Biblegems
#124
Question:
What is blasphemy of
the Holy Spirit? And what does it look like?
Many
Christians secretly wonder if they may have committed the unforgivable sin of
blaspheming against the Holy Spirit. Here’s the good news: the very fact that
you are worried about it at all shows you have not committed the act.
The
question comes from this passage:
Matt. 12:31-32 And
so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy
against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the
Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will
not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come (see Mark 3:28,
29; Luke 12:10)
Answering this question requires an understanding of the word “blasphemy,” and an understanding of the context in which Jesus
made the statement.
Blasphemy Defined
Our English
word “blasphemy” translates two
different Greek words: “blasphemeo, blas-fay-meh´-o,” which means “to vilify… defame, rail on, revile,
speak evil;”[i] and the word “kataraomai,
kat-ar-ah´-om-ahee,”which means “to
execrate.”[ii]
“Execrate” means to loathe or despise greatly.
When
God declares in Isaiah, “…all day long my name is constantly blasphemed” (Is. 52:5), He is saying
that His name is mocked and used in evil ways. In the book of Revelation
blasphemy is described as a form of slander:
Rev. 13:6 He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his
dwelling place and those who live in heaven.
And
when Paul recalls the days when he tried to get believers to renounce the name
of Jesus as Lord, he refers to himself as a blasphemer (1 Tim. 1:13) who tried to make
believers speak evil of the name of Jesus (Acts
26:11).
Context
Matthew,
Mark and Luke each record Jesus teaching about blaspheming the Holy Spirit. In Matthew Jesus describes “blasphemy” as “speaking against” the Holy Spirit and teaches that that action is
unforgivable, unlike every other form of blasphemy.
The
context shows that Jesus was dealing with a very specific problem. Religious
leaders accused Jesus of having an “unclean
spirit” when healing great numbers of people, attributing the work of the
Holy Spirit to Satan (Mk. 3:30-32). In Luke 12:8-10 (please read) Jesus warns His
disciples that they will be forced to account for their faith, and the Holy
Spirit will enable them to give an appropriate defense.
The context in Luke is clear: persecuted believers
have the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit to keep them faithful to Jesus.
If, instead, they refuse the Spirit’s help, speak against the Spirit as if the
Holy Spirit were demonic, and publicly disown Jesus, then an unforgivable sin
has been committed. It is unforgivable because such a person has already gone
beyond the point of repentance. It is not that God is unwilling to forgive, but
that the person who has “fallen away,”
in the words of Hebrews 6:4-6 (see Biblegems #123), is no longer capable of
repentance. But for those who repent, mercy and grace are yours (1 John 1:9).
Comments or Questions?
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