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"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable,  and perfect, will of God."   -Romans 12:2

What Is The Blasphemy
Against the Holy Spirit?

Matthew 12:31  Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. 32  And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. (KJV)

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by Rusty Entrekin

For nearly two thousand years, Satan and his army of fallen angels have used a horrible ploy against Christians. Just as the Devil tempted Jesus by twisting Bible verses, he loves to twist these two verses and use them against Christians. The word “Satan” means  “The Accuser," and he is not called this for nothing! He loves to accuse God’s people! What better way to sink a Christian into the utter depths of despair, incapacitate him, and ruin his witness, than to falsely accuse him of having committed an unpardonable sin that can never be forgiven!

Have you (or someone you care about) fallen into this snare of Satan? If so, there is only one thing that can set such a person free. The truth of God’s word!

John 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Obviously, if you do not correctly understand God’s word,  you do not know the truth of it. And if you do not know the truth of it, you cannot be set free!

The aim of this article is to help you to properly understand this Bible passage, so that the truth may set you (or someone you care about) free from Satan's snare.

You Must Understand the Context

First, let’s consider the context of these two verses. In order to properly understand many Bible passages, we must know the context.

1.       Jesus had just performed an amazing miracle by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 12:22  Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw.

A man who was possessed with a demon was brought to Jesus. He cast the demon out and healed him, so that he could now both speak and see! What an amazing demonstration of the power of God!

2.       This was a very plain demonstration of the power of God. Because of this miracle, the people began to believe in Jesus.

23  And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David?

It is very important for you to understand that there was no room for doubt here. This was an obvious manifestation of the power of God. It was clearly a miracle of God! No one could deny that this miracle was from God, unless he was a willing liar, who had an evil heart that was unwilling to believe! The term “Son of David” was a synonym for Messiah, or Christ. Because of this marvelous miracle, the people were beginning to recognize that Jesus was the Messiah.

3.       Jealous Pharisees wanted to stop the people from believing in Jesus. So they told a very wicked, evil lie.

24  But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.

The Pharisees tried to closely follow the law of Moses. Because of this, they were looked up to and respected by the people. But many of them had grown to love being admired and respected more than they loved God! They were not obeying the law of Moses for God’s sake, but for their own selfish ends. They wanted to be the center of attention! They enjoyed being constantly complimented and praised for their outward obedience to the law. They had grown to love the approval of men more than the approval of God. Because of this, the Pharisees had refused to place their faith in Jesus, and even threatened to kick anyone out of the synagogue who trusted in him. Jesus was a great threat to them!  And now that Jesus had worked this undeniable miracle, it was quite obvious that they were wrong. Not only that, but the attention had been diverted from them to Jesus!

They already had rejected Jesus, the source of eternal life. Now, they were desperate to turn the spotlight back from Jesus to them. They had already hardened their hearts by refusing to trust in Jesus. But now some of them, it appears, hardened their hearts beyond repair, and sealed their eternal destiny by inventing a horrible lie.

4.       Jesus exposed the falsehood, illogic and hypocrisy of their lie.

25  And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: 26  And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?

Satan and his demons know that they must be united or their kingdom will fall. So they co-operate. Even the wicked co-operate when it is in their self-interest.

Satan would never really cast out Satan. He might “fake” casting himself out, only to get an even more powerful hold on someone. But this man had been completely set free, healed  and delivered. 

27  And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges.

The hypocrisy of the Pharisees who invented this lie was obvious, since even some of their young men practiced casting out demons by calling upon the help of God.

28  But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.

Here, Jesus made the hypocrisy and poor reasoning of these Pharisees even plainer. No kingdom permits territory to be taken from it against its will; an opposing kingdom must take it by force. In all of Creation, there are ultimately only two kingdoms; God’s and Satan’s. When demons are cast out by the Spirit of God among any group of people, Satan’s kingdom has lost territory. This can only be because an opposing kingdom, God’s kingdom, has taken away that territory by force. Satan’s kingdom has decreased; God’s has increased!

29  Or else how can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? And then he will spoil his house.

Satan is a strong man. No strong man will willingly allow good things to be taken from his house. He must be tied up first. The Spirit of God is much stronger than Satan. He can easily tie up the Accuser.

After a demon has been cast out, that house must not be left empty, or the demon can come back. If it does, it will invite other demons more wicked than itself to also come, to help insure that it will not be cast out again. (Matthew 12:45)

For this reason, a person who has just been delivered from demon possession should be immediately encouraged to place his or her trust in Jesus.  Then the Spirit of God will make that person His home.

When the Triune God (The Father, Son and Holy Spirit), dwells in a house, that house is secure, for Satan cannot bind up God and spoil his house. If Satan could do this, then Jesus would not have uttered the following words in John 10:27-29: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.”

And so Jesus thoroughly exposed the lie that these Pharisees were telling. That man could not have been healed and had the demon cast out of him unless Satan had been bound and his house spoiled.

30  He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.

These Pharisees were not with Jesus, because they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. Therefore, they were against Jesus. Because they did not gather with Him, they were being scattered abroad, like wild goats in the wilderness, where the wolves and lions could take their fill of them.

Now that you know the context of Jesus’ words in Matthew 12:31-32, you will be better able to understand the meaning of them.

 

What The Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit Is:
Reviling Slander Purposely Directed Towards the Holy Spirit

31  Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.

32  And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.

The word “blasphemy” in this verse is a transliteration of the Greek noun blasphemia (pronounced blas-fay-me’-ah).  When we say that a word is transliterated, that means it is carried directly over into English rather than translated. Blasphemia means, quite simply, reviling or abusive communication expressed to others. If this word were translated, a good English word for it would be reviling slander. Some Bible versions translate blasphemia as “injurious speaking.” By it's very nature, slander must be a lie spoken to others with the abusive intent of injuring the person it is directed against. It is something spoken to others with the purposeful intent and desire to unjustly injure someone or to injure that person's reputation.

Notice, also, that Jesus referred to this as “the” blasphemy. His use of the word “the” indicates that he has a particular kind of blasphemy in mind. The nature of it is made clear in Lu 12:10 and Mark 3:29: 

Lu 12:10 And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven.”

Mark 3:29 But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation:

Note that in Matthew 12:31, the word “against” is in italics, indicating that it is not in the Greek. However, it is clearly implied, because the word is explicitly stated in the Greek in the parallel verses, Luke 12:10 and Mark 3:39. The word translated “against” in these verses is the Greek word eis, which in this context means “directed towards.” In other words, “The Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit” is spoken (not merely thought) reviling, abusive slander purposely, knowingly, and intentionally directed towards the Holy Spirit. We should note here that God is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, and as a merciful, just and forgiving God, He takes these into consideration when judging us. If you impulsively spoke something you now regret, was it purposely directed against the Holy Spirit with the intent of reviling Him in the mind of others? In other words, was it a lie spoken with malice towards the Holy Spirit to make other people think something damaging and untrue about God's Holy Spirit? Then if you are able to confess it and truly repent of it, you can be forgiven. Was it a knee-jerk reaction, like the instinctive snapping of a cornered dog, spoken impulsively when under great stress, temptation or fear, but without the intent of maliciously abusing the Holy Spirit before others? Again, if you are able to repent and confess, you too can find forgiveness.

Regarding The Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit, In The People's New Testament Commentary, Moule said, "For such a sin no forgiveness is possible, for none is desired."

A person who has committed this sin will have a heart that has turned to stone. He will feel no remorse for the sin, and consequently, will not bother to confess it to God and ask for forgiveness. If he could confess, he could find forgiveness:

1John 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

At this point, many people will think, "I know that Jesus said whoever speaks a word against the Holy Spirit has committed this sin. But didn't Jesus also say, "If a man looks on a woman to lust after her in his heart, he has committed adultery with her in his heart"? Doesn't this mean that if I think a word against the Holy Spirit, I have committed this sin in my heart? No, not if you thought it involuntarily or unwillingly.

Yes, Jesus did say that. But there is a difference between a man lusting after a woman and someone unwillingly or involuntarily thinking an unwelcome thought about the Holy Spirit. You see, a  man who lusts after a woman wants her. He would hop in bed with her if he could. By contrast, hopefully you do not, in your spirit, want to slander the Holy Spirit to others. Hopefully, you have not made himself a sworn enemy of Jesus, as those Pharisees did.  If that is the case, then your brain is just malfunctioning (probably due to a medical condition known as OCD), and causing you to think things that you do not, in your spirit, want to think. Lusting after a woman is a willing, voluntary act. An OCD episode is an involuntary thing. There is a very, very big difference between the two.

You see, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is a final step in permanently rejecting God. It can only be done by someone who not only rejects Jesus, but has made himself an open enemy of Jesus to such an extent that he intentionally and purposely speaks abusive lies against the Holy Spirit for the purpose of discrediting Him. In order to direct such words against the Holy Spirit, a person must be aware of what he is doing. Like the Pharisees in this passage, he must undeniably know that God is real and yet still intentionally choose to speak words of slander - lying, injurious words intended to damage his reputation in the minds of others - -against the Holy Spirit. Anything short of this is not the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit! 

To summarize, The Blasphemy Against The Holy Spirit is is a final, ultimate rejection of Jesus, expressed by knowing, intentional, reviling slander spoken out loud, for the purpose of abusing or discrediting the Holy Spirit. Impulsive, knee-jerk thoughts or words not spoken with this intent or desire are of course very wrong and sinful, and the seriousness of such a thing ought not at all to be minimized. They must be confessed and repented of immediately, and one must desire and seek deliverance and forgiveness from them. But thanks to the great, great mercy and deep, deep love of God, repentance, deliverance, and forgiveness for any sin short of The Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is attainable to all who are able to repent and confess, no matter how awful or terrible that sin might be.

Let me express a word of caution here. Any sin which approaches blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, yet falls short of it, is a terrible thing and ought not to be regarded lightly. It ought to be confessed and repented of, and looked back upon, with great remorse and sorrow. John Bunyan, for instance, called himself "the chief of sinners" in the title of his book, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners because of such sinful thoughts. 

  What The Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit is Not

Because blasphemia was transliterated in the King James Version rather than translated as "reviling slander", many people have attached unbiblical meanings to this word. This has led to much confusion, false condemnation and misplaced guilt.

Now that we understand the following concerning the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit:

·         It is not disbelieving  that the spiritual gifts of tongues is still in operation, or ignorantly ascribing tongues to the devil

·         It is not something that is only thought in the mind. By its very nature, reviling slander must be spoken or written. Our Lord knows that sometimes people, especially those with mental ailments such as obsessive –compulsive disorder, or those under great stress or fear, have difficulty controlling their thoughts. This may be why Jesus clearly associated this sin with intentionally speaking against the Holy Spirit:

Mt 12:32  And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.

·         It is not slander against Jesus.

·         It is not ignorant disbelief in Jesus, although it can be the final step of intentional disbelief in Jesus

·         It is not involuntary speech, such as that which occurs with sufferers of Tourette’s syndrome, or which may occur when a person, under great stress or fear, impulsively snaps like a fearful, cornered dog. It must be voluntary, intentional, and purposefully intended to make other's think something ill and untrue about the Holy Spirit.

·         It is not words spoken in ignorant disbelief (as opposed to intentional disbelief).

·         It is not words spoken in ignorance, unintentionally, or by accident. It requires knowledge of what one is doing, and purposeful, directed intent. The apostle Paul was a terrible persecutor of the Church. Surely, he spoke against the miracles being done by the early Christians, but God forgave him because he did it in ignorance:

I Timothy 1:12 And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry;

13  Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.

·         It is not misunderstanding a scripture passage or a doctrine.

·         It is not criticizing or disagreeing with a pastor, cult leader, or a TV evangelist.

·         Contrary to the teachings of some Seventh Day Adventists, it is not having church meetings on Sunday rather than the Jewish Sabbath.

 

Signs You Have Not Committed Blasphemy Against The Holy Spirit:

1.       You are repentant. In other words, you regret what you have done, and don’t want to ever do it again.  Those who have once and for all fallen away cannot ever be renewed to repentance again:

Hebrews 6:4-6 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

There are those who have been enlightened, but still choose to reject Jesus. Like those who blaspheme the Holy Spirit, such people know what they are doing when they walk away from Jesus.  They have tasted of God’s heavenly gift. But although they tasted, they turned away and did not want to eat the heavenly meal.  When people like this fall away, they cannot be renewed to repentance, for they have knowingly and willingly rejected God. But if you are repentant for your sins, that is a sure sign that you have not fallen away. You can still be forgiven!

2.       You sincerely confess your sins:

1John 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

To confess means to admit or agree with, to consent with God about the terribleness of your sin.  If you had blasphemed the Holy Spirit, it would hardly bother you if at all. You would not be that inclined to admit that you have anything wrong at all. But if you have not done this awful sin, you will be remorseful, you will admit that what you have done is wrong, and you will beg God to forgive you. If you can still confess and ask God for forgiveness, He WILL be FAITHFUL and JUST to forgive your sins, and to CLEANSE YOU FROM ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS, or God’s word is not true!

 

What if I Have Actually Committed The Unpardonable Sin?

Again, as I said before, if you had committed it, you would be unable to repent. But if this is the case with you, and  you find yourself unable to repent, throw yourself before God and beg Him to grant you the ability to repent again. Perhaps you came very close, but not quite to committing this sin, and if you plead with God enough, He will grant you repentance. He is a very loving and merciful God, and if there is any way that He can grant you repentance without violating His Word, He will do it. But if you still are unable to gain renewal to repentance, then you can still make things much better for yourself. Jesus said that there are degrees of punishment in the afterlife:

Mark 12:38 And in His teaching He continued to say: "Beware of the scribes who like to go about in long robes, to be saluted with honor in public places,
39 to be seated in the front seats in the synagogues, to occupy the places of honor at banquets—
40 men who eat up widows’ houses and to cover it up make long prayers. They will get a much heavier sentence!"

Because there are degrees of punishment, you may be able to greatly lessen the degree of punishment that you will receive on Judgment Day. Think of it. In every prison, there are  prisoners who have it better than the others do. So, do what you can now to make things as good for yourself as you possibly can in the afterlife. Do what is right. Resolve that you are going to love and serve God anyway. Don't oppose or betray those who are born-again Christians. Help them instead. Be loving and kind to others. Also, help the poor and the needy. Give generously to them.

If you say to yourself, "There is nothing I can do to change what I have done, so I am going to live in sin and have all the fun I can in this life," you will make things much worse for yourself. Please, please do not do that.

Don't turn against God. Instead, say to yourself, as Job did, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in Him." (Job 13:15a)

If you incapacitate yourself with worry or bitterness towards God, you will miss your chance to make things better in the afterlife. My counsel to you is to stop worrying about something you can't undo, and start living for God and your fellow man. Make your life count for good! Say to yourself, "If I have committed the unpardonable sin, there is nothing I can do to change that so I am going to quit worrying about it, and love God and serve Him anyway."

God will take notice of this. Perhaps one day, as you are doing good works for God, He will grant you the ability to repent again, and reveal to you that although you came very close, you did not actually commit this sin, so that you can find forgiveness. And even if it turns out that He cannot forgive you because you have actually committed the unpardonable sin, He will have much more mercy on you on Judgment Day than someone who did not serve Him at all, because all who stand before the God at the Great White Throne will judged by their works:

Re 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

~

Next Step For Many: Get your thoughts under control. Read Help For Christians Who Have Difficulty Controlling Their Thoughts

Rusty Entrekin is a theology graduate of LA College. He and his wife Julie have seven children, with 6 still at home, and one grandchild. Currently, he resides in Kennesaw, GA, and teaches in a house church that practices participatory meetings.

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