Did I commit the unforgivable sin? Blasphemy against the Spirit.

At least once a week, we speak with someone who thinks that he has done something so bad that God will never, ever forgive him and that he will go to hell because of it. We also encounter people who have lost someone to suicide and are convinced that that person has gone to hell because that is THE unforgivable sin, which God does not forgive. Ever. And if you walk around with that question, it causes quite a bit of stress and sleepless nights, and we understand that very well.

Almost 99% of those thoughts come from this Bible verse:

Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. Therefore I tell you, people will be forgiven for every sin and blasphemy, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.

Matthew 12:30-32

What they often say to us is usually something similar to “I told God that I don’t want to know anything about Him anymore because…” and then the rest of the story follows as to why they said or did that. And with that, they think they have committed that unforgivable sin. Also, they may have done something else that is so bad, how can God ever forgive them for that what they did?

We usually start with this text:

For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.

Hebrews 8:12

Just to put it in context, this verse from Hebrews only applies if you believe that Jesus died for your sin, rose from the death, and if you have asked Him for forgiveness for your sins. Then God will not only forgive your sins, but He will also no longer remember the sins you have committed. And that’s quite something!

But what about that verse from (among others) Matthew 12:30-32 which says that if you blasphemy against the Spirit you will not be forgiven, not in this world and not in the world to come?

It’s all about context. Who was Jesus talking to in this case and why did He say this? If we know and understand that, then we also know what we can and should do with it today.

In this case, it is critical(!) to understand that Jesus was not speaking to a group of disciples or followers of Christ / people who believed in Him. He was speaking specifically to a group of non-believing Pharisees.

To understand it a little more, we will also look at what happened right before this moment when He spoke this, so we can place it even more “in context”.

Early on in Matthew chapter 12 we see that Jesus’ disciples were picking grain on the Sabbath day and the Pharisees come and say, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.’ (verse 2) In verse 10, Jesus encounters this man with a shriveled hand and Jesus heals this man, but this also happens to be on the Sabbath day and now the same group of non-believing(!) Pharisees comes and accuses Jesus of this. The Pharisees asked Him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” And they hoped that Jesus would say so that they could file charges against Him.

After the healing of this man with the shriveled hand, this group of unbelieving Pharisees goes out in verse 14 to plot how they might kill Jesus. Later in this chapter (verse 22) Jesus heals a demon-possessed man and was blind and mute. And the same unbelieving(!) group of Pharisees accused Jesus once again. And they themselves say this about Jesus: “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.”

Wow! And then Jesus says the following, this is His response to those non-believing people who want to get rid of Him:

Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

Matthew 12:30

In verse 34, Jesus even calls them “You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good?”

I think the context is starting to become clear?

The context here is super important because it shows us that Jesus is speaking to a group of unbelieving Pharisees who are ready to kill him, comparing His work to that of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, and are actively opposing Jesus. These are evil men, a “bunch of cunning serpents”brood of vipers”, He calls them. Jesus is not describing a group of people who want to follow Him, on the contrary. So, Jesus is speaking this specifically to a group of unbelievers who actively oppose Him and not to a group of believers.

The next question is that we need to answer is, what exactly Jesus said here and what He did not say. The second in particular is just as important. We should not make Jesus say something He never said.

Now we go to the beginning of verse 31 which begins, “And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven” Jesus says very clearly that every(!) kind of sin you and I might commit, can be forgiven. We see at once that there is absolutely no sin that is excluded here.

He goes on to say “but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven” He does not(!) say that He forgives every sin except murder, every sin except adultery, every sin except suicide. That’s not what it says. Full stop.

If Jesus had wanted to say that (for example) suicide was THE unforgivable sin, He would have said so in this text. There is nothing in this text about suicide and because suicide has absolutely nothing to do with blasphemy or speaking against the Holy Spirit, it cannot be considered an unforgivable sin.

Verse 32 even says that “Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven” So now Jesus adds even that and says, “Hey, even if you speak against Me, even if you blaspheme Me, you can still be forgiven!” And the proof of that happening is also in the Bible. Notice, this is Paul:

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief.

1 Timothy 1:12-13

Paul was a former blasphemer as he himself describes it, and you literally see the proof here that even an unbeliever like Paul at that time, could blaspheme God, even take the name of Jesus in vain, but when he repented and confessed his sin, his sins were forgiven.

Now we come to the part that says that, “but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.”

So looking at the context, Jesus is speaking here to a group of people who attribute his work to that of a demon. They say that Jesus’ ability to heal comes from the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons.

But, we know that Jesus Christ was empowered by the Holy Spirit during His ministry! So what they are actually doing is rejecting the power of the Holy Spirit working through Jesus Christ! They thereby reject that he is God, that he is truly the Son of God, and in doing so, they actually reject Jesus His invitation to salvation. And that’s quite something! That is what is meant by “but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven”

The point is, that they attributed the work of the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ to that of a devil, that devil who rejects that Jesus Christ is God. And if you do that, then you will indeed have a huge problem.

What does that mean for us today? If we read this in context, we get that there is no sin you and I could commit for which Jesus Christ would forgive us. Because if that were the case, then verse like Hebrews 8:12 and for example 1 John 1:9, which says:

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9

This is the promise that God has given to us, and I believe that it is impossible for God to contradict Himself and His own word. And then we know for certain that there is no sin you could ever commit that God could not forgive.

And, now that you’ve read it all and if you’re still concerned that you may have committed an unforgivable sin… then I repeat once more that it is more than clear that we see clearly from the context that there is no sin you could commit that God cannot forgive. Impossible. Not even unconsciously or unintentionally.

And finally, pay attention. This is what Jesus himself says. Here He says the following about the Holy Spirit (the Helper):

Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more;

John 16:7-10

That you worry about whether you have sinned and how you can resolve that? Who do you think does that in you? Where does that voice come from within you? That’s right, the Holy Spirit! He is the voice within you that makes you feel very(!) uncomfortable about sin, righteousness and judgment. That voice of the Holy Spirit cannot be in someone who does not believe. Impossible. Someone who does not believe will not hear that voice at all, and will not care about it because that person is not saved to begin with. So the voice you hear that makes you uncomfortable about what you have done… that is The Holy Spirit speaking to you never to do that again. And that is a good and wonderful sign. You are indeed forgiven.