What is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit? Can a Christian commit it?

Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit in Matthew 12

What is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, and can a Christian commit it? Jesus mentions a specific sin that is unforgivable in Matthew 12, 31 -32, and He calls it blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. But what exactly is this unforgivable sin?

For that, we need to look at the context, and I'm going to need to read about 10 verses. We're going to look at Matthew 12, 22 -32, and it says this, Then it was brought to him a demon-possessed man who was blind and dumb, and he healed him so that the dumb man spoke and saw.

And all the multitudes were amazed and began to say, This man cannot be the son of David, can he? But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This man casts out demons only by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.

And knowing their thoughts, he said to them, Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and any city or house divided against itself shall not stand. And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself.

How then shall his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? Consequently, they shall be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

Or how can anyone enter the strong man's house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house? He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.

Therefore I say to you, Any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven men, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. And whoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him.

But whosoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come. So let me review this section briefly. In verse 22, Jesus healed a blind and dumb man.

The Pharisees accused Jesus of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons. Jesus responds by saying that a kingdom divided will fall, and how the devil must be first bound, before he can plunder his house.

In verses 31 -32, he states that blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven in this age or the age to come. By simply looking at the context, it becomes apparent that blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is saying that Jesus did His miracles by the power of the devil.

This is unforgivable. But why is it unforgivable? We can find a clue by looking at the point when Jesus began His ministry. Jesus stated at His baptism that He was there to fulfill all righteousness. The word fulfill should cause us to think of the Old Testament.

Basically, Jesus was baptized because He had to fulfill the Old Testament requirements for entering into the priesthood. He was a priest after the Order of Melchizedek, Psalm 110, Hebrews 5, 8 -10, 6, 20.

Priests offered sacrifices to God on behalf of the people. Jesus became a sacrifice for our sin, 1 Peter 2 .21 and 2 Corinthians 5 .21. In His role as priest, this is what He did. According to the Old Testament, in order for a priest to be consecrated, he had to be washed with water, Leviticus 8 .6, Exodus 29 .4 and Matthew 3 .15.

He also had to be anointed with oil, Leviticus 8 .12, Exodus 29 .7 and Jesus was anointed with oil, the Holy Spirit, which is represented by oil in Matthew 3 .16. Both of these were bestowed upon Jesus at His baptism.

Additionally, we may conclude that He had to be 30 years of age according to Numbers 4 .3. Now, as I said, oil is representative of the Holy Spirit who descended upon Jesus at His baptism in Matthew 3 .16.

It was after His baptism that He began His ministry and started performing miracles. He did His miracles by the power of the Holy Spirit who had come upon Him at His baptism. The Pharisees, who knew that Jesus' miracles validated His words at ministry, were attempting to discredit Jesus, His Messiahship, by saying that His works were by the power of the devil and not by the Holy Spirit.

Therefore, when the Pharisees accused Jesus of casting out demons by the power of Satan, they were blaspheming the Holy Spirit by whom Jesus performed His miracles. This is unforgivable because it struck at the very heart of the redemptive work of God in Christ.

It struck at the very nature of Jesus' ministry of redemption, of His testimony, and His teaching. Jesus was ministering in the power of the Holy Spirit Himself, fulfilling the divine plan of God to provide a sacrifice for our sins.

John 3 .16, 1 John 4 .10 says this. The Pharisees were attributing this to demonic activity. This is a great blasphemy. Now, can a believer commit this unforgivable sin? The answer is simple, no he cannot.

A Believer Cannot Commit the Unforgivable Sin

A believer cannot commit the unforgivable sin. How can someone who has been born again, John 3 .7, made a new creation, 2 Corinthians 5 .17, and received eternal life, John 10 .27 -28, actually commit the unforgivable sin?

He cannot. Jesus Himself said that we have eternal life, not conditional life. He said in John 10 .27 -28, My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of My hand.

Besides that, it says in 2 Corinthians 5 .17 that the Christian is a new creation in Christ. We are different. We are no longer slaves of the old nature, Romans 6 .14. We are regenerated by the Holy Spirit.

There is no biblical support for a believer committing this sin. It just hasn't happened. Also, if you are worried that you may have committed this sin, and that you can't be forgiven, then don't be concerned.

If you are worrying about it, then you haven't committed it. If you are worried about it, then it is a sign that you have not committed it, because if you had, the Holy Spirit wouldn't be working on you, He wouldn't be convicting of your sin, and you wouldn't be concerned about it.

That's very simple. That's how it works. A Christian cannot commit blasphemy of the Holy Spirit because he is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. He cannot commit blasphemy of the Holy Spirit and lose his salvation because Jesus says we cannot lose our salvation, John 10 .27 -28.

And being new creatures in Christ, being new and indwelt by God, we are secure in Him and we are safe in Him forever. Amen.