“‘Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin’— for they were saying, ‘He has an unclean spirit.’” (Mark 3:28-30)
Currently many American Christians are divided along partisan political lines. Being a member of any political party or ideology is not sinful, though espousing or overlooking sin as part of that ideology is. We, who have faith in Jesus are, first and foremost, citizens of the Kingdom of God. We must obey God rather than men, as Peter and John told the Sanhedrin. So although many of us think our constitutional rights are inviolate, that we can do as we please, we cannot. The Word of God condemns abortion and sexual immorality as sins. It also commands us to protect and care for the downtrodden and the needy even those who are in our nation illegally. Though Christians disagree on these and other issues, their sins and sinful endorsements, no matter how bad, are, according to Jesus, forgivable. True, there will be consequences, but God can and will forgive those who repent of any sin, any sin, that is, except one.
We classify sins into categories. In our culture many deem racism, child abuse, rape, and murder to be the most heinous, but as bad as these and all sins are, the only unpardonable sin is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. This is the only sin that is never forgiven because it refuses forgiveness. To blaspheme means to be entirely opposed to the work of the Holy Spirit. How can a person know forgiveness if that person’s every thought and word is opposed to and contradicts the word of Christ that confirms forgiveness?
Blasphemy amounts to the rejection of the mercy of God in Christ. In essence, this means calling God a liar which the Bible tells us is really calling God the devil himself, the father of lies. This may happen through intense despair or by the hardening of the heart. Thus only the rejection of faith in Christ will send anyone to hell. While that may be comforting to many, the bad news is that there are billions of people down through the millennia and living today who have done exactly that.
This does not mean we should take sin lightly for all sin is indeed a serious offense against the Lord. We might think it’s okay, that because it feels good or pleasurable it cannot be bad. Nevertheless we cannot accept sin nor can we try, like Adam and Eve, to excuse it or redefine it as something good, as an acceptable lifestyle choice. Rather we need to seek the Lord’s strength and grace to admit and repent of sin, overcome it and not give in to the temptation which we experience on a daily basis. We cannot do this on our own. Until we ask Jesus for help, we are slaves to any of the sins which we so easily embrace.
Theophany: Meeting With God In His Word 