “teachers of the law” are attributing these miraculous workings of the Holy Spirit in Jesus to Satan. In other words, their charge is that Jesus is not filled with the Holy Spirit, He’s filled with, as Mark 3:30 says, “…an evil spirit.”
And in response to these accusations, Jesus issues the warning of verse 29, “But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.”
So, can we therefore conclude that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is attributing the works of the Holy Spirit to Satan or other evil spirits? There are many who say, yes, that’s what it is. But my answer is: no. I think we’re getting close to an answer but I don’t think we’re quite there yet. And Mark 3:28 is the reason I say that.
Empowered by the Holy Spirit, Jesus has been performing a variety of miracles including casting out demons. In response, some Jewish teachers of the law have accused him of being filled with an evil spirit. And after pointing out the faulty logic of their accusation, He then says in verse 28, “I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them.” All their sin and all their blasphemies. They’re all forgivable. And that’s Jesus’ point here in verse 28. As I said earlier, as I understand it, that’s the Gospel. In Christ, the sins of the world are forgivable. But then we come to verse 29 and Jesus says, “But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven…”
So, here’s the dilemma—if “never” forgiven means “never” forgiven when Jesus says “never” forgiven in verse 29 then “all” will be forgiven must mean “all” will be forgiven when Jesus says “all” will be forgiven in verse 28. My point is that we can’t take God at His word in one verse and then not take Him at His word in the next verse. We can’t say with any sense of integrity to the text that “never” really means “never” in verse 29 but “all” doesn’t really mean “all” in verse 28.
If this is God’s word then both of these verses are true. And that means that that verse 29 is not pointing out the one exception to verse 28. It does not mean, “All sins and blasphemies other than blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be forgiven.”
So, the next question is—how do we resolve the apparent contradiction between these 2 verses? I think the key is to take a closer look at the meaning of forgiveness in the scriptures. And when we do so we find that the scriptures never separate God’s forgiveness of our sins from our repentance of our sins. And repentance means to turn away from. In other words, to change our behavior.
Mark 1:4 says, “John came…preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”
Mark 1:14-15 says, “After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee proclaiming the good news of God. ‘The Kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news.’”
So, the point is that forgiveness, like grace, is free but it’s not cheap. God doesn’t forgive us just because we say the “magic forgiveness formula”—“Dear God, please forgive me.” We can’t expect God to forgive us knowing full well that we have no intention of turning away from our sinful behavior. God’s interest is not in our words, but in our heart. And the heart attitude that precedes His forgiveness is genuine repentance. Sorrow plus a change in behavior.
And that means that what Jesus is saying in verse 28 is that He will completely forgive every sin and every blasphemy from which we truly repent. No exceptions. He will never withhold His forgiveness when we are genuinely repentant. That’s what He’s saying in verse 28.
What He’s saying in verse 29 is not that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is a sin so horrible that God won’t forgive it but rather that the one who commits the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit becomes incapable of repentance. And when we don’t repent, God doesn’t forgive.
And to help us understand how this works, we need to be clear about the unique role of the Holy Spirit in bringing about our salvation.
–Because of our sin we were separated from God. But God our Father was so determined to bring us back into relationship with Him that He conceived a plan of forgiveness that would cost the life of His Son, Jesus. That’s what God did to get us saved.
–For the Father’s plan to work, Jesus, the Son, would have to willingly die for the sins of mankind. That’s what Jesus did to get us saved.
–But the plan of God and the sacrifice of Jesus would only be effective if the people became aware of their sinfulness and the provision available for their forgiveness in Jesus. And it is the unique assignment of the Holy Spirit to convict people of their sin and point them to Jesus. John 16:8 says it like this, “When he (that is, the Holy Spirit) comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment.”
So, the first step toward forgiveness is to be aware that you need forgiveness—in other words, to become aware of your sin. The second step toward forgiveness is to know who can offer that forgiveness—and forgiveness is only found in Jesus. And the third step toward forgiveness is to turn away from your sin and toward God—in other words, to repent. And the Holy Spirit brings the conviction and direction necessary to take each of those three steps that lead to forgiveness.
And that means that the worst thing that can happen to you is for the Holy Spirit to stop convicting you of your sin, because without conviction you’ll never seek forgiveness. And I believe that’s exactly what happens when we blaspheme the Holy Spirit. Whether it’s by attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to Satan or simply by repeatedly ignoring and resisting the conviction of the Holy Spirit about your continual sinfulness at some point we cross the line and move from disobeying the Holy Spirit to blaspheming the Holy Spirit. And when that happens He is so grieved that He withdraws from us and stops convicting us of our sin and we walk blissfully unforgiven straight into the wrath of God. There’s no forgiveness because there’s no repentance. So, the reason there’s no forgiveness for the sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit is not because Jesus’ provision was deficient, but because we don’t repent.
Now, in closing, I want to add three brief points of clarity.
Number One—If you are worried that you may have committed the unforgivable sin, you haven’t. Your concern is proof that the Holy Spirit is still convicting you. Listen to Him. Acknowledge your sin. Repent of it. Ask for and receive God’s forgiveness. Then keep your focus on God and keep your back turned toward your sin.
Number Two— Jesus doesn’t tell us where the line between forgivable sin and unforgivable blasphemy lies, but He does tell us that it exists. If you are currently engaged in some kind of ongoing sinful behavior that you used to feel guilty about but have now grown comfortable with recognize that you are already much closer to that line than anyone should want to be. Listen to Holy Spirit. Acknowledge your sin. Repent of it. Ask for and receive God’s forgiveness. Then keep your focus on God and keep your back turned toward you sin.
Number Three—Don’t be so frightened by the warning that you miss the Good News. No matter what you’ve done, the Good News of verse 28 is meant for you: “I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them.” Listen to Holy Spirit. Acknowledge your sin. Repent of it. Ask for and receive God’s forgiveness. Then keep your focus on God and keep your back turned toward you sin.