The Blasphemy Against The Holy Spirit
Question:
The verse that says "Therefore I say to you, every sin and
blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy
against the Spirit will not be forgiven " (Matt. 12:31)
alarm me very much. Sometimes I think that I
committed the sin of blasphemy so I fall into despair.
Please explain the meaning of the blasphemy against the
Holy Spirit? And how is that there is no forgiveness
either in this age or in the age to come? How does this
unforgiveness coincide with the mercy of God and His
many promises?
Answer:
All your fears are temptations from the devil to make you fall
into despair so be comforted.
As for the meaning of the blasphemy against the Spirit and
the sin that is without forgiveness, this, with the grace of
God I shall explain to you.
The blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is not the unbelief in
the Holy Spirit or His Divinity or His work and it is notinsulting of the Holy Spirit. If the atheists believe, God forgives
them for their unbelief and their mockery of God and His Holy
Spirit. All those who followed Macedonius in his heresy and his
denial of the Divinity of the Holy Spirit, when repented the church
accepted, them and forgave them.
What then is the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? And why
there is no forgiveness for it?
The blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is the complete and
continuous refusal of any work of the Spirit in the heart which
is a life time refusal.
As a result of this refusal, man does not repent and accordingly
God does not forgive him.
God in His mercy accepts every repentance and forgives as He
said, "The one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out"
(John 6:37) and the saints were correct in their saying: "All that
the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to
Me I will by no means cast out".
[There is no sin without forgiveness except that without
repentance].
So if a person dies in his sin without repentance, he will perish as
the Lord said "Unless you repent you will all likewise perish "
(Luke 13:5).
Then non repentance till death is the only sin that is withoutWhat is the relation between lack of repentance and the
blasphemy against the Holy Spirit?
Obviously, a person cannot repent without the work of the Spirit
in him. For the Holy Spirit will reprove the world of sin (John
16:8) and lead the person in the spiritual life and encourage him.
He is the power that aids in every good work.
Without the communion of the Holy Spirit, no one can
accomplish any spiritual work.
So the refusal of the communion of the Holy Spirit (2 Cor 13:14)
absolutely can not produce any good. For all the works of
righteousness the apostle had put under the title "fruit of the
Spirit" (GaL 5:22). That person without any fruit will be cut
down and thrown into the fire (Matt. 3:10) & (John 15:4-5).
He who refuses the Spirit, will not repent, and will not bring
forth any spiritual fruit.
If his refusal of the Spirit is a complete and life long refusal, then
he will spend all his life without repentance, without works of
righteousness and without fruit of the Spirit, so of course he will
perish. This is the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
It is not that the person grieves the Spirit (Eph. 4:30) or quenches
the Spirit (1Thess. 5:19) or resists the Spirit (Acts 7:51) but it is
the complete and persistent refusal of the Spirit. So he would not
repent and would not have fruits in a righteous life.
Here we are faced with a question:What if a person refuses all works of the Spirit then turns back
and accepts Him and repents?
We say that his repentance and acceptance of the Spirit even just
before the end of his life, is an indication that the Spirit of God
still works in him and led him to repentance. Then his refusal of
the Spirit was not complete and not life long. A case like this is
not a blasphemy against the Holy Spirit according to the definition
mentioned before.
To fall into a sin that has no forgiveness is a form of a war of
the devil against us to make us fall into despair which will
destroy us, make us depressed; and that does not help us in any
spiritual work.
To the person that asked the question I say: the mere asking of the
question is an indication of your concern about eternal fate. This
is not blasphemy against the Spirit.
Now we need to answer the last part of the question.
How this unforgiveness coincides with the mercy of God?
God is always ready to forgive and nothing prevents His
forgiveness, but the important thing is that the person repents to
deserve forgiveness.
If the person refuses repentance, God waits for his repentance till
the uttermost breath of his life, as happened with the thief at the
Lord's right hand. If the person refuses to repent all his life and
refuses the work of the Spirit in him till the time of his death then
he not God-blessed be His name would be responsible for the
perishing of his soul.
Question:
The verse that says "Therefore I say to you, every sin and
blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy
against the Spirit will not be forgiven " (Matt. 12:31)
alarm me very much. Sometimes I think that I
committed the sin of blasphemy so I fall into despair.
Please explain the meaning of the blasphemy against the
Holy Spirit? And how is that there is no forgiveness
either in this age or in the age to come? How does this
unforgiveness coincide with the mercy of God and His
many promises?
Answer:
All your fears are temptations from the devil to make you fall
into despair so be comforted.
As for the meaning of the blasphemy against the Spirit and
the sin that is without forgiveness, this, with the grace of
God I shall explain to you.
The blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is not the unbelief in
the Holy Spirit or His Divinity or His work and it is notinsulting of the Holy Spirit. If the atheists believe, God forgives
them for their unbelief and their mockery of God and His Holy
Spirit. All those who followed Macedonius in his heresy and his
denial of the Divinity of the Holy Spirit, when repented the church
accepted, them and forgave them.
What then is the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? And why
there is no forgiveness for it?
The blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is the complete and
continuous refusal of any work of the Spirit in the heart which
is a life time refusal.
As a result of this refusal, man does not repent and accordingly
God does not forgive him.
God in His mercy accepts every repentance and forgives as He
said, "The one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out"
(John 6:37) and the saints were correct in their saying: "All that
the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to
Me I will by no means cast out".
[There is no sin without forgiveness except that without
repentance].
So if a person dies in his sin without repentance, he will perish as
the Lord said "Unless you repent you will all likewise perish "
(Luke 13:5).
Then non repentance till death is the only sin that is withoutWhat is the relation between lack of repentance and the
blasphemy against the Holy Spirit?
Obviously, a person cannot repent without the work of the Spirit
in him. For the Holy Spirit will reprove the world of sin (John
16:8) and lead the person in the spiritual life and encourage him.
He is the power that aids in every good work.
Without the communion of the Holy Spirit, no one can
accomplish any spiritual work.
So the refusal of the communion of the Holy Spirit (2 Cor 13:14)
absolutely can not produce any good. For all the works of
righteousness the apostle had put under the title "fruit of the
Spirit" (GaL 5:22). That person without any fruit will be cut
down and thrown into the fire (Matt. 3:10) & (John 15:4-5).
He who refuses the Spirit, will not repent, and will not bring
forth any spiritual fruit.
If his refusal of the Spirit is a complete and life long refusal, then
he will spend all his life without repentance, without works of
righteousness and without fruit of the Spirit, so of course he will
perish. This is the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
It is not that the person grieves the Spirit (Eph. 4:30) or quenches
the Spirit (1Thess. 5:19) or resists the Spirit (Acts 7:51) but it is
the complete and persistent refusal of the Spirit. So he would not
repent and would not have fruits in a righteous life.
Here we are faced with a question:What if a person refuses all works of the Spirit then turns back
and accepts Him and repents?
We say that his repentance and acceptance of the Spirit even just
before the end of his life, is an indication that the Spirit of God
still works in him and led him to repentance. Then his refusal of
the Spirit was not complete and not life long. A case like this is
not a blasphemy against the Holy Spirit according to the definition
mentioned before.
To fall into a sin that has no forgiveness is a form of a war of
the devil against us to make us fall into despair which will
destroy us, make us depressed; and that does not help us in any
spiritual work.
To the person that asked the question I say: the mere asking of the
question is an indication of your concern about eternal fate. This
is not blasphemy against the Spirit.
Now we need to answer the last part of the question.
How this unforgiveness coincides with the mercy of God?
God is always ready to forgive and nothing prevents His
forgiveness, but the important thing is that the person repents to
deserve forgiveness.
If the person refuses repentance, God waits for his repentance till
the uttermost breath of his life, as happened with the thief at the
Lord's right hand. If the person refuses to repent all his life and
refuses the work of the Spirit in him till the time of his death then
he not God-blessed be His name would be responsible for the
perishing of his soul.