Unpardonable sin(unforgivable sin)
Summary
Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which Jesus declared shall never be forgiven, involving the deliberate and persistent attribution of God's manifest work to demonic power.
☩The Occasion
Jesus spoke these words when the Pharisees attributed His casting out of demons to Beelzebub, the prince of devils. After demonstrating the logical absurdity of their charge—a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand—Jesus suddenly changed His tone to address their moral and spiritual fault. He declared that while all other sins and blasphemies, even blasphemy against Himself, shall be forgiven, whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit shall never be forgiven.
☩The Nature of the Sin
The sin was not merely insulting Jesus personally—that could be forgiven due to ignorance. Rather, in the presence of Divine goodness shining from His beneficent activities, the Pharisees declared that the spirit of Jesus was the spirit of Satan. This was not a hasty utterance but a habitual attitude, a vice of indwelling thoughts and character. They loved darkness rather than light and came to hate the light so bitterly that they declared it came from the devil.
☩Why It Is Unpardonable
The sin appears unpardonable because it argued such an utter perversion of moral sense as to place the person beyond the province of divine grace. Mark's Gospel emphasizes this finality: the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit 'hath never forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin.' The Jews may still lie under it at the present time, having attributed Christ's miracles to Satan's power.
Related Verses5 mentions
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Unpardonable Sin," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. X (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.James Hastings (ed.), "Unpardonable Sin," in Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels, vol. II (T. & T. Clark, 1906–1908).
- 3.George Morrish, "Unpardonable Sin," in Morrish's Concise Bible Dictionary (George Morrish, 1898).