The Unforgivable Sin
- Aaron Propp
- Mar 12
- 4 min read
Christians of all varieties have had a hard time understanding that there is a sin for which there is no forgiveness.
Therefore I tell you, people will be forgiven for every sin and blasphemy, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
Matthew 12.31-32 NRSVUE
The difficulties that the Christian community has with this teaching is demonstrated from their answers to the question, "What is the unforgivable sin?". Brandon from the Mindshift YouTube channel did a good job of compiling different answers from prominent Christian apologists, and I found the lack of unity or agreement in the answers appalling.
John MacAuthur says it's a permanent rejection of the gospel. Billy Graham… argues that it is a simple rejection of Jesus' calling to you, essentially dying in unbelief. William Lane Craig says it's no single sin probably, it's an ongoing state of rejection. Ray Comfort says it's the atheist, the one, who openly mocks God…
Greg Boyd says that it is a continual resisting of the influence of the Holy Spirit in your life. Rick Warren… who also agrees with GotQuestions .org says if you're worried about it you haven't done it… the Catholic Church in general… will address it as final impenitence, meaning dying without repentance…
C.S. Lewis says… it's a rejection of God that is so deep that the person no longer even desires for forgiveness. Charles Spurgeon… says that it can't even be done by the modern-day Christian, you had to be alive in Jesus' time to commit it. N.T. Wright says it is a warning not a strict doctrine and that Jesus was rebuking the Pharisees, it's in context, not a universal rule but still be warned. David Pawson says that it is specifically about speaking against God's miracles…
John Piper says simply that no Christian can commit it because all true believers will inevitably repent of all sins… Justin Martyr thought that the unforgivable sin was apostasy, abandoning it, the Holy Spirit… Origin… interpreted it as rejecting the faith after baptism… Augustine saw it as a hardened heart that refuses to yield to God… Aquinas… that it's willfully resisting the known truth… and attributing God's work to Satan…
Brandon with the Mindshift YouTube channel
I think the main problem is that most people don't have a solid definition of what the Holy Spirit is.
The Holy Spirit depicted as divine inspiration
The most objective answer is the Jewish Orthodox Pharisaic answer that Ruach Hakodesh is synonymous with divine inspiration for someone's words, conclusions, and teachings.
One example of this I remember from learning on Chabad.org is how the Chabad Chassidim consider Maimonides's drawing of the Menorah with straight arms to have been done so under the inspiration of Ruach Hakodesh, which is why Chabad Chassidim prefers straight armed Menorah's and Temple Menorahs.
Jesus is reported to have supported this same role of the Spirit when teaching about when a disciple goes on trial during persecution.
When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you at that time, for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
Matthew 10.19-20 NRSVUE
In the passage attributed to Jesus, the Holy Spirit is depicted as inspiring the words of the disciple, but it's in the context of the Holy Spirit acting as divine inspiration for the words of believers that Jesus' words become an indictment of the common belief that the New Testament is inspired by the Holy Spirit.
All scripture is inspired by God (θεόπνευστος) and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the person of God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 3.16-17 NRSVUE
The Bible, including both the Old and New Testaments, is a divine revelation, the original autographs of which were verbally inspired by the Holy Spirit.
Moody Bible Institute doctrinal statement
Even if it was the original authors and their work that was inspired, were there no subsequent scribes with the Holy Spirit, who could use their inspiration to transmit an accurate and consistent version of the texts of the New Testament from antiquity?
As I discuss in my blog the Crucifixion Timeline is a House Divided against Itself, every contradiction in the various inspired accounts turns the inspiring Spirit into a house divided against itself, and it arguably tempts would-be disciples into committing "the unforgivable sin".
Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand.
Matthew 12.25 NRSVUE
While 2 Timothy isn't an authentic Epistle, it does represent what many Christians believe, and it's likely that the authors of 2 Timothy did not yet consider the New Testament "Scripure". However, it's still worth noting that the phraseology for inspiration in 2 Timothy isn't divorced from the idea of the Spirit as it's the same root word with the word literally meaning, "God-breathed".
The Holy Spirit at the same time is not only depicted as divine inspiration, which transforms an Epistle or Gospel account into the Word of God, but as a power that works wonders like healing leprosy while even transporting people from one location to another like in the Book of Acts and the Gospel of the Hebrews.
The Holy Spirit that people claim is at work in their lives is ultimately just an extension of themselves, which isn't too far from the truth in a certain way, but it's also a form of blasphemy to elevate your own lived experiences into the definition of the divine.
Many of the sins of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit are things that many devoted Christians find themselves doing without even realizing it, and many of their leaders are leading them astray and putting stumbling blocks before the blind.
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