THE UNPARDONABLE SIN
By C. D. Cole
“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. 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” (#Mt 12:31,32).
“Verily I say unto you,
All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith
soever they shall blaspheme: But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost
hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation: Because they
said, He hath an unclean spirit”(#Mr 3:28-30).
“And whosoever shall
speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him
that blashphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven”(#Lu 12:10).
The writer believes that the above Scriptures are all that can certainly be
applied to the question of the unpardonable sin. He does not believe that #Heb 6:4-8
10:26-31 have anything to say on the subject. They do indeed sound a
solemn warning against apostasy, but they give no help in defining the
unpardonable sin. As to #1Jo 5:16, we are not so sure. Dr. Broadus thought it alludes to the
unpardonable sin. Be that as it may, it throws no light on what the
unpardonable sin is.
The unpardonable sin is a much abused and sadly misunderstood subject. It has,
we fear, been used to frighten the unregenerate into the church, thereby making
them twofold more the children of wrath. Wrong views of the matter have driven
men to despair and, in some instances, into insanity.
A
NECESSARY DISTINCTION
We must distinguish between an unpardoned sin and the unpardonable sin. There
are many unpardoned sins, but only one unpardonable sin. All the sins of the
finally impenitent and unbelieving will be unpardoned, but there is one sin for
which there is no pardon. Murder may be an unpardoned sin, but it is not
unpardonable. Any and every sin is a damning sin if not repented of. Our Lord
clearly distinguished between the one sin that "hath never
forgiveness," and all other sins that shall be forgiven on the terms of
repentance and faith.
1.
-WHAT THE UNPARDONABLE SIN IS NOT
1a) It is not any sin
against men. Many are the sins men commit against one another, such as murder,
theft, false witness, malice and envy. But none of these is the sin that will
not be forgiven. Many have been guilty of these sins and through repentance and
faith have been forgiven.
1b) It is not any sin
against Jesus Christ. Many are the sins against the Son of Man, such as denial
of His deity and virgin birth, denial of His blood atonement, ignoring His
claims of Lordship; in short, rejecting Him as the Lord Jesus Christ. These are
sins of the deepest dye, but many who have been guilty of them have repented
and found forgiveness. If rejecting Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord is the
unpardonable sin, then well nigh everybody would have committed it. To be
sure the man who rejects Christ until his time runs out will be unforgiven—all
sins are unpardoned—but this does not mean that he committed the unpardonable
sin. Our Saviour made it clear that it is not any sin against Himself, but a
particular sin against the Holy Spirit.
1c) It is not any sin
against the decalogue or ten commandments. There is no sin covered by the ten
commandments for which there is no provision of pardon. Christ died to redeem
sinners from the curse of the law, therefore, there must be forgiveness from
every part of the curse.
1d) It is not any sin
against God the Father. "All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven
unto men; but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto
men."
1e) It is not every sin
against the Holy Spirit. There are sins committed directly and specifically
against the Holy Spirit. He is grieved, resisted, quenched, and ignored.
Believers may and do grieve, quench and ignore the Spirit. Unbelievers resist
the Spirit in the objective ministry of His word. They resist Him by rejecting
the call of the gospel and by opposing and persecuting the preachers of His
word. The Holy Spirit is the Author of the Bible. "Ye stiffnecked
and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as
your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers
persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the
Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:" (#Ac 7:51,52), the only
passage in the New Testament where there is any mention of resisting the
Spirit. To the Jews who stoned him to death, Stephen said, "Ye do always
resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets
have not your fathers persecuted?" In rejecting the preaching of Stephen,
the Jews were behaving as their fathers had towards the prophets, and Stephen
called this resisting the Holy Spirit. Unbelievers resist the outward ministry
of the Spirit in the preaching of the word until their resistance is overcome by
the subjective work of the Spirit in the effectual call. Dr. Broadus says that
resisting the Spirit and blasphemy against the Spirit "are quite different
things."
2.
-WHAT THE UNPARDONABLE SIN IS
2a) It is expressly
said to be blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. To blaspheme is to speak
injuriously against somebody. Blasphemy is an insulting or slanderous remark
about some one. Every blasphemy is not unpardonable; it is only the blasphemy
against the Holy Spirit. The Jews at Antioch spake against Paul and his
doctrine, "contradicting and blaspheming"
(#Ac 13:45). Paul,
before his conversion, compelled the saints to blaspheme: "And I punished
them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being
exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities"
(#Ac
26:11). Paul tells the Jews that they caused the name of God to be
blasphemed among the Gentiles: "For the name of God is blasphemed among
the Gentiles through you, as it is written" (#Ro 2:24). And Paul
himself was formerly a blasphemer: "Who was before a blasphemer, and a
persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in
unbelief"
(#1Ti 1:13). But none
of these cases was blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
2b) The Scriptures with
which we began this article give us a clear and unmistakable instance of
blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, and therefore, an example of the
unpardonable sin. The Pharisees blasphemed against the Spirit when they said,
"He hath an unclean spirit." (#Mr 3:30). Matthew
tells us that they attributed the miraculous work of the Spirit in Christ to
Beelzebub, the prince of demons. Of course, they blasphemed our Lord too, in
saying that He had an unclean spirit, but that was not what made their sin
unpardonable. They recognized the Holy Spirit in the miracle, and slandered Him
by calling Him an unclean spirit. And in doing this, they were guilty of an
eternal sin.
CONDITIONS
UNDER WHICH THE SPIRIT IS BLASPHEMED
1. There must be an
unmistakable work of the Spirit. Dr. Broadus thought the sin was committed in
connection with public miracles, and therefore, not committed in our day. He
says, in commenting on #Mt 12:31,32: "There is here no allusion to the peculiar gracious office
and work of the Spirit in calling, renewing, and sanctifying the soul; it is
the Spirit of God as giving power to work miracles."
2. There must be
knowledge that it is the work of the Spirit. Paul had blasphemed Jesus of
Nazareth, and yet obtained forgiveness, "Who was before a blasphemer, and
a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly
in unbelief" (#1Ti 1:13). Paul did not believe that Jesus spoke and wrought
miracles by the Spirit of God. He was ignorant of the Spirit working in Jesus,
sincerely believeing Jesus to be an impostor and possessed of an evil spirit.
But the Pharisees knew better; they knew the miracles had been performed by the
power of the Holy Spirit, and blasphemed against Him by calling Him Beelzebub,
an unclean spirit. It was not a case of mistaken identity with them as it was
with Saul of Tarsus. Thomas Goodwyn, one of the Puritans, says that two things
are necessary in committing the unpardonable sin: "Light in the mind and
malice in the heart." Anxiety or fear of having been guilty of blasphemy
against the Holy Spirit is in itself evidence that one is not guilty of it.
Those who are afraid they have committed the sin may be assured they have not.
3.
-WHY BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT IS UNPARDONABLE?
3a) It is not because
the sin is too great for the blood of Christ to atone for. This would limit the
intrinsic value of His blood. We believe the death of Christ is sufficient for
the salvation of every accountable being, including the devil and his angels,
had it been designed for them.
3b) It is not because
the sin is too great for the grace of God to cope with. Where sin abounds grace
much more abounds. This is obvious when we consider some of the cases God has
pardoned. Take, for example, the case of Manasseh, the wicked son of the godly
Hezekiah, whose wicked career is recorded in #2Ch 33:2-10: "But
did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, like unto the abominations of
the heathen, whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.
For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down,
and he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and worshipped all the
host of heaven, and served them. Also he built altars in the house
of the LORD, whereof the LORD had said, In Jerusalem shall my name be for
ever. And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of
the house of the LORD. And he caused his children to pass through the
fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used
enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with
wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to
anger. And he set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the
house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this
house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen before all the tribes of Israel,
will I put my name for ever: Neither will I any more remove the foot of
Israel from out of the land which I have appointed for your fathers; so that
they will take heed to do all that I have commanded them, according to the
whole law and the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses. So
Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, and to do worse
than the heathen, whom the LORD had destroyed before the children of
Israel. And the LORD spake to Manasseh, and to his
people: but they would not hearken." Surely, if any man could
sin away the day of grace, Manasseh had done so. Surely, if the enormity of
offenses makes them unpardonable, those committed by this man must have been
such. Surely, if there are crimes too much for the mercy of God to save
from, it must have been those of which this Satan-controlled King was
guilty. Surely, if there is a sinner too much for the Holy Spirit to cope
with, it was this wretch who provoked God so grievously. And yet the happy
sequel is the story of his conversion. Consider also the case of Saul of
Tarsus, denominated the chief of sinners, who, by the grace of God, became the
greatest exponent of the faith he once opposed. Truly, "Where sin abounded
grace did much more abound."
3c) The
unpardonableness of sin must be attributed to the sovereign will of God. And He
has sovereignly (I do not say arbitrarily) determined that there is one sin He
will not forgive. He could if it pleased Him to do so. We believe with Job that
"What His soul desireth, even that He doeth." There is one kind
of sin for which there is no provision of pardon. Therefore, there is one kind
of sin for which Christ made no atonement. There is one sin of which the Holy
Spirit will not convict, and from which He will not convert. There is one sin
God will not pardon. The Bible calls it blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, and
we dare not call it by any other name.
The Holy Spirit is thus highly honored in the divine economy. His personality
and deity may be denied by men and He may be contemptuously referred to in the
neuter gender as "it," but He is in truth a person of high esteem in
the Godhead.
"To God the
Spirit’s Name
Immortal worship give,
Whose new-creating power
Makes the dead sinner live:
His work completes the great design,
And fills the soul with joy divine."
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