“Every sin and
blasphemy can be forgiven—except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which will
never be forgiven” (Matt 12:31 NLT).
The Bible teaches that
a person receives salvation (the forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternal
life) by God’s grace through our faith in Jesus’s death on the cross. However,
Jesus says that there is a sin that is unpardonable. What is the unpardonable
sin?
The unpardonable sin is
best explained in an illustration. Think of a person’s saving faith like a rope
that has several knots in it to help a person climb up and hang on. The knots
are things like personal experiences where God worked in recognizable ways in
their life, the love of other Christians, the truths contained in God’s Word,
creation itself testifying of God’s existence, etc. The last knot is the Holy
Spirit.
Scripture teaches that
the Spirit convicts our hearts about sin. When a Christian repeatedly rejects
that conviction, their hearts begin to harden. Eventually, this person reveals
by their thoughts and actions that they want nothing to do with following God.
They made the freewill choice to place their faith in Christ and now, they are
making the freewill choice to reject Christ.
So, how does one know
if they have reached the point of rejecting Christ? Let’s consider this: “For in the case of
those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and
have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of
God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is
impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to
themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame” (Heb. 6:4-6 NASB). Here we
find 5 descriptions of a genuine Christian.
First, they were
“enlightened.” Only genuine believers can see the light for “the god of this
world (Satan) has blinded the minds of the unbelieving” so they cannot
understand the Gospel (2 Cor. 4:4, 6; Matt. 13:19-21; Acts 26:18; Heb. 10:32).
This is why some of your non-Christian friends look at you like a deer in the
headlights.
Second, they “tasted of
the heavenly gift.” The gift of salvation is only for genuine believers (Rom.
6:23; Eph. 2:8-9). It is Jesus who gives this “heavenly gift” only to those who
come and ask Him for it (John 4:10).
Third, they “have been
made partakers of the Holy Spirit.” Only genuine believers receive the gift of
the Holy Spirit (John 7:37-39; Acts 2:38; 1 Cor. 12:13; Titus 3:5).
Fourth, they “have
tasted the good word of God.” Non-believers do not understand the incredible
palate of spiritual food in the Bible ((Psalm 34:8; 119:101-103; Jer. 15:16;
Eph. 6:17; 1 Peter 2:2-3). It is also important to recognize that
“tasting” does not imply a sampling (Heb. 2:9).
And fifth, they “have
tasted the powers of the age to come.”
Jack Cottrell explains this as already having experienced resurrection
from spiritual death (Eph. 2:5; Col, 2:12-13), in anticipation of the future
redemptive resurrection of the body (The Faith Once for All, p.
380).
On the other hand,
numerous passages teach that a person can choose to turn away from God after
becoming a genuine follower of Christ (Matt. 13:1-23; Luke 15:11-32; Gal. 5:4;
Heb. 10:26-27; 12:15; 2 Peter 1:10; Rev. 3:5; etc.). Alger Fitch said, “It is difficult
to understand why the Holy Spirit would give us 21 New Testament books to tell
us how to abide faithfully in Christ and only the one book of Acts to tell us
how to become Christians, if there were no possibility of falling. Why is there
such a disproportionate ratio, if falling away is impossible?” (Pick The
Brighter Tulip, p. 65)
In conclusion, the
unpardonable sin is choosing to ignore the Holy Spirit’s conviction. This
ultimately takes places in every person who never chooses to receive Christ as
Lord of their lives and it can happen in the life a Christian who decides they
no longer want to be a Christian. This is known as apostasy; it is a falling
away from Christ, rejecting the salvation He made available and there is no
forgiveness for this sin.
Next month we will
consider objections that some make to the possibility of a believer giving up
their salvation. But for now, let’s consider how a person can give up their
salvation and thereby commit the unpardonable sin. First, spiritual suicide: the
deliberate decision to stop believing in Christ and His saving work, thus
renouncing the Christian faith (Heb. 6:4-6; 10:26-29). Second, slow spiritual
starvation: faith must be continually nurtured and practiced (2 Peter 2:10-11).
And third, the strangulation of sin: if a Christian continually practices sin
without fighting against it, sooner or later it will choke the life out of their faith (Matt.
13:7, 22).
It is my prayer that
you continually respond to the Holy Spirit’s conviction so you do not find
yourself committing the unpardonable sin.
In His service,
Matt
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