The Unforgivable Sin

In Matthew we see Jesus approached by the Pharisees accusing Him of performing miracles by the power of Beelzebul or the Devil. It was a heady accusation to be sure and a slight to a Holy God that would not be overlooked…ever. Nor would it be forgiven. Here in this passage we have the only unforgivable sin. Some say that suicide is the unforgivable sin as one cannot repent after death. Suicide is not unforgivable. Wipe that from your head. Nowhere in Scripture is this assertion made and it just isn’t true. Besides, saying this to someone that lost a loved one in this manner is just cruel. What the Pharisees and teachers of the Law did to the Spirit was in-fact the only thing that would permanently condemn someone assuming they perpetrated it. There was a line and the Pharisees crossed it in their arrogance.

The people brought Jesus a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. The people were astonished and said, “Could this be the Son of David?” When the Pharisees heard this, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.”

These were heady accusatory words for the Holy Son of God and in truth, counter-intuitive and counter logic. The Pharisees really weren’t thinking clearly here. They were accusing Jesus of being demonic and saying that the demonic was driving out the demonic spirit. Jesus knowing their motive and realizing their stupidity of blaspheming the Holy Spirit accusing Jesus of working in the spirit of Satan retorts:

Matthew 12:25-28, 30-31 “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but 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.”

Jesus then condemns them where they stand. The will be unforgiven for such an affront to God in stupidity. Not so much because of the accusation but because of the spirit or mind that drove it. The Pharisees for all intents and purposes are demonic in their thinking. The demonic is speaking through them. Going to the grave believing what they stated will condemn them. Verse 31 specifically tells us that, “… every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.”

Matthew 12:33 “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Therein lays the only unforgivable sin. A persistent refusal to acknowledge the presence of God in Christ. Why? It is because, to blaspheme the Spirit, they would need to hate the light the clearer it became, and resolutely to shut it out which, of course, precludes salvation. Realize that Jesus had just performed a divine miracle healing a blind and mute demoniac. The Pharisees attributing the healing miracles to Satanic agency…appeared as if the Pharisees had just vented mindless words against the Holy Spirit. The Pharisees were likely internally convinced of the Messianic nature of Jesus by the miracle which they had witnessed but it would have been inconvenient to them to have acknow­ledged His claims. By doing so, they would have to submit their authority to Christ.

Yet isn’t that the rub? Even now, we as modern-day Christians will not submit ourselves full to Christ’s authority? Why? It is because we would have to do something that our fallen human nature works against doing. We’d need to admit we are flawed sinners. We would need to admit we are incapable of doing anything to rescue ourselves from our own sin. In admitting this we know we would have to stop purposely and willing committing sins. Especially the ones we like sexual sins, greed, etc. The more a man knows of his wrong the more he is held accountable for those actions. Better to sin in ignorance.

So, without honestly believing their own absurd explanation, they attributed the cure of the blind and dumb man to Satan. The irony was they admitted outright it was supernatural yet slandered God in the process. In effect it was a dishonest shuffle, they knew it and avoided making a confession which was clearly forced on their minds. A confession which would have required them to suppress their sin of pride and jealousy. Their minds recognized the truth but their tongues were being steered by their sin. Said more simply: Whoever speaks a word against Christ or the Spirit without violating internal convictions speaking ignorantly in unbelief… "…it shall be forgiven him.” Whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit in actuality violates the internal convictions placed upon their own heart by the very Spirit of truth that they slight. That will not be forgiven here or in the afterlife.

As Jesus clearly explains in the example of tree bearing fruit...words or language are not as most think...a separate and separable thing from our reason or thoughts. Words have a deep and living connection with our state of mind. Words, thoughts and reasoning have their roots intertwined together. Corrupt language arises from corrupt reasoning. A demonic statement arises from a demonic source.

“Every empty/idle word…” Those words will meet judgment and those who utter them will need to make account for them. The words of the Pharisees were not simply useless, unfruitful, unprofitable words; but far, far worse. They were false words and they counteracted conviction within their own hearts crowding out the saving work of the very Spirit they were blaspheming. This isn’t a sin of omission but firmly deliberate in the face of their own convictions. They were spoken with the calculated intent to do harm to others that heard them, misleading hearers and the ignorant that didn’t know any better looking to authority. There is a difference between spiritual blindness and purposeful spiritual self-destruction. That is why we see Christ so heavily condemn empty/idle words of these ‘vipers’. Vipers being snakes that bite at heels when you turn to walk away thereby exposing yourself to attack when you are unprotected with your back turned.

There are three considerations which may serve to show us our responsibility that attaches to the words we use with others. The words that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and defile the man and others around him. It seems certain that every word spoken will have influence lasting into eternity good and bad. God knows every word we have spoken. “For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” We’d be well-advised to avoid speaking foolishly or gossiping. We are to avoid slander and/or libel. We should avoid speaking words in anger. These last things put us firmly in the face of the judgment seat of God.

Christians today need to not necessarily focus in on one specific sin when this question is asked. Instead we should be self-aware of any hardening of our hearts or arrogance that would have us not acknowledge the work of the Spirit and Christ in us yet ignore and disregard it as insignificant or irrelevant. By doing this we would be allowing our hearts to turn cold and incapable of continued repentance. Repentance isn’t a one-time deal folks… its and ongoing process until we die. Something the Pharisees and those like them completely missed in their inability to humble themselves.