The Unpardonable Sin by Bill Harper
" 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."
- Matthew 12:31 KJV
Even though the teaching of what has become known as the "unpardonable sin" was spoken of by Jesus in the context of the scribes and Pharisees' blaspheming the Holy Spirit by attributing the power of the Holy Spirit to the power of Satan, I disagree that this sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit by declaring the miracles of Jesus to be satanic, alone in itself, is what Jesus meant by the "unpardonable sin." I believe that many put the emphasis on that aspect and so miss the essential truth of what Jesus was saying in this passage.
First of all, there are numerous examples of and warnings in the Scriptures about counterfeit miracles and signs and wonders being performed by the power of Satan. Jannes and Jambres, up to a certain point, was able to duplicate the same miracles performed by Moses and Aaron in the sight of Pharaoh. Jesus, speaking of the last days, also warned His disciples, " For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and SHALL SHOW GREAT SIGNS AND WONDERS; insomuch that, if it were possible, THEY SHALL DECEIVE THE VERY ELECT[ Christians ]." - Matthew 24:24. Likewise, the coming Antichrist and the False Prophet will do signs and wonders in the endtimes by the power of Satan ( Revelation 13:13; 19:20 ) and will deceive the whole world. According to Revelation 13:6, the Antichrist will also open his mouth and blaspheme God. We ignore those teachings to our own peril and to so readily accept all miracles, signs and wonders as being from God without testing them by the Word of God is spiritually dangerous and sets one up for spiritual deception.
Counterfeit signs and wonders can be done even in Jesus' Name and yet not necessarily be of God. If " the unpardonable sin " is to blaspheme the Holy Spirit by attributing certain miracles to the Devil then it would be best for all of us to keep silent, to ignore the warnings in Scripture of the counterfeit and to lay aside the exhortations to exercise spiritual discernment altogether, just to be on the safe side as we could not afford to be wrong or in error on that matter. The scribes and Pharisees were not exercising spiritual discernment because it was clear that they lacked it.
Jesus Himself warned:
" Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? AND IN THY NAME HAVE CAST OUT DEVILS? AND IN THY NAME DONE MANY WONDERFUL WORKS? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, YE THAT WORK INIQUITY. "
- Matthew 7:21-23 KJV
What is the work of God? Jesus said, "...THIS IS THE WORK OF GOD,that ye BELIEVE on him whom he hath sent." - John 6:29 ( kjv ). Jesus Himself did all of the work of redemption that was required for our salvation. There is nothing that we can add to what Christ has already done. If we attempt to do that then we are in effect diminishing what He has done for us which is also blasphemous. God's requirement on our part is that we simply trust in the finished work of redemption that Jesus Christ accomplished when He bare all of our iniquities on the cross. Judaism under the authority of the scribes and Pharisees was a works-based religious system which included certain traditions that were not even Scriptural.
According to 2 Timothy 3:8, the sin of Jannes and Jambres in opposing Moses and Aaron by duplicating their miracles was to " RESIST THE TRUTH " which is what the Pharisees did as well in opposing Jesus: "... as THE TRUTH IS IN JESUS " ( Ephesians 4:21 ). In doing so they also were resisting the Holy Spirit who is also called " THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH " ( John 14:17; 15:26; 16:13 ). Hear the words of the martyr Stephen before he was stoned to death by the Pharisees: " Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always RESIST THE HOLY GHOST: as your fathers did, so do ye " - Acts 7:51 ( kjv ).
Actually the Jews required a sign ( Matthew 12:38-39; 1 Corinthians 1:22 ) before they would even consider believing so it wasn't so much the miracles of Jesus itself that they were rejecting but rather Jesus' claims to be the Son of God. The miracles Jesus did were intended to be signs to unbelievers to confirm His Word that He was who He claimed to be, the Son of God which they chose not to believe. Though the scribes and Pharisees rejected Jesus yet they could not deny the miracles which He did by the power of the Holy Ghost in the sight of multitudes of people. Their only recourse then was to attack the miracles as being of Satan in order to discredit Christ.
Therefore, the " unpardonable sin " is unbelief and rejection of Jesus Christ while under the conviction of the Holy Spirit. When one rejects Christ he/she is also rejecting the Holy Spirit whose work is to convict sinners of sin, righteousness and judgement ( John 16:8 ) and their need of salvation in Jesus Christ. In rejecting Christ one is rejecting the witness of the Holy Spirit and making God a liar ( 1 John 5:10-11 ). This is the ultimate blasphemy! We find throughout the gospels that unbelief was the root sin in the heart of the scribes and Pharisees which they often compounded by blasphemy. The sin of unbelief is what moved the Pharisees to blaspheme the Holy Spirit and to call Jesus " Beelzebub, the prince of the devils " ( Matthew 12:24; Mark 3:22 ).
Unbelief and blasphemy, even words spoken against Jesus, are sins that can be forgiven if repented of. These sins only become unpardonable if you die in your sins without Jesus Christ as your Savior. It is dying in unbelief that seals the eternal destination of lost sinners and sends multitudes to Hell. The "unpardonable sin" is impossible for true believers in Christ to commit. If we are in Christ then all of our sins; past, present and future, have already been pardoned. We do not have to live in constant fear, as some do, that we have somehow committed the unpardonable sin and cannot be forgiven.
" And I will cleanse them from ALL their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I WILL PARDON ALL THEIR INIQUITIES, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me. "
- Jeremiah 33:8 KJV
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