The Unforgivable Sin: Unbelief

Unbelief exampled as blaspheme against the Holy Ghost

Below are two portions of scripture which should be read carefully to understand what blaspheme against the Holy Ghost is.

“And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils. And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan? And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end. No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house. Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation: Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit.” - Mark 3:22-30

“Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw. And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David? But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house. He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. 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. Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit. O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” - Matthew 12:22-37

Many people have assigned various meanings and described with differing definitions what it means to blaspheme the Holy Ghost. In the simplest most literal interpretation it simply means to speak evil of the Holy Ghost. Speaking evil of the Holy Ghost is certainly a sin, and a blasphemy, but is it really unforgivable? To say that it is unforgivable seems to contradict much of the Biblical promises of Grace to those who repent and trust the Lord Jesus Christ for a pardon and salvation.

We should then ask, and see the answer which is clear from these passages of scripture: Why were those who committed the unforgivable sin in these passages of scripture found to be guilty?

We can see that Jesus was performing miracles, specifically; he was healing physical defects and casting out demons. The Pharisees and scribes saw him doing this and attributed his power to do these things not to the Holy Ghost, but to Satan (Beelzebub the prince of the devils). Here glory was due to God the Holy Ghost, but these wicked vipers falsely attributed these miracles to Satan. So then, to my knowledge, the only specific example given in scripture of blaspheming the Holy Ghost (in an unforgivable way) is when men attribute to Satan the workings of the power of God.

Notice also that those who blasphemed in this example were speaking evil words out of their evil heart, and that they were falsely claiming that good was coming from evil (Matthew 12:33-35). Therefore, the Lord Jesus said “ by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” Forsooth, Christians should have a fear of speaking anything amiss about the Holy Ghost, but of committing the Blasphemy of the Holy Ghost in the sense of it being unpardonable as this passage of scripture describes; this is not a sin which is even possible for true Christians to commit. A requirement for this sin is a wicked heart, to the point of calling good evil and evil good. Against this evil heart the prophet Isaiah warns us in Isaiah 5:20. This is not the heart of a Christian as we see in Ezekiel 11:19-21 and Hebrews 8:1-13.

Many argue that this specific sin can no longer be committed today, since Christ is no longer on earth working miracles. People who think this forget about the Holy Ghost and the promises in the Holy Scriptures of the Holy Ghost’s distribution of gifts.

Of these gifts we can clearly read in 1 Corinthians 12:1-31, 1 Corinthians 14:37-39, and throughout the scriptures in many places.

Today, on this earth, there are those who call themselves Christians even though they deny that the Holy Spirit still gives the gifts of prophecy, healing, miracles, tongues, the interpretation of tongues, etcetera. Further, those who claim this are also often compelled (either literally or by following their argument to its logical conclusion) to claim that any who claim to possess these gifts are liars, and that any who give evidence of these gifts do so by the power of Satan in order to corrupt the true gospel message of Salvation through Jesus Christ.

It is very true that in this time, and until the end, there are and will be many false prophets and those who work miracles by the power of Satan (2 Thessalonians 2:7-12). This is why it is all the more important that we know the scriptures, love the truth and be filled with the Spirit of God, that we may recognize and openly condemn the deceiving workers of unrighteousness among us, for the glory of God and the sake of the faithful.

But let us never, in our hast to warn of false prophets and false christs, declare those who possess the gifts of the Spirit, and who use the Spirits gifts to bring forth fruit (such as growing believers faith or leading men to Christ) as doing their good works by Satan’s power.

Now here is the warning in plain words; those who deny that the Holy Ghost still gives gifts to believers (such as prophecy and healing) are blaspheming the Holy Ghost and they are in danger of committing the unforgivable sin and of receiving the eternal damnation with which it is punished.

Unbelief exampled as Apostasy

Now the word Apostasy comes from 2 Thessalonians 2:3 where it is translated as “a falling away.” It is the Strong’s concordance word G646, in the Greek it is “apostisia.” Below we see two portions of scripture which help us understand what Apostasy is, and why it is an unforgivable sin.

“For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.” - Hebrews 6:4-8

“For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” - Hebrews 10:26-31

In the first passage above we see Apostasy described, and we see how it is a state which, upon entering an individual cannot be freed. Why? Because it is impossible to bring these people to repentance - so if you can truly repent - you are not truly an apostate but just a backslider in need of revival. Notice the other reason why apostates cannot repent - because of their bad fruit for which they are to be burnt. This further implies that the production of good fruit would spare them Hell fire - but good works can only be produced if they repent and attach to the true vine, who is the Lord Jesus Christ (John 15:5-16).

There are a myriad of verses speaking about the grace and forgiveness available to those who repent - my favorite being 1 John 1:9. Therefore, when we see the second passage above (Hebrews 10:26-31) we should also know that these verses again are referring to the apostate. Apostate individuals are without hope and without a chance to be forgiven - not because God is unwilling (2 Peter 3:9), but because they have chosen to follow their father Satan (John 8:44) and they will not repent - so hope and forgiveness cannot be theirs. They refuse to repent and are in such a state that they could never repent - they have crucified Christ in their heart. They are "vessels of wrath fitted to destruction" (Romans 9:18, 22). They are like Satan - and are merely here waiting for the time when they shall be cast into the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:10, 15).

What do blaspheme against the Holy Ghost and Apostasy have in common? They are both nothing other than Unbelief. Those who commit these sins fail to believe the word of God, and are justly damned.

“But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” - Revelation 21:8

So then this all comes back to the heart of the Good News which is “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” - Acts 16:31

If only they would cry out with tears like the father of the crippled child "Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief." (Mark 9:24)

As the Israelites could not enter the promised land because of their unbelief* - neither can men enter the Kingdom of God unless they believe, making Jesus Christ their Lord and Savior.

"For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief." - Hebrews 4:10-11

*except for Joshua and Caleb who were faithfull and did believe, see Numbers 14:6-11, 28-38